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Day 160 of the re-emerged Hat Island pack, Thursday, Nov. 14, near Kamloops, B.C.
Benny heard the rifle shot, and he shoved his shoulder into Ryder’s side sending him careening to the ground. Too late! He knew the bullet had connected. He just didn’t know how bad it was going to be.
“Get me some light!” Benny ordered Titus, who took off for the Expedition at a run.
Benny ripped open Ryder’s sweatshirt. He could feel it was already soaked with blood. Shit. His hands smoothed over his brother’s chest, seeking the wound. There. High on the left side, below his collarbone, but above his heart.
He hoped it was above his heart.
Titus got the Expedition moved up close, angled a bit to cut the glare and to provide some protection from another shot. Benny was grateful — Titus was a good person to have at his side in something like this. He looked up at the hillside, wondering if the sniper was still out there. He hadn’t heard a vehicle leave. So why hadn’t he shot again?
Bad angle? Maybe. A sniper was a patient shooter. He’d probably lain up there for hours, maybe even a day, just waiting. And he’d wait just as long for his next shot if that was what it took.
Or move around for another angle? The sniper might be doing that too.
Or maybe he was gone — he might have a vehicle miles from here. For a shifter, that would be no issue at all.
And Benny wanted to go and find out. His wolf wanted to hunt the bastard down so badly, Benny wasn’t sure he wouldn’t take over right now. Ryder, he told his wolf. Ryder comes first. And then we hunt.
His wolf hesitated, and Benny waited. Once he would have just asserted his dominance, but now? Partners, he thought at his wolf. Ryder first. Then we hunt. His wolf agreed, and stepped back, leaving Benny in control.
For now.
Titus dropped to his knees beside him and swore softly when he saw where Benny was pressing down. He pulled off his own sweatshirt and pressed it tightly against the wound. “He’s going to need some of that meat,” Titus said tensely, and one of the guards set of at a run for the bonfire. Benny nodded, glad Titus could even think right now. Titus helped raise the boy — Ryder was as much Titus’s son as he was his father’s.
Benny stood back. “Give me your phone,” he said. Titus kept up the pressure with one hand and pulled his phone out of his pocket with the other. He gave him the code and Benny punched it in and hit recents.
He glanced at Mucho who was standing there, looming over Ryder’s body. He was about in tears. The last thing they needed was a 300-pound biker having a meltdown. “He needs meat,” Benny said. “Find out what’s keeping those wolves. Send out another team if necessary. We’re going to need meat for them,” and he gestured toward the men at the bonfire, “and more importantly, for Ryder. He’s going to need every bit of energy we can push at him to heal.”
Mucho nodded, and moved away, grateful for something to do. Benny thought he’d go out hunting with his bare hands if need be.
Benny called the number. “Hello?” Jessie said, sounding frantic. “Titus? What happened? Something’s wrong! I can feel it.”
“It’s me, Benny,” Benny said. It was actually good news that she could feel it. “Ryder’s been shot. He’s going to need a power boost, like you’ve given each other before. But Jessie..... Listen to me!” he ordered and waited for her to calm down. “I need you to do this right, or we could lose you both. Do you hear me?”
“It’s bad, isn’t it?” she asked, her voice quavering.
“It’s bad,” he said. “But he’s still alive, and every minute that he lives makes it more likely that he will live. So I want you to find anyone who is Penticton pack that you can trust. Is Dennis there?”
“Yes, he and Michel just got back from his office downtown,” Jessie said.
“Good. You need him and Duncan. And Miles, if he’s around.”
She covered the phone and said something to someone else in the room. “Amanda’s gone to get them,” she said. “We’ve got trouble here too.”
Benny sorted through the options rapidly. “Whatever the problem is at Wolf’s Head, turn it over to Jason,” he ordered. “He can handle anything up to, and including, a war.”
“It’s getting there,” she muttered. She turned to speak to someone else. “OK. Cass went after Jason. Benny, you need to tell me what to do! I can feel his pain.”
“That’s a good thing,” Benny assured her. “It means your bond is working in spite of the distance. So put me on speaker when the McKenzies are with you, and I’ll brief you all at once.”
“Jason just came in,” Jessie said. “He wants to speak with you.”
“After I brief you and your team, I’ll talk to him,” Benny promised.
“They’re here,” she said.
“OK,” Benny said, moving away from Titus and Ryder. “Ryder was shot, and it’s bad. Jessie can push power and dominance to Ryder through their mate bond to help him heal. But she’s got to be watched, or she’ll push too much and she’ll be in trouble herself.”
There was a murmuring in the background. “Just accept it,” Benny said impatiently. “I don’t have time to teach a class in mate bonds. So, someone needs to monitor Jessie while she focuses on her mate bond. If her heart gets erratic, Dennis, you’ll need to snap her out of it. And Miles that’s where you come in.”
“Me?” the young man asked.
“Again, I don’t have time to give you the whole story — ask your grandfather — but you’re a rare submissive wolf and you, more than anyone, can help keep Jessie stable. Just like you’ve been doing for the guys out in the yard,” Benny said rapidly. Damn it, they should have told the boy this already.... Well, it had only been 48 hours since Ryder challenged the old Alpha, hard to remember that. “You feel their pain, and you go to them, and it helps. You need to do the same with Jessie.”
“I don’t know how,” Miles said with alarm. “What if I do it wrong?”
“I don’t think there’s any wrong way to do it,” Benny said as gently as he could. “And you know more about it than anyone within 500 miles of here, so you’re the expert. We’re in new territory all around, so do your best.”
“Yes, sir,” Miles said with a gulp.
“Good man,” Benny praised. “Now look. You three are Penticton pack. So you can funnel your own power through your pack bond to Jessie. It’s probably easier to give her energy and have her send it on to Ryder than for you to try to reach him over this distance. But listen to me, because this is important. You cannot let Jessie risk her life for Ryder. Do you hear me?”
“I can risk it if I want to,” Jessie protested. “I’ll be fine. That’s what the Second does, right? Protect the Alpha.”
“No, Jessie, trust me on this,” Benny said as firmly as he knew how. “I’ve seen this before. You have to be strong and not get sucked into Ryder’s wound and pain, or you’ll not be able to help him. You have to control the flow of power. Keep it steady, and make sure you’re in control! You cannot take risks with yourself. If you die because you send him too much of your energy, he dies too. Got that? You need to monitor it and shut down the energy transfer before you lose consciousness or lose control. If you don’t? You risk your life, his life, and the whole pack as well.”
He didn’t even want to think what would happen then. He’d watched helplessly when Abby had reached through her mate bond with Tanaka and risked her life for his. Back then, they hadn’t known what she could do — or what she’d risked. But he’d seen her heart go erratic. Felt....
He shook his head. They could have lost her, lost Tanaka, had both packs in disarray. They’d risked much that night. Maybe there was a reason packs prized stability above all else.
“Promise me, Jessie,” Benny said. Maybe he shouldn’t have brought her into it. But he hadn’t been sure she’d survive Ryder’s death, and this might be Ryder’s only chance. “Promise you’ll protect your own life.”
“All right,” she said reluctantly. “I promise. I’ll send him all the power and energy I can, but I won’t do it to the point that I lose consciousness. But you’ve got some explaining to do when you two get back.”
She gulped back a sob. “And you bring him back to me, you hear?”
“He’s coming back to you, I promise,” Benny said firmly. Please don’t let me be lying, he thought. “You just have to help him without harming yourself. Because he’d be pissed as hell if you do.”
She laughed at that. “OK,” she agreed. “So, I send him power and energy through the mate bond.” She paused. “Benny? Did you know I have two bonds with him? A mate bond, and the pack Second bond?”
“You do?” Benny asked. It made him smile. Life was weird, and all this change traditionalists wanted to block in the name of that much-touted stability was so interesting. It was worth the risks. “That’s so cool,” he added to Jessie. “Try sending a bit of power through them both. But your mate bond is the most powerful.” He thought it was anyway — how the hell would he know? He was making this shit up as fast as he could.
“Got it,” she said. “Now let me get off the phone so I can give this a try.”
“Let me talk to Duncan first,” he said.
“Hello.” Duncan’s voice came through.
“Take it off speaker,” Benny directed, and waited.
“Go ahead.”
“Look, I’m serious about this. It will be tempting to let her do whatever it takes to save the Alpha,” Benny said, desperate to convince him. “You can probably feel the desire yourself through the pack bonds. But it’s one of those cases where moderation wins. If she risks herself? Everyone dies.” And he did mean everyone.
“Got it,” Duncan said, and it sounded like he really did. “Yes, I can feel that something’s wrong. That means the rest of the pack can feel it too. You realize that, don’t you?”
Benny did. “Do the best you can,” he said. What else was there to say?
“Jason wants to speak to you, too,” Duncan said.
“How bad?” Jason asked.
“He’s still alive,” Benny answered grimly, with a quick look to make sure that was true. Someone had brought a haunch of a deer over to Titus who was using a knife — probably Benny’s knife that he’d given Ryder earlier — to cut it into small digestible pieces. “We’re pushing food at him now. If he can eat, he’ll live.”
“Good,” Jason said. “Indigo Barnaby and Timothy O’Brien said we’ve got watchers. They saw them and called to let me know. We’re under siege effectively. And I think more are joining them. It’s affecting the recruits outside. Increased fights, that kind of thing.”
“Use Miles,” Benny suggested. “Just for a short walk, because he needs to be by Jessie’s side. But you’ve probably got 30 minutes, before it gets risky. Have him walk through the recruits. They’ll find his very presence calming.”
“OK,” Jason said, accepting it without question. Well, there was a reason he liked to work with the man. “Any ideas about who we’re facing or how many?”
“No,” Benny said. “But there were a lot fewer men here than we expected. We thought it was deserted at first. And then Ryder sensed shifters in the basement of the lodge. Eight of them. They were bait. They’d been locked up without food and were almost feral. Ryder was able to subdue them and lead them out. But as soon as he came out of the lodge, a sniper was waiting. And they shot him. But, Jason, I think there were more wolves here. And I think they’re headed your way.”
“Also feral?” Jason asked.
Benny looked at the men huddled by the bonfire. They were eating, so that was good. “Or nearly so,” he agreed. “That fits with what we’ve picked up so far. As soon as I get the chance, I’ll talk to the men we rescued, see what they know. You might also talk to Sharon Campbell. She may know more than she realizes. Ryder was pretty sympathetic, by the way, so reassure her that she’s not in trouble.” She was 15, after all. After running the boarding school, he had a new appreciation for what that meant. She would need reassurance or she’d do something drastic. And that was exactly what they didn’t need.
“Got it,” Jason said.
A thought occurred to Benny. “Jason? Have Sharon reach out to the Girls Who Howl TikTok group. Give her questions to ask them. Let Sarah Johannsen send out for information. What she did last weekend was amazing.”
“I’ll have her try,” Jason promised. “OK, I’m going to take Miles for a walk.”
Benny snickered at the phrasing, and he could hear Jason’s amusement in his voice.
“Tell Jessie I think she’s amazing, and that she can do this,” Benny said seriously.
“I’ll tell her.”
And then the call was over. Benny pocketed the phone and returned to Ryder’s side. He crouched down. “Listen, bro,” he said. He put his hand on his brother’s neck, touching the small scar of the mate bond. It almost felt too intimate to do it — he didn’t think he’d ever touched someone’s mate-bond scar before. You just didn’t. It was sensitive, highly so; but maybe that would allow Benny to reach him.
“Your mate’s got some energy and power coming your way,” Benny continued softly. You need to watch for it and funnel it to your wolf. Use it to heal. Don’t pull on it! Just let her shower you with her energy. It’ll feel good, so good. Just luxuriate in it. And heal. That’s all you’ve got to do, is focus all that loving on healing.”
Titus looked at him. “You think he can hear you?”
Benny shrugged. “Worth a try?”
Titus hesitated. “You know he’s still Okanogan pack too. He’s both packs.”
Benny looked at the Okanogan Second. “Something you and Dad cooked up,” he guessed, a bit sourly.
Titus shrugged. “I’d never heard of it,” he said, focusing back on the younger man lying on the ground under his hands. “But he said, I could shove the Alpha link at whichever of you I thought could take it. Or would take it. I’m just to tug on it, and he’ll let go. And then I re-hook it to one of you.”
Benny considered that. Would it help Ryder? It might have if they’d already done it. But he was afraid to try it now. “We’ll keep that in mind,” Benny said. “I don’t know enough. If it takes energy from him, then it might be the last straw. On the other hand, if it gives him another pack to pull on? That would be a good thing. And it’s a pack we can trust actually cares about him.”
Titus nodded. “I heard what you said. It occurs to me a few of his Wolves here are Okanogan pack like me. We might try the same thing you told Duncan to try with Jessie. I think I see how it works.”
“I’ll send them over,” Benny said, getting to his feet. “I’m going to talk to those captives, and then?” He looked up to the hill where the shot had come from. “And then I’m going hunting.”
“Bring him back alive if you can,” Titus growled. “I’d like a piece of him myself.”
Benny thought Titus might mean that literally. And he wasn’t going to argue against it either.
The wolves had gone back out hunting again, and there was a second deer at the bonfire. No one was being fussy about eating raw meat either. They looked up at him as he approached. They all but growled, protecting their meat. He ignored them.
“Is he going to be OK?” one of them asked. The original speaker, Benny thought, recognizing the voice. The one who had warned them.
Benny nodded and tried for a reassuring smile. “He’s tough,” he said. He saw Ryder’s Wolves nod. They agreed. It was a point of pride — their man was tough. He singled out Ken and Kev. “Titus could use your help,” he said. The two stopped cutting up meat immediately and headed toward the lodge, no questions asked.
“Not me?” Mucho said plaintively. Benny smiled at him.
“We’re not Okanogan pack,” he said regretfully. “Titus needs someone he has a link to. We’ve got other work to do. Feeding these guys is just as crucial.”
Mucho nodded and returned to pulling apart the deer he’d been working on. Benny watched for a moment and shook his head. The man was strong, no lie.
“So, you all were part of the shifters who were training out here?” Benny asked. “And they locked you up and left?” Left a sniper, too, he thought grimly. He still hadn’t heard a vehicle leave, so he thought the sniper might still be out there — patiently waiting for another shot. Or waiting to see if the Alpha died. Benny thought about that.
No one said anything. “When did this start?” Benny tried a simpler question.
“Late last night,” Growler said finally. “Centurion Logan came in, and said some would go into town, and a few of us needed to stay. And we’d have dominance fights to see who went and who stayed.”
“You didn’t get into this bad of shape in 24 hours,” Benny observed. He noted the name and the title. “When was the last time you ate?”
“We eat when we’ve earned it,” Growler said. “They said shifter fighters are at their best when they’re hungry and mean.”
Benny stared at him for a moment. “They keep you like this all the time?” he asked, incredulously. Maybe he should have asked more questions of Will and Trevor! As if he’d had time to do any intelligence gathering. He had been running from crisis to crisis.
Growler nodded.
“How many of you were here?” he asked.
There had been three who were capable of speaking in the basement. The one who had warned them, this man who had known about Mosul, and a third who had helped control the others. Benny examined them. Growler and another — the one who warned them, he thought — were standing next to him, food in hand. The others were focused on their food — they were struggling to stay in control. He looked up at Mucho. The big man grimaced and nodded.
OK, if he was aware, that was all Benny could do.
“Close to 100,” Growler said finally answering Benny’s question. “Well, fewer than that now. But they said we were a century, like in Roman times. And we would be the vanguard to build a new Rome.”
Why anyone thought building a new Rome was a good idea was beyond him. But it wasn’t the first time he’d heard that stuff. There was a movement among humans called Red Caesar right now that said democracy wasn’t working and they needed a Caesar to rescue them.
Stupid shits.
Of course, with shifters, there might even be someone around who remembered the Romans. He did the math. No, that might be a stretch even for shifters. More than 1,700 years? Even Ayta was only 800 years old. And she was the oldest wolf he knew of.
He yearned for her briefly. Maybe when this was over, he’d go down there for a visit — what ‘over’ meant, he wasn’t sure. But Maggie could wait a bit longer for her bike back. He set that aside. So no. Shifters were just being as stupid as humans were about Rome.
“So there were 100 of you,” Benny prompted. “And earlier today, he took most of them back to town with him. Did he have vans?”
They nodded at that.
“How did he choose who he was leaving behind?” Benny asked, trying to keep it casual. He needed to get them talking, but he was impatient. He wanted to check on Ryder. And he really wanted to go after that sniper. Just thinking that he was still out there made the back of his neck crawl.
“We always have dominance trials,” Growler said. “Not to the death, usually,” he added hastily. “Just to establish who was the most dominant. Well, not until yesterday, anyway.”
Wait, what? They’d started doing dominance trials to the death yesterday? Well, he guessed that explained the dead bodies they’d smelled in the basement.
“When I first got here, it was just to see who could command,” Growler said. “And the most dominant were given their own unit to command. He called us decanus.”
Holding to the Roman motif. He wondered who among the Penticton pack had had a classical education. One of the Campbells? Maybe all of them.
“So why are you here and not with them?” Benny asked, because Growler was dominant. He had a hard time thinking he wasn’t near the top of the recruits.
Growler sighed. “I screwed up,” he said. “And my punishment was to stay here with my unit.”
Benny nodded. “And you?” he turned to the other speaker. “Did you screw up too?”
The man gave him a half smile. “In a manner of speaking,” he agreed. “My name is Mark Campbell. And I argued with my grandfather. He wasn’t happy about it.”
Benny stared at him. “I met your daughter,” he said at last, and then felt a bit stupid for that non sequitur.
“Is my family OK?” Mark Campbell asked urgently. “I’ve been afraid....” He trailed off, then took a deep breath. “I wanted to move my family out of the family house in the vineyards and into town,” he said. “We argued. And I was sent up here — until I came to my senses. That was 10 days ago?”
He looked uncertain, but continued on, “He promised they would be safe, if I stayed up here and assumed command of these wolves in preparation for their attack — the original plan of attack, not this one. If I did, then he would leave my family alone.”
“And the basement?”
Mark Campbell looked at him wryly. “That got hatched up between Logan and my grandfather on the phone yesterday. I was promised if I stayed behind, my family would be fine. And if the Alpha came, I could attack him.”
“You didn’t do it,” Benny observed. All Mark would have had to do was stay silent, and attack when Ryder opened the door. Instead he’d tried to warn him off.
Mark shook his head. “No,” he said. “It turns out there is a line I won’t cross, even to protect my family. Besides, I had time to think. And attacking the new Alpha didn’t offer good odds for survival. Not for me, or for my family. I’m sure my grandfather didn’t expect me to survive it either. But if he kept his promise to leave my family alone? It didn’t matter.”
“Sharon’s with the new pack Second at Wolf’s Head,” Benny told him. “She ran from your grandfather when he beat her in rage last night. But she talked to her mother this afternoon. So at least at that point, your family was fine.”
Mark looked like he was going to pass out from relief.
“Go on with your story,” Benny said.
Mark sighed. He seemed more willing to talk now that he knew his family was safe — or had been. He looked at the piece of raw meat in his hand and grimaced, but he ate another bite.
The picture he painted was disturbing. There had been a trickle of wolves heading toward Vancouver for years — since the retribution, and maybe before. Mark Campbell wasn’t sure. The Campbells weren’t involved with it back then — they ran the vineyards and the winery. But about four months ago, the trickle turned into a flood — more than the McKenzies could handle in town. So this place had become a training center for the wolves Vancouver Alpha Chen wanted. And Angus Campbell had volunteered his grandsons to run it.
Things got uglier when Chen sent out Bjorn Hansen. He’d ramped up the training protocols, and then challenged the pack Second when he decided he didn’t want to play war games in a forest in the middle of nowhere. Hansen’s own words, Benny guessed from the distaste in Mark Campbell’s voice when he said them. Bjorn Hansen wanted back in town — and as pack Second he was. So Logan Campbell took charge out here.
Mark had been his second in command — and really he’d done most of the hands-on work with the young recruits. Logan was too impatient to deal with them.
And then Tuesday everything had changed again. They’d felt Bjorn’s death, and it had cut the wolves out here loose. Benny thought that fit with what had happened in town too. The most recent arrivals were linked to Bjorn, not to the Alpha. Bjorn Hansen had been building a troop of shifters who were loyal to him — not McKenzie. Not Campbells. Not the Penticton pack.
Benny wondered how long it would have been before Hansen took over the pack — and how he had planned to do it. Academic question, now. But Benny thought that they’d probably interrupted a coup in the planning stages.
And then the Alpha died too — a challenge fight, but neither Mark nor Logan could tell who. Someone they didn’t recognize. That started a lot of phone conversations between Logan and Angus Campbell that Mark hadn’t been privy too — which had told Mark all he needed to know about how the family hierarchy was shaping up. When Logan had announced that the dominance fights would be to the death — the shifters needed to be blooded — Mark had protested. And got attacked by Logan in wolf form and then tossed into the basement. An example had been made of him, Mark thought, so that the younger wolves would know who was boss and what happened if you disobeyed. If Logan would do this to family, what would he do to them?
He’d been joined by Growler — whose name was Isaac apparently — and his team when Isaac refused to kill his defeated opponent.
There was no place in the century for sissies, Logan had told them all, according to Isaac. But even sissies could serve the century.
Isaac had been working in Glacier National Park as a guide, but when things shut down for the winter, he’d drifted down here, pursuing a call for lone wolves looking for a place to belong. He’d thought Penticton might do for the winter. And then he’d ended up out here. “If I wanted to spend the winter in a god-forsaken half-destroyed lodge I could have stayed at the park,” he said with disgust. Benny thought he’d grill him later about that call he’d heard, but for now, he had to focus on Campbell’s plans to take over the pack.
“Campbell needed bait and you were it,” Benny said, considering it. “If the place had been abandoned we wouldn’t have come in there. And the sniper couldn’t get his shot.”
Mark grimaced. “Sounds like my grandfather,” he said. “Plans within plans.”
“What was he planning to do with the wolves who left?” Benny asked. “Someone came up after them, right?”
Mark Campbell met his eyes. “Rory came up,” he confirmed. “He had vans with him. He’s going to attack Wolf’s Head. He said if the Alpha didn’t come here, he’d be there. And if he did come up here, that ‘damn female pack Second’ would be there, and that would be almost as good.”
Benny sensed the description of Jessie was a quote and he didn’t challenge him for what sounded like disrespect.
“Are the wolves he took in as bad of shape as you?” Benny asked.
Mark nodded and closed his eyes as if the memory of the last few days pained him. “We were due a food delivery on Tuesday. But with Bjorn’s death, then the Challenge, and everything in turmoil, I think they forgot about us. I wanted to send some wolves out to hunt, bring in a deer. But....”
But Logan was in charge, and he thought a bit of hunger would give the men an edge. Benny added Logan’s name to his growing list of men who must die.
“Had some time to think down there,” Mark said wryly. “Logan and our grandfather probably started planning this the minute the Alpha fell.”
Probably, Benny agreed. Or even more likely, they had been fantasizing about the Alpha’s death and how they’d assume power for a long time.
“And is Logan the sniper on the hill?” Benny asked.
Mark looked up at the hillside too. “I don’t know. I’ve been in the basement,” he reminded him. “It could be Logan. Or he could have taken the wolves in to Grandfather, and left Rory up here. I don’t know. Rory came down to the basement to gloat — said I was paying the price for my lack of obedience to Grandfather’s wishes — so I know he was here. But I don’t....” He trailed off again.
“I’ve lost track of time,” he admitted. “I’m pretty disoriented.”
Benny considered him. He didn’t think the man was lying, but as he just said, he might not be completely reliable either. “So what is the plan for using the wolves?” he asked.
Mark Campbell shook his head. “I don’t know. I mean if I were to guess — he’s going to turn the wolves loose and tell them to attack. And if they’re hungry? They’ll go for the house and after everyone in it.”
Benny nodded. Simple and almost foolproof. And Benny was three hours away from being able to do a damn thing about it. Well, that would have to be Jason’s problem.
“Eat,” Benny ordered. “Get these others to eat too.” He looked at Isaac. “They’re your team. They’ll look to you for leadership. You want them to eat, and to talk to you. That’s your assignment. Mark will help you, but you’re the one that’s kept them alive so far. So bring them home.”
Isaac looked at the other young men consideringly. Mark met his eyes and nodded. Good enough. He turned away from the bonfire and walked toward the Expedition. He called the number he had one more time. A woman answered it. Amanda, he thought. She found Jason for him, and he filled him in.
Jason’s swearing was memorable.
“Wish I could be there to help,” Benny said, meaning it. It was killing him not to be on a bike heading south toward them right now.
“Wish you were too,” Jason muttered. “Any bright ideas?”
Well actually, Benny had one — a message for Jessie. Jason listened silently. Benny waited for a reaction, but apparently Jason had none. Couldn’t say he blamed him. “How is she?” Benny asked.
It seemed to be working, Jason said. She was stretched out on a couch in Duncan’s study, with Dennis monitoring her pulse. Amanda Chen had taken over the house; at least she was the one he was working with. “Is she related to Alpha Chen?”
“Granddaughter,” Benny said.
Jason swore at that too. “Hell of a thing to send your own into.”
Benny shrugged. “Compared to what? What pack Second Nickerson gave his granddaughter to?” he asked. “Compared to all the horror stories we heard at Margarite’s?”
“Well when you put it that way,” Jason said dryly. Benny laughed at that, then ended the call before going to check on Ryder one last time. “How is he?” he asked softly.
Titus looked up. He was looking old and tired. Not a good sign. “He’s healing,” he said. “But it’s a bad wound, and it’s a struggle.”
“Don’t feed him so much of your energy that you’re worthless as a guard,” Benny told him. “If he’s starting to heal, he’ll come back. Feed him. Guard him. And eat something yourself!”
“I’ll get something for us,” Kev volunteered.
“See if those guards have brought in another deer,” Benny said.
He looked at Titus. “You’re in charge, pack Second,” he said formally. “I’m going after that sniper.”
“Godspeed,” Titus said softly, tipping his head in a sign of respect, and accepting the responsibility for these men.
Benny considered shifting and hunting as a wolf. But the man was a sniper. Taking on a sniper as a wolf was about as good as the old saying about ‘bringing a knife to a gun fight.’ No, he’d go as human. He pulled his pistol out of the waistband of his pants where he’d stashed it when Ryder fell. It wouldn’t have the range of a rifle, but it would do.
Benny wanted up close and personal anyway. He wanted the sniper to see death coming.
He let his wolf surge forward. Hunt, he said, turning control over to him. Find the shifter who shot our brother, and I will kill him.
The shifter who left the lodge compound was more wolf in human form than anything. Benny’s senses were sharper, and he could feel the lone shifter sitting up there on that slope waiting. He wasn’t sure for what or why he hadn’t fired since. He thought Angus had a plan to see to it that Campbells were in place to grab the pack bonds if they snapped loose — Mark could easily have become Alpha if he’d attacked Ryder instead of warning him, although Benny agreed with Mark’s assessment that he wasn’t dominant enough to take Ryder.
Whoever was leading the wolves back into town could become pack Second if they challenged Jessie. And if Ryder died out here? No telling who would grab those bonds then. Jessie? That was one of the functions of a pack Second, but Benny didn’t see her surviving Ryder by long. Well, none of those plans of Campbell’s were going to come to pass. Benny was determined to make sure of that. He set all of that aside and focused on the task before him — find the sniper and kill him.
But Benny the man wasn’t in charge any longer. Just as they had played on the bike, now they would share control here. Speech, gun — he reminded his wolf of the things he could do as a man that couldn’t be done as a wolf. Like speed limits and cops, Benny insisted. The control was shared.
Hunt, his wolf said in agreement. Kill.
Yes, Benny said. Hunt. Kill.