Rayven shifted her weight uncomfortably as the basement started to fill up with pack members. They all greeted one another with happy smiles, like they were one big, happy family. She spotted Onyx walking over to her, and she felt a little more relieved. She didn’t know anyone there, even though she had lived in Silverthorne for a while now, and it was nice to see a familiar face in the sea of people.

“Are you okay? You seem a little overwhelmed,” Onyx said.

“I’m fine. I was just looking at everyone. They all seem so happy to see each other,” she answered, crossing her arms.

“Well, we are a close-knit group. We’re all family.”

“Not bound by blood but bound by the moon,” she mumbled to herself. “Right?”

“I assume Scout told you about that,” Onyx replied.

Rayven continued looking at the crowd. “Do you think Scout will let me stay and become a pack member?”

“You’re his mate,” her brother said, and she assumed Scout had told him about that. “You became a member the very first time he saw you.”

“Doesn’t really feel like I belong here,” Rayven muttered, noticing the perplexed glances the other pack members shot in her direction.

“They’re wary,” Onyx explained. “You’re still a stranger to them.”

Before Rayven could say anything else, the large wooden doors opened, and Scout walked into the basement. Everyone’s attention immediately turned to him, silence echoing throughout the room as they all waited for their alpha to speak.

“Thank you for coming,” Scout said. “I know it was a bit of a last-minute arrangement, and I am sorry for that, but this is important.” He briefly glanced at Rayven, almost as if asking her permission, and she nodded back at him. “Onyx’s twin sister has been accused of murdering a human, but she is innocent. She was arrested by the cops, and Onyx broke her out last night.”

Most of the pack members turned to look at her, and Rayven lowered her gaze, an uncomfortable embarrassment taking over her.

Great, now they all hate me, she thought.

Scout recounted what had happened the night Rayven had been arrested. He told his pack about the blood he had found and the scratches that had been covered.

“We don’t know much more about the case,” Scout continued. “The only thing we know for sure is that Rayven did not kill that man, so I need all of you to keep your ears on the ground. If you hear or feel anything that doesn’t sit right with you, you are to report to me immediately. I don’t care if you think it’s just a hunch or a gut feeling. Don’t ignore your instincts.”

He paused for a moment to let the orders sink in. “In the meantime, Rayven will stay here, under my protection. If I or my betas can’t keep an eye on her, I will call on the higher-ranking members to do so. I trust that I have everyone’s cooperation in the matter?”

“Yes, alpha!” the entire room cried in unison, startling Rayven.

“Great. Does anyone have any questions?” Scout asked.

“Who was the man who was murdered?” someone asked in the back.

Scout motioned to Rayven, and she froze for a second. All eyes were on her, which made her extremely nervous, but after a reassuring look from both Scout and Onyx, she cleared her throat and answered, “His name was Anton Lombardo.”

A few gasps were heard throughout the room, and Rayven frowned. She looked at Scout, who seemed just as shocked by the name as the rest of the pack was. The gasps became murmurs, which then grew a little louder until the basement was filled with four hundred voices all trying to speak over one another.

Rayven turned to Onyx and whispered, “Who’s Anton Lombardo?”

“I think you need to talk to Scout about that,” Onyx muttered.

“Settle down, everyone!” Scout ordered.

“I knew the Crescents were involved!” someone screamed.

“What do we do?” asked another voice.

“Are we safe?”

“Do we have to move again?”

The questions weren’t directed at her, but Rayven still felt like they were. She was reminded of the suffocating club she’d gone to that horrible night, and she pushed her way through the crowd, stumbling up the steps to the house. She had to get away from all the noise, the questions, the wary glances.

Rayven paced around the living room, and after a short while, she heard the basement clear out through the doors that led to the outside escape hatch, designed to look like a storm shelter door. She heard Scout talking to someone—Onyx, she assumed—but she couldn’t hear what they were saying.

Scout eventually came up to the living room, staring at her from his place on the doorway. “We have to talk.”

“I guess we do,” Rayven agreed. “Who’s Anton Lombardo?”

“He’s the brother of one of the betas in the Crescents pack,” Scout answered. “But he’s not one of us. His brother is a made wolf, rather than a born wolf.”

“And Anton Lombardo didn’t know about what or who his brother is?”

“I don’t think so.”

“But it doesn’t make any sense!” Rayven exclaimed. “Why would the Crescents kill a family member of one of their own? That can’t be allowed, right?”

“It’s not,” Scout confirmed, “but the Crescents are ruthless. Maybe Lombardo saw or stumbled upon something he shouldn’t have. Maybe the Crescents killed him as a warning. Maybe someone of a lower rank killed him to piss his brother off.”

“But why go and frame me for it?” she demanded.

Scout crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the doorway. “Who did you piss off, Rayven?”

“Wh—me?” Rayven cried. “No one! Not recently, anyway!”

“What about your mother?” Scout asked. “You said this detective guy, Morris, knew about her, right? Could she have done anything to get on their bad side?”

Rayven glanced away from him. “I wouldn’t know,” she answered.

Scout went to the couch and sat down, then patted the spot next to him so that Rayven would do the same. “I think it’s time you tell me about the day you and Onyx were separated. There might be something we’re missing.”

She didn’t want to talk about it. She didn’t want to remember the day she had started to believe she would never see the rest of her family again. She didn’t want to live through that again. But Scout was right. The answer they needed might be right in front of them.

With a dejected sigh, Rayven sat down next to Scout and leaned back against the couch.

“Onyx and I grew up in Vermont with our parents,” she started. “No one ever bothered us, and we thought we were safe. One night, my mother woke us up after midnight, saying we had to go. I fell asleep in the backseat of the car, lying on her lap, and Onyx sat in front while my father drove. Then I heard gunshots and my mom yelling at me to stay down and close my eyes.”

She could still hear the gunshots almost as clearly as that night, when she had jumped awake at the noise. She remembered how the car had swerved violently; the screaming; the sudden stop the vehicle had come to; the crash.

She remembered closing her eyes, hoping it would all be over when she opened them again.

“When I felt Mom starting to carry me out of the car, my dad and Onyx were gone,” Rayven went on. “My mother shifted into a wolf and ran into the woods with me clinging to her back, crying out Onyx’s name. I don’t know how long it was before she stopped running.”

All she knew was that the rain pouring down over their heads had felt like daggers stabbing her as she called out to her brother, who never answered.

“We ended up in Dallas and stayed there for a while. Mom kept saying my father and Onyx would come home soon, but they never did. Eventually, I stopped asking. One morning, I came back from hunting and found the whole house had been turned upside down. My mother was on the floor, bleeding out, and she told me to run. She told me to run as fast as I could, as far as I could. Then she didn’t say another word. And then I ran.”

Rayven took a deep breath, blinking back the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks. She glanced at the floor in front of her and felt Scout placing his hand on top of hers, but it wasn’t enough to fight the sorrow and grief of watching her mother die, of having been unable to do anything to save her, of having left her behind to save herself.

At the doorway, someone cleared their throat. Rayven looked up, seeing Onyx holding onto the doorway. She held out her other hand to him, and her brother walked to the couch to sit on her other side, holding her hand with his.

“Dad and I were grabbed out of the car, but Mom was able to get you out before they could capture you too,” Onyx spoke, staring at their held hands. “I don’t remember much else of that night, but I know it was the Crescents. They held us captive and tortured us for… I don’t know. Days. Weeks, maybe. They wanted to know where you and Mom were. We eventually escaped. They caught up with us in Yosemite Park. Dad didn’t make it.”

Onyx made a small pause, slowly breathing in and out, and Rayven tightened her grip on his palm, reassuring him that she was still there with him.

“Scout found me,” Onyx said, looking at her, “and he brought me to Silverthorne.”

Rayven turned her head to Scout. “You saved my brother.”

“I wish I could have saved your father as well,” Scout said, his tone filled with remorse.

“There was nothing you could have done, Scout,” Onyx added quietly. Just like there had been nothing Rayven could have done to save their mother.

Rayven put her arms around her brother and hugged him tightly.

“Could we not get all emotional right now?” Onyx asked as he pulled away from her, though she could see the tears in his eyes and the relief on his face.

“Sure,” she said with a small smile.

Onyx quickly wiped his eyes and stood up from the couch, walking to the door. Rayven was endeared to know that her brother remained the same, even after all these years. He didn’t like emotional situations, and he tended to avoid them whenever he could. Their mother used to joke around and say he had the emotional range of a slice of bread, and it was still true.

After Onyx was gone, Rayven turned to look at Scout, still sitting next to her. “You don’t have to look so worried,” she said at the expression he wore.

“The Crescents tried to kill your entire family, and now they’re pinning a murder on you,” Scout said with a frown. “I think I have the right to be worried.” He took her other hand so that he held both of her palms in his. “I don’t know how we’re going to get to the bottom of this, but I want you to know that I’m not going to let anything happen to you, or to Onyx. I promise you that. You’re safe here with me.”

“Thank you,” Rayven said, her voice almost a whisper. Against her best judgment, a yawn made its way past her lips, and Scout let out a soft chuckle.

“You should get some sleep,” he said. “It’s been a long day for everyone.”

She nodded wordlessly. She was exhausted. After her mother had flawlessly and effortlessly broken her out of her jail cell without being detected by the cops inside, she hadn’t slept for nearly twenty-four hours.

Scout led her to one of the bedrooms, and Rayven sat on the edge of the bed.

“Scout?” she called him. “Would you stay here with me?”

“Of course,” Scout assured her, walking around the bed to sit on the other edge.

Rayven slipped off her boots and watched as he did the same. They climbed into bed together, and Scout wrapped his arms around her. She nested into the shape of his body and, she had never felt as safe and at home in her entire life as she felt in that moment. She closed her eyes and listened to the beating of his heart, which sent her off into a peaceful slumber.