"You really should at least listen to what the alpha has to say, don''t you think?" Dirk''s voice cuts through the silence again, but I deliberately ignore him. Still, I catch the subtle tone beneath his words-was it a warning, a plea, or a veiled threat? The uncertainty twists in my gut.


    "The way you speak to a Luna is all wrong, Dirk." The sharp ''k'' in his name snaps like dry twigs between my teeth. "If your alpha were truly an alpha, he''d understand that.” I keep my gaze wandering around the sparse surroundings, making it clear that he holds no importance for me.


    There''s nothing else here no furniture, no personal belongings. It''s as if they pack up and move so quickly that they leave everything behind or stash it somewhere else. These sleeping tents stand out starkly against the forest''s natural backdrop, the most obvious signs of their presence in the wilderness.


    "Whose ce is this?" I ask, just to keep him talking, hoping he''ll identally reveal something useful. But the stench is unbearable, so I lower myself to the ground, desperate for relief. I wonder if all rogues carry this foul odor because they neglect hygiene, or if being outside a pack changes them somehow.


    "You''re fortunate enough to be sleeping in my humble abode while you stay with us, Luna," Dirk replies with a smirk.


    I have to swallow hard to keep the bile from rising in my throat.


    A soft voice breaks through the tension.


    "Ryker, follow me. Find me, please. Bring the kids. Track me through the forest if you have to."


    *


    "So, you''re the one stirring up all this trouble,” a deep, gravelly voice rumbles from behind Dirk. If fear hadn''t gripped me so tightly, I might have caught the humor woven into it.


    “I haven''t done anything a sane person wouldn''t in my position. What do you want? Let''s get this over with so I can go home," I say, trying to sound detached and uninterested. Showing fear would only weaken me, and anger or aggression would just drag this out longer.


    A low chuckle drifts through the tent''s opening. "At least one thing we heard about you was true—you''re a feisty one, aren''t you?"


    "I''m being held against my will, ripped away from my friends and family. Do you me me for fighting back?" I challenge, though the man still hasn''t stepped inside. Dirk stands between us, a shield for this stranger, who hasn''t dared to show himself fully yet.


    "You have no family worth mentioning," the voice sneers.


    A sharp pang clenches my stomach, but it fades quickly as faces sh through my mind—Jeremiah, Aunt Beth, Uncle James, Ryker, Be, the others, Greta, Rayna. "I have plenty of family. I don''t know where you''re getting your facts, but they''re wrong." I cross my legs and straighten my back, trying to appearposed despite the pain and the blood I''ve smeared on the forest floor. Even if I can''t stand, I can look confident where I sit.


    “Hmm. Comfortable? You might be here for a while," the voice says, almost amused.


    "I''m done with the Dirk puppet. Whatever you do with your hand and his backside is your business, but I don''t need him to be your mouthpiece. If you want to speak to me,e in and say it yourself."


    Anotherugh, soft and almost a whisper of "feisty" again. I brace myself for a rude dismissal, but after a hushed exchange, Dirk steps aside. A man appears, easily twice Dirk''s weight and at least six inches taller a closer match to Be and Josh. They''re all bigger than me, so I hadn''t noticed before, but Dirk looks scrawny next to this guy. I should have just fought Dirk and run. Well, hindsight is twenty- twenty. I''ll remember that for the future. And the fact that I overheard their conversation—Dirk calls this man ‘alpha,'' but they have no real connection. That''s interesting.


    "Well, now I understand why you get so angry at the mention of me," the man says, his rugged handsomeness marked by a lifetime of hardship. He''s no Ryker, but there''s something about him I can respect.


    "I''m tired of the cryptic nonsense. What do you want from me? Or rather, what do you want from Ryker? Because it''s clear I''m just bait."


    "Feisty and smart. I like that. I only want my mate-and to get her, I need you and your mate."


    "What?" The words don''t add up. Nothing about this makes sense.