Page 51 of Alpha Fate

“Did the doctor say anything about that? The chip, I mean.”

I shake my head. “I think she was too preoccupied with her new patient. Which is hardly surprising. She’s got her hands full.”

“Poor guy.” It’s the first sign of softness my sister’s shown since I got back. I know it’s because she was worried about me, but it’s time for her to ease up on the Mother Hen act. “I really hope she gets to the bottom of it, though,” she goes on. “It’s been worrying me so much since we spoke about it. In the beginning, when I got here, all I wanted was to find home. Now I’m more worried about the others who might be out there going through what we did.”

“There are more. I don’t doubt it. They didn’t just come for us. It’s clear these people are organized. That kind of technology doesn’t happen accidentally.”

“You think it goes beyond Rack?” Her eyes widen.

“Probably. Unless you think he’s smart enough to do something like this on his own?”

“Hardly,” she scoffs. “Fucking brute. He’s all about muscles and testosterone. Brains? Not so much.”

“So maybe he’s just one of the pigs who…bought us.” I’m remembering how one of the wolves at Leadmills spoke about Rack getting his money’s worth. “That means there must be other buyers. Tracing them is going to be tricky. It’s not like we can go marching into every rogue pack on the continent and ask, “Hey, did you buy a girl lately?” I press my lips together. “We have to narrow it down. Who else from our pack might still be out there?”

“I’ve been wracking my brains over it.” Sierra rubs the spot between her eyebrows, squeezing her eyes shut for a second. “I don’t want to think about it, but it could have been every female in the pack. Mama—”

“They wouldn’t have taken Mama.” I chew on the inside of my cheek as I think this over.

“How do you know that?”

“I’m not sure. I just know it. They would want those of us who have years of breeding ahead of us. The strongest and fittest of us.” The thought brings a shiver of revulsion, but all of it makes sense.

“I guess you could be right.” She taps her bottom lip. “So then we’d probably only be looking for the females in our generation. Between eighteen and…thirty?”

“Yep. Which would put us smack in the middle.” Talk about bad luck; we were always going to be targeted.

Sierra pulls in a deep breath and sinks onto the couch nearby, dropping her head between her hands and rubbing her temples. “This is a nightmare.”

“No. We lived through the nightmare, Si. There are others who might still be in it. But we can put our heads together and figure things out faster now.”

“Yeah. Like how many we may be looking for. That’s a good start, right?”

“Sure is. And who knows if they all got taken? Some may have escaped. Maybe they weren’t there when it happened.” I’m getting on a roll now as ideas start to come to me.

“Cassie!”

“Who’s Cassie?”

“She lived in the camper near ours. She’d gone out to get provisions.”

“Camper? You mean we’re trailer people?” I try to picture it.

Sierra shakes her head. “More like…gypsies. We move around. Wildview is wherever we put down roots for a while. Until…”

“Until they come for us. Or we get word that they may be onto us.” I feel a sense of dread that ties to a distant memory. The fear that we lived with constantly. The constant suspicions. Never knowing who to trust. Stories of those who were taken. The sorrow of our parents.

Some memories are better left in the darkness.

“Yes.” Sierra has stopped massaging her head and has set her elbows on her knees, her fingers interlaced beneath her chin. “God, I feel so helpless.”

I move to sit beside her, sliding an arm around her shoulder. “But that’s where you’re wrong, Si. You’re not. Neither of us is helpless anymore. Jagger’s going to help. And I know that…that the others will too.” I’d almost said Gage – I’m certain he’d be more than happy to get involved – but I’m still pretty sure that Sierra will flip out at the mention of his name.

“You’re right.” She nods. “It’s just so hard to know where to start.”

“We’ve already started.” I smile. “We know of at least one who’s probably safe. Cassie.”

Sierra smiles back. “Yes. Cassie.”