The Hunted

Thirty-Five

Red

"I thought I'd find you out here."

Red sighed and glanced over his shoulder, taking in the slender middle-aged she-wolf who strode towards him. There were faint ageing lines on her face and around her eyes and her dark hair was just beginning to become streaked with silver. Her pale, mossy green eyes were insistent upon his face.

"Hey, mom."

Elizabeth Blackstone, Henry's mother, had insisted that Red also begin calling her 'mom' about a year after she'd welcomed Red into her home. It had taken a little while for it to feel natural but now it was easy for him to look at her and see a mother who loved him.

Even if he wasn't sure that he was deserving of that love.

She walked over to where he sat on a log at the edge of the lake and plopped down next to him. Byers Peak loomed before them and the forest was alive with the sounds of birds and woodland creatures.

"This was always the spot where you ran to when you wanted to be alone," she commented as she glanced around. "It hasn't changed much. Though you have."

"Well, it's been two years since you were last home for a visit. I'm bound to have changed a little since then."

The former Alpha pair comprised of Henry's mother, Elizabeth, and father, Adrian, had arrived home to Sanguis Ridge from Germany a few nights earlier. When they'd gotten word about Annalise and the other missing pack members, it had been enough to bring them back.

Elizabeth shook her head. "Red, you've been the exact same from the moment I met you. This change is because of your Mate."

"Henry told you," he said flatly.

"He's my son and my granddaughter is still missing. Of course, he told me." Elizabeth placed a hand on his cheek and made him turn to look at her. "He also told me that you've rarely been out of your wolf skin over the past few days."

"The only reason I'm in my human skin now is because I heard you coming from a mile out. Someone needs to be keeping the link open in case Juliet, Phillip, or Chandra check-in."

The latter two had followed one of the four trails and disappeared six days ago. They'd gone radio silent, not Shifting back to get in contact with anyone. It had set everyone on edge and, if Red were being honest, made everyone hate Blake a little more too.

Elizabeth frowned. "They'll turn up and be okay. We would have felt it if one of them had died."

"Not Annalise. Without her being able to Shift, we have no idea what kind of condition she's in."

"She'll be okay. My granddaughter is a survivor and she didn't get that from her mother or father. She got that from her Uncle Red."

Red's mouth tightened. Every time he blinked he saw his goddaughter's face. The bright eyes and wild curls and exuberance in her face. "If something happens to her..."

"It won't be your fault."

Red's next breath was shaky. "I made the decision to keep her alive. It's my fault."

Elizabeth didn't need to ask who he was referring to. "She's your Mate. Of course, you made that decision. Anyone would have done the same."

"Blake's a hunter. I should have known better."

"Lucy told me that you don't think Blake took Annalise. Something about a letter?"