3

Tristan frowned, “Let Wesley come back out here. I’d rather he beat the shit out of me than have my little sister think I don't believe in her.”

I disagreed, “I’m not letting Wesley back out here.”

Tristan took out his phone and tried to call someone. I assumed he was trying to call Melanie. He announced, “It’s going to voicemail.”

Sam touched his shoulder, “They are still in the air flying.”

Jason said softly, “I already tried to call.”

Tristan frowned and pulled a package out of his pocket. He wiped tears away, “This is for you Elise.”

Elise took it then started crying and hugged him. It would’ve annoyed me if I didn’t know they were like siblings. Everly put a hand on Tristan’s back to comfort him.

Elise sobbed, “What if she doesn’t want to come home? When will we see Ladybug again?”

Tristan let a few tears fall unchecked, “She’ll come home, or I’ll drag her back.”

Elise cried, “You’re taking over soon so you won’t have time.” Jason snorted, “I’ve got time.” Alexander popped back in.

Jason teased, “Do I need to duck?”

Alexander answered, “No, I’m sorry man.”

Jason patted him on the back, “It’s fine. We good?” Alexander nodded. Uncle Bjourn must have gotten him to believe no one thought he was a monster.

My mom popped in and looked around angrily. She said, “Ok, I have no fucking clue what’s going on, but Angela is just not going to calm down until Eric, EJ, and Alexander go see her.”

I popped to Angela immediately. She was crying. Alexander and my dad popped in next. Alexander must have brought him.

My dad scooped Angela up, “What’s wrong, Princess?”

Angela cried, “I’m sorry Alexander. It’s just so blurry and I can’t get it right!”

Alexander consoled her, “Hey, it’s not your fault.” She cried, “You and EJ fought.”

Alexander laughed, “We needed to fight, little one. We are fine now.”

My dad studied us both. I nodded to him. I told Angela, “Alexander and I are fine.”

Angela sighed, “Alexander needs to talk to Wes. He’s so upset, and TJ is too.”

Alexander winced, “I’ll go talk to him. Where is he?”

I said, “My office. He hit T.”

Alexander raised an eyebrow, “Why?” I snorted, “Guess.” Alexander sighed, “I’m sorry.” I shrugged, “It’s not really your fault. We are all protective of each other. As we should be.” Alexander left.

Angela’s tears dried up. She whispered, “I don’t know if it’s all going to be ok.”

I told her, “It will be.”

She shivered, “I don’t think so. I see this building. It looks like it will be for years with Alexander now. I just can’t see it! I don’t know why he’s so angry! Why can’t I see it?”

My dad hugged her, “It’s ok. Uncle Aiden said you could just be too focused on it.”

Angela shook her head, “I know that’s not it.”

I offered, “What if it’s because you’ve never met Alexander’s mate?” She whispered, “I didn’t meet Ray’s mate before, but I can see her clearly.”

I reasoned, “But you love Alexander and want to help him. Maybe it’s a focus thing and your love for him.”

She shrugged, “Maybe.”

I hugged her and walked out to find Elise.

I found her in the hallway with a new bracelet on. I smiled gently asking, “Ladybug?”

She held it out explaining, “It’s a beaded charm bracelet with an L. She put in a charm of a mountain too. She’s gone, EJ.”

I hugged her, “She’ll come back.”

Elise cried, “She’ll win. She’s so stubborn that she’ll stay away now that she gets a taste outside of the walls around her.”

I pulled back, “Hey, she loves you. Besides, she gets homesick.”

Pretty badly from what I knew.

Elise nodded, “I know but she’s going to realize how great she is. She wins competitions but getting into that school, she’ll shine. I want that for her, but I want her here. She can shine here with us where she belongs. What if she’s homesick but doesn’t say because she’s upset with us?”

I cupped her cheek with my hand saying, “First off, she’s not upset with you. Second, you know she’ll come back for you and her Xander.”

It was weird calling my brother that. I knew it would help Elise calm down though. She pulled back, “Speaking of, I actually need to find him.”

I snorted, “You prefer my brother now? I’m hurt.”

She pushed me, “No, you dork. There was a present for him too.”

I laughed, “Of course there was.”

We found him in our shared office, just sitting there. We walked in and he looked up. My dad was sitting in the corner with whiskey.

Elise walked up to him explaining, “This was in with my present. It’s for you.”

Alexander took it from her and opened it. My dad dropped his whiskey and my jaw dropped when we say his present. Brutus said, “Well, today is just full of twists.”

His gift was a platinum black ring. It looked a HELL of a lot like a wedding band. Alexander slipped it on his right hand and read the note. He dropped it and I could feel his shock. He yelled, “Holy shit!”

My dad asked, “Did you just get proposed to via a note, son?”

I asked, “And did you say yes? Because you put it on.” Elise shot me a look and rolled her eyes.

Alexander shook his head. He looked at my ring then asked, “Elise, did Melanie have EJ’s ring?”

Elise looked over then nodded. “Yeah, she hid it for me for a week. Why?”

Alexander handed me the note.

Xander,

This was the gift I’ve been working on for your Alpha Ceremony. I didn’t get to come… so it’s late…not too late but still late….but it’s with you now. I’ve been working on this a lot. It will turn silver if there’s iron near you.

So, if it turns silver and you’re near someone, they have iron on them. I’m working on silver and wolfsbane… but I haven’t perfected that yet. If the ring turns brown though… get the hell out of dodge. EJ’s ring does it too. I did that for Elise… and you… but mostly… well… I love her and… ok bye…

Yours

Melanie

P.S. I was supposed to give this to you in person but now I can’t. You promised we’d meet one day… and that’s what I hold onto. You can’t break a promise since…you know the whole you're a partial Fairy….which you obviously know…why am I like this? Anyway, be safe. Your safety means more to me than you could imagine.

There were tearstains on the note. I gaped, “Holy shit! Elise, how goddamn smart is she?!”

Elise answered, “Really smart. Off the charts smart. I mean I’m not joking when I say she’s a genius. Why?”

I conjured an iron mallet on the table. My dad growled not liking it near us.

Both mine and Alexander’s rings turned silver. Alexander sat down managing to say, “Oh my god.”

My dad quickly asked, “Why did your rings turn silver? I would guess it was a mood ring, but I’m guessing it’s more complicated.”

Elise gasped, “Oh my god did Melanie do that?” I nodded.

I conjured a silver chain. Now the ring was mostly silver, but a brown color that was barely there. My dad sounded impressed, “Melanie did this?”

I nodded and handed him the note. He ordered, “Conjure an iron dart into my pocket.”

Elise stopped me, “Wait, conjure everything out of the room first and let them go to a normal color.”

I nodded and did as she suggested. The second the iron and silver were gone the rings went back to their normal color.

I conjured the iron dart to my dad's pocket. Our rings turned silver again. My dad snorted, “Son of a bitch! How did she do that?! We all need those.”

Elise told us, “Her brothers have them. It must be the multiple components for you guys that she struggled with. I have one too.”

She held up her bracelet, “My bracelet reacted to the silver. She gave my parents, her parents, brothers and even Ray jewelry as presents. I bet theirs do the same thing. She left a message on my voicemail that didn’t make sense, but she said she’s worked so hard on what was left and it was all under her bed. She’s got more of these.”

She gripped my hand and urgently said, “EJ, pop us to my parents’ house.”

I grabbed her hand and popped to the Kyle’s house. They were in a meeting with the McAlister’s. Dalton stood sensing the urgency. “Elise?”

He asked. Elise nodded to me, “Conjure something silver.”

I conjured a silver mallet on the table. Everyone in the room had jewelry that changed color.

Tristan glanced at his bracelet Melanie had given him. He stood yelling, “What the fuck?!”

I explained, “Your sister has given you all jewelry to warn you when silver is near. If you see brown trying to become a factor, it’s wolfsbane. She hasn’t perfected the pieces that have both elements yet. I don’t think you’ve quite told me how damn smart your sister is, T. The strongest reaction mine has is to iron.”

Drake sputtered, “She what?”

Peter was stunned. Elise ran out of the house and over to the McAlister’s. I felt her confusion for a minute. She came back over with a bag and a hoodie. I had no idea why she needed one of Mel’s hoodies but didn’t question it.

Elise opened the bag. There were baggies labeled with the names of my family members, Red Run’s Gamma family, and their Warriors. We tested them. My family’s reacted strongest to iron. The reactions were there to silver and iron though.

Tristan sat down, “I’ll be damned.”

Drake smiled, “She’s just so damn smart. This….”

I finished, “Is amazing. It even worked when my dad had an iron dart in his pocket.” Jason whistled, “I had no idea she was working on this.”

Sam proudly surmised, “She has that notebook she’s always doodling ideas in.”

I asked them, “Can I take these back to my family?”

Drake nodded, “She intended for you guys to have them.'' I snorted, “When we talk to her, we should ask about this. I want to know what other projects she’s got. I’ve got more than enough money to let her test out any ideas she has.”

Drake laughed, “She does this type of stuff for fun. She just wants to dance.”

I nodded. She clearly had free time though. Which was fascinating since she always busy. Did she sleep? Regardless, I was more than willing to give her money for a lab of some kind. Brutus told me, “Or let her be popped to our pack where she could meet our brother.”

That would certainly sweeten the pot for me.

Elise and I said our goodbyes before I popped us back home. I held her as we fell asleep. I woke up to a link from Toby, “Our very own Captain America Alpha Enforcer, whose problem I now know and agree I should’ve known already, is back in the gym destroying things.”

I sighed and popped to my brother.

I called, “Alexander?”

He turned, “Oh, hey EJ. I didn’t expect to see you today.”

I counted the equipment on the ground before asking, “What did the fifteen heavy bags do to you?” Alexander shrugged, “I’m just training harder.” Toby linked me groaning. I nodded, “Ok.”

My brother added, “I’m upping our trainings too.”

Toby linked, “GOODIE! I blame the McAlister’s. This is their fault and I’ll find a way to make them suffer! I’ll bring in Fairy or five, but Fairy hijinks is coming for them.”

Why did everyone want me to laugh at inappropriate times lately? Brutus snickered in my head.

Out loud I said, “That’s your prerogative, brother.”

He nodded. I urged, “Why don’t we take a break for now?”

He shrugged and we walked outside side by side. Genevive linked, “I think we are in for a time of it. Which sucks because we did nothing. At least we will improve our skills.” She always looked at the bright side of life.

The tension in our house rose as the evening progressed. My mom was gone for a bad ass girl gang day. Elise was supposed to go but she said she was too down. My mom eventually agreed to go without her, but she gave it her best shot at convincing her that it would cheer her up. This stupid dance competition had our entire pack on edge. They just didn’t know that was why.

Elise got a text and started to cry. I held her, “It’s ok.”

Elise whispered, “She won. She’s staying in New York for High School.”

Alexander closed his eyes and a few tears slipped out before he took off. I linked him, “Brother, I know this sucks. It’s impressive that she won though.” He replied, “I’m so proud of her, but I miss her.” That was fair.

Maverick and Max walked into the room. Micah was behind them, clearly concerned. I told them, “He’ll be ok.”

Max snorted, “Will he? Will one of you tell us what the hell is going on?”

I told them, “He will tell you when he’s ready. I had to give him space for five years guys. He’ll be ok.” Max frowned, “Fine. I think Wes had the right idea though.” He grabbed Micah and left.

Elise was texting Melanie. I asked, “What is she saying?”

Elise sighed, “She’s just not acting like herself right now.”

I handed her a peanut butter cookie one of our Omega’s made that our family loved. She gobbled it down and grabbed another.

I consoled her, “She’s just upset right now. What did she say about the bracelets?”

Elise shrugged, “She acted like it was no big deal. I told her it was huge, but she basically shrugged it off.”

We retreated to our room, and I held her until she drifted to sleep, before I let myself follow.

After that the weeks passed by quickly. The day I’d been waiting for came and I was humming with energy. Our pack and allies were getting ready to go to an underground fight. It pissed me off that we couldn’t find anything on them. We all knew they were dirty. We all literally felt it.

Cassie had been working overtime trying to prove it, but the people she talked to truly believed it was for supernatural’s to fight for money. The ones we attended the fighters did so of their own free will. I knew better because my instincts screamed at me that all the fights weren’t like this. I could sense motivations as a Fairy, and while the fighters at these events believed what they said, there were people who were shady and I knew it.

Alexander walked in acknowledging me, “Brother, do you want to discuss what you’re feeling?”

I sighed, “I guess. I know we won’t catch them tonight but keep your eyes open. For anything.”

Alexander agreed, “You’re right. We won’t find anything bad tonight, but we aren’t seeing the true undergrounds.”

I frowned, “I agree but you seem to have more to say.”

Alexander shrugged, “I do. It’s called the undergrounds, yet all of this is above board. It’s not very underground-y. That’s where they are mocking us. We know there’s a seedy underground to the undergrounds. They are throwing it in our faces that we can’t find it.”

He had a point.

We left as a group. I happily had Elise by my side. We walked into the fighting area. All eyes were on us, which was what we wanted. Genevive inhaled, “No scent enticing me yet.”

I nudged her, “Soon.”

Toby linked, “It’s working.” He was right. No one’s eyes were on Red Run.

I saw their eyes going between us and Blue Moon. I linked Jayden, “This is going according to our plan.”

He snorted, “They are watching us like hawks. If they stare at Jade or Julianna any longer, I’ll get them.”

I agreed, “I’ll pop on your right.” He laughed, “Thanks, cousin.” I replied, “Anytime.”

Everyone was so focused on us that they missed Red Run getting closer to them. We were just spectators. It was hours of fighting, but thankfully they weren’t fighting to the death. Winners were paid. It all looked above board, but I could feel that something else was happening.

Jayden linked, “Well, this is boring.”

I agreed, “Almost too boring.”

He acknowledged, “That does seem to be the case. They look right at us as they pay their fighters after the fight. I had my eye on a woman that was visibly sweeting, but they got her out. I linked your father in law, but she got shimmered out.” Damn it. I told him, “It was a good call though by you.” He winked at me from across the arena.

Alexander linked me, “Micah is here.”

I replied, “He wasn’t supposed to be.”

Alexander chuckled, “I don’t think he’s here for us. He doesn’t usually dress that way.” I causally glanced around the room and found Micah in loose jeans and a tight sleeved shirt. Alexander was right, it was a far cry from his usual attire. He was trying to fit in.

I linked, “Max.”

He growled, “I know. I can smell him from out here. He told me about it when he knew, but I’ve been following people. Is he hurt?”

I answered, “He’s perfectly fine.” Max pleaded, “Can you keep an eye on him.” I answered, “Of course I can and will. Max sighed, “Thanks.” I simply said, “He’s my brother too.”

I linked my brother in law, “Micah.”

He had joined our pack after Max marked him. They split time between our realm and the Hackura. He explained, “I’m here on Cayden’s orders.”

I chided, “A little heads up would’ve been nice.” Micah explained, “It was last minute.”

I changed subjects, “Is there anything I need to know?”

Micah answered, “Not yet. I’m just trying to get in with these guys to see if I can’t get more information. There’s a geek side to this. That’s where I come in.”

I snorted, “My brother won’t like that.”

Especially considering this would be a long running mission. He’d still see Max all the time, but he’d be in danger. My brother cared for that about as much as I did when Elise was in danger. Micah acknowledged, “No, but he will understand it. I linked him when I knew I was coming. He does seem quite agitated in our bond.”

I knew that because I could feel him too.

Elise squeezed my hand then leaned down on my shoulder. Her hand went to my thigh discreetly pointing in a different direction. That’s what I realized Micah wasn’t sent in alone. My cousin Levi had just stepped into the ring to fight. Alexander and I tensed.

Elise rolled her eyes. She linked us both, “No one could beat him unless he let them.”

They announced him as Dennis the Digger. Brutus started laughing in my head. Levi did construction work and often dug holes. So, he was undercover. Brutus snorted, “Clearly.”

He easily won his fight. He didn’t even give it half of what he could. We left, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. Jayden linked, “That seemed like a bust.”

I reasoned, “You saw that woman that was sweating. You know her face now and can be on her next time.”

He agreed, “That’s true.”

I popped Elise and I home and everyone else followed. We regrouped with our allies in our living room. I asked, “Did we get anyone? I know Jayden clocked someone who was nervous, and she was taken out of there.”

Tristan sighed, “I had to pull back.”

I quickly asked, “Why?”

He answered, “They know me. A lot of those people looked at me with recognition in their eyes. One actually squeaked and ran away. He was taken out. They avoided me as they avoided you, even outside.”

Jason sighed, “They knew me too. I got a lot of dirty looks though. No one was afraid. One woman nearly spit on my shoes as I passed her. Her mate was with her, and they left quickly. T never even saw them leave and he was waiting. He didn’t see my section, so I don’t know if it was just me.”

Dalton begrudgingly admitted, “They knew us too. We didn’t get any scared, squeaking, or dirty looks. I only saw recognition.”

Peter sighed, “I got a few looks of approval and others of distaste. All the ones who looked at me with distaste left and no one we had on the outside saw them leave. Even though they left clearly headed towards exits.”

Chelsea winced, “I got several dirty looks too.” What the hell?

I groaned, “We need people they don’t know.”

Jason said, “The whole thing was weird. Everyone knows you guys. I’ll even give ‘em Dalton and Dakota but me? My name sure, but they knew my face. They had to know we were coming.”

I questioned, “Why would they care?”

No one knew. I acknowledged, “You have a point though. Toby? Phil? What about you two?”

They both frowned, “They knew us too.” Geneiveve added, “They knew me and Gage too.”

Emmett frowned, “Us too. All of us.”

Damn it! We had specifically had our family and the Lyons in prominent view. I didn’t even see Emmett in the arena and that’s the way we’d designed it. Lux said, “We were ignored but people sure disappeared quickly if we showed interest in talking.”

Good lord.

It became even more frustrating in the months that followed because that pattern continued. One woman actually fainted when she saw Tristan. She died in front of him. Her heart stopped and by the time mom and Alexander got out there she was long gone. To make matters worse, Melanie had refused to come home all year. Elise was devastated over it. Thank god Karina, the Omega that made the cookies we love, had them all over the house. They were real mood pickups when you were down.

The McAlister’s tried to get out to see Melanie, but it was a series of disasters. Plane issues. A freak snow storm here and in New York. Car breakdowns. Karina’s cookie recipe made it down there. Brutus thought Karina might have got it from their pack because Sam said they’d been her favorite cookies ever since Melanie had been born.

Alexander was stoic about it all, but we felt his pain. We all knew Melanie was living her dream. I thought my mom was going to explode with rage when we kept saying it. She’d pop or portal away and I felt her frustration. She thought everyone was lying to her or something. She still thought Melanie was a prank. I knew it hurt her we weren’t telling her what was going on, but she’d figure it out.

Things got heavy when drugs started coming into play. They were dangerous to our pups. A week before Cassie, Alexander, and my twentieth birthday we managed to get a dealer to agree to a buy. Ben and Jason McAlister were going with Julian. That had been a heated debate. Not many people saw much of him. He looked a lot like us, but he spent a lot of time with Uncle Aiden in Faerie.

Brutus told me, “I don’t like this. I want Leif safe and back here.”

That was Julian’s wolf. I agreed, “I do too. But he’s strong and we have to trust him.”

It didn’t make us worry any less. That group had left earlier the day of the meet. They were scooping out the area.

Julian wasn’t going to pop them in to avoid suspicion and hopefully maintain a distance from our family. Brutus argued, “He looks too much like us.”

I replied, “We went over all that.”

He continued to grumble in my head, and I agreed with him. The thing was Julian deserved to do the things he wanted to. He was an Alpha too.

My mom stormed into my office an hour after they left. She glared at us, “ENOUGH! All of you cut it the fuck out. Julian can take care of himself. Plus, he’s with two of our allies who are damn good fighters. Your moods are driving me fucking crazy!”

I could tell they were in the bond because she was letting us.

I sighed and gave her a hug, “Sorry mom. To be fair, you’re worried too.”

My mom muttered, “Not to an annoying degree. He’s my child so I get to be worried to a healthy degree. I know he’s capable. I worry when you all out go out on missions or things like this. Your all’s worry is about to have me scrubbing this house from top to bottom BY HAND. I do not do shit by hand. I snap it done. So, this is my warning to get it together.”

She kissed all of us on the cheek. Before she left, she told us, “I love all of you and Julian will be ok.” I sent her my love in the bond. She left muttered, “Because I fucking said so.”

I was monitoring Julian so closely I could tell he was annoyed. I looked at my clock on the wall. The meeting had started. Julian suddenly felt suspicious then stunned. When his adrenaline kicked in, I frowned. He didn’t appear to be fighting. My mom linked, “He is FINE! I don’t even have a bad fucking feeling. Stop it!”

I don’t know if anyone answered her, but I didn’t.

I got on the phone. Dakota answered immediately, “I literally haven’t answered the phone yet, Dalton. I don’t know if he knows anything. WILL you shut up! UGH! You’re obnoxious.”

He cleared his throat, “Hey EJ, did Julian call?”

I looked at Alexander for the answer.

Alexander answered, “He’s not calling or answering in link. Something happened though.”

Tristan asked, “Are Jase and Grandpa Ben ok?”

I told them, “All I know is Julian isn’t fighting, but his adrenaline spiked. Fuck it. We should just pop to him.”

Alexander disagreed, “No, we shouldn’t. He’s not pulling us to him. So, we need to let this play out. He’ll come home. We’d know if he was hurt, and if Jase or Ben got hurt, he’d pull us hard. Or at least me or...”

He trailed off then yelled, “FUCK! Is mom still here?!”

My dad answered, “Yes, she is. In fact, she’s cleaning the house with physical supplies. She said your asses are kicked.”

I snorted, “It’s grass. Your ass is grass.”

My dad smiled, “She says that doesn’t make sense.” I laughed, “Of course she does.”

Elise pulled up a skype call, so we were on video chat with Red Run. Their room was just as tense as ours. We’d been waiting for an hour when we heard a pop. I raised an eyebrow. The group was all covered in blood spatter. It did not appear to be theirs. Brutus growled because he didn’t like seeing Julian in this state. I didn’t either, it was unsettling.

I asked, “So, the meeting went that well, did it?”

Julian showed me a picture on his phone. He asked, “Do you know what this is?”

It was a business card with a blue ring with a slash through it. I answered, “No. I’ve never seen that before. What is it?” Julian told me, “It was graffitied on a rock near the place where the sniper was. This card was taped to a tree.”

I shouted, “SNIPER?! Why didn’t you call us?”

Brutus said, “I’m giving Leif so much shit right now.”

Good. Jason said, “Well, the sniper wasn’t after us. He or she saved our lives.” Elise questioned, “What?” My dad said, “Please snap them into clean clothes. I don’t know about anyone else, but it is unsettling to see Julian….” His voice cut off.

Drake cleared his throat, “I second that request.”

Alexander snapped them clean. Julian threw a baggie on the table. It was stuffed with the drugs we were trying to stop in their signature green packets. I asked, “How did you get it if it went south?”

Julian answered, “They told us we were going to die so we should know what it was for.”

I was not alone in my growl. I asked, “How did they make you?”

Brutus grumbled, “He looks just like us. That’s how.”

Julian shrugged, “I don’t know. I thought it was me, but it seems there’s some code words we didn’t know.” Alexander asked, “When did the shooting start?”

Jason snorted, “When they told us we were going to die.”

He threw a listening device down. He told us, “It’s got no prints on it.”

I asked, “Micah, can try to track down a buyer with that. What did the sniper say when you popped to them, Julian?”

Julian ground out, “I couldn’t pop to them. Not even like I popped and got thrown, I literally couldn’t pop. Nothing happened.”

I pointed at what they collected. “But clearly you found the hide.”

Julian sighed, “After a while. We wouldn’t have found it if not for this symbol and these.” He took out the casings for a sniper rifle.

Julian said, “They meant for us to find this.”

Alexander jumped in, “How do you know?”

He answered, “They left them sitting on a rock.” I was excited, “We seem to have a common enemy. If the sniper wants to get our attention, they have it.” A blue circle with a line. What did that mean?

Julian disagreed, “Then why wouldn’t they stick around to talk to us? There was no scent to follow. It wasn’t just one shot either. This sniper was pissed.”

Alexander questioned, “What do you mean?”

Ben answered, “All three men took six shots. The first shots were kill shots to the head. They were dead and the sniper kept shooting.” I considered that because it sounded like something a Hackura would do.

Elise offered, “Maybe it’s someone with a personal connection. This drug is addictive to the supernatural community. Maybe the sniper is related to someone who died. Or were mated to them even.”

I added, “They have to be good at some kind of electronic monitoring set up. They had to have known the meeting was happening.”

I looked over, “Micah?”

He frowned, “I don’t know how they got in. They’d have to have insight we don’t have. I could monitor cell phones and messages, but I need to know who to monitor. We don’t have a lock on any of that, but this sniper clearly does. They couldn’t have been there by chance.”

I asked him, “Do you know this symbol?”

Micah shook his head, “I can take it back to Uncle Bjourn.”

He wasn’t biologically related, but all Uncle Gunner’s kids call our uncles theirs too. I agreed, “Go talk to him. Alexander, go with him.” Alexander nodded and popped Micah away while Max pouted. I rolled my eyes, “Go with them Max.” He smiled at me and popped away after them.

I rubbed my temples, “We need to figure out this code word.”

Tristan stood announcing, “I’ll be back.”

He stepped out. Dalton explained, “Our border patrol said they had something for him.” I nodded. We talked about other things until Tristan came back. He had a note with him.

He frowned saying, “This was dropped off just over the edge of our territory with Alpha Raven addressed to the leaders of our pack.”

So, it was not directly addressed to him. He asked, “Nice weather today, isn’t it? Correct answer - Bless the Goddess for such a day. Does this mean anything to you Grandpa, Jase, and Julian?”

Julian gaped, “HOLY SHIT!”

Jason frowned, “That’s clearly what we were supposed to say. That’s their code phrase. What else does the note say?”

He flipped it over showing the symbol on Julian’s phone. A blue circle with a line through it.

I asked, “Do you have trackers on this?”

Tristan sighed, “There’s no scent.”

My raised a brow, “Witches? Great. Your mother is going to flip shit. Here we go about Witches in ditches rants.” Julian argued, “Fairies can conceal their scents for a period of time too.” I reasoned, “Royal Fairies can.” Julian said, “We might not have found all of us.” I shrugged in acknowledgement, “That’s true.”

Jason said, “No offense but that doesn’t make sense. There was rage and control in these killings. This was personal. I can’t think of a Witch or Fairy who would give a shit about the three of us dying. Maybe Julian, but six shots to the guys who were going to try to grandpa and me? That’s just not there.”

I agreed, “You have a point. Wolves can’t conceal their scent though.”

Jason shrugged, “True.”

I sighed, “Let’s get to work. Whatever this circle is, whatever this symbol means, we need to reach these people. We have a common enemy that we can help each other take them down.” Everyone nodded.

We could do this. We just needed to get the leader to contact us. They’d already opened a channel of communication.

We just had to keep it open. We were going to take down this drug ring and the undergrounds. We just needed to find a sniper.