Page 40 of Saved By the Wolf
Bruno never knew when to keep his mouth shut, though, because he said, “Dredge brought him back. We found him earlier this week.”
Mom let out a growl that sent us groveling. She shifted and sped off. I shifted back and swatted at Bruno to let him know how much of a dunce he was. Now we’d all be in trouble.
We chased after Mom. I was hoping we hadn’t done that much damage that I wouldn’t be able to see Pac, but apparently, that was not going to be an issue.
Shifting back to human form before we entered our parents’ home, we found Mom and Dad arguing, with Sandy looking on from the side. When she saw me, Sandy ran over and enveloped me in a huge hug. I hadn’t seen my sister in over a year, and I had to say it was good to see her again.
“What are you doing back here?” she asked. “And why is Mom so upset and yelling about Pac? I thought he was taken care of a long time ago?”
She was visibly shaking, and I hated that all this history was being dug up again and affecting her.
Brandon came and put an arm around her, and Jacob stood on the other side. She knew she was in good hands with us, but I wondered why Dad had kept Pac a secret this whole time. Where was he keeping him?
I walked up to Dad slowly, who still hadn’t seen me, and that was probably for the best. But when I got within a few feet of him, he looked right at me and said, “Don’t move an inch more. I knew you were here as soon as you crossed my border. Do you have a mate yet?”
His eyes bored into me, and I could feel the intensity of his disappointment. Kit had really done a number on us all. Dad was ready to name me alpha when he thought Kit was the one. I had definitely treated her like my mate, so he’d been let down just as much as I had.
“I’ve found her. My mate, that is, not Kit.”
“Then where is she?”
“She’s in danger, and I need to speak with Pac.”
“You too?” he roared. “You’re the one who sent us on this wild goose chase to find him, and all we got was a dud!”
“A dud? What are you talking about?”
“It’s not Pac, and now what am I supposed to do with a human as a prisoner?”
“A human?” all of us yelled at once.
“Yes. You played me for a fool, and I won’t tolerate it.”
“Dad, what are you talking about?” Brandon asked, standing between Dad and me. Brandon had always been the favorite, and I hoped that worked in our favor right now, because when Dad got riled up, it was not a good sign.
Dad let out a deep breath, and his shoulders sagged. He suddenly looked decades older than I remembered. A pain shot through me, thinking about all the time I had not spent with him. “You want to talk to him?” he asked us. “I’ll let him explain it to you. Goodness knows I can’t make heads or tails about it.”
With a subdued air surrounding us all and the rest of the pack looking on, we followed Dad deep into the woods. A clearing had been made between a group of trees, and under some foliage was a makeshift housing. I could see the edge of a mattress sticking out of the entrance.
Two guards came forward at our approach but immediately backed down when they saw Dad.
“Bring him out,” Dad ordered.
The would-be Pac was brought into the clearing, and I immediately growled. “That’s not him! Not even close!”
“Yes, I already told you that!” Dad said.
“No, that’s not the guy we saw at the hospital, I mean—not even a little bit!”
“What?” Dredge said, coming to join us. “It’s definitely him. He got his face redone, but he smells exactly the same . . . ”
We were all staring at Dredge now, because the way he trailed off and the way he was staring intently at Pac sent a current of alarm through the rest of us.
“Tell them what you told me,” Dad said, standing to his full height and looking less than pleased at the situation. The rest of us copied his stance, and I could see the human shrinking right before our eyes. He was cowered so low to the ground that I felt sorry for him—until I remembered Jill. Then I stood even straighter, waiting impatiently for his reply.
“Tell them!” Dad roared.
The rest of us flinched but didn’t budge.