“He was starting to rally everyone.” Amelia wiped tears from her eyes, smudging her eyeliner, and glanced at Teresa. “And, um…”
“They shot him!” Teresa sobbed. “They shot Dad!”
My hands tightened convulsively around Teresa’s shoulders, and the hot fire of anger burst to life in my chest, eating away at some of my fear. “How bad is it?”
“They used silver bullets,” Original Jack said. “They didn’t hit him in the heart or skull. Given enough time he’ll heal up. But…” He glanced at Teresa and didn’t finish.
It’s unlikely Amos will give him enough time to heal. There’s no way they’re rounding up all the wolves for something innocent.
“They’re searching the lodge,” Young Jack said. “I don’t know for what. When Jack and I resisted, they threw us out.”
“Teresa and I didn’t fight, so they left us alone—until we decided to run for it,” Amelia said. “They ripped apart Greyson’s office, but didn’t seem to find what they were looking for, so they moved on to all parts of the lodge when we left.”
“Wait, you said they? How many hunters were inside, searching?” I asked.
Amelia nervously chewed on the nail of her thumb. “Maybe ten of them?”
“What?” I shook my head. “This is impossible—the Fletching Hunter family can’t be that big to afford sending nineteen hunters.”
“I don’t think all the hunters are Fletchings,” Teresa said into my shoulder. “Some of them had different colored clothes and little symbols.”
He got help?! How? Why? Hunters aren’t besties with wolves, yeah, but they don’t hate them!
“Why on earth would they stake everything—their reputation, the honor of the family, the family itself—on the dim hope that the Northern Lakes Pack might have some special ace in the hole?” I was mostly pondering the idea out loud and didn’t expect a response, but I did get one.
“Yeah, I don’t get it either,” Amelia said. “The Regional Committee of Magic will come down hard on them for all of this!”
“It might not be as unexpected as you think.” Original Jack scratched the back of his head. “Pack survival is pretty dark right now. Because Greyson is so strong, we haven’t had any problems, but when Hudson was Alpha, trouble was brewing with the nearby Packs. No one likes how great the Northern Lakes Pack is doing.”
“Stupid,” I muttered. “This whole thing is stupid.”
“What do we do?” Young Jack asked.
Silence stretched between us, and it took me a few moments to realize he was asking me.
“Uh…” I glanced at Original Jack—the adult of the group.
“Rio sent a text when all of this started,” Original Jack said. “He said he saw a second group of hunters—twenty-three of them.”
Twenty-three hunters on top of the nineteen in the meadow and lodge…forty-two hunters total? Just how on earth was Crackpot Amos able to find so many allies?
“I imagine they were sent after the rest of the Pack,” Original Jack continued. “I don’t know if they caught them, but given that they haven’t showed up, I’m afraid to hope.” He closed his eyes and squeezed his phone. When he opened his eyes, he turned to me. “So, what do we do, Pip?”
Oh…no.
I tried not to visibly gulp as Amelia, Young Jack, and Original Jack stared at me—fear and hope battling in their expressions.
I wasn’t a leader. I was a loner—and not even by choice. I couldn’t lead!
But I’m the only one trained in fighting, and as a hunter I’m better suited for this than they are. So I better get it together. What do we do?
“We need to free some of the werewolves, or we won’t stand a chance.” I licked my dried lips. “I’d prefer not to go directly against Amos, but there are only nineteen hunters by the lodge, and twenty-three if Rio’s text is accurate. We’d be better off facing the smaller group.”
Teresa finally stepped back from me and wiped her face off on her arm. “They probably needed more hunters to fight Greyson.”
I traced the sheaths of my daggers on my thigh holster. “Greyson is insanely strong. It will take a lot to get him down. I think we’d be better off taking on this group.”
“Then we fight?” Young Jack asked.
I glanced at Teresa. “Not all of us. Teresa, I need you to run to Timber Ridge.”