****
Sera had a very bad feeling.
Like she left the oven on in her apartment. Like her parents were trying to reach her but couldn’t find her. Like there was an emergency and the phones were down, the roads were blocked, and a storm was closing in. She paced through Seth’s house, unconsciously holding her abdomen while she looked for something to distract her from her growing sense of unease.
“You’re just nervous because Seth isn’t home. Calm down. He can’t be with you all the time,” Sera muttered, trying to talk some sense into herself before she had a nervous breakdown.
But it didn’t feel like an unreasonable anxiety. It didn’t feel like she was just being crazy and lonely. She never claimed to be psychic or even have an uncanny sixth sense, but there was something wrong and she knew it. Seth had gone to scout Dwight’s safe house, promising he would keep in touch and he would not take any unreasonable risks, but after his initial text telling her he’d arrived, there’d been radio silence.
After six hours of no news and no response to her texts, she couldn’t take it anymore. She called Stephanie, her fingers shaking, her voice trembling.
“Have you heard from Seth?” she asked by way of greeting.
“No. Have you?”
“No. I think there’s something wrong.”
“I’ll be there in ten minutes,” Stephanie promised.
Sera paced through the cabin as she waited, her imagination unhelpfully supplying bloody scenario after scenario. In each one, Dwight was faster, stronger, meaner, deadlier, and Seth didn’t have a chance. Considering how close he’d come to killing Seth already, and considering that he’d likely murdered Aiza, Sera found very little to comfort herself with. What reassurances did she have that he would be okay? What wellspring of hope could she draw on to sustain herself and their child?
“Do you know where he is?” Sera demanded as soon as Stephanie arrived. “He wouldn’t tell me the exact location, but I figure you must have it.”
“I have it. But he made it very clear that we were not to follow him.”
“He should be home by now. He hasn’t texted. He hasn’t called. It’s been six hours; we’re not waiting here any longer,” Sera announced.
“He forbade it.”
“Forbade? Are you kidding me? I know he’s the alpha but so are you! What if he needs us, Stephanie? What if he’s waiting for us right now?” What if he’s already dead? Sera forced that question out of her mind. She wasn’t going to think like that. She couldn’t. Not if she wanted to keep her wits about her.
“It’s dangerous. This Dwight guy is very dangerous.”
“So are you. Hell, so am I. Let’s show that jerk what happens when he messes with a couple of dangerous bitches, yeah?”
Stephanie hesitated and for a moment, Sera thought she would have to do this alone. But then her thoughtful frown disappeared and she nodded in agreement. “Let’s go get him. And then we’ll wring the bastard’s neck.”
“You hold him down, I’ll do the neck-wringing,” Sera said.
“Deal.”
There was an awkward silence as they both realized they had absolutely no idea how to stage a rescue mission. “So...what do we need?” Sera asked.
“A way to get in.”
Sera nodded. “Weapons for once we get in.”
“Weapons?”
“Well, you don’t need one, but I do. A gun or a knife or something.”
“I don’t have a gun. Seth has some really sharp kitchen knives,” Stephanie said.
“Okay, I’ll grab one of those. You go get the car.”
Stephanie nodded and then they were both in motion, and Sera realized they were actually going to do this insane, dangerous thing. She wasn’t ignorant of the danger. Aiza had already lost her life and Seth’s could very well hang in the balance. Could be hanging by a very thread. Her child would never know her aunt, but Sera would be damned if she allowed the same fate to befall Seth.
“Have you tried calling Seth again?” Stephanie asked as Sera slid into the passenger seat.
“Called and texted. No response.”
“I tried, too.” Stephanie put the car into gear with a look of such grim determination, Sera almost laughed. Not because it was funny, but because she felt the same way on the inside.
“Tell me what you know about the place.”
“It’s a lake house just on the other side of the border. Just on the edge of the Brotherhood territory. My source didn’t mention if there were guards, but Seth and I both think there’s likely a few patrolling the property. She said it’s not big. There’s only one floor with two exits.”
“So there’s a back door and a front door. I guess we’ll go in through the back door.”
“It might be better to use the front. The back door opens into the kitchen and that’s where my source always made her food deliveries. She said he was always waiting for her in there, watching TV and smoking.”
“Then the front door. Or maybe a window?”
“Do you think Dwight would recognize you if he saw you?” Stephanie asked.
“Probably? He might have taken a good luck at me at the funeral.”
“The funeral?”
“Aiza’s funeral.”
Stephanie looked at her from the corner of her eye. “He was there?”
“Yes.”
“Why would he go to the funeral if he—if he had something to do with it?”
“I don’t know. Maybe that’s how he gets off.”
“Well, maybe if we get a hat and some glasses he won’t recognize you. You can knock on the kitchen door.”
“And pretend to be his food delivery?”
“Precisely.”
A plan began to form and Sera quickly opened up her notepad to make a list of what they would need. Mainly because it gave her an excuse to stare at her phone as she prayed for Seth to text her and put an end to their wild scheme. But the miles fell away and the minutes wore on—and a text did not come.
They made only one brief stop, to gather the supplies, and reached the cabin in just over an hour. Stephanie pulled off the road and parked in the woods about a half-mile from Dwight’s driveway and killed the engine. “I think you should stay here while I do some recon. Maybe I can pick up Seth’s scent or find his car.”
“Be careful.”
Stephanie nodded and began to undress. Sera averted her eyes while Stephanie disrobed and shifted, turning into a sleek, golden wolf. Sera reached over without thinking, her fingers seeking the thick, soft fur. Stephanie whined and pawed at the door, prompting Sera to lean over and push it open. The wolf disappeared into the trees, swallowed by the shadows.
Sera didn’t waste a second. She put together the decoy box and slipped on an apron she lifted from the grocery store. She wasn’t sure if that’s what a delivery girl normally wore, but she thought it lent the entire enterprise an air of authenticity. And certainly every little bit of authenticity could only help.
Her attention returned to the phone again and again, afraid she would miss a call from Seth or a text from Stephanie. Each second felt like a minute and every minute like an hour while she waited for Stephanie’s return, her nerves multiplying on themselves until she thought she would scream, and still, there was no sign of either wolf.
A sudden knock on the window made her nearly jump from her skin, and it was so dark outside she couldn’t tell right away that it wasn’t Stephanie trying to get her attention. The second she unlocked the door, it was ripped open and a strong hand grabbed her by the shoulder and hauled her from the seat.
“What are you doing here?” Seth demanded in a furious whisper.
“I...I’m looking for you. Where have you been?”
“I’ve been in the top of a tree, scoping out the asshole. What are you doing?”
“I...you never replied or sent me a text or anything.”
He looked over her shoulder. “This is Stephanie’s car. Where is she?”
Sera nodded towards the shadows. “She went that way. She said she’d be right back.”
Seth closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He caught the scent he was looking for and his whole body turned in that direction. “Stay here. I’m going to get her and we’re going to get the hell out of here.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—”
“Just stay here. Get in the car. Don’t unlock the door for anyone but me.”
She nodded numbly and slipped into the car, locking the door as instructed. She was relieved to see him yet felt sick with guilt and worry. She’d panicked and potentially put them all at risk. It felt like the right thing to do at the time, but maybe that was why the road to hell was paved with good intentions. She unconsciously held her stomach, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth until she tasted a hint of copper.
It felt like an eternity passed before Seth and Stephanie returned, both of them running on two legs. Sera unlocked the doors just as they reached for the handles, and Seth dove behind the wheel, keys already in hand. He peeled out without a word, his jaw clenched, his eyes narrow as he navigated his way along the dark, winding road.
“I don’t think anyone saw us,” he checked the rearview mirror as he spoke, “but we may have tripped a motion sensor.”
“Motion sensor?”
“Yeah, he’s got motion sensors, silent alarms, cameras, floodlights. And guards. Lots of guards. All of them wolves. About what I expected.”
But nothing like Sera expected. She’d actually thought they would be able to drive right up to the cabin and walk right up to the front door. She opened her mouth, but was unable to find her voice. She wanted to apologize, to explain, to try to make him understand that she was only doing what she thought was right. Only doing what she had to do to keep him safe.
Stephanie remained silent in the backseat. Perhaps she was feeling the same shame over taking a foolhardy risk.
“There was something I wasn’t expecting, though.” Seth looked at her from the corner of his eye. “I saw Dwight. He wasn’t alone in there.”
“Who was he with?”
“Aiza.”
“What? What? What are you talking about? Did you just say you saw him with my sister?”
“I saw Aiza with him,” Seth confirmed.
“You saw somebody who looked like Aiza. We...we dug up her body, Seth. How could she be in that cabin?”
“We dug up a body,” Seth corrected grimly. “It wasn’t her.”
“You saw somebody that looks like her,” Sera said again, feeling faint. How could that possibly true? How could her sister have faked her own death? Why would she go to such great lengths? And even if she had the perfect reason, how could this possibly be true? Confusion and anger hit her in matching waves and then fell away as she realized she could see her sister again. She could touch her and embrace her and tell her that she loved her still, had never stopped loving her.
“We have to go back.”
Seth shook his head. “No, we don’t want to do that.”
“We have to! If she’s there, like you said, we have to go back. I have to see her.”
“Sera, you don’t understand. She doesn’t want to be found out.”
“He doesn’t want to be found out. She’s probably his prisoner. She’s probably waiting for somebody to figure it out and come for her. We can’t just leave her there.”
“Sera, listen—”
The sudden flood of bright headlights filled the car and cut off whatever Seth wanted to say. He pressed on the accelerator, but the truck behind them sped up as well.
“What the—”
Stephanie screamed and a second later, the truck slammed into the rear of the car. Seth fought to keep control, but the truck hit them a second time and sent them flying off the side of the road. Everything went bright—brighter than the sun—and then everything was black.