39. Jax

39

Jax

"He killed Parker." Pain threaded through Jenson's voice. "He killed his own father.

Why?"

I swiped through the security feed again while Jenson drove. "Parker must have found him.

Felt him through the family bond or something. Dean killed him to keep his secret."

In the corner frame of the video, taken two weeks before Parker's death, Dean shifted. It almost wasn't caught on camera, which was why it didn't set off any alarms, but in his place, a massive red wolf stood.

Just like his father. Red wolves weren't rare, but they weren't super common. I should have thought of Dean when we were talking about red wolves, but it didn't make sense. Dean was young, and not a crazed killer.

At least, when I knew him, he wasn't.

He'd been on my land for weeks before Parker's death. Weeks without me knowing. What the hell had he been doing?

Spying on Anna.

"Finn isn't answering his phone. Neither is Anna or Bridget." The restaurant was right up ahead, and immediately, I knew something was wrong. "No cars."

"I'll try them on the radio." Jenson slammed on the breaks and barely put it in park before he jumped out of the car. "I smell blood."

So did I. It didn't take long before we found a trail of it leading into the restaurant. I practically ripped it open to find Finn trying to drag himself inside.

"Jenson, call the healer," I shouted as I dropped down to him. There was a nasty gash in his neck. How the hell was he still alive? "Shift. Now."

"Can't," Finn rasped. "Tried. Did something to me."

"I can't get through," Jenson yelled. "My phone isn't working."

Finn gasped. "Jammer. Trying…to get…office phone. Bridget."

"Bridget? Is she dead?"

"Bridget. Dean. Together."

Bridget and Dean were working together? Jenson had come up behind me just in time to hear Finn's words. His shock rammed through our pack bond and nearly set me back on my heels.

No. Not a chance. It wasn't possible. It just wasn't fucking possible. There was no way Bridget betrayed me, was betraying me, and I didn't know. Her bond was right there, next to Jenson's. I could close my eyes and see it. Feel it.

I would know.

"Office phone. Call Saul. Now," I snapped at Jenson. "And stay with him. When I get back, he better be fucking alive."

"He's lying," Jenson said hoarsely. "He has to be."

"Then when Saul has fixed him, I'll kill him."

Finn's eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he went still on the tile floor. Leaving the restaurant, I ran, one eye on my phone until a signal came in, and I called Amelia first.

"Alpha," she answered, and relief swept over me. "We have a problem."

"Why did you leave your post? Where the hell are you?"

"Bridget sent us to Irene's. She said the guards were dead and Irene had been taken."

"Fuck. What?"

"No, Irene is fine. Her guards are all accounted for." Her voice wavered. "I'm sorry, alpha, but I can't reach Bridget or Finn or Anna."

"Stay off the main security line, but alert everyone else that Bridget is not to leave this territory. No one is to let her pass. Then get Irene and the other witches to the compound. I want at least a dozen guards on them at all times."

"Yes, alpha."

As soon as she hung up, I called the main security office. All the vehicles had trackers on them, but if Bridget betrayed us, she would have disabled the tracker. She would have also disabled the location services on her phone, and she'd probably dumped Anna's phone by now.

I'd just made it impossible for her to leave with a vehicle, but there was still plenty of places she could hide Anna, not to mention ways to leave the territory on foot.

Was this why Emerson hadn't arrived? He was meeting them somewhere else?

God damn it. There was a hole the size of a mountain in my security. I had two other alphas and three vulnerable witches to protect, not to mention my own pack.

I couldn't just drop everything and go after Anna.

But I couldn't lose her. I couldn't.

Most mates could communicate with each other. It was different depending on the wolf.

Some could actually communicate telepathically. Others could send images or songs.

When I close my eyes and focused on the mate bond, it just led to endless darkness. There was nothing on the other side. I couldn't do anything with the bond because it didn't go anywhere.

I still remembered the night it fell into place. Caked in blood and sliding through the rain, violence and fury surging through me, and there was Anna. A shivering slip of a thing, and when the lightning cracked, and the bond fell into place, everything felt right.

I felt at peace.

At least, until I realized who she was and what she'd probably done.

She'd felt it too.

She'd felt it too.

I froze as I replayed that memory in my head again. Shit. I was an idiot.

A complete fucking idiot.

Anna had felt the bond. Her eyes lit up when it snapped into place. Nobody had told her.

She'd felt it.

She'd felt the fucking bond even though she was a null.

The Darkwyn witches and their stupid games. The crone wanted me to take Anna back. No matter what. No matter the consequences, she figured her little head games would be the only way, and I'd just spent months pushing her away instead of strengthening the bond.

And now, when I needed to feel her, there was nothing.

Nothing but darkness.

And a rock.

Startled, I opened my eyes and whipped around, but there was no one near me. Nothing happening around me.

I focused on the mating bond again. The shadows shifted, and there it was again.

A goddamn rock.

A painted pink rock.

It could have meant nothing, but there was a painted rock in the woods. A leftover project from a couple of teenagers who thought painting some of the larger boulders in glow-in-the-dark paint would be fun while they were a little high.

Most of the paint had washed off, but for some reason, the pink one remained.

Pulling out my phone again, I called The Fanged Smile.

"Saul?" Jenson answered.

"It's me. Did you reach Saul?"

"Yeah. He's five minutes away, but I don't know that Finn is going to make it."

"Keep him alive, Jenson. He's not lying. Bridget betrayed us, and she's got my mate. Until I call you again, you are in charge."

"I…what?"

"You heard me. You are in charge. Protect the alphas and the witches."

"You know where she is? I'll send a team."

I didn't bother to answer. I didn't need a team.

Bridget was mine.