Rhett
"You’re going to help us find your friend. And if sothing’s happened to him, if the Collectors have him..." My father’s jaw clenched. "You’re going to take responsibility and live with what your choices caused."
"I’m sorry," I said, and my voice cracked. "Dad, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. I swear I didn’t know."
"Sorry doesn’t bring back kidnapped wolves," my father said coldly. "It doesn’t stop fighting rings, sorry, it’s useless."
He turned and started down the stairs. I followed, my mind racing with horrifying possibilities.
Slater in a cage being forced to fight. Beaten, broken, turned into sothing he’d hate.
All because I’d helped him cross the border. All because I hadn’t asked enough questions. All because I’d trusted that everything would be fine.
We reached the ground floor. Through the windows, I could see pack mbers gathering outside. The Elite Warriors—ten of our best fighters—were assembling with weapons and gear. They moved with military precision, checking equipnt, loading into vehicles.
Nolan approached my father. "Alpha Raymond has responded. He’s given full authorisation for retrieval, and his team is mobilising on their end. They’ll et us at the Millbrook border."
"Good. Are our people ready?"
"Yes, sir. We have trackers, fighters, and dical personnel on standby."
My father nodded. Then he turned to . "Get your gear. You have five minutes."
I ran to my room and grabbed what I needed: comfortable clothes, good shoes, and a jacket. My hands were shaking as I changed. I kept seeing Slater’s face, the way he’d looked when I dropped him off at the border. He’d been so excited to see his sister.
And I’d just let him walk into danger.
I made it back downstairs in four minutes.
Nolan imdiately ca to with a small canvas pouch. "Masking salts," He said, passing it to .
I scrubbed the salts along my throat and wrists, the scent flattening into sothing bland and clean. Nolan tossed a black jacket and a thin hood to tuck my hair under. He strapped a small radio around my bicep, checked the batteries, then clipped a narrow blade to my belt. "Nonlethal first," he said. "You know the drill."
"Copy."
My father was already in the lead vehicle, along with Marcus and three other warriors. I climbed into the back.
"Move out!" my father ordered.
The convoy pulled away from the pack house. Five vehicles total, all moving fast toward the border.
I stared out the window, watching familiar territory blur past. My face still throbbed where my father had hit . But the physical pain was nothing compared to the guilt eating away at my insides.
Slater was my friend. My brother in everything but blood. And I’d sent him straight into a trap.
We reached the border in twenty minutes. Alpha Raymond’s convoy was already there—another five vehicles with fighters I didn’t recognise.
Alpha Raymond himself stepped out of the lead car. He was a tall, imposing man with dark hair and a presence that made you want to stand straighter. Slater got his looks from his mother, but his bearing from his father.
My father got out to et him, and I followed.
"Raymond," my father sounded surprised. "I didn’t expect to see you so soon. I received word that we’ll et at the Millibrook border. Were you already in Ravenspire?"
"Yes," Slater’s father nodded quietly. "I ca here in respect to the court situation with the Greyes. I was asked a favour of Silas, and I ca to fulfil my part. Where is my son?"
"We’re tracking him now," my father said. "Our trackers picked up his scent trail leading toward Millbrook. He’s on foot, alone, and has been in human territory for approximately three and a half hours."
"You let him cross alone." It wasn’t a question. "What shitty kind of security do you have?"
"I’m sorry," My father tried again, but in a more asured tone. "I was not aware that Slater wanted to go to the human world. You know if I were, I would have done anything in my power to stop him."
"So how did he gain clearance?" Raymond asked.
"My son facilitated it without my knowledge or approval," my father said, and I felt the weight of his disappointnt settle on . "But the responsibility is mine. I should have had better security protocols."
Raymond’s eyes moved to . "Rhett."
"Sir," I said, my voice barely above a whisper.
"My son trusted you. Considered you one of his closest friends." Raymond’s expression was cold. "I hope, for your sake, that we find him alive and unhard."
I couldn’t speak.
"Enough," my father said. "We need to move. Every minute we waste is another minute the Collectors have to find him first."
"If I don’t find my son, Terry..." Raymond started.
"Raymond, listen, our sons an everything to us, and I understand how dreadful it is at the thought of him alone in the human world with all the threats, but we cannot help him if we sit here pointing fingers. I am not saying that my son did the right thing; this is taking responsibility for my son’s actions, that is all I can offer now."
Alpha Raymond sighed after a while and nodded. "Slater has always been set in his way, and didn’t we do more than they did when we were boys?"
At that, the corners of my father’s eyes crinkled with smiles as both n burst out laughing.
"It’s such a pleasure to reunite with you, Terry, after a long ti," Raymond said, grabbing my father and giving him a manly hug.
"Sa here," my dad nodded. "Now, let’s go rescue Slater. I can’t wait to give him an earful."
"Sounds like a plan," Raymond chuckled.
The two Alphas started coordinating their teams. I stood off to the side, feeling useless and terrified.
One of our trackers—a woman nad Sarah with the sharpest nose in the pack—jogged over to my father.
"Alpha, we’ve got sothing. Our contact across the border has pulled footage of him and a trail leading straight to Millbrook Elentary School. There’s a large festival happening there today. Lots of human activity, lots of scent contamination. But we can still track him."
"The school," I said suddenly. "That’s where his sister works. He went to see her."
"Then that’s where we’re going," my father said. "Sarah, lead the way: everyone else, standard search formation. We’re going into human territory in broad daylight, so keep your weapons concealed and your wolves in check. The last thing we need is to expose ourselves while we’re searching for him."
The teams mobilised. I rode with my father again, staring out the window as we drove deeper into human territory.
Two hours later, we hit the road to Millbrook, following the directions of the contacts we already had on the ground, and made our way to Millbrook Elentary School.
The festival was easy to find. The noise alone could be heard from a mile away before we arrived at the location. Crowds of people milled around with balloons and banners.
Deciding not to be caught up in the difficulty of moving our transport in such a crowd, we parked several blocks away and assessed the situation before moving. We all crowded into the back of the situation van.
"Talk to , Nolan," My father said as soon as we climbed in.
"Pulling public CCTV near the school," Nolan said into his mic. "I’ve got a town cam at the square. Another at the station. Nothing useful yet." He tapped more keys. "Wait—there’s an open feed from the festival ground. It’s a local live stream for parents."
My heart jumped. "Let’s see it," I blurted before my father could respond.
A screen in the dashboard lit up. Kids in wolf masks poured across a cardboard stage. A painted moon hung crooked in blue cloth sky. All around, families were cheering, taking pictures, doing things normal people would.
"Switch angles," my father said.
Nolan toggled between each cara. Spanning to the concession stand, a line for tickets, the festival location gate, and then the garden path, just behind the gym, where everything was happening.
The cara feed blurred for a mont, and when it ca back on, there was nothing. It was just empty.
"Go back ten minutes," my father said.
"Ye,s Alpha," Nolan nodded and backed the feed to ten minutes ago. The feed was slightly blurry, showing two figures in the shot with their backs to the cara. There was a young woman with dark hair, almost as tall as the man in front of her, who was Slater.
That ans the girl standing in front of him would be...
"Riley?" I heard Alpha Raymond’s voice call out in shock. When I turned, his eyes were filled with disbelief, happiness, guilt... everything all at once. "Please, can you pause the feed and zoom in?"
"Yes, Alpha," Nolan agreed.
Alpha Raymond leaned in, staring at the screen. I noticed his hands were beginning to tremble.
"It’s my daughter," he called out in a cracking voice, placing a hand over his mouth as he turned to my father. "It’s truly my child, Terry. It’s Riley. She’s not dead. Oh, gods! riam, she’ll be beside herself with joy. Our daughter is alive."
"A good thing, Raymond," my father said, clapping him on the back. "Now we know why the boy was here." Then he turned back to Nolan. "Resu playing it."
We watched as both Riley and Slater faced each other; they were saying sothing.
"Can you give us audio?" my father asked.
"There’s none, Alpha," Nolan replied.
Just as the words left Nolan’s mouth, a shadow slid into the fra from the left; it was so fast that it was almost difficult to notice it.
The cara lens shifted like sothing had brushed it. Then the picture remained static for a while, and when it cleared, the garden ca back into view, but this ti there was no Riley or Slater.
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