Firemen were hosing down burning vehicles. There were bullet holes everywhere, and the entire parking lot stank of wolfsbane.
My wolf tore against my chest. I roared, and one of the broken windowpanes shattered the rest of the way.
As Tony came running out, I growled, “What the fuck happened?” In my rage, I was barely able to hold on to my human form.
“Ambush. Half an hour after you left, four trucks pulled up and hit us with wolfsbane bombs laced with sedative. Then they laid down suppressing fire and took Savannah. All our vehicles are shot to hell, so we couldn’t pursue.”
“Fuck!” I screamed. “Where’s Regina? I heard her howling.”
“Savannah wounded another werewolf out back, but he escaped. Regina’s searching the woods.”
That was something. Regina was our best tracker. “Are any of our people hurt?”
“Not on our side. They knocked us out. One of the attackers is alive but in critical condition. Savannah shot her in the heart with silver bullets. We moved her to a bed, and Billy’s trying to stabilize her.”
“Take me there.”
Silver bullets prevented us from healing but were only fatal in great numbers, or in hits to the head or heart. But when I stepped into the room, Billy stood and turned to me, disappointment and regret on his face. “I’m sorry, Jax. I tried to stop the blood loss, but she’s gone.”
Billy locked eyes with me, and something flashed in them—pain?
Shock dulled my senses, and I staggered forward.
Tory Lockhead lay lifeless on a pile of blood-soaked bedsheets. Another Magic-Sider. I cursed. The fucking Lockheads had been a thorn in my side since I’d become the alpha, but they were nobodies. Someone else was running the show.
If she’d lived, I would have forced the information out of her. But she was dead, and along with her, my hope of finding Savannah and Sam.
I checked her neck, my hand shaking. The twin-headed wolf tattoo. What did it mean?
A growl erupted from my chest, and I grabbed Billy. “What the fuck happened? I put you here to protect her. How many people did we have on site? A dozen?”
Rage filled Billy’s eyes. “They had gas masks and hit us with wolfsbane-laced sedatives. You know who’s responsible for this, Jaxson. The fucking LaSalles. They’re sorcerers. They can summon demons. One of them must be calling the shots. We just got attacked with wolfsbane smoke bombs, for fates’ sake. Who else could it be?”
“Fuck!” My claws erupted from my hands, and I let go of Billy, stepping back and trying to regain control. Billy didn’t deserve my anger. He’d always had my back, and he’d been through enough shit to last two lifetimes. I shook my head. “These att
acks are being carried out by werewolves. No wolf in a hundred miles would be caught dead working for the LaSalles.”
“You are,” he spat.
I tensed. “That’s different.”
“Is it?” he snarled. “But you’re right, I can’t imagine that anyone else would have the balls to work with the LaSalles. Maybe those bastards found some way to magically control them.”
The rogue wolves were faster and stronger than they should be, and their eyes had been strangely tinged with red. Were they on some kind of drug or under an enchantment?
My stomach reeled. “But why? It doesn’t make sense. Why would the LaSalles risk going after the girl when she was with us? Savannah’s moved in with them.”
“To implicate us and cover their asses! They’re trying to bring the pack down, Jaxson. How better to frame us than to have one of their own disappear?”
I rammed my claws into the wall, trying to think.
Billy approached. “Don’t you think it suspiciously convenient that out of all the LaSalles, the one who goes missing is a woman who just showed up out of the blue? They have no attachment to her—she’s an easy sacrifice to bring the wrath of the Order down on us.”
My body quaked with rage. It was just twisted enough to be true, but I had to be cautious until we knew for certain.
“Not a word about this to anyone, Billy. But I want our best people on high alert in case things go down with the LaSalles. Just don’t tell them why.”
My head spun with possibilities. Savannah was gone. Sam was gone. Could it have been the LaSalles? I wouldn’t put anything past those monsters.