Page 48 of Hunted

“I know all this. What’s your point?”

“That you and my brother can’t lose sight of the fact that you are chasing a madman. He will stop at nothing. For Matteo Rossi, there are no rules. He’s obsessed with you, and with your uncle. Ask yourself why.”

“He was kicked out of the Tracer program.”

“Is that it?” My mother said nothing for a long moment. “So why the obsession with Ellie Crowe then? He’s gotten close to her several times now. Why not kill her?”

Something uneasy twisted in my stomach. She was right. Of course she was right. I just hadn’t wanted to see it.

“Ellie is my mate.” My mother raised an eyebrow, but didn’t seem particularly surprised. I went on, “Rossi wants power. This is a carefully orchestrated power play to usurp Guillermo. That’s why he hit the Tracer compound with Blackout, ensuring nearly a third of our wolves would be weakened, including Guillermo and Alek. He wants to portray Guillermo as unable to lead the Tracers and position himself as the natural successor to take over control of all the werewolves in North America. I’m standing in the way of that. And Ellie… is my Achilles heel.”

“Be careful. These are dangerous times. You know, I always thought if one of you had to be born with my ability to project, I’m glad it was Cal.” She said it quietly. An apology.

I studied her profile. “You say that like you wish none of us had been born with the Montemayor gift at all.”

“What I do, what your uncle does, there’s a darkness to it, a torment that there’s no escaping when you toy with people against their will.” My mother rubbed her arms. Her Tracer tattoos were covered by her jacket. There was no leaving the Tracers. Not really. “You remember when you were kids and the vampires attacked the house?”

“Sure.” I had been six. Cal was thirteen. Dad had been working the night shift. Mom had driven West and Dallas into town to pick up art supplies for a school project when almost two dozen vampires attacked the ranch.

Brody had gotten us all locked in the safe room and secured the door, but the fang-heads hadn’t stopped, bashing at it with crowbars. Eventually the smell of gasoline had begun to seep under the door. I could still remember how it had felt to crouch in the dark on the floor of the safe room with August and Ethan, Brody and Cal trying to come up with a plan when we all knew there was no way out, that we were going to die. I could remember Cal’s clenched fists as he knelt on the floor beside me, whispering, “Please, please.” And then, “Stop. Stop. Stop.”

“And they did stop,” my mother said quietly, and I realized I’d said the last part out loud. “Cal’s power manifested that night. He killed all two dozen vampires where they stood outside the saferoom. He unintentionally projected into their minds and stopped their hearts. I’ve never seen anything like it, especially from someone so young.”

“You knew,” I said quietly. “You knew from the moment you got there that it had been him.”

“I could see it in his eyes. Cal was devastated by what happened that night. He refused to touch his power for a decade after, no matter what I said to him. And that’s why perhaps it was best that he was the one who ultimately inherited the Montemayor projectionist gift. Maybe the only people entrusted with that level of deadly magic should be those who in their heart, truly don’t want to use it.” She ran a hand over the back of my skull trim. “You’re like me, River. My fierce, strong son. Don’t allow the bloodlust of the hunt to scent blind your wolf.”

“Guillermo and I are being careful.”

She shook her head. “Not careful enough.”