LUCAS


    Who the fuck steals burning bodies of the dead?


    The motive is completely unfathomable.


    Angry flames lick at the night sky, smoldering remnants of what should have been a sacred night, with souls returned to the embrace of the Moon Goddess.


    Instead, there are eighteen disturbed mounds, with no bodies to be found.


    Nude after my shift, my bare feet sink into the sodden earth as I move closer, mud squelching between my toes.


    "Alpha." Kellan''s voice cuts through the haze of my thoughts. He holds out a bundle of clothes, emergency spares we keep on hand for situations like this.


    Grabbing only a pair of jeans, I pull them on with a vicious yank, fury boiling just beneath my skin. The breeze, cool and oblivious to the undercurrents of the night, is almost soothing against my heated skin.


    Around me, my wolves move through the clearing, noses to the ground as they try to parse out any lingering scents. But there''s nothing. The air is too clean, too pure. It''s as if someone took a giant eraser and wiped away all traces of those who were here before us.


    "I don''t understand," I mutter, more to myself than anyone else. "How can there be no scent? It''s like the area''s been sanitized."


    Kellan frowns, his brow furrowed in concentration. "It''s not just the scents of the attackers that are missing. I can''t even catch a whiff of Ava."


    It''s true. Even her scent has been erased from the very air around us.


    I turn in a slow circle, taking in the scene with growing frustration. The disturbed heaps continue to burn, casting an eerie glow across the clearing.


    My wolves move like shadows, their movements precise and focused as they search for any clue, any hint of who could have done this.


    But there''s nothing. No scent, no trail, no sign of the monsters responsible for this atrocity. It''s as if they never existed.


    "Keep searching," I order, my voice rough with emotion. "There has to be something we''re missing."


    But even as the words leave my lips, I know it''s futile. Whoever did this was meticulous, leaving no trace of their presence behind.


    Of course it''s probably the vampires. But if it''s not, we risk a war that will take too many lives.


    So many wolves are already clamoring, screaming for the streets to run crimson beneath our silver moon. A true war hasn''t come to any pack in a long time. This is inconceivable, and yet we''re living in this moment.


    It''s real.


    "Keep guards on the pyres. Make sure the ground stays wet. We don''t need a forest fire on top of this shit."


    Ryder salutes in acknowledgement before loping away, presumably to gather his wolves for the night watch.


    "And Ava? Is she still okay?"


    Kellan''s eyes lose focus for a moment. "She''s fine. There was some incident with the guards in her room—she''s fine, so calm down, Alpha—and they replaced the guards around her. It''s probably just sour feelings. There''s a lot of that among them tonight. People weren''t thrilled to hear our future Luna wouldn''t be at the rites.


    Especially after..."


    When my hand raises to cut him off, he stops immediately, looking almost apologetic.


    Ava has few supporters in my pack; there have been rumors and whispers going around since the evening of the party.


    Keeping things quiet is always impossible in a pack of this size. Between the mind links and our social nature, it''s almost guaranteed for a secret to fly faster than a startled bird.


    "Under no circumstances is she to have a dissenter in her guards. Make sure it doesn''t happen again."


    "Of course, Alpha."


    I turn away, my mind already racing with the next steps we need to take, when Kellan''s voice cuts through my thoughts like a knife.


    "Shit."


    The word is sharp, laced with an undercurrent of fear that sends a chill down my spine. I spin back around, my eyes locking onto his, searching for an explanation.


    A vampire was in Ava''s room. His mental voice is strained, the words tumbling out in a rush. It''s gone now, and she''s unharmed, but fuck, Lucas. A vampire was in her room.


    Every muscle in my body tenses, ready to sprint towards the lodge, to tear apart anything that dares to threaten my mate. But Kellan''s next words soothe the immediate panic.


    Jericho''s already on the premises. He''s checking it out now.


    I take a deep breath, forcing myself to stay calm, to think rationally. Jericho is a former beta, one of the men I most respect in this world. He''s been there since I was a pup, and I can trust him to keep her safe.


    If anyone can handle this situation, it''s him.


    "You''re lucky your dad is here to save your ass," I mutter, the words coming out harsher than I intend. A gentle smack to his shoulder as we fall in line helps brush over the flare of temper.


    Kellan''s mental chuckle is grim, devoid of any real humor. "No shit."