“I’m going to check in with my dad,” Eli said as we left Violet’s. “Update him.”

Gracie had opted to stay behind so she could spend more time with Callie before coming home for the night. She’d asked if I would check on Winston again for her.

I’d agreed to, of course. The little guy was growing on me.

“Update him on what?” I asked.

“Everything. He’s been away handling another pack-related issue.” He paused and scratched his head. “I haven’t been able to fill him in on anything.”

Our alpha was always dealing with something besides this situation. I knew he’d placed Eli on this, but I still couldn’t help but wonder what he could be handling that was more important. “Does he know we rescued Violet?”

“He knows she was found and that she’s alive. He doesn’t know any details, though.”

“That’s going to be a long conversation.”

A smirk twisted at the corners of Eli’s mouth. “Yeah, you can say that again.”

I crammed my hands into the back pockets of my shorts as we paused in the space that separated my Gran’s trailer from his parents. A long breath expelled from my lungs. “Well, good luck.”

“Thanks,” Eli said. “I’m hoping he has some advice for us.”

“That would be nice.”

We were back to square one. Violet hadn’t known anything that would help move this along. Which meant the only thing we had left in our tool belt was Peter, Shane’s oldest brother. We hadn’t searched his place yet.

“I’ll catch up with you later,” Eli insisted. His voice sounded odd.

Was he worried about what his dad might say once he learned how far Eli had gone to rescue Violet?

“You better. I want to know how it goes with your dad.” I hoped he wasn’t too hard on him. Killing someone—human or other—wasn’t something to ever be taken lightly, regardless of the situation. “I guess I’ll head inside and talk with Gran about Violet. Find out what’s going on with her. Didn’t you think there was something wrong with her? I mean she should be healed by now, shouldn’t she?” My brows furrowed as I thought about the bruises and scratches on her still.

“Her ankle, no. That’ll probably take time. Heck, you know as well as I do that when someone suffers a severe injury while in their human form nine times out of ten their wolf healing doesn’t kick in to heal them.”

“I know,” I said, knowing he was referencing my father’s accident. “I’m talking about the cuts and bruises. Those should have been healed days ago.”

Eli scratched his brow. “Yeah, I figured they would have been gone before we found her.”

“I don’t understand it, but…” I nodded toward Gran’s trailer. “I’m about to find out what’s going on.”

“If you learn anything, let me know, will you?”

“Sure,” I said as I stepped toward the stairs that led to my front door. “Keep me posted on the conversation with your dad, okay?”

“Maybe you should come over later tonight so you can fill me in and vice versa,” he said as his gaze locked with mine. “You can take a couple more sips from a volcano’s ass with me.” He winked as he started walking backward toward his parents’ trailer.

I didn’t say a word. Instead, I pretended to be thinking long and hard about his offer as I watched him walk away. A smile stretched across my face before he disappeared around the front of his parents’ trailer.

Nervous butterflies fluttered through my stomach. Not for the conversation I was about to have with Gran, but for Eli’s conversation with his dad. I couldn’t imagine how he must be feeling. He was about to tell his dad he’d killed someone. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. I was sure Eli’s dad had taken care of a few people in his position as alpha for the safety of the pack.

Even so, it still didn’t seem to justify a life being taken.

I stepped inside Gran’s place. A familiar scent made its way to my nose. I closed the door behind me. Gran was in the kitchen, concocting something made of herbs at the stove. I knew whatever she was making was for Violet.

“Are you done interrogating Violet for today?” she asked without glancing at me. Her tone was sharp. Even if I hadn’t noticed it, I would have known she was upset with me. I could sense her anger. It rolled off her in waves and lingered in the air alongside the heavy scent of herbs.

“We weren’t interrogating her,” I said as nicely as I could manage.

Gran shifted to face me, one of her brows arched high. “If you honestly don’t think what you were doing was interrogating the poor girl, then what do you call it?”

“Gathering information,” I said with a shrug.

“Exactly, interrogation.” Gran pursed her lips together as a look of heated irritation flashed through her eyes. Her anger didn’t last long. It dissipated quicker than I would have thought possible. “I know you’re working with Eli on this—whatever it is—and while I’m grateful you’re finally spending time with him, I wish you would’ve let Violet rest another day or two before you decided to bombard her with questions. The girl’s not well, Mina.”

My throat grew thick. “What’s wrong with her? I know something’s off, but I can’t put my finger on what.” I crossed into the kitchen and propped my hip against the counter. “She should be healed, but she’s not.”

“Well, her ankle was pretty bad. It will take time,” Gran said as she continued stirring whatever she was heating on the stove. From where I stood, I could see a thick, brown substance in the pot. One that reminded me of dark molasses. “But it’s her bruises and cuts still being present that concerns me.”

“Do you think whatever drug she was given did something to her healing abilities?”

Gran shook her head. “No. I don’t think that has anything to do with it. I think it has more to do with how long she was left without silver touching her skin.”

Silver. I’d forgotten she hadn’t been wearing any when we found her. The bars of the cage she’d been locked in had been made of iron.

Had Drew known what silver did to us and how much we needed it? Could he have been that smart?

“I think Violet is having issues healing because being without silver for so long severed her from her wolf,” Gran said.

My heart hammered against my ribs. I’d never known anyone to become severed from her wolf before, but always knew it was possible.

Poor Violet. An image of her on her bed looking utterly broken flashed through my mind. Her potentially being severed from her wolf made the sight of all her silver jewelry make sense.

“How do we fix it? Fix her?” Panic settled inside me. Was there a way to fix this?

“Honestly, Mina, I’m not sure. I’ve never dealt with this before. All I can think to do is place as much silver around her as possible, keep giving her tea to calm her nerves, and pray to the moon goddess whatever has happened to her reverses itself in time.” Gran turned off the stove and poured the thick syrup she’d been stirring into a glass brown bottle. “You know as well as I do silver tethers the wolf to our human form. It keeps us connected. A way to keep our wolf close if we should need it. Take that away, and the connection, the bond, the tether fades until it disappears altogether.”

“Are you saying Violet’s wolf is gone forever?”

Gran shook her head as she twisted a dropper lid onto the brown bottle. “I’m not saying anything. I don’t know much about this situation. It’s all new territory. Her wolf could be gone for good or just lost.” She reached for a paper towel and moved to wipe up the syrup she’d gotten on the counter. “We’ll have to wait and see. Be sure you send up a prayer to the moon goddess for her tonight, though.”

“I will,” I promised as the house phone rang. The sound of it startled me from my thoughts and shattered the intense moment Gran and I had been having.

I rushed to answer it. The caller ID said it was someone calling from Eddie’s.

“Hello?” I asked, even though I was positive who it would be and why they’d be calling.

“Hey, Mina,” a rough voice said from the other end of the line.

I reached for my keys. “Hey, Eddie. What’s up?”

“How you doin’, darlin’?”

“I’m okay. How about you?”

“I’m good.” He sighed. “Look, I hate callin’ to bother you, but your daddy is down here drunker than a skunk. Figured you’d want to know. I stopped servin’ him about an hour ago hopin’ he’d sober up some, but he pulled out a flask I didn’t know he had and started drinkin’ his own shit. I’m goin’ to need someone to come pick him up.”

“All right.” I grabbed my purse and started for the door. Even though I was ticked Eddie had managed to over serve my dad again, I was glad he’d opted to take his keys and call him a ride. “I’ll be there in a minute. Thanks, Eddie,” I said before hanging up.

“I told him not to go down there and drink himself away again today,” Gran insisted as she shook her head.

“It doesn’t do any good. You should know that by now.” I stepped to the kitchen to give her a kiss on the cheek. “Anything you need me to pick up while I’m out?”

“Actually, there is.” She wiped her hands on a dish towel and grabbed a pad of paper and pen from in the junk drawer. “Let me make a short list for you.”

“Okay.” I leaned against the counter, watching her write.

Once she’d jotted down a list of four items total and handed me a twenty-dollar bill, I headed out the door. As a slipped in my car, I eyed Eli’s parents’ trailer, searching for any sign of him. Either they’d already finished their conversation, or it was still going.

I wasn’t sure which would be better.

My teeth sank into my bottom lip as I cranked the engine on my car and shifted into reverse. I made a mental note to send Eli a text when I reached the grocery store, letting him know I’d learned what might be wrong with Violet from Gran and to make sure he was still alive. Would his dad do anything to him for what he’d done to Drew? Were there consequences for his action? Should I have gone with him to talk to his dad? Probably not. It was best he dealt with this on his own.

I pulled out of the trailer park, cutting a right at the entrance. It didn’t take long to decide where to go first. Obviously, it would be easier to get Gran’s list at the store before I picked up my dad from the bar.

That was where I headed.