by Alisa Woods
It was the middle of the night, but Zoe had never been more awake in her life.
Daniel and his men had gone after the vans, but they had no luck and came back empty-handed. Zoe was fortunate that Daniel and Skylar had stayed over at the River family estate, staking out one of the cottages in back, because they both were key to their hopes of tracking the Wolf Hunter down. Right now, Troy and Daniel were on their phones, trying to get the other white wolves—Noah, Owen, Kaden, and Grace—up the mountain to meet them, while also gathering up more wolves to help.
Zoe and Skylar were on point to find the Wolf Hunter.
Whoever he was in real life, clearly he had the resources to command a pretty substantial paramilitary force. If Daniel and Riverwise were going to take him on and try to rescue the mayor, they would need all the help they could yet. It was up to Zoe and Skylar to find the Wolf Hunter before it was too late—who knew what his plans were for his father, now that he had him.
“Are you ready?” Skylar asked her. They were huddled in the corner of the kitchen, next to the small eat-in table, staying out of the way of the others as they jogged through the kitchen, coming and going from the back of the estate to the dining room, organizing their assault force.
“Yes, I think so.” Zoe watched Troy disappear into the great room. The Wolf Hunter and his men had kidnapped the mayor less than thirty minutes ago, but the clock was definitely ticking.
She forced her hands to unclench. “I’ve never done a seeking spell before.”
Skylar’s small face scrunched up. “It’s not the most pleasant of magic, but with your connection to your grandfather, I think you’re the best candidate for it.”
Zoe nodded. It was still weird to think of the mayor as her grandfather—especially when she’d spent a lifetime trying to get away from the idea of being a white wolf. She sucked in a breath. “All right, let’s do this.”
Skylar dug into a small black bag and brought out a tiny vial of white powder. She unscrewed the top and tapped a small amount of the powder into her palm, then carefully screwed the lid back on and replaced it in her bag. Zoe had no idea what the whitish material was, but it didn’t matter as long as it did the job. Skylar passed her hand over the powder in a circular motion, and after a moment, blue sparks of magic flitted around and inside the white pile. Then the whole thing lifted as if a small storm were brewing in Skylar’s palm.
She looked up from the magic in her hand. “You might want to sit down for this.”
Zoe almost objected, but she could already feel the magic pulsing, almost like static electricity through the air, crackling and hissing and calling to her. She took a seat on the rickety wooden chair next to the small table. Skylar knelt in front of her, studied her face for a moment, then took a breath and blew the cloud of magical smoke into the Zoe’s face. She thought she might cough and tried not to reflexively hold her breath, but instead, the room just went blurry around the edges, tilting almost as if they were suddenly on a ship at sea, rocking with the waves of magic swirling all around them.
“Think about your grandfather.” Skylar’s voice was suddenly loud and booming instead of the high-pitched and sweet voice she normally had. “Imagine a powerful memory you have associated with him. The stronger, the better.”
Zoe frowned. She had hardly any memories at all of the mayor as her grandfather, but certainly the poignant scene at the front door where he confessed all his sins from the past and seemed to finally find a home in Mama River’s arms called to her. Suddenly, she was back in that moment, watching the two of them stare into each other’s eyes. Their mouths moved without sound, but Zoe already knew the words that had been said.
“Yes, this is good.” Skylar’s booming voice seemed to come from all around her. “Focus, Zoe. How did this make you feel? I need you to zero in on his magic.”
The scene moved to the revelation moment—when the mayor shifted into a white wolf in front of her eyes. He stood tall and proud in his alpha pose, but the emotions roiling through Zoe at that moment weren’t exactly full of pride… more like surprise and horror and a sinking kind of dread. Only later did the realization come that she had found the possible solution all her problems.
She wasn’t sure she believed everything her grandfather had said—but that didn’t really matter. Right now, finding him was key to stopping the Wolf Hunter and protecting her family. Zoe may not want to be a white wolf like him, but that didn’t mean she wanted to have all wolves eliminated—which, the more she thought about it, she was sure was the Wolf Hunter’s ultimate aim in all of this. He was just that obsessed and self-loathing, and he had all the tools to potentially make it happen.
And as much as she wanted to purge herself of her white wolf, she had to admit there was some beauty in being a wolf. Maybe even in being a white wolf… because she could do this. She could use her power to stop her evil second cousin—or her uncle? It was all so confusing. Whatever relation the Wolf Hunter was to her, she wanted to end all his hatefulness and keep him from hurting the wolves he blamed for his problems.
Keying into that protective emotion locked Zoe into that snapshot of time with her grandfather as a white wolf. She knelt in front of him, and he dipped his head down, not so much in submission, but a request for forgiveness. When she touched him, even though this was some kind of dream or magic-induced hallucination, there was a very real surge of magic between his white wolf form and her hand.
Suddenly, Zoe could feel the magic binding them together—the magic of their DNA—and just as quickly, her sense of the world expanded. She could feel all of them, every last Wilding pack member and everyone who had even the slightest trace of white wolf in them—it was like their DNA magic was a giant web connecting all of them through some alternate space-time continuum. She understood suddenly what her grandfather meant about refreshing his signature in the magical realm… and how the Wolf Hunter could track him down.
“Holy crap, Zoe.” Skylar’s voice was overly loud, but it was also tinged with awe. “You’ve got a hell of a lot of magical power, girl.”
Zoe couldn’t speak—her mouth wasn’t working right under the blurriness of the spell, but she reached along the web, like a spider feeling her threads, searching for the one that led to her grandfather. He was the hub at the center of the spokes, all threads leading to him. And right near the center was the thread that belonged to the Wolf Hunter as well. A tremor of terror rushed through her as she connected with those essences across magical space—if Zoe’s magic was powerful as a second-generation white wolf, how much more powerful would the Wolf Hunter’s be as a first-generation? And even as she thought this, the web of magic pulsed against her, flinging her back, away, away… suddenly her awareness snapped back to Mama River’s kitchen, were Skylar knelt before her with wide eyes and a look of concern.
“You’re back,” she whispered.
Zoe coughed, the remnants of the magic spell finally reaching her lungs. “Was I gone very long?” She honestly had no sense of time, no idea how long she’d been under the spell.
“I lost track of you,” Skylar said quietly, throwing a glance over her shoulder, but no one else was listening, too busy with their preparations. “Are you all right?”
Was she? “Other than being a little shook up, yeah.” Zoe cleared her throat. “But I didn’t find where the Wolf Hunter took the mayor.” Crap, would she have to go through that again?
Skylar grinned. “That’s okay, I did. That’s how the seeking spell works. You provide the connection…” She tapped a finger to her temple. “I provide the GPS coordinates.”
Zoe’s eyes went wide. “You know where he is?”
She nodded. “I know where he’s heading, and I know where he is right now—and he’s not far from his destination. Let’s find a map and figure out where this asshole is.”
Zoe rose up from the table, and the two of them hurried out to the dining room. The large table had been spread with maps and someone had set up computers, where
it looked like they were tracking information through street cams. Zoe had no idea they even had that capability, but Daniel was in charge, and he had Riverwise’s resources on tap. Troy stood next to him at the head of the table—their whispered conversation stopped when Zoe and Skylar came into the room. Several other wolves were gathered around the table, awaiting a plan and directions, uneasiness riding on their shoulders.
Mama River stood off to the side, arms crossed tightly over her chest. “Did you find them?”
Zoe’s heart squeezed for her—the man she had just taken into her house and her heart was missing. And Mama River had already lost a mate once—the last thing Zoe wanted was for her to lose another before they even got started. That alone would drive Zoe to bring the mayor back in one piece.
“Skylar think she knows where he is.” Zoe gestured to the petite witch next to her.
Daniel’s eyes lit up. “The seeking spell worked?”
Skylar flitted over to his side. “I need a map. I can give you GPS coordinates, but I don’t intuitively know how that maps onto the real world. The easiest thing is to give me a map, and I can just point to where they are and where they’re headed.”
“Perfect.” Daniel gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, then guided her over to the computer screen and elbowed aside the guy who was running the mouse. Together, they pulled up a series of maps of the city, working through them one at a time.
Troy came to her side and slipped his arm around her waist. “How are you holding up?”
“I’m fine,” she said reflexively. At his pinched look, she added, “All of this is so… confusing.”
He gently squeezed her around the waist. “Confusing because you just met your grandfather? Or confusing because he’s a white wolf?”
She grimaced. “Confusing because I’ve spent my whole life not wanting to be him… and now I’m doing everything I can to rescue him.”
Troy slipped his other arm around her, giving her a full hug and pressing his lips to her forehead in a gentle kiss. Then he pulled back and looked into her eyes with those beautiful green ones of his. “This is why I want you to hold off on doing anything drastic. I want you to think this through before… well, before you throw it all away. Maybe finding your grandfather isn’t such a bad thing.” He had a hopeful look in his eyes that made her squirm. She knew what he wanted—he’d made it clear enough. He wanted her to remain a wolf. Only she wasn’t a wolf—she was a white wolf. A witch. Apparently, a very strong witch, according to Skylar. And her connection to every wolf in the Wilding pack was much more real now that she’d felt it in the magical realm as tenuous blue lines of magical energy binding her to them. It was an almost literal representation of all the things she knew about being wolf—how packs were bound together by the magic of their submission and mating bonds—combined with a fierce, bright magical power of being a witch.
It was all too much to take in—especially when she’d been running from it her entire life.
She squirmed a little bit out of Troy’s hold, and the look of disappointment on his face speared through her. She squeezed his arm to reassure him, but still worked her way out of the hug.
“Right now, I just need to focus on getting him back. After this is all done, I’ll worry about myself again.” She gave him a small smile.
Troy reached a hand up to her face, cupping her cheek, and dipping down to lightly kiss her on the lips. “Keep talking like that, and I’ll end up dragging you back to your room again.”
She smirked, which only encouraged him to kiss her again and once more. She pushed him back playfully. “Focus.”
He laughed.
“There it is!” Skylar’s soft voice carried across the dining room. She was pointing to the screen, and Daniel quickly zoomed in on the point that she indicated.
Zoe and Troy hurried over to the computer, along with Mama River, and the rest of the wolves gathered.
“Where is it?” Zoe asked.
“Smack in the middle of downtown.” Daniel looked over his shoulder at her. “Do we have any idea who this guy is? Any information from your seeking spell that I should know about?”
Zoe shook her head. “Only that the Wolf Hunter’s definitely the mayor’s son? They’re very much connected in the magical realm. And the obvious—that he has the resources to command a small paramilitary force.”
Daniel gestured to the screen. “Well, he’s headed straight for a high-tech research park. The high-rise that Skylar’s pinpointed? It’s owned by Serafin Genetics.”
Zoe’s mouth dropped open. “The guys doing recombinant DNA research? Holy crap.”
“Exactly.” Daniel frowned at the screen, then he peered at Skylar. “How accurate is the seeking spell? Do we know for sure this is where he’s headed? Because he’s still ten minutes out from there, just entering downtown, from what you’ve said. Is it possible he’s headed somewhere else?”
Skylar’s lips drew into a tight line. “He could change his mind at any time. At the point in time when we were in the seeking spell, that was where he was headed. But we should probably do a continuous spell on the way to make sure he doesn’t change plans.”
Daniel stepped back from the computer. “Right. Now that we have our objective, let’s move out.” He signaled to the rest of the wolves. Everyone started moving at once.
Troy’s hand found hers. “I’m not even going to try to tell you not to go.”
She gave him a look like he was crazy. “Why would you do that?” The room had turned into a chaos of shouted commands and scuffling of shoes in two seconds flat, as everyone scrambled to get their gear and head toward the front.
He squeezed her hand. “Oh, I don’t know… maybe because I’d much rather save you from a burning building than have you chase after a maniac with magical powers?”
She frowned. The truth was, she didn’t know how much power the Wolf Hunter had. He’d already blasted her once with enough magic to knock her down and burn through her shield. She’d think of something on the way… but she definitely didn’t want Troy to worry.
She squeezed his hand in return. “If the building catches fire, you can come rescue me again.”
He shook his head. “Oh no. I’m not leaving your side, Zoe Wilding.”
And he meant it. He followed her as she swept along with the last of the other wolves toward the front door. The pack vans waited outside. Daniel was on the phone, talking to someone, coordinating all the forces they would have to gather to have a chance at making this work. Just before Zoe climbed into the van, she looked back to see Mama River hovering in the front doorway, watching them all go.
Zoe captured her gaze and gave a nod she hoped said, I’ll bring him back.
Mama River just watched as they pulled away.
Troy sat next to Zoe in the back of the pack van.
They bounced on the padded bench with the screaming-fast ride down the mountain, Troy staying by her side, just as he promised. He knew she was key to this operation, and that the stakes were high, but he didn’t like the fact that she was involved in it at this level—at all.
Up front, two of the Riverwise wolves were driving and navigating. On the other side of Zoe sat Skylar—the two of them were deep in another seeking spell and had been continuously since they left the River estate. It’d taken them forty-five minutes to hurtle down the mountain in their convoy of vans, heading for downtown in the middle of the night, and Zoe had been under the spell almost the entire time.
Every once in a while, she clutched at his hand, which was always holding hers, squeezing it as if she had suddenly lost her balance. The van didn’t have the greatest shock absorbers, and the road was rougher than he would’ve expected for Seattle streets, but that wasn’t what was causing her to lurch—it was whatever was going on inside the spell. Daniel sat across from them, next to several other wolves armed with tactical gear and weapons. Grace and the other white wolves—Noah and Kaden and Owen—were meeting them at the rendezvous point.
“Any changes?” Daniel asked Skylar for the third time in ten minutes.
“No changes,” she said softly, her eyes closed, also deep in the spell with Zoe.
Troy didn’t like her going on the mission. He didn’t like her trapped in the spell. There wasn’t much of this he did like, but he couldn’t let that show. His secret hope was that this whole event—stopping the Wolf Hunter and recovering her grandfather—would be the thing that convinced her to embrace her white wolf. To see that it had a purpose.
He just prayed it wouldn’t get her killed.
Even though the logical part of his brain knew her superhealing made her freaking hard to kill—he’d seen that demonstrated more than once now—that didn’t mean she was indestructible. A bullet to the brain would destroy the woman he loved just like anyone else.
Daniel scowled at his laptop. “I’ll be damned,” he said softly, just to himself.
Troy leaned forward, bracing his elbow on one knee to get closer. He didn’t want to disturb Skylar and Zoe in their trance—he was still holding her hand, in case she needed him.
“What have you got?” Troy asked.
“You know how I said the building was owned by Serafin Genetics?” Daniel asked, flicking a quick look to Zoe, but she was still deep in the spell.
“Yeah?”
“Well, it turns out that Serafin Genetics was bought about a year ago by Emergent Technologies.” That perked up the ears of the wolves around them—most of them were Riverwise security, the guys who had volunteered to stay behind and guard Mama River’s estate when the rest of the wolves vacated the premises. The Wolf Hunter obviously knew where the estate was—he just had no reason to come there until the mayor had shown up at Mama River’s door, seeking forgiveness and refuge. Troy still wasn’t convinced that guy was worth saving, except for the fact that saving him might save Zoe.