Chapter 2 #2
We pushed past them into the house and the interior that greeted us was neat and clean, everything in its place because Mary had always been obsessive about order. The living room looked untouched, the kitchen spotless, and upstairs the nursery door stood open wide.
Cole made a strangled sound and pushed past me into the room. The crib was empty with blankets rumpled but no baby, no signs of struggle, just absence that felt louder than any scream.
“She planned this,” I said quietly. My wolf prowled under my skin, furious and frustrated.
Hunt nodded, already moving through the room with careful precision. “Nothing’s out of place. She didn’t pack in a hurry. This was calculated.”
Cole stood frozen in the middle of the nursery, staring at the empty crib. His shoulders shook. “Fuck. FUCK.” His voice cracked. “I should have been there more. Should have seen this coming. She’s been so compliant lately. That should have been the first red flag.”
Damn right it should have been. But I bit back the words because Cole was already falling apart and kicking him while he was down wouldn’t help find Thomas.
“We’ll find them,” I said instead.
“How? She could be anywhere by now.”
“She’s on foot with an infant. She can’t have gotten far.”
Hunt moved to the closet, pulling out clothes and tossing them on the floor. “She took supplies. Diapers, formula, baby clothes. But not much. Maybe a day’s worth.”
“She’s meeting someone,” I said. “She has to be. She wouldn’t run without a plan.”
“Who would help her?” Cole demanded. “Everyone knows what she did. No one in this pack would risk exile to help Mary Thorne.”
“Someone outside the pack then.”
The implications of that settled over all of us. If Mary had outside help, this was bigger than just an escape. This was coordinated. Planned. Which meant whoever was helping her had resources and connections we didn’t know about.
And that meant my mate and children were potentially in danger.
My wolf snarled at the thought.
I pulled out my phone and texted Noah. Need you to pull all records from before Mary’s arrest. Friends, associates, anyone close to Alderic. Any contact with other packs. Everything.
His response came immediately. On it.
“Hunt,” I said. “Gather the most loyal people we have. Wolves we can trust to keep their mouths shut. Form three search teams.”
“How many per team?”
“Five. Our best trackers only. Have them meet here in twenty minutes.”
Hunt nodded and disappeared out the door, already pulling out his phone to make calls.
I turned to Cole. He still stood in the middle of the nursery, looking lost. I’d never seen him this broken. Not even after Blake died. This was different. This was his son. His child. The one good thing that had come from his mistake with Mary.
“We’ll find him,” I repeated.
“What if we don’t? What if she hurts him? What if she’s using him as leverage for something and we can’t give her what she wants?” His voice climbed higher with each question.
“Cole. Look at me.”
He turned, eyes wild.
“We will find Thomas. I promise you. Whatever it takes. However long it takes. We will bring your son home.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“I just did.” And I meant it. Even if I had to burn down every pack territory between here and the coast.
Hunt returned fifteen minutes later with fifteen wolves, all of them people I’d trust with my life. The best trackers in the pack. Loyal pack members who would die before betraying us. They gathered in the living room while I explained the situation.
“Mary Thorne has escaped with her infant son. This information does not leave this group. If anyone asks, you’re on a training exercise.
Nothing more.” I met each of their eyes, letting my alpha authority press against them.
“You’re going to track her scent. Find any trail she left.
Report back to me the second you find something. ”
Hunt divided them into three teams and sent each one to grab a piece of Mary’s clothing to track her scent. They scattered in different directions within minutes, moving fast and silent through the woods.
Cole stood at the window, watching them go. “I want to go with them.”
I’d known he would ask. Part of me wanted to say no. Wanted to keep him here where I could watch him. Where I knew he wouldn’t do something stupid in his desperation to find his son. But I also knew what it felt like to be helpless. To have someone you loved in danger while you did nothing.
“Go,” I said.
He turned, surprise clear on his face. “What?”
“Go. Find your son. But check in with me daily. I need to know you’re safe.”
“Knox, I...”
“Don’t thank me. Just bring Thomas home.”
He nodded once and bolted out the door without another word. Hunt watched him go with a concerned expression.
“He’s going to do something stupid,” Hunt said.
“Probably.”
“Want me to follow him?”
“No. I need you here. Someone has to help Noah run things while I figure out what the fuck is happening.”
Hunt nodded slowly. “What are you going to tell Lina?”
That stopped me. I hadn’t thought that far ahead. My first instinct was to tell her everything. To share the burden the way mates should. But she was seven months pregnant. Stressed. Already dealing with too much.
“Nothing,” I said finally. “Not yet. Not until we have more information.”
“Knox...”
“She doesn’t need more to worry about right now.”
“She’s going to find out eventually. And she’s going to be pissed you kept this from her.”
“I’ll deal with that when it happens.” My mate’s temper was legendary. But I’d rather face her fury than risk her safety.
Hunt looked ready to argue but thought better of it. “Your funeral.”
Damn right it was.
We locked up Mary’s house and posted new guards. Older wolves this time. Ones who knew better than to accept anything from anyone. Then I made my way back to the pack house with a weight in my chest that hadn’t been there this morning.
Mary was gone. Thomas was gone. Cole was out there somewhere tracking them down. And I had no idea who was helping Mary or what their endgame was.
The pack house was quiet when I walked through the front door. Most wolves were at work or school. The usual bustle of daily life continued around me while my world felt ready to implode.
I could hear the shower running upstairs. Lina. My mate. Pregnant and vulnerable and completely unaware that one of our biggest threats had just escaped.
My wolf rumbled protectively in my chest.
I stopped by the twins’ room first. Rowan and Thea were both napping, curled up in their respective beds.
Rowan clutched a book even in sleep. Thea had somehow managed to kick off all her blankets and was sprawled across the mattress taking up twice the space her small body should reasonably occupy.
I pressed a kiss to each of their foreheads, breathing in their scent. Safe. They were safe. I’d make damn sure they stayed that way.
Our bedroom door was open. The sound of water running came from the attached bathroom. I stripped off my clothes, leaving them in a pile on the floor, and pushed open the bathroom door.
Lina stood in the shower with her back to me, water cascading over her curves. Her dark hair was wet and slicked back. She held a bottle in her hands, bringing it to her nose.
“Did you change my stuff?” she asked without turning around.
I grinned despite everything, despite Mary and Thomas and the chaos waiting outside this room, because my mate was here and safe and mine.
“Maybe,” I said, stepping into the shower behind her. She was about to be so pissed at me.