Jordan’s life depended on her finding him.
The she-wolf kept her gaze on Dani. “The boy is no longer here. We don’t know anything more.”
“You must! He was here. I can smell him.” A tremor shook her body and her voice. “Please, you must leave. We can’t tell you anymore.
Greggoire is going to be angry when he comes home and finds his house torn up and smelling like the both of you.” She glanced at Ethan who remained standing on guard in his wolf. “You don’t stand a chance going up against the alpha.”
Ethan growled and flicked his tail before stilling his body.
“You can tell Greggoire that I won’t give up.
I’ve come for my brother, and I will do whatever it takes to get him back.” Dani turned and headed out of the room. She paused in the doorway and gazed back over her shoulder. “Oh, and you can tell Greggoire that if he’s harmed one hair on my baby brother’s head, he’ll wish he was dead.”
She marched down the stair following the path she came into the house. Her mind reeled from being so close, but leaving empty-handed.
Her vision blurred, and she reached out to stop herself from stumbling. She couldn’t breathe.
The air wouldn’t come.
“Shift dammit!” Ethan pushed against the back of her knee.
No conscious effort was needed to turn into her wolf. She leapt through the broken door and sucked in the fresh air. Panting, she stood, her tongue hanging out the side of her mouth. Bile tickled the back of her throat and she gagged, coughed, and vomited phlegm.
She glanced over at Ethan. “I-I was s-so sure he was there…”
“We’ll find him.” He licked the side of her face. “I promise. We’ll find him.”
Ethan by her side, Dani returned to the spot at the edge of the forest where they’d left their bundle of clothes. Hidden in the brush, she fumbled to get dressed. Night had fallen, and even though she could still see and hear if anyone came close, the sudden chill of her human form coupled with the failure of their plan had her knees shaking.
Never before had she felt so weak. The adrenaline of going to battle to find her brother no longer pulsed through her veins, and instead, a dark gloom settled on her shoulders. Drover was a small town. It shouldn’t be this easy to hide a child, even one as young as Jordy.
Ethan stepped over and hugged Dani. He rubbed her back briskly, bringing warmth to the surface. “Do you think you can handle one more visit?”
“To Greggoire’s house again?” She leaned back and gazed up at his face. “I thought you agreed the women wouldn’t help us.”
“No, I have another plan.” He stepped back.
“We go to the lady’s house who works at the store…Mrs. Danielson. The store closes at six, right?”
Dani nodded.
“She should be home then. Maybe away from Lehman she’ll give us some answers.” He leaned down and kissed her lips. “She did try to warn both of us. If we can figure out what scares her, maybe we can find out who the person is responsible for frightening her into silence, and that will lead us to the person holding Jordan.” Stretching up on her tiptoes, she flung her arms around his shoulders and gave him an earth-shattering kiss. That was just the motivation she needed to regain her energy back. Sucking his lips, she pulled back with a smack. “You’re brilliant. Let’s go.” Mrs. Danielson lived a few houses away from her family home. Dani jogged to keep up with Ethan’s bigger steps. She envied the humans in Drover. They had the services of the town’s emergency system at their disposal.
Werewolves kept their problems within the pack. It was grounds for banishment if any let their secret out, much less report on one of their kind. She couldn’t go to the elders or the alpha, because she suspected they all knew what Greggoire had done and were scared shitless to go against him.
“She lives in the white house with the blue Ford truck parked out front.” Dani pointed ahead to the left. “Do you want me to go by myself again to talk with her?”
“No. The occasion for being nice is over.” He glanced up into the night sky.
That scared Dani. The thought of losing Jordan would mean everything in her life was over. Her parents’ deaths would go unpunished.
Her mating with Ethan would be for naught. On top of all that, she and Ethan wouldn’t be able to stay in Drover with their pack, not with all the bad blood between Greggoire and her. She’d dug herself into her own grave, and the only way to save herself was if she succeeded.
The blare from the evening news playing on the television inside the house muffled her first knock. Dani turned to Ethan, raised her brows, and knocked louder. Come on, answer the door.