For the remainder of the drive, Juliette stared at the road ahead, her mind stretched in two thousand different directions. Soulmates and disappearing teenagers clashed in her thoughts, demanding priority.

She couldn’t fully comprehend what was happening between her and Kendall. He was a stranger she only knew because he was the alpha of the Seattle Wolf Pack. Sure, she had looked forward to meeting him because he was the son of Sean McKenzie, one of the greatest alphas who ever lived. But their wolves had jumped the gun and gotten them mated before she had time to decide if she liked Kendall. Although wondering about liking or disliking would be a moot point now since they were mated, forever.

Kendall was her soulmate.

And she liked him, a lot, but now wasn’t the time to think about him or what she would like to do to him at the moment, because Nicky and Devon were missing and only the Wolf knew what they were up to. Lily said there was lots of blood, but they might have used red dye to prank her and the rest of the pack. Although, Lily’s nose worked well enough and she wouldn’t be in a tizzy for a bit of paint. They could have mixed their scent with animal blood. The last Halloween, Nicky and Devon had tricked the omega with a similar stunt. But what if the paint was indeed their blood? They were her boys, and the mere idea they might be in danger or worse drilled a hole straight through her heart. If anything happened to them—she couldn’t go there.

This isn’t happening. Juliette slammed her palm against the dashboard in frustration.

“Juliette?” Kendall gave her a puzzled look.

“This isn’t happening,” she repeated under her breath, shaking her head.

“I know it isn’t ideal that we met after our wolves mated.” Kendall folded his strong arms against the large expanse of his chest. He was a fine specimen of a man.

“It’s not just that.” She needed time to organize her thoughts, but the camp loomed ahead. “Let me deal with whatever happened, then we’ll have a long talk.” Juliette hoped for the sake of everyone involved that the conversation would lead to an extenuating night under the stars, because, let’s face it, words weren’t Juliette’s strongest suit. She would even forgive Nicky and Devon if the whole debacle turned out to be nothing more than teenage shenanigans.

The moment she killed the engine in front of the pack hall, Lily stormed out from under the wraparound lanai and ran toward her, holding a bundle. If Juliette had nursed any hope that the two rascals were up to no good as per their usual, Lily’s tight expression murdered her optimism.

“I saw Nicky and Devon loitering in front of the hall. They said they were waiting for you, they had something they wanted to tell you but didn’t want to talk to me, so I sent them to unload my car instead. I’d just came back from my grocery run and needed help.”

“You did right.” Juliette knew better than anyone else that the key to raising werewolf pups was to keep them always busy, especially teenagers who had an uncanny ability to find trouble in the safest activities. “What happened?”

“I was waiting for them in the kitchen, but when they didn’t come back, I sent Mark to hunt them down because I was starting to get pissed off. There’s so much to do and the guests are arriving already—” Lily’s gaze shifted from Juliette to her right and her eyes widened before she extended the bundle she had been clutching to her chest toward Kendall, who had just joined them. “This must be for you,” she said, unblinkingly, her eyes doing the once-over to end all once-overs.

Lily’s perusal stayed too long on Kendall’s manhood, causing Juliette to growl. Before Kendall’s hand reached for the proffered bundle, she snatched it from Lily’s hand. “Cover yourself.” She slammed the clothes against his chest before turning her full attention on Lily, who couldn’t seem to have enough of the sight despite Juliette’s warning to keep off. “And you stop ogling my mate.”

Her statement had the desired effect, and Lily finally snapped out of the trance and turned to Juliette. “Your mate?”

“I’d like to say it’s a long story, but in truth, it’s just complicated.” Juliette felt the harbingers of a powerful headache in the making and massaged between her eyes. “Nicky and Devon.”

“Mark came back a moment later, shouting that Nicky and Devon were gone and there was blood by my car—” Lily stopped, her eyes focused on a point behind Juliette.

Juliette followed her gaze and saw a silent crowd gathered in front of the cafeteria. When she turned and started walking toward them, the mass of people opened, revealing Lily’s car and what their number had concealed, the smell of freshly spilled blood. No animal blood. No paint mixed with her boys’ scents. Their vital essence was vanishing but still lingered in the warmth of the evening air.

She reached the car with her heart lodged in her throat. A step behind her, Kendall followed, a solid presence by her side. When she halted before the stains on the ground and swayed, he gently grabbed her arm and stayed her before anyone could see her moment of fragility.

“Who saw them last?” she asked the crowd, her eyes moving from one to the other, making them accountable.

Luke, one of Nicky and Devon’s friends, shuffled on his feet when her stare paused on him.

“Did you see them?” Juliette asked the boy.

Luke lowered his eyes, slightly tilting his head to show his throat. “I did—”

“What were they up to?” Juliette kept her voice low when all she wanted was to shout at the lanky boy to talk already.

“They are in trouble—”

“And?”

“They owe money—”

“To whom?” Juliette wanted to strangle him.

“To Shark.”

Juliette could barely believe her ears. “Shark. They owe money to Shark.”

Luke nodded, his eyes filling with tears.

Juliette turned and stormed toward the pack hall and her office.