As Gage climbed through the window and leapt from the roof, he couldn’t get the image out of his head of his mate staring back at him, her green eyes wide with fear. If Onyx hurt her…

He would kill him, either way. No one broke into his house and kidnapped his mate without paying the price.

With fury running through his veins, he started to shift when Nik yelled, “Wait!”

Gage changed as fast as he could, ignoring his brother. If Nik wasn’t as fast a shifter, Gage might have actually made it all the way to the woods before the great brown wolf pounced on him, and the two went rolling through the grass. Desperate and panicked, Gage snapped his teeth at Nik, growling as he tried bucking him off.

Stop it! Nik yelled telepathically.

What the hell are you doing? Gage yelled back. They’re getting away!

We’re in no shape to chase them down. There are too few of us.

Then let me go after them alone.

No, Nik said firmly, growling low in his throat.

Gage paused. Are you working with Onyx?

Nik barked a laugh. Don’t be stupid. You couldn’t pay me to cooperate with thug-ilk like Onyx. I thought you knew me better than that.

I don’t know what to believe.

We need a plan. We need to regroup the others.

Gage strained to turn his neck enough to be able to see the SUV he could hear driving away in the woods. That’s when Danica shouted something at him through their bond—a license plate.

Gage’s tail wagged. Perfect.

What?

She gave us a lead. He started to sit up, and this time Nik let him. Shifting back to human form, Gage stalked toward the house, not caring in the least he was naked. The only thing that mattered was getting Danica back as soon as possible before anyone could hurt her.

If Onyx hadn’t already.

Gage’s throat tightened with worry.

Nik had shifted back as well and followed him into the house. Gage reached out telepathically to his packmates. One of the perks of being the Alpha was the ability to reach out to his fellow wolves whenever and wherever they were. Board room—now.

Soon as Mary spied him, she just sighed. “I’ll get you both some pants.” Muttering something about “indecent, knucklehead wolves,” she scurried off to one of the guest rooms. She’d seen so many naked men wandering around the manor that it was commonplace for her now. Mary got it—she was were after all.

Mary returned with pants for both Gage and Nik about the time the first wolf rolled in, a youngster named Jason.

“What’s happened?” he asked, toweling off his still-damp hair. His face was flushed and the scent of pine body wash clung to his pores.

“My mate’s been kidnapped,” Gage said, pacing. If he didn’t move about, he’d go mad.

Jason’s face turned serious. “What do we need to do?”

Gage had to admit, he was impressed with the kid’s maturity. He had almost not let him join the pack with him being only nineteen, but not once had he felt like he was babysitting. The kid had pulled his own, more so than some of the older members.

“I have a license plate we’ll need to get one of our friends in the DPI to do a quick trace on,” Gage said.

Nik whipped out his cell phone. “On it.”

“After that,” Gage went on, “we’ll need to track it down, which is why we can’t waste too much time. For all we know, the vehicle could be stolen.”

“Got it,” Nik announced two minutes later. “Thank God for witchcraft. It seriously scares the shit out of me sometimes, but times like this, I have to admit tracing spells are pretty handy. Verika said she’d even put a Trail on the vehicle.”

Gage’s shoulders visibly relaxed, and he made a mental note to take her out to dinner for all the help she’d been. It was a good thing Nik was on such good terms with his ex. He was actually on remarkably good terms with most of his exes, a quality that astounded Gage.

“Well, then, let’s not waste time.” Gage paused. “Where are the others?”

Jason and Nik looked around, then at the floor.

Gage didn’t have to ask to see what had happened. They’re abandoning me. They must still be upset with him over what had happened in the woods.

He warred with himself. No, he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t—wouldn’t—force them to do his bidding as Malachite had. If anything was to change, he needed to set as good an example as possible, to show he was not Malachite.

“Let’s go,” Gage said at last, walking purposefully toward the door.

“Don’t we need backup?” Jason said, striding after him with Nik at his side.

“That’s what you’re here for,” Gage said with a wicked smile.

Jason gulped.

Nik just shook his head and muttered a curse. “You should reconsider your plan, brother.”

“No,” Gage said without hesitation. “I knew their loyalties would have to be earned, and I would be tested. I failed one test with the massacre that happened with the wraiths. I’m not failing another by forcing them to do my will.”

Nik let out a long breath. “Too good for your own good,” he grumbled under his breath.

Gage looked at Jason, who’d gone pale despite the determination burning in his eyes. “You don’t have to do this. I’m not going to hold it against you.”

“I want to go! I mean, I never got to help with anything at home. No one trusted me. I want to do this. Please?”

Gage softened, his respect for the kid growing by the minute, and grunted a response.

He swallowed hard, praying he wasn’t leading them all to their deaths.

Hold on, Danica. I’m coming.