Ethan lying in his bed, injured and sleeping.
Lucy taking a bullet right in front of her eyes.
So much had happened, and Riley was able to do so very little about it. She felt powerless. Useless, even. Those feelings rubbed her raw and pricked at her raven’s pride.
It had been three days since the pack had the video conference with the Mercury Alphas. Harley’s margay cousins had happily taken on the job of spooking Ramón. They also hadn’t wasted any time in acting. Just yesterday they had broken into his home and wrecked his bedroom with claws and teeth—creating a mess that could only have been made by animals or shifters.
Ramón wouldn’t know margays had caused the damage, but he would know the Phoenix wolves had retaliated. He hadn’t called to complain or threaten the pack, but it was too early to tell if their plan would pay off or if Ramón would seek—
Tao gently tapped her temple. “What’s going on up here that woke you?” His eyes were closed and his voice was deep and throaty with sleep. As always, it made her tingle in lots of interesting places.
“Nothing in particular.” She kissed him, feeling bad that she’d disturbed him. “Go back to sleep.” She started to slip out of bed, but he splayed his hand on her stomach.
“Stay,” he coaxed.
“There’s no point. I’m wide awake.”
“Just lie here with me.” He grazed her earlobe with his teeth and turned her on her side to face him. “I like having you next to me.”
“But then I’ll be bored and fidget and keep you awake.” Which never seemed to bother him but eventually would, the longer they were mated. “If you’re not getting enough sleep, you won’t be completely alert and you’ll tire quickly when you’re working.”
“Just stay.”
“God, you’re stubborn.”
“Are you only learning this now?”
She snorted. “No, I learned that when I first arrived on your territory and you argued with the Alphas to have me removed, no matter how many times they said no.”
Tao smiled. “You just had to bring that up, didn’t you?” He traced the length of her spine with his finger. “If it makes you feel any better, the whole time I was working to make Taryn and Trey change their minds, all I wanted was to be buried balls deep in you.”
“Even though you didn’t trust me as far as you could throw me?”
“Even though.” He licked over his claiming mark. “I love looking at this. I love that our scents are mixed.” He raked his teeth over the bite as he closed a hand around her breast. “I love that you’re all mine.”
“I don’t think you’re going to be able to fuck me back to sleep this time,” she warned him. She was simply too wired.
“I do love a challenge.” He was just about to roll her onto her back when his cell phone beeped. Grabbing it from the nightstand, he tapped the screen. As he read the text message from Gabe, every muscle in his body tensed.
Sensing the change in him, Riley frowned. “What’s going on?”
“Someone’s at the gate.” He jumped out of bed and began pulling on some clothes.
“Who?”
“I’m about to find out. I shouldn’t be long; I just have to—why are you getting dressed?”
Dragging on a T-shirt, Riley flicked her hair out of her collar. “You’re going to the security room to check out the cameras, right? I want to know who’s here.”
Yeah, well, Tao didn’t want to drag her into the matter in case she insisted on getting involved in something dangerous. “You’re better staying here.”
“Should I remind you that I’m Guardian? I need to know if there’s a risk to the children so I can get them to safety.”
Tao swore, unable to deny that. “Fine. Let’s go.”
A minute later they were entering the security room, located near Trey’s office. Rhett was there, his fingers tapping crazily on the keyboard of his computer. Trey, Jaime, Dante, Makenna, and the other enforcers were also present. They’d undoubtedly all received the same warning from Gabe, who was manning the perimeter gate.
Riley glanced around. “No Taryn?”
“Kye had a nightmare, so he ended up in our bed,” said Trey. “She’s staying with him while I find out what’s happening.”
Tao went straight to the wall where all the monitors were positioned and homed in on the screen that displayed footage of the gate. Gabe was standing just outside the security shack, his eyes locked on the visitors standing behind the locked gates. “Is that . . . ? That’s a police car.”
Rhett nodded. “Yep. They got here a few minutes ago.”
Tao looked at Trey. “What do they want?” His stomach dropped when his Alpha turned to Riley.
“They’ve asked to speak with you,” Trey told her.
Riley pointed to herself. “Me? Are you sure?”
“The cameras have audio,” said Rhett. “We heard them ask for you.”
His wolf growled, and Tao slashed a hand in the air. “No fucking way is she going out there.”
“Definitely no fucking way,” agreed Jaime. “This could be someone trying to get Riley out into the open so she’s an easier target.”
Trey rolled back his shoulders. “I’ll speak with the humans and, basically, tell them to fuck off.” He ran his eyes along Tao, Dante, Ryan, and Trick. “Follow me.”
While Makenna and the other enforcers argued to go along, Tao gave Riley a quick kiss and said, “Don’t bother insisting on coming with us. I genuinely think the police are just bait to flush you out.”
“I wasn’t going to ask to go with you,” said Riley honestly. “I need to call my uncles and find out who’s missing from the flock. Someone sent the police here. I want to know who it was.” And she wanted to throttle the fucker for daring to bring danger to her home.
“Text me when you know.”
“Okay. Be careful.”
“Always.” Tao gave her one last kiss and then followed Trey and the others out of the room.
Keeping her eyes on the monitor, Riley pulled out her cell and called Ethan. “Hi, I know this isn’t a great hour to call, but we think there’s a good chance that someone from the flock is missing.”
“Somebody’s on your territory?” asked Ethan, both worry and anger in his tone.
“Not yet, but they’re close, and we think they’re trying to draw me out.”
“I’ll call you back in a minute.”
Riley bit down on her thumb as she waited for the Phoenix wolves to appear at the gate. Makenna, Jaime, Roni, Marcus, and Dominic gathered around her, all completely focused on the monitor.
“I’m pissed that I have to hang behind,” grumbled Marcus.
Dominic folded his arms. “Trey was right in what he said. If he takes too many wolves with him, it’ll look confrontational. It’s better to just get rid of the humans than to antagonize them.”