I want to argue with him, but know I can't if I want to gain enough of his trust to sneak me and Emily out of there.

Not only that, but the look he casts toward my younger siblings when he said that makes me wonder if leaving is in the best interest for them. Of course, Rick would try to save his pack and territory. A battle is inevitable. Wherever we are right now may be dangerous. I don't want to argue with someone who wants to get young ones out of harm's way.

After breakfast, we pack the tents up and carry them about half a mile through the forest, where two black vans are parked and waiting on a narrow path with a gravel road winding through the woods several yards away.

There are two guys standing and waiting next to the vehicles, smoking cigarettes. They nod at Kairo before dropping the butts to the earth and stomping them out. Simultaneously, they turn and get into the driver's seats.

"Jade, you take Zara, Emily, Ben, and Eyrica. Muse, Anton, Jamal, and Malkom will come with me," Kairo says.

Jade simply nods and steps up to the front passenger seat of the second vehicle and stands there with her arms crossed, as if waiting for us to climb in first.

Ben and Eyrica jostle to climb into the two middle seats, leaving Emily and I to take the back seats. Fine by me. I don't particularly want to be near Jade. My cheeks still hurt a little from yesterday.

My stomach twists nervously as I climb wordlessly into the van. I don't know where we are, never mind try and figure out where we are going. How will I be able to find our way back? What about Evan?

Just thinking about him makes my eyes sting. I lower my gaze to conceal the pain from everyone. I can't let them see how much this is upsetting me.

I've only just found the love of my life, and now I'm leaving him and I can't tell him where I'm going. I don't know if I'll ever see him again, and I never got to say goodbye.

It hurts. It hurts so much that it's hard to breathe with the pressure on my chest. I wish I could see him. Call him even. I miss him so much.

For a moment, I don't even care what happens to me down the road. Just trying to keep myself from falling apart is the challenge as we pull away.

This time, Emily grips my hand and gives me a reassuring squeeze. Blinking back tears, I look up to see the sorrow reflecting in her eyes.

This must be hard on her too. She was ripped away from her biological family at a young age, and now she was being ripped away from her adoptive family.

Leaning on each other for emotional support, a new feeling of connectedness binds me to her. I never got to spend a lot of time with Emily before, and now it feels like we are each other's lifeline.

"Whatever happens, we stick together, okay?" I whisper.

She nods before silence fills the vehicle as we drive through the woods and out onto a paved road.

We follow Kairo's van for about fifteen minutes, listening to music on the radio since Jade turned it on ten minutes ago.

We come up to a stop sign and the van ahead of us turns right. We pull up and stop.

Then the driver's fist slams into the side of Jade's head. No, not his fist, but the butt of a pistol.

There's a sickening crunch before she slumps in her seat and the tires squeal as we turn left.

What the—

The movement of the van flings me on top of Emily as Benjamin screams and starts crying, while Eyrica growls, fumbling with her seatbelt.

Before she can get it undone, the driver turns and points the gun at her over his shoulder.

"Alpha wants his hostages alive, so you better behave, runt," he says as he slows the vehicle down.

Holy mother of—

Clutching the seat with both hands, I gasp for air as adrenaline pulses through my veins from my racing heart.

As I try to fathom what just happened, the front passenger door yanks open, and a man who appeared out of nowhere in the woods pulls Jade's limp body out and dumps her on the side of the road before he takes her place.

"I got it," he says as he takes the gun from the driver and turns back to face us as the van lurches forward again.

My mouth falls open when his eyes catch mine and my heart pounds against my chest.

Burk?

His lips twist into a grin. "Hello again, Zara."

I just stare at him, unable to wrap my mind and tongue around what's going on.

Is the biggest asshole in the world saving us?

The gun pointed at Eyrica suggests otherwise, as does the dark look on his face.

"Wha-Wha—"

He turns the gun on me. "What's the matter, Zara? Spit it out. You had so much to say last time I saw you. What was it you called me? A deranged werejerk?"

My gaping mouth snaps shut before the words tumble out. "Actually, those were Bri's words. I said, if you had half the balls you think you had—"

He cocks the pistol pointed at me. "Shut up!"

Eyrica growls, and he turns the gun back on her.

I grip her shoulder and hold her back.

The only one strong enough to take out these two assholes just received a massive blow to the head and was ejected from the vehicle. I can't shift, I doubt Emily can, and Ben is still struggling with his. Even if we could shift, none of us would be able to survive a bullet to the head.

Dragging air into my lungs, I attempt to grasp everything that happened in those few seconds that changed everything. With my initial shock starting to wane and my heartrate beginning to slow just a bit, I can start to think a little more clearly to assess the situation.

We are being kidnapped again, and this time, I have my doubts about "good intentions" being behind it.

I narrow my eyes at him. "What did you do, Burk? Have you been a spy the whole time?"

"No," he says, "But it is a fun new job description to add to my resume."

"Hold," the driver says before he jerks the wheel to the left.

My body slams against Emily as she careens against the side of the van, knocking the wind out of both of us. She clutches her head after smacking it against the window.

He didn't even slow the van down before he made the turn, and now he is pressing his foot down harder on the gas.

With the prior warning, Burk manages to hold himself steady in his seat, his gun still poised at Eyrica with his unfaltering smirk.

"Are you crazy?" I demand once I've pulled myself off of Emily and regained my balance. "Or are you trying to get us all killed?"

"Absolutely not. Alpha wants you all alive—well, at least you, anyway," Burk says to me.

I grit my teeth together. "Alpha who?"

He cocks his head to the side. "Isn't it obvious?"

Son of a... Imma kill Ryan myself!

Sucking air through my teeth, I ask, "So, what has Ryan offered to make you switch sides?"

"That's really none of your business," he says before an evil glint reflects in his eyes. "But if you insist, I can show you later."

Swallowing, I keep my mouth shut, shouting every profanity I know in my head instead.

Eyrica reaches up to touch my hand and I realize that my grip is too hard on her shoulder. I loosen up, but keep my eyes on Burk, not trusting him for a second.

Silence falls over us, making Burk smile in satisfaction. "That's better."

"You won't get away with this," I say. "Kairo will come for us, as will the Silver Star and White Peak packs. They will show you no mercy for your treason."

"And you think you'll live long enough to tell them?" His sneer makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. "Even if any of you do survive, there won't be anything left of your packs to squeal to."

I'm about to say something snarky back, but my ears pick up on heavy breathing, and the familiar crack of bones shifting position.

My breath catches in my throat as I glance down at Eyrica, but she tenses up as she hears the familiar sounds as well.

It's not coming from her.

Ben grunts as he struggles against his wolf, but he's cut silent as a bullet fires into his forehead.