The ceremony and the vows were simple—after all, they had already mated, already entwined their magic forever. The three brothers slipped rings on their new wives, making visible the human bond between them, but it could never be as strong as the magic that already bound them together. A justice of the peace Mama River had brought in from Seattle served to make it legal. When the short, scrawny man said, “You may kiss the brides!” the crowd let out a roar, the kind only wolves could make—half growl and half celebratory yowl.
Then it was back to the main house for champagne and an overwhelming amount of small plates that his mother had made and catered in for the affair. There was a lot of backslapping and cheek-kissing and general well-wishing.
Jared had never been happier in his life.
One of the Wilding cousins was setting up a DJ station, and Jared debated whether to stay for the full celebration, or haul his gorgeous bride back to their cabin for an early start on the honeymoon, but she was being mobbed by her admirers—she was already a celebrity in shifter circles for her act of bravery, coming out to the world as well as shutting down the Senator. Jared could stand to sit back and watch, let her have a moment in the sun before he squirreled her away all to himself. He was just joining Jace, Jaxson, and Owen for a drink when a commotion at the front door drew their attention.
Some kind of heated argument was going down at the door between a guest and some junior members of the Wilding pack who were serving as doormen.
“What’s going on over there?” Jace asked with a frown.
“I don’t know,” Jared said, setting down his champagne glass. He peered around the throng in the great room blocking their view. “Isn’t that Daniel Wilding at the door?”
Daniel had been captured by Agent Smith, like most of those in attendance, but only suffered a few of the tortures—but he had helped bring down the Colonel, his father, who had orchestrated the kidnapping and incarceration of several military wolves.
Including Owen, who spoke up first. “Yeah, that’s him.”
Jace craned his neck. “Piper invited her brother to the wedding, but he had some kind of appointment. Daniel said he would show up for the reception.”
Owen frowned. “He’s makin’ quite a fuss.”
“Yeah. I don’t like it,” Jace said.
Jared tipped his head, and his brothers and Owen followed him to the door.
“Is there a problem here?” Jaxson asked Daniel.
Daniel’s red-faced anger didn’t bode well for pretty much anything. “These idiots don’t want me to bring bad news to your wedding,” he said, tight-lipped. “And am sorry about that, but I figured you needed to know, regardless.”
They were drawing the attention of the partygoers nearby. Mama River was making a sweep through the room, ensuring everyone had food and drinks, but having her three boys at the front door with tense looks grabbed hold of her attention. She started pushing her way through the crowd.
“All right,” Jaxson said, grimly. “Out with it.”
Daniel scowled. “Someone has doxed the entire Wilding pack.”
“Doxed?” Owen asked with a dark look.
Jared gritted his teeth. “Doxing is when someone publishes your private information online. Names, addresses. It’s usually a revenge kind of thing.”
“How the hell did they get hold of the Wilding pack private information?” Jaxson asked, eyes wide.
Daniel gave a pointed look to Jared. “Maybe the Senator had something to do with it.”
Jared frowned. “He certainly has motivation, but how would he get hold of the Wilding pack information? You guys are scattered all over Seattle, not to mention the globe.”
“It gets worse,” Daniel said, his face drawing down further.
Mama River had worked her way through the crowd and come up to join them. “Worse in what way?” she asked.
“The information was released with some kind of YouTube video—guy in a mask reading off the Wilding pack and the River pack, outing them as wolves, giving all their detailed information. Some hate group, an anti-shifter group, is claiming responsibility for the video.”
“Fuck,” Jace said, running a hand through his hair, glancing around the great room. “Do they know about the safehouse?”
“No,” said Daniel with a fast shake of his head. “At least, it’s not in the video.”
Jaxson swore under his breath. “All right, no one leaves the safehouse. No one goes back to their normal homes. Not until we get this straightened out.”
“Yeah, well, that might work for the River pack,” Daniel said bitterly, “but as Jared said, the Wilding pack is spread all over. There’s no way you’d have room for all of us, and besides, there’s no way everyone’s going to come hide out in the mountains. Including me.”