Makenna raked a shaking hand through her hair. “They’re not there; I have no idea where they are.”
“We know that,” said Taryn. “But will he believe that?”
Ally gave a sad shake of her head. “I really don’t think so. Like I said, he isn’t thinking rationally. He wants the children and the shelter. He blames Dawn for everything that’s gone wrong.”
“I’ll call her.” Makenna moved to the corner of the room to make the call.
Zac hurried to Ryan. “You’ll go to the shelter and help them, right?”
Feeling torn, Ryan clenched his fists. “I promised I’d protect you from your old pack.”
“Dude, Dawn and Madisyn are more important to me than that. There will be hundreds of people here to side with our pack soon. No one’s guarding the shelter because they all wanted to hear Trey’s plans and thought Remy would come here.” Zac licked his lips. “You can’t let Makenna go alone. She will if she has to.”
Knowing Zac was right, Ryan looked at Ally. “How many wolves did Remy have with him?”
“There were around twelve that I could see. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t more.”
Makenna returned to Ryan. “Neither Dawn nor Madisyn are answering their phone. How long do we have before Remy arrives at the shelter?” she asked Ally.
The Seer shrugged. “Sometimes I have a vision seconds before it happens, sometimes it’s longer.”
Which meant there was a very strong possibility that Remy was already at the shelter. Fuck. Makenna turned back to Ryan. “I can’t wait any longer.” Her wolf was just as frantic as she was.
Taryn nodded. “You need to go. But not alone. The shelter’s under our protection. Fucking nobody gets to harm a single person in it.”
Dante stepped forward. “Jaime and I will come with you.”
“If you’re going to need to sneak inside, we’re the best people to have with you,” said Jaime. “We’re almost as good as Ryan.”
“Good idea,” said Taryn. She turned to Makenna and Ryan. “I’m sorry, but I can’t afford to spare more people right now.” The Alpha female was right; at that moment, the pack was vulnerable against all of the wolves that would soon attack. “I’ll send others to the shelter when reinforcements arrive.”
Makenna gave Zac a hug and then followed Ryan, Dante, and Jaime out of the office. Minutes later, they were in the Chevy, and Ryan was speeding to the shelter. Makenna repeatedly tried to contact Dawn, Madisyn, and Colton, but she couldn’t get through to anyone.
“Fuck. No one’s answering their cells, the reception phone, or the one in Dawn’s office.” Which meant something was very seriously wrong, and it was more than likely that Remy was already in the building. Her wolf paced, anxious and filled with the same bubbling fury that was building in Makenna.
“The shelter still has wards that keep out threats, right?” asked Dante from the backseat, to which she nodded. “How could Remy have got past them?”
Makenna shrugged, rubbing at her wrists. “He could have hired a witch to unravel them.” He’d known about the wards from his failed attempts to enter the building; he’d felt the magick there, just as Ryan had.
“Is there any way inside the shelter other than the front, back, or side doors?”
“Yes. There is an emergency exit for people who need to make a quick getaway.”
“Then that’s how we’ll get inside,” said Ryan.
“We’ll need to enter the territory through the forest behind the shelter,” Makenna told him.
“Does Dawn have a drill for situations like this?” asked Jaime, linking hands with her mate.
“Yes,” replied Makenna. “The witch I hired told me that if anyone tried to disable the wards, an alarm would be sounded. Most of the residents know to grab any children and get to the bunker below the building.”
Dante arched his brows. “The bunker can’t be big enough for all the residents.”
“It isn’t, which is why women and children are the priority. Others might have escaped through the emergency exit. A lot of people will have stayed with Dawn to protect her.”
Jaime worried her bottom lip. “Is there any way Remy could find the bunker?”
“The only way inside is through a hidden door in the basement. Given how well it’s concealed, I’ll be amazed if he finds it. He won’t be able to sniff out the people hiding because the basement smells of enough bleach to throw off the strongest nose.”
Ryan remembered the smell and knew she was right.
The Beta female exhaled a relieved breath. “So the children should all be safe.”
“I hope so.”
Ryan cast a quick look at his mate. She was pale, her lips were pinched, her body was subtly tremoring, and the wild glint in her eyes was feverish. But, since her emotions were echoing inside him, he didn’t need to read her body language to know she was an emotional mess. His wolf wanted to nuzzle her. Ryan put a hand on her thigh. “Kenna, you need to stay calm for me.”
“I’m calm.”
He grunted. She was far from it. Her system was restless with anger, anxiety, desperation, and dread. He was just as fucking infuriated, but he knew better than to let emotion get in the way. His mate wasn’t so good at that. Being one to overthink things, she was most likely imagining all kinds of awful scenarios and driving herself insane with them. “We won’t let anything happen to Dawn and Madisyn, I swear that to you.”