Chapter 177
Cole
"Los Angeles?" Blake's voice cut through, too loud. Several wolves at nearby tables looked up, wary. He forced himself quieter, but his gunpowder exploded through the confined space anyway, making them flinch. "That means leaving Seattle. Leaving Kara farther behind!" His hands clenched into fists on the table. "What if she's here? What if she's close and we fucking abandon her to chase some lead across the country?"
Blake, Asher warned.
No, Blake's mental voice shook with barely controlled anguish. No, I can't—we can't leave her. Not when she's scared and alone and probably thinking we're not coming, that we've given up, that—
We're not giving up, I sent firmly, letting my mint wrap around his gunpowder in the bond, trying to soothe. We're never giving up. But we have to be smart about this.
But even as I said it, a darker thought coiled through my mind like poison: What if we chase the replacement to Los Angeles while Beloved moves Kara somewhere else? What if this is exactly what they want—drawing us away from Seattle while they relocate her, hide her somewhere we'll never find her? What if we're playing right into their hands?
I shared the thought through the link, and felt my brothers' anxiety spike in terrible synchronization. Through the bond, I could feel Blake's wolf clawing at his control, desperate to shift and hunt. Could feel Asher's mind racing through scenarios, calculations, probabilities—all of them bad.
"We can't split up," Blake said, voice rough. "If we split up, if something happens—"
"We split our resources," Asher cut him off, Alpha authority forcing the decision through our collective panic. "Not ourselves. Ethan continues monitoring the Scarlett replacement's movements in Los Angeles remotely. We stay in Seattle, search for the real Scarlett and possible imprisonment sites. We don't put all our hope in a single strategy."
He paused, and I felt him reaching through the bond, trying to steady us all. "We hunt on multiple fronts. We cover every angle. And we don't stop until we find her."
But what if it's not enough? The thought came from all three of us at once, a shared terror we couldn't voice aloud.
I forced myself to engage, to be useful instead of drowning in fear. "We need to watch for Court members' tattoos," I said, keeping my voice low and controlled. "Sienna has one on her arm. Viktor probably has one too. These marks identify their people—survivors of their blood magic trials, the ones they've remade and claimed as their own."
Dmitri's voice came low and grim from beside us. "Eclipse Court members don't know each other. There's no traditional hierarchy, no organizational structure. What binds them together is worship of the moon serpent and addiction to the venom they inject into their bodies—the power it grants and the dependence it creates."
At the word "venom," Viktor's body went rigid. The beer bottle nearly shattered in his grip, knuckles white with sudden tension. It was involuntary, visceral—a body remembering trauma even as the mind tried desperately to suppress it.
He's been injected, I realized with cold certainty. Recently enough that his body still reacts to just hearing about it.
Which means he's been wherever they perform these trials, Asher's thoughts aligned with mine. The place they take people to break them down and rebuild them. Possibly the same place they're holding Kara right now.
"I'll handle the interrogation," I announced, already rising from my chair before my brothers could argue.
Blake's skepticism rippled through our connection immediately. "You sure about this? Maybe we should just grab him, take him somewhere private, make him—"
"No." I cut him off gently but firmly, letting my mint expand in soothing waves that contradicted the predatory focus sharpening my senses. "If we force him, he'll shut down completely. He's barely holding it together as it is." I met Blake's eyes. "I'm best with women, remember? And Sienna's the key here. She cares about him. If I can get her to trust me, she might tell us what happened. Where he's been. Who hurt him."
And where they might be keeping Kara, Asher added through the link. Do it, Cole. But be fast. Every minute counts.
I deliberately softened my Alpha presence as I crossed to the bar, letting the dangerous edge fade until I appeared harmless—just another young wolf seeking information, nothing threatening about the way I leaned against the scarred wood where Sienna had returned to wiping down glasses with mechanical precision.
A heavy sigh escaped me, loud enough to catch her attention but natural enough not to seem calculated.
Her professional smile appeared instantly, though worry still shadowed her eyes. "Sir, can I get you something else?"
I offered a tired but charming smile, the kind that had always made people want to help me, want to trust me. "No, I just..." Hesitation, perfectly timed. Let doubt flicker across my face. "Never mind. You couldn't help anyway. It's stupid."
Curiosity flickered across her features—exactly what I'd hoped for. She set down the glass, her voice softening the way people's voices do when they sense genuine vulnerability. "Sometimes it's easier to talk to strangers. I've heard a lot of stories here. Maybe I can help more than you think."
Good, I thought, feeling the hook set. She's opening up.
"You're kind to say that." I let gratitude warm my expression, genuine emotion beneath the manipulation. "Actually... I'm looking for someone. Someone I heard might have come to this area."
Sienna's body language shifted immediately, wariness replacing openness. Her shoulders tensed, and I caught the subtle change in her scent—fear mixed with caution. "Looking for who?"
I shook my head quickly, hands raised in a placating gesture. "Not like that. I'm not—" Pause, like I was gathering courage. "I'm looking for a celebrity. I know how that sounds, but—"
"A celebrity?" Her eyebrows rose, some of the tension easing.
I manufactured embarrassment, ducking my head slightly. "I know it sounds stupid, but I'm kind of a superfan. I really love those reality shows, you know? The competition ones, singing contests, all that." I gave a self-deprecating laugh. "My brothers think it's ridiculous, but I can't help it."