<h4>Chapter 207: The rescue...</h4>


    <strong>Rhett</strong>


    The boys weren’t beingpletely honest with me. I could feel it.


    ter had at least given me some information before I dropped him at the border. His sister, Riley who everyone thought was dead was actually in a little town in the human world and he needed to see her and make sure she was okay.


    Also, see if he could talk her intoing back.


    Aside from her being a victim of the atrocities in the Ebonvale scam, I knew there was more which of course it was only proper for ter to keep away from me for her sake.


    I understood that. Family wasplicated, and when you loved someone, you did stupid things to protect them.


    But Kael? Kael had given me absolutely nothing.


    Once again, he was a locked door and it was worst since he became fully mated to Charis.


    I’d woken up this morning to find him gone from the pack house. When I’d asked one of the servants, she’d said she saw him leaving early with Charis. That was it. No note, no exnation, no heads-up about where they were going or what they were doing.


    And Charis had court today. So where the hell had they gone before that? And so early.


    I trusted my friends. I did. Buttely it felt like everyone was keeping secrets, ying their own games, making moves without telling anyone else. Like we were all pieces on a chess board, but nobody was sharing the bigger picture.


    I pulled up to the pack house and tossed my keys to the butler—an older man named Harrison who’d been with our family for decades.


    "Wee home, young Alpha," he said with a slight bow.


    "Thanks, Harrison." I started up the stairs, already nning my day in my head.


    First, I’d take a shower. Then maybe grab some breakfast—I was starving. After that, I needed to check in with the pack physician about my heart. The improvements were holding steady, but Dr. Maxwell wanted daily check-ins to monitor my progress. Then maybe I’d hit the training grounds for a bit, work off some of this restless energy. Andter, when Charis got back from court, we could make up forst night in my room—


    I stopped walking.


    My father stood at the top of the stairs. Next to him was Nn, our pack’s Gamma—the third inmand after my father and the Beta.


    "Hey, Dad," I said, starting to smile. "I didn’t know you’d be—"


    The p came out of nowhere.


    My head snapped to the side. Pain exploded across my cheek. The sound echoed through the foyer—a sharp crack that seemed impossibly loud.


    For a moment, I couldn’t process what had just happened. My hand went to my face automatically, feeling the heat spreading across my skin.


    My father had never hit me. Not once in my entire life. He’d yelled, sure. He’d been disappointed, frustrated, angry. But he’d never raised his hand to me.


    Until now.


    "Terry!" ra’s voice came from somewhere behind me. I heard her heels clicking rapidly up the stairs. "Terry, what are you doing?"


    "Stay out of this, ra," my father said, his voice cold and hard.


    "But you can’t just—"


    "I said stay out of it!" He turned to look at her, and even I flinched at the fury in his eyes. "This is between me and my son. Get out. Now."


    ra hesitated. I could feel her standing behind me, could sense her uncertainty. Part of me wanted her to stay, to intervene, to do something. But another part of me knew this was going to get worse before it got better.


    "Go," I said quietly, not taking my eyes off my father.


    She left. I heard her footsteps retreating, heard a door close somewhere down the hall.


    Now it was just me, my father, and Nn


    "Do you want to tell me," my father said, his voice dangerously calm, "what the hell you were thinking?"


    I didn’t know what he was talking about. "Dad, I—"


    "The Gamma just came to me with a very interesting report," my father interrupted. "About how you forged approval from the pack council. About how you forged my signature. About how you helped ter cross into human territory without proper authorization."


    My stomach dropped. Oh. Oh shit.


    "I can exin—"


    "Exin?" My father’s voice rose. "You forged official pack documents! You lied to border security! You helped a member of another pack leave our territory without notifying his Alpha or his family!"


    "ter needed—"


    "I don’t care what ter needed!" Another p, harder this time. Stars burst across my vision. "Youpromised pack security! You vited protocol! You acted like a reckless child instead of the future Alpha you’re supposed to be! "


    I touched my face again. My cheek was throbbing now, and I could taste blood in my mouth. "I was trying to help my friend."


    "By breaking thew? Your friend needed to go? That is your fucking defense? You’re not a schoolboy sneaking out to drink or whore, Rhett. You are heir to Ravenspire, whether you like it or not. Your decisions are documented and important. They can cause wars." My father turned to Nn. "Contact Alpha Raymond immediately. Tell him what happened. Tell him his son crossed into human territory from ournds, and that we take full responsibility for the security breach."


    "Yes, Alpha," Marcus said, pulling out his phone.


    "And tell him," my father continued, "that we request his permission to retrieve ter using whatever means necessary. If the boy cooperates, fine. If he doesn’t, we’ll bring him back by force."


    "Dad, that’s not—"


    "Quiet!" My father whirled back to face me. "You’ve done enough damage. Now we have to clean up your mess."


    "Do you want me to call the human liaison as well?"


    "Only if we have to. I’d prefer to pull a boy home without a parade."


    Nn spoke into his phone, rying my father’s message. I caught fragments of the conversation—"...unauthorized crossing... yes, sir... full retrieval team... understood..."


    My father turned back to Nn again. "Gather the Elite Warriors. I want them ready to move in thirty minutes."


    The Elite Warriors. The pack’s best fighters, trained for dangerous situations. My father wasn’t messing around.


    "Right away, Alpha." Nn bowed slightly and headed down the stairs with a jog, still on the phone.


    When we were alone, my father stepped closer. His eyes were ck with Alpha power and rage.


    "Why?" he asked. "Why did ter go to the human world?"


    I pressed my lips together. "I can’t tell you that."


    "Can’t or won’t?"


    "Both. He told me in confidence. I’m not going to betray him."


    My fatherughed. It was a harsh, bitter sound. "Betray? Your friend could be fucking kidnapped at this very moment, and you’re worried about betraying his confidence?"


    The words hit me like ice water. "What?"


    "You have no idea what you’ve done," my father said. "You have no idea what danger you’ve put him in."


    "What are you talking about?"


    My father ran a hand through his hair. For the first time, I saw something other than anger in his face. I saw fear.


    "Three weeks ago," he said, his voice lower now, "we received intelligence from the Council. There’s a group operating in the human territories near our borders. They’re called the Collectors."


    "I’ve never heard of them."


    "That’s because we’ve been keeping it quiet. Trying not to cause panic." He started pacing. "The Collectors are a sophisticated operation. They identify young wolves—usually between sixteen and twenty-five—who cross into human territory alone. They track them. Study their patterns. And then they take them."


    My blood ran cold. "Take them where?"


    "Underground fighting rings," my father said. "The same kind that used to operate decades ago. The ones we thought we’d shut downpletely." He looked at me, and his expression was grim. "They’re back. And they’re specifically targeting wolves from established packs—wolves with training, with bloodlines, with value."


    I felt sick. "How many have they taken?"


    "Twelve that we know of. From various packs across the region. All of them crossed into human territory alone. All of them disappeared within hours." He stopped pacing and faced me directly. "And now your friend is out there, alone, in their hunting grounds. Do you understand what you’ve done?"


    I did. I understood perfectly. And the guilt was crushing.


    "ter went to find his sister," I said quickly. "Riley. She was thought dead a few years ago but was discovered by a PI some months back. She lives in Millbrook under a human identity. He just wanted to see her, make sure she was okay."


    "Millbrook?" My father’s eyes widened. "That’s right in the middle of their territory. Thest two kidnappings happened within ten miles of there."


    "Dad—"


    "Does he have any backup? Anyone watching his back?"


    "No. He went alone. I dropped him at the border this morning."


    "This morning." My father checked his watch. "How long ago?"


    "About three hours."


    "Damn it!" He pulled out his own phone and dialed. "Nn. Change of ns. We need that retrieval team moving now. Destination is Millbrook, human territory. Target is ter Riggs, age Twenty,st seen crossing our border approximately three hours ago." He listened for a moment. "I don’t care if his father hasn’t given approval yet. We’re going in under emergency protocol. This is a potential kidnapping situation."


    He hung up and looked at me. "You’reing with us."


    "What?"