“Fuck.” My teeth clenched.
James ran his fingers up his shaved temples and into his mane on top. Liam reached for the six-pack and pulled out a bottle.
Finn, are the guys back yet?Spencer linked to me.
Yes.
How did it go?
Everything is fine,I lied. There was no point in telling her the truth now. She can start worrying about it tomorrow. How’s Clare?
She was talking to me and then she passed out in the middle of the sentence. I think she’s drunk.
I chuckled. I think you’re right.
She got drunk with Alister?
Yeah. You need to get some sleep too. It’s late.
It is. My eyes are already closed. I love you.
I imagined her in bed with her eyes closed, and I hated that I couldn’t be with her right now.
I love you too.
“Finn?” Liam stopped to look at me. “What is it?”
“Nothing. It’s Spencer. She was asking if you’re back.”
“Did you tell her—”
“Of course not. There’s nothing she can do right now.”
“No, there isn’t,” said Alister. “And there is nothing she can do tomorrow either. With the whole pack on watch, we can’t send the two of them there alone, unprotected, cloaking spell or not. We need a new plan.”
“I think we should get some sleep first.” Liam grabbed another bottle of beer. “Don’t worry,” he clapped my shoulder on his way out. “We’ll come up with something.”
Yawning, James headed to the door too. “See you in the morning.”
As the door closed behind them, Alister and I exchanged a glance.
“Any thoughts?” I asked.
“No. All I know is we can’t do it without them. We just need to find a better way to protect them, or turn the fire on us, and who knows, maybe we'll manage to take down the pack's guard from Aaron's place.”
“Yeah,” I heaved a breath. “But Liam is right. We should sleep on it.”
* * *
The next morning, we shared the news with Clare and Spencer as we gathered in their room.
“We don’t have much time left,” said Clare. “The full moon is coming, and if we don’t get the relics before that, we’re doomed.”
“We’ve talked about creating a diversion before,” said Alister. “We need to distract them, lure them away from Aaron’s place, and give you as much time as we can.”
Spencer heaved a breath.
“How are you going to do it?” she asked.
“The easiest way.” Standing his feet shoulder-width apart, Alister folded his arms over his chest. “All we need to do is show up, and the moment they sniff us out, take off and let them chase us.”
“When you say take off, do you mean like before? Get in the cars and drive away?”
“No. Like I said, we have to keep them busy as long as we can. If we drive away, they might not follow. This time, we’ll have to shift and get into a fight if we have to.”
“Alister, that’s too risky. Who knows how many you’ll have to fight?”
“That’s not the problem,” I shook my head. “The problem is if they recognize even one of us and realize that the marked ones have been protecting Spencer this entire time, they might figure out what’s going on and what we’re after.”
“And that’s why we’ll have to shift before we let them see us,” said Alister. “You’re right, some of them may recognize us in human form, but they don’t know our wolves. Well, they might know mine. I had a few encounters with some of them, mostly the oldest ones. But they don’t know yours or Liam’s. And definitely not James’s.”
Liam, James, and I exchanged glances.
Liam frowned. “Then, just in case, you’re not coming.”
“I thought you might say that. But you’ll need my help.”
“No. I agree with Liam,” I gazed at Alister. “If they find out who you are, it would be enough to figure out the rest. You can back up Clare and Spencer.”
Alister scoffed. “You want me to sit in the car and wait while the rest of you . . .” He rolled his eyes. “I’m the strongest among you. You need me.”
“I’m with Alister on this.” Spencer, who was sitting on her bed, got up. “You are the ones who need backup.”
“No.” I shook my head again. “Alister, you know I’m right.”
“Yeah.” He dropped his hands. “Okay. And yes, Clare and Spencer do need someone to watch their backs.”
“Then it’s decided. Tonight.” I glanced at Spencer. “And it might be our only chance. If we fail, we will make them even more suspicious, and Aaron might contact other alphas.”
Alister heaved a breath. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”
* * *
At 7 p.m., we all came down to the parking lot. I wished I could change places with Alister so I could be there for Spencer if she needed me; to protect her myself if something goes wrong. But I couldn’t go with her, and the fear for her safety squeezed my stomach. I took her hand and pulled her aside.
“Spencer, you can’t get close to Eric. He knows your scent, and elixir or no elixir, he’ll be able to sniff you out.” I looked into her glowing blue eyes. “Promise me you’ll be careful.”
“I do, I promise. And I want you to promise me the same. If there’ll be too many to fight, just run. Okay?”
I nodded. She stretched up to my face and kissed me on the lips.
I watched her get into Alister’s car. Alister waited for us to take off, and as Liam, James, and I hit the road, he followed.
*********
SPENCER
I kept my eyes on Finn’s car as we drove. We were heading to Cheatham County. We reached a river and after we crossed a long bridge, Finn took the next exit from the main road and his car turned into a narrow track between the hills covered with woods. I sighed, staring at the now empty road ahead.
It wasn’t a long drive, and during those few minutes, all I could think about was Finn. I was worried about him and the guys and had a hard time concentrating on my own task. I was feeling pretty nervous, as if I needed more time to get into the action mood. But the moment the car stopped, and I got out, it was like someone flipped a switch. I knew that the only way to help Finn was to do what we were here for as quickly as we could.
Alister slowed down the moment the pack’s no trespassing sign came into the view. He parked the car as deep between the trees as he could and the three of us got out.
“Now we wait for them to give us the green light,” said Alister, pulling his phone out of his pocket.
We had to wait for Finn to call the moment they got noticed by the pack guards. After that, we had to make sure the coast was clear before Mom and I could cross the border.
“Shouldn’t we get closer?” I asked impatiently. “We need to see them to be sure the guards are leaving.”
“If we get closer, they might catch our scent.”
“Honey,” Mom gave me a warm look. “We can’t rush this. We need to be careful.”
“Yeah,” I heaved a breath. “Okay.”
With my arms crossed over my chest, I leaned against the car facing the woods. Unlike Marcus’s house, Aaron’s wasn’t as close to the border of the territory, and it would take a little longer to get there. Mom and I had studied the map, and we had it with us just in case. What bothered me was that seeing the way on the map was one thing but finding it in the dark woods is another.
* * *
FINN
We hid the car among the trees and continued on foot for about five minutes up the hill before we reached the first post. The moment we saw the guard, I called Spencer and Liam called Alister. Then we took off our clothes, and before shifting, I turned off the phone, wrapped it in my shirt, and together with my sweatpants, pushed it under a bush.
“It’s only the three of them,” said James. “We could easily take them down.”
“That’s not why we’re here. We’ll fight when it comes to it. But right now, our job is to alert them, to make them call the others and then lure them away.”
“Stick to the plan.” Liam glared at James. “If you screw this up, I will bite your tail off.”
“Chill. I said we could.”
I remained in the middle, Liam moved away to my right, and James to the left. The three of us shifted and started toward the guards.
The men were chatting, looking around from time to time. To get their attention, I snarled.
They stopped talking, and one of the men took a few steps toward me.
“Which dumbass is it?” He said with frustration. “Didn't you hear the order? You’re not allowed to come close to the border after dark.”
Liam’s snarl came from the right and the other two men pricked up.
“If this is some sick joke,” said the other man, “you’ll have to answer to Alpha.”
As James’s howl pierced the air, the man who spoke first pulled out his phone and made a call.
“Sir, there’s a disturbance on the border.”
* * *
SPENCER
“What’s taking so long?” I reached into my jeans pocket for my phone.
Before I could pull it out, Alister said, “It’s only been five minutes.”
Just like me, he and Mom stood peering into the darkness behind the trees. But Alister and I could see and hear much better than Mom, that’s why when Alister and I stared at each other and I asked him, “Did you hear that too?” Mom’s questioning look jumped between us.
“What?” she asked, a little startled.
“It’s a—” But my phone buzzed before I could answer, and so did Alister’s. The call was just a signal, and we weren’t supposed to answer it, but I glanced at the screen to make sure it was Finn. “We should go.” I stuffed the phone back into my pocket.
“I’ll come with you as far as I can,” Alister said, leading the way.
But after a few steps, he grabbed Mom’s arm to stop her. I froze to the spot too.
“What is it?” asked Mom.
“It’s a car,” I replied.
“Two cars,” said Alister.
The next moment, the headlights shone between the trees and two cars sped down the road.
Alister cursed under his breath. “This is bad.”
I gaped at him. “You don’t think they’re going after them, do you?”
“I’m afraid so. We thought they would just rush toward the boys across their lands, but this looks like they’re going to get to them from both sides.”
“They want to surround them.”
“Alister, we have to warn them,” Mom said.
But I was already calling Finn. He didn’t reply, and I knew I was too late. He was most definitely in his wolf form by now, away from his clothes and phone.
“We should call this off and go to them,” I said to Alister who shook his head at once.
“We can’t. This means our plan is working and the coast is clear.”
“No,” I said in an angry whisper. “We didn’t plan on killing them to save me. It’s only the three of them. They can’t fight that many by themselves.”
“Spencer, we can’t turn back now. Go. You’re wasting time.”
“Only under one condition,” I glared at him. “You’ll go and help them. These wolves . . . they wouldn’t expect to be attacked from behind. You could ambush them.”
“And leave you here alone? Without a car? What if you need a quick getaway? How’re you going to get back?”
“We’ll be cloaked, and we’ll just wait for you to come get us when you can.”
“Spencer, we talked about this. If they recognize me, it’ll put you in danger. And I’m here to watch your backs. I can’t—”
“And I’m asking you to watch theirs. They need you more. You said it’s the old ones who might recognize you, and I doubt the old ones will be guarding the borders. We’ll be okay. We can take care of ourselves.”
“Alister, you have to help them,” Mom said firmly. “We can’t leave them alone in that mess. You should go.”
“Dammit!” Alister turned his vexed look at the sky. “Be careful. And . . .” he fixed his glowing dark eyes at Mom, “if something goes wrong, just run.”
Mom gave him a curt nod, and he rushed to his car.
* * *
ERIC
Not knowing where exactly those wolves would take Spencer next, I decided to check every hotel and gas station on my way. I knew it would slow us down, but it helped that I had two men with me. Now that they had a piece of Spencer’s clothes to get familiar with her scent, the three of us could check several locations at once every time we stopped.
We barely reached Nashville when my phone vibrated. I pulled it out of my pocket and looked at the screen. It was my father.
“Eric, you can come back, son. They’re not going to Georgia. They decided to visit us first.”
I turned the wheel. The car jerked to the side of the road, and I hit the brakes. “Did you get them?”
“Not yet. They showed up on the west side of our border a few minutes ago.”
“How many?”
“At least three.”
“Is Spencer with them?”
“I don’t know. I sent about a dozen men to surround them. I’m sure they’ll catch them in no time.”
“I’m on my way.”
My heart beating in my throat from excitement, I turned the car around and sped back. Those bastards got away from me once, what if they slip away again? I had to take extra precautions.
To get to our lands, they had to cross the river. I wouldn't know which way they would go if they escape, but just in case, I called Max. Searching for Spencer, he took a different route. He got a little further than us and was now in Franklin. I told him to hurry back home, park at the end of the closest bridge, and keep an eye on it for a black SUV with North Carolina plates.