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“If our son pursues her—if any of them do—it’s just another Hunt, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” she said with a sigh. “I’m not sure what’s wrong with her mating instinct. What’s wrong with our boys as well—it’s not normal for them all to be so drawn to her.”
“Does she feel any pull at all to them? Maybe a bit more to one of them?”
“I can’t tell. At dinner, she seemed to prefer Brand, but it could have been the proximity. We’ll need to seat Glen closer to her at meals… They’ll make such gorgeous pups.”
Finnick snarled softly.
Dad’s answer was sobering. “Margarette, they’re all displaying the initial signs that they’ve met their true mate. Whoever it is will be driven to claim her. The pain will be debilitating?—”
“I know. But she needs time. Possibly a long time.”
“Time is one thing they won’t have.” Dad cursed. “This pack had something to do with a coven. There could be dark magic at work. Is there any chance she’s not the true mate of any of them?”
There was a long pause. “For their sake, I almost hope she’s not. It could end their friendship when she chooses.”
“Mags, if there is some sort of magically perverted mate bond with more than one of them, when she claims her mate…”
I glanced at Finnick. We all knew. Shifters with an incomplete mate bond who were separated went feral.
But Dad finished. “It could kill the others.”
I swallowed hard. Could that be true?
“Bradley, that’s extreme. The bond will settle, I know it. She just needs more time, and healing from her trauma. Why don’t we take them with us?”
“All of them? Even Luke?” He sounded shocked.
“No, you’re right—they’ll need him here as Alpha. The Council voted. When are you going to execute Calvin?”
“I’m going down now.”
“Good. Make it quick, even if the bastard deserves to suffer. I can’t get out of here fast enough.” A door opened, and footsteps went past our room.
Shit. I had to change back to talk to Finn and Brand, and maybe even Luke, although I had a feeling he was going to have his hands too full to chase after my mate. Good. He didn’t deserve her. He could have told us, should have let us know years ago what was happening here. What they were doing to Flor.
In minutes, Finnick and I had changed forms, put on clothes, and were at Brand’s door. To my surprise, he and Luke both answered our knock. “Flor’s still in my room,” Luke explained at my look. “It’s locked. It didn’t seem right to stay in there with her.”
At the other end of the Pack House, there was noise. Probably Dad going to the cell with Mom and the other visiting Council members to take care of the loose end Luke had left.
“So,” I began, as we all stood in the muggy heat. The only illumination was from porch lights on houses outside the main compound, and a few security lights at the front of the sprawling one-story house. This whole place was a security nightmare. I could see how Flor had managed to hide from the Hunt for so many years. She’d probably been the one to knock the bulbs out of as many porch lights and walkway lamps as necessary.
The thought of the Hunt had me sneering at Luke. “She took that steak knife to bed, didn’t she? Mom said Flor still thinks she’s being hunted.”
“How could you not tell us?” Brand asked the question we all wanted answered.
Luke stiffened. “Callaway gave me an Alpha command, gave all of us orders, not to speak of anything that was going on here. When I tried to help her, he…” His voice broke, and he swallowed, his face pale. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what the bastard had done when disobeyed. “She needs to leave Southern. It’s toxic for her.”
“She needs closure,” Finnick inserted, his voice smooth and low. “I find the death of one’s enemies can provide that.”
“Point them out,” Brand demanded, his voice so low, it sounded like a rumble of earth. “The ones that hunted her. So I know which ones to kill.”
“Yes,” Finnick agreed. “Names, Luke.”
To my surprise, he nodded. “My first act as Alpha will be to remove the rank of all of the unmated wolves who participated and banish those who deserve that. Although that may leave me with no Enforcers to speak of.”
“How many were there?” Something twisted in my gut. “How many males, Luke?”
