Crossed Fates by Lexi C. Foss

Alaric

Makayla found Neo right away.One look at his photo, and I understood why. “He’s a scrawny little guy,” I said, eyeing his details. “Only five foot five?”

“I know,” Makayla replied. “I wasn’t surprised at all to learn he was the gofer of the organization.”

I grinned, amused. Then I stuck his details on our board. I’d totally need to repaint this wall when we were done, but whatever. We needed the space, and the blank white area functioned as a much more vast surface than a standard corkboard.

“All right. So he’s from Elk Neck Pack.” I palmed the back of my neck and blew out a breath. “Well, that explains the silver poisoning at Alpha Warren’s funeral.”

“I just sent a text to the Elk Neck Beta,” my father said, sliding his phone back into his pocket. “Hopefully, he can track the scrawny shit down.”

Makayla nodded, her brow pinched. “That’ll be a good lead. However, I’m still trying to figure out how the McKenzie Pack fits in to all this. It’s like a road map to my first case in this realm, except the McKenzie Pack Alpha—Landon, right?”

I nodded. “Yeah, he took over for Alpha Bortex.”

“Right. Okay, so then technically, I suppose, that pack was involved in that ring several years ago. Except Bortex had been the leader. So I originally thought that maybe someone wanted revenge on those who punished him for his involvement in all that. But now, with Kristen’s death, and her being from McKenzie Pack, it doesn’t fit. And the whole invitation thing for you, specifically, completely demolishes my theory, too. You had nothing to do with that incident. So why issue you an invitation to come out and play?”

I growled low in my throat, the scene shooting through my mind and overlapping with that of Valaria Crimson. “They want me to come back to the city.”

“Yes, but why?” Makayla pressed, her attention on the board. “Is it a trap? Or is it a way to distract you from something else?” She tapped her jaw. “In my experience, it’s never a good idea to follow the predator’s path. I prefer to create my own.”

“Do the unexpected, go at it from another angle,” my father agreed with a nod.

“It feels like a trap, but if I don’t go and someone else is hurt...” I exhaled harshly as my eyes rose to the ceiling.

“Jude can handle what’s happening in the city,” he said.

“I think the real answers are here,” Makayla added.

A knock on the door interrupted our conversation. I shared a glance with my dad, then walked over to answer it, the smell on the other side unfamiliar.

“Mister Calder?” a short man with a dusting of light brown hair asked as I opened the door.

“Which one?” I demanded, not in the mood to play another twisted game.

“Uh.” Shorty checked his documents. “Alaric Calder. It’s a package from Jude Reyes.”

“Ah, boss. Gifts,” I drawled. “Should have started with that.” I signed for the package, then left the little guy on the porch to find his way back to his vehicle.

I opened the thick envelope as I returned to the living area. “I always knew he liked me,” I said, grinning at what I found inside.

Surveillance from the city.

Reports of attacks on senior vamps.

And much, much more. I whistled. “Looks like E.V.I.E.’s been busy.”

“Indeed,” my father agreed.

We spent the rest of the afternoon reviewing everything, and by the time we were done, our murder board had doubled in size.

All three of us stood back and surveyed the wall. “Shit,” I mumbled, overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information. There were answers here. I knew it in my bones, but we had to make sense of the chaos.

Makayla crossed her arms over her breasts and traced her mouth while humming thoughtfully. Then she scratched her chin and said, “It’s as if someone is trying to provoke a turf war by removing all the leadership.” She reviewed a few more items before blowing out a frustrated breath and stepping back. “But I don’t get how this is related to trafficking.”

“Maybe it’s a smoke screen.” As the words left my mouth, I realized how true they were. “It’s a fucking smoke screen.” I stalked up to the board and pointed out the cluster of vampire covens who’d lost their leadership over the last week. “While everyone is scrambling, trying to determine who is in charge, the trafficking ring is flourishing in the background. The girls are going missing because no one is there to protect them, and no one is noticing they’re gone until it’s too late because—”

“Because they’re all too busy trying to figure out their new hierarchies and also trying to determine who killed their leaders,” Makayla finished for me, her eyebrows hitting her hairline.

“Shit,” we breathed at the same time.

“Shit,” I repeated. “I need to take a head count. And we need to warn the other packs.”

* * *

It had takenthree hours to complete a head count of Silver Lake. Having everyone home and on pack lands had helped us complete the census in an orderly fashion.

But we were missing one wolf.

Savi.

“She’s not at her cabin,” my mother said, her voice thick with tears and her hands wringing in front of her. “No one has heard from her since before the… before last night.” She swallowed. “She went running alone. We should have… I should have…” She trailed off, her expression falling.

“It’s not your fault, Everly. She wanted to be alone, and we respected those wishes,” my father said.

I couldn’t speak.

Because I didn’t trust what I had to say.

I wanted to explode.

Because I should have insisted on accompanying her. She was a broken wolf, mourning the love of her life, and she’d needed my alpha strength to protect her.

And now…

My stomach clenched, my wolf pacing wildly inside me, unfurled by the concept of a missing wolf. An innocent. A sweet girl. Savi.

Not wanting to lose it in front of my mother, I stalked out of my cabin and into the woods. “Fuck!” I roared.

I paced between two trees, my blood flowing hot with liquid lava, ready to erupt. My insides reached a boiling point half a breath later, and I shouted again as I sent my fist flying into one of the trees, spraying bark in every direction.

I’d been so damn lost in my grief and caught up in Makayla that I hadn’t done what an alpha should have. I hadn’t protected a vulnerable member of my pack, and now she was God knew where, probably suffering like the other girls.

Tyler, fuck, I’m so sorry, brother.I’d already let him down when I missed our lunch, and now this...

A twig snapped and I spun around, ready to fight, ready to fucking kill.

Makayla leaned against another tree, observing me with an unreadable expression. I expected to find wariness, anger, pity, anything but the nothingness on her face. Perhaps she understood me better than I realized. An emotional reaction from her—or anyone—would have sent me over the edge. It was the other reason I’d walked away from my mother. I couldn’t handle her guilt because it was my responsibility to care for Savannah, not my mother’s.

“Not now,” I snarled at Makayla and resumed pacing.

“I think you owe that poor, unsuspecting tree an apology.”

“I said not now.”

“You don’t want to be consoled?” Her tone held no indication of condescension, but I felt it in her mind.

I stopped and whipped around to glare at her. “Is that what you came out here for, Makayla? You want me to give you a fast, hard fuck?” I narrowed my eyes. “Or did you come out here to pick a fight? Because, baby, in the mood I’m in, fighting will only turn me on, and you’re going to find yourself fucked either way.”

Makayla rolled her eyes and pushed off of the tree. “The pity train just derailed at the corner of Suck It Up and Move On. This isn’t going to help Savannah, so stop throwing a tantrum, and let’s figure this out like the alphas we are.”

I froze, my jaw hanging open, while all the blood in my body rushed straight to my cock. It was sexy as hell when she went all alpha female on me.

Her eyes dropped to my groin before returning to my face, and a smile slowly curved her lips. She’d been goading me, knowing it would turn me on and get me out of my head.

“You in the market for a spanking, sweetheart?”

She blinked innocently and scoffed. “I’d like to see you try.”

Challenge accepted.

It wasn’t a challenge, asshole.

Amusement overtook my mounting aggression, causing my lips to twitch. Makayla did all that for me. She’d calmed me and my wolf in the process, allowing me to clear my mind and think logically.

I held out my hand, and she closed the distance between us, tucking herself under my arm instead. “Thanks,” I mumbled as I inhaled her floral scent and let it chase away the last of my anger.

“Anyti—um, sure.”

Her hesitation wasn’t lost on me, and neither was her chanting of, One day at a time, in her head. But I pretended not to hear and kissed the top of her head. “I need to go meet with the alphas soon.”

We’d postponed the meeting as a result of the search—every pack had completed their own head count—and now we were set to meet in the virtual conference room at nine o’clock sharp tonight. Most of the alphas attending were all like me—temporary leaders taking over in the time of crisis.

Makayla nodded, and we walked around to the front of my house in contemplative silence.

Savannah still weighed heavily on my heart, but Makayla had helped me clear away some of the fog of my rage, allowing me to focus on finding Savi and killing the assholes responsible for all this pain and suffering.

Once we were back inside, I called Hardt and told him to gather all of our enforcers and come to the cabin as soon as possible. While we waited for them, Makayla, my father, and I worked on a plan for patrols. We split the pack land into four quadrants and broke the days into segments for patrols and perimeter checks.

Hardt and the enforcers shuffled in ten minutes later, and I gave them the rundown and handed out assignments. Paul and Steve were on quadrant three. Timothy and Gregory took the fourth zone.

“You’ve got your thing this evening,” Makayla piped up as we were making assignments, pointing to quadrant one. “I’ll take a patrol shift tonight.”

“I’ll take one tonight as well,” Hardt announced, gesturing at section two.

I didn’t like the idea of him being out there with Makayla, but I had no doubt that if I voiced that opinion, Makayla would try to kick my ass. And as hot as it would be, I didn’t relish the idea of her stabbing me again. Besides, they’d be in entirely separate areas anyway. So I shoved down my irrational jealousy, told my wolf to knock off the growling, and simply nodded.

Makayla headed out, ready to get to work. Enforcer Enrique followed her, and I gave him a pointed look, telling him with my eyes that he’d better protect her. He acknowledged me with a nod. They wouldn’t run together, but he’d be nearby if there were any issues.

Hardt tapped Enforcer Reggie as his partner for patrol, and all eight wolves departed from my home in their animal forms.

Leaving me to prepare for my meeting with the alphas, which was in about thirty minutes.

I gathered the files and materials I needed, then headed toward Tyler’s house. He had all the telecommunications equipment that was required for this, plus a much nicer office area. And it seemed fitting to be in the Silver Lake Alpha’s house while I addressed other leaders of the Northeast Bitten wolf packs.

Some of Makayla’s thoughts drifted into my mind along the way.

Good grief, I should have grabbed a coffee before leaving. Nothing is better than coffee. A pause. Well, Alaric is definitely better than coffee.

I tried to keep my presence from being known but lost the battle and laughed.

Out of my head, Calder.

Don’t fantasize about me so loudly.

Ugh! I’m not talking to you.

I shook my head with another chuckle and did as she asked. I focused on the meeting ahead so I wouldn’t listen in on her thoughts. Appealing as the idea might be.

Just before nine, my father and I gathered in Tyler’s office. I sat in the executive chair behind the large oak desk, feeling an odd mix of reactions. I’d never wanted to take Tyler’s place as alpha, yet sitting here seemed to confirm that I had no choice in the matter, which left me feeling a bit awkward and unsure.

However, then a series of memories assaulted me, ones of me playing with my brother in this room while our father worked on pack business. And later of me visiting Tyler here and being so damn proud of the alpha he’d become.

This was always meant to be your place, Ric. Stop living in the past and fucking own it.

I could feel Makayla’s presence on the periphery of my mind and knew she’d picked up my thoughts about Tyler and the words I’d imagined him saying. But she remained silent, and when the first alpha appeared on the big screen plastered to the wall of the office, I pushed everything else away and focused on the task at hand.