Payne’s return made things easier and impossible. “You can’t go back there,” he said when Liam told him our plan to look for Gunnar. Payne took the news hard. He and Gunnar had gotten separated in the melee. Gunnar had killed the muscle head, the Alpha’s body guard. Eve told me his name was Sobel. Payne went for the Alpha. He’d been overcome by about five of the Birch Haven guards. They’d left him for dead and went to protect the Alpha when Gunnar killed Sobel. They spirited the old man away and Payne managed to crawl to the river.

“He could be dead,” Liam said. “Or he could be lying in a pool of his own blood like you were.”

“Or he could have been taken prisoner,” I said, the words tasting bitter in my mouth.

“If he’s dead, there’s nothing you can do by putting yourselves at risk,” Molly said. “If he’s lying in a pool of his own blood, he’ll find his way back just like Payne did. That’s what I’m putting my money on.”

The third possibility was too awful for any of us to contemplate. If Gunnar had been captured…

“If he’s been captured,” Eve said. “Then they might be able to get him to tell the Pack where to find us.”

Payne knocked his head against the wall. “No,” he said.

Molly sat by Payne’s side. She took his hand. “Hush. You’ve still got to rest. It’s been three days. Does it make any sense at all that the Pack would wait three days to send the patrols down into the caves for us? If they knew, they’d already be here. Why in the hell would they give us lead time to run?”

She was right. But it didn’t make any of us feel better. It meant the odds were, Gunnar was dead. Eve’s sob tore through me. She sprang from her seat and started to pace. We all felt the same way. One of our own was out there. We couldn’t leave a man behind. Alive or dead.

But, Payne was right too. Charging back to Birch Haven and putting ourselves in the path of the Pack wouldn’t help. They’d be smarter. Birch Haven was liberated. The Alpha would have installed a general or two to keep order there now. They’d be looking for us.

So, as much as it tore us all up, there was nothing to do but wait.

“You don’t understand,” Payne said, struggling to sit up. Never mind the wound in his back, or even Gunnar’s fate. Payne was agitated. His need to tell us something came off him in waves.

“Understand what?” Liam asked.

“The Alpha.” Payne finally got himself upright. Wincing from the pain, he clutched his side. Then, his face split into a wide smile.

“I think he’s delirious,” Eve said.

“No,” Payne argued. “Not a bit. The Alpha. He’s old. Ancient. It’s only been a couple of years since I’ve seen him, but it’s like he’s aging even faster than before. Even then, when I was...when I worked for him. I was never in a room with him. They kept him hidden from the strongest shifters like us. Shielded. He made a mistake at Birch Haven. He showed himself. There’s never been a shifter that old. Not ever. When Gunnar killed Sobel, I saw real fear in his eyes. Dammit, if I’d had just a few more seconds before those Birch Haven minions got to me...I could have done it. I could have killed him. He was terrified. He got sloppy only having one bodyguard with him. He might not make that mistake again, but he knew what I saw in his eyes. I saw the truth.”

“What truth?” Molly asked.

But, Liam and I, along with Payne, already knew. The power of that knowledge kindled something inside me I hadn’t had for so long. Hope.

Liam turned to her. “He was scared,” Liam repeated Payne’s words. “He’s weak. He can be killed. We just have to figure out a way to get to him.”

“Mac?” Eve turned and stood in front of me. I couldn’t keep the fire out of my eyes.

“It means we can win.”