Chapter 2
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Knox
I couldn’t shake the feeling that Lina had lied to me last night.
The thought had been eating at me since she’d grabbed her phone and gone still. That look on her face. The way her heartbeat had spiked before she’d forced her expression into something neutral. The smell of fear that had flooded her scent for just a second before she’d buried it.
She’d said it was nothing. Just Mika being dramatic about supply orders.
I wanted to believe her. Needed to believe her. My mate didn’t lie to me. We’d built our entire relationship on brutal honesty after years of secrets and running and pain. She wouldn’t start lying now.
But that look on her face kept replaying in my mind, and my wolf didn’t like it one fucking bit.
I drummed my fingers against the armrest of my chair while Councilman Brennan droned on about property disputes near the eastern border.
The council chamber was packed this morning, wolves filling most of the seats arranged in a semicircle facing my position at the head of the room.
This space was bigger than most meeting rooms but smaller than the throne room I only used for ceremonies or important pack business.
I never liked the vibes of the thrones, too formal and cold, so I avoided that room whenever possible.
This one felt more manageable, more personal, though right now it still felt suffocating with how many wolves had shown up with complaints.
Being Alpha meant listening to every single one of them.
Even when my mind was somewhere else entirely.
“Alpha Raven, are you listening?”
I focused on Brennan’s irritated expression. Asshole. “You want to expand the patrol routes near the eastern border because the Hendricks family claims the Dawson family is encroaching on their land.”
“Yes.”
“And you want me to authorize additional guards for what is essentially a neighborly dispute about where one property line ends and another begins.”
Brennan’s jaw tightened. “It’s a matter of principle.”
“It’s a matter of two families who need to learn how to share.” I leaned forward in my chair, letting a bit of alpha authority bleed into my voice. “Tell them to work it out themselves or I’ll redraw both property lines and give the disputed land to the pack. Their choice.”
Murmurs rippled through the chamber. Brennan looked ready to argue but Noah, standing to my right, cleared his throat.
“Next concern,” my brother said smoothly.
An older wolf named Patricia stepped forward. She’d been with the pack for sixty years and had a no-nonsense energy that reminded me of Lina when she was pissed. “The humans visiting Ravenshollow are causing problems.”
“What kind of problems?”
“They’re loud. Disrespectful. Last week a group of them tried to take pictures of the children during school hours. Some of the mothers are concerned.”
That made me sit up straighter. My wolf snarled at the thought of strangers photographing pack children. “Did anyone confront them?”
“Yes. They claimed they were just tourists enjoying the local culture.” Patricia’s mouth twisted. “One of them asked if we were a cult.”
Behind me, Hunt snorted. I shot him a look and he tried to smother his grin.
“I’ll talk to the border patrol,” I said. “We’ll implement stricter guidelines for visitors. No photography of minors. No entering pack buildings without permission. Anyone who violates the rules gets escorted out and banned from returning.”
Patricia nodded, satisfied. “Thank you, Alpha.”
The concerns continued. Water pressure issues in the northern residences. A request to expand the school. Questions about winter preparations. I addressed each one with half my attention while the other half stayed fixated on Lina.
She’d been in Pine Valley yesterday, alone except for Mika and Vivi, and the drive back to Ravenshollow took two hours, which meant plenty of time for something to happen on the road.
But she’d seemed fine when I’d found her, tired and uncomfortable the way seven months pregnant would make anyone, though not scared or hiding anything.
Except for that text message. And I’d let it go, like a fucking idiot.
The doors to the council chamber burst open with enough force to make everyone jump. Cole stumbled through, his face pale and his eyes wild. Every wolf in the room turned to stare at him while he crossed the space in long strides.
Fuck. I knew that look. Something was seriously wrong.
He stopped just in front of my chair, close enough that his next words would only reach me, Noah, and Hunt.
“He’s gone,” Cole panted. “Thomas, my son. He’s gone. So is the mother.”
The bottom dropped out of my stomach.
“What?” I kept my voice low but my wolf was already pushing at my skin, demanding to be let out. Demanding blood.
“Mary. She’s gone. Took Thomas with her.”
Fuck.
FUCK.
I stood abruptly, the chair scraping against the floor. Every eye in the chamber fixed on me but I didn’t give a shit. Looked back at Noah instead. My brother’s expression had gone carefully blank in that way he’d perfected over the years. The way that meant he was furious but keeping it together.
Noah stepped forward without me having to ask. “I’ll continue hearing and resolving your concerns while the Alpha investigates a pressing matter. Thank you all for your patience.”
I was already moving toward the door with Cole and Hunt right behind me. We didn’t speak until we were outside, the cool morning air doing nothing to cool the rage building in my chest.
“Tell me everything,” I said. “Now.”
Cole’s hands shook while he raked them through his hair. “I went to check on them this morning. Standard visit. The guards were unconscious. Door was open. They were both gone.”
“How long?”
“I don’t know. Hours, maybe. The guards don’t remember anything after dinner last night.”
Son of a bitch.
We reached Mary’s house in record time. The two story structure sat on the edge of pack territory, isolated from the main residential areas.
One of Alderic Thorne’s properties. He’d owned several around town, including the massive mansion in the center that we’d seized after his arrest. The mansion was being converted into an activity center for young pups.
The other properties were going to be raffled off to young couples who needed housing.
This one we’d kept for Mary until Cole finished the one he was building for them, far into the woods.
Mary had been the other woman. The woman who’d claimed to be pregnant with my child when really she’d been carrying Cole’s.
The one who’d lied and schemed and tried to kill my mate.
We’d caught her. Exposed her. Her father had been sentenced to life in prison for orchestrating the rogue attacks that had killed my brother Blake seven years ago.
Mary herself had been sentenced to exile once Thomas was weaned…
Until Cole changed that when Thomas was born premature.
He was small, fragile. The pack doctor had recommended keeping him with his mother for at least the first six months.
Cole had pushed for more. He’d said he didn’t want to take Thomas away from her, that he’d live with them and help her raise Thomas until he was old enough to make a decision of his own about his mother.
I admired the hell out of Cole for that, so we’d agreed, despite every instinct telling me it was a mistake.
Despite my wolf screaming that we should’ve dealt with her the second the baby was born.
Right now, in the meantime, she was under house arrest with guards on every entrance and food and supplies delivered daily. She wasn’t allowed to leave for any reason, wasn’t allowed visitors except Cole, and wasn’t allowed contact with anyone outside or inside the pack. Complete isolation.
It had worked. Mostly.
She’d tested the boundaries twice. Insulted the guards until they’d called Cole to deal with her.
Both times he’d come back annoyed and tight-lipped about whatever they’d discussed.
Things between us had been strained since the truth came out.
Cole blamed himself for sleeping with Mary in the first place.
For giving her ammunition to use against me.
For being stupid enough to think with his dick instead of his brain.
I’d forgiven him eventually, and Hunt had helped bridge the gap between us by playing buffer and mediator when things got tense. We were getting back to normal, slowly rebuilding what Mary had tried to destroy.
Now this shit.
The guards were propped against the wall outside the front door, both of them looking green and miserable.
Young wolves who’d only recently been promoted to guard duty.
I recognized Theo and Chris from training sessions, knew they were reliable in the field but apparently not experienced enough to handle Mary’s manipulation.
“What the fuck happened?” I asked.
The taller one, Theo, grimaced. “She drugged us, Alpha. We didn’t realize until it was too late.”
“Don’t you know you’re not supposed to drink or eat ANYTHING she offers you?” The growl in my voice made them both flinch. My wolf wanted to tear into them for their incompetence. “That was the first rule. The most important rule. Don’t accept anything from Mary Thorne.”
“She’s been behaving nicely to us lately,” Chris said quietly. “We thought motherhood really changed her. Made her softer.”
“You thought wrong,” Hunt said flatly. “You’re both fucking idiots.”
The guards looked miserable but I couldn’t bring myself to feel sorry for them. Not when Thomas was out there somewhere with a woman who’d proven herself capable of murder. Not when my best friend’s son was in the hands of a psychotic woman who’d do anything to get what she wanted.
“This stays between us,” I said. “No one outside this group finds out Mary escaped. Not yet. Not until we have a plan.”
Both guards nodded quickly.
“If anyone asks, you’re both sick with the flu. Contagious. That’s why you’re not at your post. Understood?”
“Yes, Alpha.”