I’m still boiling mad over what happened to Hunter. The rest of the pack is, too. I spoke with Danny and some other guys from our intelligence department and they’re pretty clear the Blacktails took Marie and the baby.

I was suspicious of Marie, but it doesn’t seem like she’s the bad guy here. If her house was ransacked, she probably was kidnapped. On the other hand, maybe they all plotted it to look like she was.

Who knows. That’s not my speciality. But I know as a pack we’re going to get to the bottom of this.

We have a lead, and Chaz and I are out in wolf form, patrolling some back streets around Paisley. Some of the other patrols that have gone out have reported suspicious behavior, as well as Morris showing up multiple times.

It seems like Morris has just joined the gang, which is puzzling, because he’s a human. But then, isn’t that what Danny said? The Blacktails are trying to recruit more newcomers to Stell, and that includes humans.

It’s dark out, and the streets are quiet. Everyone’s in bed already.

I keep my eyes peeled and nose alert.

A sound catches me from behind and my ear swivels to focus on it. I don’t know what it is, but someone is scuffling around in an alley somewhere.

I don’t want to go on a wild goose chase over a stray cat or something, but at this point I feel like I can’t leave any stone unturned. After giving Chaz a heads up, I turn around and head in the direction of the sound.

It’s a coyote, scrambling through the trash. Shifter or wild, I don’t know. But it looks mangy, whatever it is.

It gives me a look and an odd feeling passes through me.

Without even thinking, I launch myself at the coyote, who ducks around the pile of plastic bags. I surprise him, and though he puts up a good fight, it’s not hard to pin him down.

He makes a shriek of pain and tries to snap at my paw, but there’s nothing he can do against a full-grown male wolf.

If he’s a shifter, he’ll say something right about now.

Dude, what’s your problem?

I nearly laugh. That’s one of the risks of being a shifter—never know who or what you’ll run into.

What’s yours? I say in return. Skulking around in the trash?

There’s something familiar about him. I don’t know what, but it’s tugging at the back of my head. I feel like I almost have the shape of the entire puzzle completely in my head.

Morty, I say simply.

He stiffens under my hold. So it is him.

What do you want? he asks, irritated.

I want to know where your grandmother is. She took Harley’s baby.

She didn’t take Harley’s baby. Never would, says Morty emphatically. If she’s gone it’s because they kidnapped her. I don’t know where she is or what happened to her.

I pause to think for a moment. If Morty’s grandmother was really missing, wouldn’t he be turning the whole city over in order to find her? He doesn’t seem too concerned. Or, well, he sounds worried about her, but like he can’t do anything about it.

Or like he’s hiding something.

There’s something odd going on here, that’s for sure.

So why aren’t you tearing the neighborhood up looking for her?

He blinks at me in the moonlight. Can’t, he says. What could I do? I sniffed around her street but I couldn’t find anything.

He’s definitely hiding something, I think to myself. I don’t know what.

You’re not part of the Blacktails, are you? You’re not covering for them?

I glance at his tail. The tip is black, but I don’t know off the top of my head whether it’s normal for coyotes or not.

His reaction tells me everything. He flicks his tail away, as if to hide it.

How can you sell out your own grandmother? I hiss at him, disgusted. And Harley thought you two were friends.

I don’t want to hurt either of ‘em, says Morty, and there’s real pain in his voice.

So that’s why you joined the Blacktails?

No, he says. They blackmailed me. You think I want my grandmother to be in danger? They said they’d keep her safe but they took her.

Do you know where? I ask. We’re trying to find her.

They’ll kill me if I tell you. Honest. They’ll really kill me.

I’m starting to get irritated, but now I understand the bind that he, and his grandmother, must be in. We meet a lot of people like this in our line of work. People who get a favor from a gang and are royally screwed as a result. That’s how it happens for people like Morty. Once they’re in the gang, they can never leave.

It might not be too late for Morty.

Look, we’ll keep both of you safe. We have the power to. If you take our help and offer us information in return… we might be able to kick the Blacktails out of the Paisley for good.

His ears perk up. You want to kick ‘em out for good?

That’s what we’ve been trying to do this whole time. I’m practically rolling my eyes. Carson would be more understanding, but I’m not. If people see help and don’t recognize it for what it is, I don’t know what to tell them.

He seems to be thinking it over.

Fine, he says. The address is 992 North Buckley. Top floor.

That one of the safehouses? I ask, comparing the address mentally with the other safehouses we know of.

Yeah.

So if I let you go, you promise not to run right to Blacktail leadership?

Yeah.

There isn’t much else I can get out of him, so I let him go, and he limps off, straightening his legs as he does so.

I turn around and call for Chaz, eager to share the information with him. If I’m thinking of the right block, that address Morty gave me is a short run away from where we are now.

Hunter is here, somewhere.

I wonder if they’ll be guarded, but I don’t even care. I need to get Hunter back. Even though he’s not my kid, I have this weird feeling inside me, this urge to get him back, to have Carson and Harley and Hunter all together at home…

We’re a family.

It comes to me in an instant as I trot in the direction of Chaz’s answering bark.

We’re a family, and I’m going to rescue our littlest member if it’s the last thing I do.

I know where they are, I tell Chaz. Could you call for back-up? 992 North Buckley.

Chaz has a wireless transmitter in his ear which lets him communicate with headquarters.

Once I’m confident HQ knows about this, we’re on our way. I can only hope back up gets here in time because I’m going in guns blazing. I’ve had enough of this. I’ve had enough of the Blacktails. This ends tonight.

Chaz and I run in the direction of North Buckley, and slow to a trot when we reach the house itself. It’s an old Victorian converted into apartment buildings, and Morty said they were on the top floor.

There’s nothing for us to do except get in. I don’t see any guards from where I am, and I don’t want to wait for back up.

We go around the back of the building and I find that the window into the basement is pretty easy to nose open. I shift back to human form, glad I was already wearing a shiftsuit, and slide my way inside. Chaz follows.

The basement just has washers and dryers in it. We make our way out and up the stairs.

I wonder if other people live in these apartments. I don’t yet know if we can put up a bit of a fuss, or if we should try to avoid disturbing everyone else.

A glance at the door to a couple places we pass reveals that this place is long since abandoned. But it’s well-maintained on the outside. The building itself must be owned by the Blacktails.

I wonder how much real estate they have all around the city. Probably too much.

“This is it,” I whisper to Chaz.

“I’ll go in first as a human,” says Chaz. “You follow as a wolf. That way, you can grab the baby and go, and I’ll deal with Marie.”

I agree, and shift back. If it’s going to be close quarters, I want to be shifted already so I’m prepared to fight.

Chaz manages to break down the door.

There’s a scream from further inside the apartment, and a coyote comes bounding out. A baby starts crying.

A lot starts happening at once.

Once we realize Marie is in coyote form, Chaz bolts toward the baby and I grapple with her. There’s no one else here; they must have thought that this safehouse was truly secret.

But I don’t know why Marie’s fighting me.

We’re here to help you! I yell, as I try to prevent her from gnawing my leg off. I bump painfully into a chair leg, and then my tail catches under a sofa.

Apartments are no place for a wolf.

No, you’re not! she says, angry. I’m just trying to keep that boy safe.

We can protect you from the Blacktails. We can protect Morty, too!

No! They’ll kill him. They’ll kill him.

I can’t even decipher what she’s saying because the whole thing is too confusing to me. What does she mean, she’s keeping Hunter safe?

I see Chaz step out from the hallway with a bundle wrapped in his arms.

Since the only thing preventing us from leaving is an angry coyote, we do. She doesn’t want to come with us, anyway. I can’t fathom why.

I shift back and we walk down the street, waiting for the car to pick us up. Back up arrives before the car does, and we give them a rundown of the situation, right as the sun crests the horizon and starts to lighten the sky.

On the ride back, I’m left wondering what the hell happened in there. Marie was kidnapped, but thinks she’s protecting the baby. She knew who we were, so she knew we weren’t going to hurt her. And Morty’s being blackmailed.

It seems very messy, and I’m going to get to the bottom of it. If not for myself, then for the people I love.