Page 5 of Bound

When I emerged out onto street level twenty minutes later, Brody appeared like a wraith from behind the dumpsters.

At twenty-nine, he was the oldest of my brothers and acting pack Alpha. He went running every morning with his golden retriever, Major, and made the best pancakes in Lindley County, which he and Major proudly served up twice a month at Blood Moon’s memory care unit, right before letting those senior citizens kick their butts at bingo. Brody, that is. I had it on good authority that Major usually won. And got slipped a lot of sugar cookies in the process, which was why he was perpetually on a doggie diet.

“How’d it go?”

I grunted, rubbing my temples. “They’re definitely suspicious. Not sure how much longer the line about London is going to work.”

“Yeah, that was a long shot.” Brody propped his hands on his hips. “Topher check the street before you guys go up?”

“Clean.”

A muscle in his jaw ticked. Guess he hadn’t missed my tone. “Look, if you’re having second thoughts about this—”

“I’m not.”

“We agreed on four weeks with him. I’ve given you six. The vampires are abducting shifters off the streets of Austin and they’re using Eclipse to do it. We’re all out of leads at this point. If the Tracers knew what Topher could do, that he can track and fingerprint fang-heads, it could finally be the break they need to crack the case.”

Eclipse was originally a drug developed by the werewolf council to treat feral wolf madness by lowering viral loads in affected shapeshifters. It had been weaponized by the vampires because of its ability to prevent shifting and regenerative healing. In other words, one hit and a shapeshifter was powerless as a human.

Brody shook his head. “I have to take this to the Council.”

“You swore to me—”

“West—”

“If you tell those soulless pit vipers Topher can sense the presence of fang-heads, that’s it. Game over. They will force him into service for them and strip him of his free agency, if not wipe his memory completely.”

“You do remember that our youngest brother is one of those soulless pit vipers?”

I growled. “Don’t start with me on River.”

River was not only a Tracer, bounty hunter and enforcer for the werewolf council, but a skilled neuro-manipulator, able to strip and rewrite memories at will. River’s ability was off the charts, the constant deluge of voices something he could neither turn off nor keep out. Back at Christmas when we’d learned what Topher could do, we’d agreed River had to be kept out of the loop. Since he could pick through our thoughts at will once within a certain physical range, this had meant all six of us shutting him out completely.

I wanted to punch myself in the throat for ducking my little brother’s calls every time my phone lit up. Which eventually, it hadn’t anymore. But turning Topher over to the Council would be game over. And we all knew it.

“Topher might work with them willingly. You don’t get to decide for him any more than I do.”

My vision blurred. “You can’t. Remember what Cal said? His memory is too fractured. If the Tracers take him now, if he’s forced to relive what was done to him—”

The fire door out to the alley banged open. At the sight of us, Topher’s eyes narrowed.

“I miss the party?”

“It’s nothing.” I threw a dark look at Brody. “What did you find out?”

“No residual trace in the stairwells or out in the hallway. Nothing I can pick up leading down to the street, either.”

“Same as all the others.”

“Clean,” Topher confirmed.

Brody stared up at the streetlights overhead, which were now flashing amber. “If they’re materializing inside the apartment, it means they already know their victims, know where they live. Every one of these hits has been preplanned.”

“Could be they’re following their intended targets. Marking them somewhere.”

“Not likely. The leeches are good, but they’re not that good. They had the addresses. Which means either they hacked into the pack databases, or someone sold them out.”

“They’re taking them faster each time. The abductions last year were happening once a month. Now it’s one every week.” I rubbed my temples. “With Hudson Smith, that makes two males and four females, all of them shapeshifters. Demographics are in line with the local population. We have to figure out how they’re choosing their victims before they strike again.”