Daunte Cross wasn’t often ashamed, but as he explained to his Alpha what had occurred in the morning, he couldn’t help but feel that he’d been an ass. He’d been on his way to look at woods close to their territory - an extension they were considering purchasing - when he’d come across one of them, a sup, in distress.

“She came out of nowhere; I almost hit her with the Jeep. When I looked at her, she was wet, dirty, sweaty, and terrified,” he said, pacing around Rye’s office. “She said she was kidnapped, but didn’t want to go to the cops. I picked her up and got the hell out of there. As soon as she got into the car, I smelled wolf on her.”

“And where is she?” Rye growled, tense.

“Safe, I think. Hopefully.”

He’d helped, he knew he had; but he hadn’t done as much as he could have. He might have brought the girl to their territory and protected her there - they had plenty of alliances and she would have been safer. She was on the run today, by herself. But he hadn’t wanted to lead problems to his Pride. Simple as that. Any other time, he might have at the very least considered it, but while his sister was pregnant and vulnerable? No way, no how. Instead, he’d called Knox, the most resourceful loner he knew of, and asked him to help.

“I gave her a wad of cash - you’ll see the withdrawal from the Pride account by the way - and I put her on a bus heading to LA. She’ll meet Knox there. I couldn’t bring her here, not with Ace ready to pop.”

Unsurprisingly, his Alpha nodded curtly in understanding. He was the last person in the world who’d want to bring danger to their door days before his mate was due to give birth.

Basically, Daunte was sorry about what had happened to Emily, he empathized, sympathized, but it didn’t change the fact that she wasn’t part of his Pride. Cold, but that was how animals survived, and shifters worked that way when they needed to. Making that sort of decision was the Beta’s job.

“You did good. Knox will help her, I’m sure.”

Rye’s approval was anticipated, but he felt some guilt lift off his shoulders, nonetheless. Emily would be in good hands with Knox - or so he told himself. Still, Daunte wouldn’t feel good about it until he knew she was safe.

“Also,” Rye said uncomfortably, scratching his chin. “I guess you agree, or you wouldn’t have lied to her face about the purpose of this little chat, but I really don’t think you should tell Aisling about it.” He visibly hated the idea of hiding anything from his mate, but for her peace of mind, he would. “She’d freak.”

She would. His sister was the strongest female he knew - hell, she topped most males - and she would hate that they didn’t lend a hand to that poor girl because of her condition.

“I’m not suicidal,” he replied.

If she ever found out, she was going to kick his ass into next year. And because she was his sister, there was an untold rule saying that he had to let her. He’d defend himself, but he’d never attack her. Damn chivalry.

“Good. So, what about the territory you looked at?”

Daunte hesitated for a second. He hadn’t spared a lot of thought at the actual goal of this morning’s exploration.

“It starts on the other side of the motorway and takes over most of the lake. Honestly, the forest has been burned recently so I can’t say that it’s all that attractive. It’ll take a lot of work to do anything lucrative with the land.”

“But?”

“But,” he carried on, “It’s an ideal position for any enemy wishing to regroup near us.”

And unfortunately, they had an enemy who would be likely to take advantage of that, given half a chance. The Pack of wolves who’d wanted to destroy them had relented, but there was no doubt that they’d try to attack again when they could.

Because of that threat, the small Wyvern Pride was currently recruiting. Rye had been reluctant at first, but they needed more members to efficiently protect their kids and survey the area. Their territory - without even counting the potential extension they’d probably purchase - was too large for ten adults to oversee.

They’d accepted applications for the last couple of months and agreed to look into potential candidates after the baby was born and Ace was back on her feet. Knowing his sister, Daunte realized that wouldn’t take long.

“Also, I picked up Emily in these woods. It’s obvious that whoever attacked her is using the territory for their illegal activities. It’s too close to home - if something happens there, the suspicion will immediately fall on us.”

That settled it in Rye’s mind.

“So, we buy the land. And if they still use it afterwards, well… It’s been a while since we’ve gone on a hunt.”

Rye’s eyes flashed silver and he smiled. His Alpha had turned into a damn monster since his mating with Aisling; he’d always been scary as fuck, but now he looked more frightening in his human shell than he did in his animal form - and that was saying a lot, given the fact that Rye turned into a damn saber-toothed tiger.

Daunte was grateful for his Alpha’s freakishness; he loved his position as Beta, and he would have hated the responsibility that came hand in hand with being an Alpha, but he would never have been able to follow a weaker man. If it wasn’t for Rye, he would have had to form his own pride, or become a loner. The former held no appeal; the latter was often a death sentence for a shifter. His sister had been a loner for a decade, and managed to thrive. But she’d never felt comfortable in their old Pride, so leaving it hadn’t been an ordeal for her. Daunte and his animal loved socializing. He played with the kids, joked around with the females; been the real life of the party. The loner life really wasn’t for him. Thanks to Rye, he’d never have to experience it.