Rose waited most of the night, but she didn’t hear from Ty until early the next morning before the sun had a chance to rise. He’d found a living victim, found, and captured Jack alive, and found the remains of many of the missing wolves from around the region. Ty’s hands were full, but he finally relented and came home to sleep. He had to be carried to bed because he’d crashed sitting up in his desk chair trying to get things started. Rose’s feelings were mixed by what he’d found and Ben’s findings in one of the last storerooms told her all she needed to know. That’s where Russell kept his ill-gotten gains. Antiques taken from the house, along with antiques he’d acquired from his dirty dealings, were stored there waiting for who knows what. Maybe to be sold off or traded to pay off his debts for whatever nightmarish pursuit caught his interest. Rose was disgusted at the thought that this wolf had shared blood with her. He let his pack flounder, knowi

“Have you heard from Mikey?” Heather asked Jay when she returned with Ben. Jay looked at Ben with an upset expression on his face. Jay was sulking because he’d not been able to find out how it was going in town with Heather and her father. “I only know that they’re making some kind of progress, and no one’s come out of the canyon as of yet. But I’ve been stuck most of my time in and around the Icehouse. It’s going to be a nightmare to torch the place to the ground.” Jay lost some of that sullen look once he embraced Heather and could breathe in her comforting and familiar scent. He’d been missing both of his mates. Jay kept reminding himself that it was because their mating was so known. But he’d always been a needy type of bloke, as his stepfather called him in disgust. “Yeah, well, I’ll trade you my job for that. I must oversee the job of matching up the bones, so we have one skeleton person. Right now, I have boxes of miscellaneous bones that more than l

Ty stood there and watched as they finally removed the last of the debris from the mound blocking the canyon entrance. Jack wouldn’t tell them anything about what happened after the explosion blocked the canyon. So, they were using drones to see what or who was there. They were using the one piece of technology that the shifter society feared probably the most after cellphones. They had to wait until after nightfall to send the drones in, otherwise they’d be shot down. When the second one in as many weeks was picked off, they knew someone hostile was on the other side. With that sent in, Mikey maneuvered the drone in with it’s night vision camera on. What greeted them was a camp with maybe three humans in it. There was no sight of any wolf shifters. Were they dead? Or hiding somewhere else? It took several hours and almost drained the battery on the drone. They needed to get in there for the humans only. Jack was the survivor of all the wolves that w

“I will understand none of this. What made Russell do what he did? Or humans hunting other intelligent creatures, including each other. It doesn’t make sense at all. The thrill, what thrill is there in doing something like this?” Ben lay on his bed, having woken from an afternoon nap with Julie. He lay looking up at the ceiling. “No one says you need to understand any of that. I’m just hoping that your latest lead isn’t a dud like the ones you’ve talked about in the past.” Julie mumbled from under her pillow. The sheet he lay on top of, covered her to her neck. All he could see of her right now was her long hair. “It’s different, I think. Look, first the Ruling Council found those who were feeding the hunter ring their information. Then there’s Daisy, who’s watching the traffic coming and going from the warehouse.” Ben’s eyes grew wide when Julie went from lying there relaxed. To still half asleep, to suddenly kneeling on the bed beside him with her eyes wide open

Rose watched the last of the Hollow Wood Pack settle back into their homes. At least, those buildings still stood even if they needed repairs. They would find the time and get things done in the never year or two. She figured in five years, they would have both packs settled, blended, and thriving. That is, if they could get this hunter’s ring down. Still no response to the questions sent to the Ruling Council that the surviving victims of Jack wanted answered. But she was sure that Jack wasn’t cooperating yet. It was only a matter of time before he’d answer them. “Has anyone heard about Dr. Paxton’s mate? How are they doing? What are we doing about healing in the area while he is away?” Rose listened to the questions of a rather heavily pregnant she-wolf. Her questions and concerns were valid. “I guess most of the pack doesn’t realize that there are actually two Dr. Paxtons in the area. Heather Paxton is still here and now a member of the Sha