“No answer.”

“Then leave a message.”

Devin frowned as he played the message for the fourth time. The call had come from Charity’s number, but the two voices on the other end sounded identical. He wasn’t certain which one was Charity, or if either of them was. The two of them didn’t talk over the phone very often. Neither of the voices in the message had the same laughing quality Charity’s voice had in real life.

He shoved the phone into his pocket as he barreled up the path to his house. The geologists studying the island had come to the shifter town hall that morning. If ‘town hall’ was the correct word for the little ramshackle church that they held all their important meetings in. Devin had been excited to see Charity at work, but she hadn’t been there. Instead, it was a bunch of other people he didn’t know.

The meeting had barely begun before the Gatiss family had charged in. Charity’s dad had actually taken a swing at him. They had screamed at him about seducing and abusing their daughter. Devin hadn’t replied to their accusations, though the unspoken assumption that he had raped Charity had made him want to scream right back. How had they found out about him and Charity? She wouldn’t have told them.

He shook his head as he headed upstairs, taking them two at a time. They probably had merely heard that he and Charity were spending time together.

It was Honor that he had been most wary of. While Charity’s parents shouted and cried, she had just stood there. She had stared at the gathered geologists and a look of disappointment had come over her face. In the end, she had declared that he ‘wouldn’t get away with it’ and left. And, like she ruled the roost, her parents had followed.

Since then, he hadn’t been able to get hold of Charity. He phoned her a dozen times, but it always went immediately to voicemail.

Something was wrong. Devin might not know what that was, but he didn’t need to. Something was wrong and he wasn’t going to just stand around waiting to find out what that was.

The whole house seemed to shake when he slammed open his bedroom door, but he ignored it. He shared the room with his youngest brother, Leo, since they were all needed to help care for their mother. Devin put most of his wages into the renovations that Leo did around the house while he stayed home with their mom.

I’m due for a vacation anyway, he thought, though his stomach cramped. If he lost his lifeguarding job . . . 

But there was something wrong. Charity wouldn’t just disappear from a job she loved, and it couldn’t be a coincidence that her parents found out about them right before she left. But running away from shame? That wasn’t Charity, either. There was something wrong, something sinister. And he was going to find her and make sure she was okay.

Devin grabbed a backpack, then stopped. What did one take on a trip when they didn’t know how long they were going to be? He’d never been on more than an overnight trip away from the island, and then it was usually to another island. His heart pounded as he moved to the stash of cash he always kept in his closet. He’d take that. Extra pair of pants. A t-shirt and sweater. Maybe another sweater in case it rained.

“Yo, you’re running around like a herd of elephants.”

Devin turned to see Leo standing in the doorway. He frowned as he viewed his brother. “What’s up?”

“Go get the others. I’m leaving for a while and you’re all going to have to pick up things while I’m gone.” How much could he tell him?

Leo stiffened. “Leaving? Now?”

“Yeah. Don’t look at me like that. This is important. Now go get the others.”

“Is this about that human woman you’ve been hanging out with?”

Devin closed his eyes briefly. It appeared that he wasn’t going to have the choice about what to tell them. He stuffed some socks into his backpack and turned to Leo. “Yes. It is. She wasn’t at the meeting today and she’s not answering her phone. I’m worried about her.”

Leo made an incredulous noise in his throat. “You have got to be kidding me. You’re the one who has always told us to be careful about our interactions with humans. Now you’re running off after one of them? And a Gatiss, no less? Please don’t tell me you’ve slept with her.”

Devin glared at him.

“You did.” Leo’s eyes widened. “You actually slept with her? Way to leave your brains in your crotch! You know as well as any of us that Honor Gatiss has it out for us. And now you’ve given her the perfect ammunition. You’re barely making any headway to help the pack. This whole thing you’ve got going on was a trap from the start. Now they’re going to accuse you of something horrendous and—”

“Charity isn’t like that!” Devin couldn’t bite his tongue any longer. If their situations were switched, he’d be thinking the same thing. But the fact was that Leo had no idea who Charity really was. She was nothing like the rest of her family and would not be part of trying to entrap him. No. If she wasn’t here, then something had happened. “Go get the others. Now.”

Leo’s jaw tightened. His eyes narrowed. But he nodded without another word and left. Devin released a shaky breath. He closed his eyes, centered himself, and shoved the new bicycle lock he’d just bought into his backpack. He had a jeep that he could take, but gas cost a fortune. He took his bike as much as he could. Last, he grabbed his keys and headed downstairs.

His mother looked at him knowingly when she knelt beside her. He didn’t need to explain to her; she put up a hand and shook her head when he opened his mouth. “I heard what you said to your brother. I have not seen you like this with any girl before. She’d better be worth it, Devin Luthor. She’d better be worth it.”

Devin embraced his mother. Her bones seemed to protrude from her thin body and he swallowed thickly. She’d been hit by a car many years ago and was left for dead. If she wasn’t a shifter with advanced healing, she would have died. As it was, she was so badly injured that she couldn’t do much but sit in her chair anymore. Even shifting caused her so much pain that she couldn’t anymore.

“She’s worth it,” he promised her. “She wouldn’t have run away without good reason. I have to find her and make sure she's okay.”

His mother nodded. “Then go. A shifter needs his mate.”

Devin made a strangled noise in his throat. He almost protested that Charity wasn’t his mate, but there was no time for this sort of argument. Besides that, when it came to his mother, she always had to have the last word. By the time they were done arguing, he’d be convinced that Charity was his mate. Even though she wasn’t.

He didn’t believe in mates – the kind in the romance novels. People weren’t destined for one person. Love came from getting to know each other, not some undeniable outside force . . . 

His brothers had all gathered outside by the time he had pulled out his jeep and checked it over to make sure that it was in shape to drive through the city. The bike was loaded into the back along with a sleeping blanket and a chest of food. The oldest of the boys, save for him, folded his arms as he stared at Devin.

“Leo tells us you’re going after that Gatiss girl.”

“I am, Francis.” Devin fished the keys from his pocket and tossed them to his brother. “You’re in charge until I get back. Or you could divvy up my tasks between the four of you. Get Leo to take on more. Those are the keys to my files. We’ve got some property tax stuff that needs to be filed by the end of the week, the Smithsons need extra rations from the storehouse, and I was supposed to get some kittens to the Fosters. There is a list on my desk.”

Francis scowled, but Ivan, the next oldest, nodded. “We’ll take care of everything.”

Jeffery smirked. “She that good, huh?”

“I’ll call when I can. I’ve got my phone. I’m going to add some to the plan to cover the long-distance charges. Try to use the landline when you call me. It’ll cost less that way.” Devin shouldered his pack and jumped into the jeep. “Take care of Mom.”

He drove away. Nerves churned in his stomach as he passed the familiar sights. The jeep gurgled and rattled, but it would hold well enough. Hopefully, he’d go to the mainland to find Charity having slept in or gone on a shopping trip with her sister. But if not . . . 

Should he be doing this? He had a duty to the pack. Sure, he wasn’t officially the alpha, but he had picked up a lot of the slack. Without him there, would things fall apart? What about Hannah? There were so many people who relied on him . . . 

I need to find Charity.

But if she was really in trouble, she would have told him, wouldn’t she?

A voice spoke from behind him. “Slowing down already, huh? Having second thoughts?”

Devin cursed as Leo climbed over and plunked himself into the front seat. Leo, in response, grinned broadly at him. It was far too smug a grin. Devin glared in return.

“What are you doing?”

Leo shrugged. “Are you certain that Charity is a good woman?”

“Yes. And put on your seatbelt.” Devin slowed the jeep a little more.

“Don’t slow down. I’m putting my seatbelt on, see?”

“What are you doing?” Devin repeated. He narrowed his eyes at his little brother.

Leo’s cheeky grin only broadened. “I’m obeying orders. Mom sent me along with you. She said that you have a habit of sacrificing your own happiness for the pack, and she wants to see you finally be happy. So she told me to come along with you and make sure that you find your woman. She seems to be afraid that you’d start thinking about your duties to the pack and change your mind.”

That was exactly what was happening. Devin had to smile at how well his mother knew him, even though sending Leo was a bit infuriating.

“So.” Leo fiddled with the radio until it started playing 60s rock music. “Where do we start?”

“The mainland.” Devin turned his attention back to the road. He started pushing the gas harder again, determination firing in his blood once more. “We go to the mainland and find Charity. And then we find out what exactly is going on here.”