Red
"I mean, it's not the worst idea in the world. Hell, you and I have done stupider things than this I'm sure."
On the other side of the desk, Henry groaned. "You're not talking about the vamp nest again."
"Of course I'm talking about the freaking vamp nest again. You personally decided it was a great idea to visit vamp territory uninvited just so you could have a make-out session with a hot vampire chick. We almost started a war."
Henry grinned. "I was sixteen and stupid."
"Stupid is right."
"You were there with me."
"Well, of course, I was. You're my brother, I wasn't going to let you get killed alone." Red let out a sigh and crossed his arms over his chest. "Your dad was so pissed."
"Do you blame him?" Henry asked, but there was humour in his eyes.
Red laughed. "No."
Eight years had passed since then and though they were still young, the stupidity had abated some. Henry had become a father and an Alpha and taken on responsibility for everyone. And Red had been there to help him along. They couldn't afford to be as stupid as they'd once been. Not when it had the potential to put others in danger.
"Look," Red said, leaning forward. He pushed a hand through his hair. "I know it's a risk but I think this is what we have to do to be able to move this investigation forward. I've been trying to come up with a solution for how to get Blake to talk with some of the people on our suspect list without it being too obvious that we're targeting specific individuals. If she could get to talk to them in a more organic setting, we might be able to really start making some headway."
Henry nodded, hazel eyes thoughtful and then he snorted. "A human teaching werewolves how to fight. Who'd have ever thought we'd be contemplating such a thing. Not me."
"Me either."
"I'll discuss this with Lucy and Monroe as well. I want their opinions but if you think that this is the best way..."
"I do."
"Even after what happened yesterday?"
Red's vision went dark for a second at the reminder of what had happened yesterday. Even if Blake had looked better today. Not as pale and shaky as she'd been the night before, though the bruises on her face had been darker.
"In spite of what happened yesterday," he replied. "Blake is...She wouldn't take this as a compliment, but she's a werewolf, Henry. It's like she doesn't know that she's human. Or doesn't care. I don't know many people that would be able to rebound as quickly as she did. She has this inner strength that just keeps her from being afraid, I think. Last night, she told me how she got her scars and any normal person would have been broken by that, man."
Henry's mouth twisted into a frown, unhappiness in his hazel eyes. "It was that bad?"
"Worse than what I had anticipated. Her father...Werewolves released him into the woods and hunted him down back to their house. He and Blake's mother were killed. Blake was eleven and she threw herself into the path of a raging adult wolf to protect her little brother. What she described to me...I don't know how she survived, Henry."
"Perhaps that's why the two of you were destined for each other," Henry said. "You've both had rough childhoods. Harder than most."
"Maybe," Red murmured.
It wasn't a comforting thought, though he was sure that Henry had intended it to be. Rarely did Red let himself think of those years he'd spent half-feral in the woods. Most of it had faded into the recesses of his mind because each day had been the same. Run, hunt, eat, sleep, survive. Driven by instinct.
He'd barely let himself think of his mother during those years, if only because thinking of her made him feel human – made him want to Shift back and grieve as a human did with tears and screaming and agony. As a wolf, he had still mourned, fallen asleep whimpering at night, but it had been easier. At times, he'd almost been able to convince himself that humanity was a distant dream, something he had conjured up. That he was only a wolf, an animal, and nothing more.
Until he'd stumbled across Sanguis Ridge and Adrian and Elizabeth Blackstone changed everything for him.
Red still remembered the first time he'd seen Henry. It had been on the steps of the packhouse and Red had only just Shifted out of his wolf skin for the first time in years. Hair overgrown, covered in dirt and bruises and blood, eyes wild as he took in civilization.
And there Henry had been – a boy of Red's own age with neatly combed brown hair and the hazel eyes that were full of mischief and joy. But all Red had been aware of then was that Henry seemed like a place he'd been searching after for years. As if all of the running and the hiding had been to get here. To this place, to serve this Alpha.
Some part of Red had felt complete at finding Henry Blackstone. The part of him that had been missing a family and had found the brother he'd always wanted and needed, even if they weren't actually bound together by blood.
At least, Red had thought he'd felt complete until he'd found Blake and realized that what he'd thought was whole was only half. That she had actually been the one to make him complete quite possibly for the first time in his life. He wanted for nothing when she was around and even if it was only this semblance of friendship they'd created these past few days that he had for the rest of his life, it would be enough.
Though, of course, he wanted more. Yet he couldn't imagine a world where Blake – strong and fearless and a bit broken – would let Red have anything more than friendship. After what she'd endured, the story those scars told, there was no way that he would ever get to so much as hold her as he often yearned to.
The door to Henry's office flew open, disrupting Red's pondering. It slammed against the wall hard enough that Red leapt to his feet, spinning around in one smooth movement to see Toby in the doorway. Eyes wide, nostrils flared.
"Where is she?" he hissed. There was nothing kind in that face.
"Who?" Henry asked, standing as well.
"Blake."
Red went still as death. "Why are you looking for my Mate, Toby?"
Toby's face was a mask of fury. Eyes in a rage. "Because there was another breach in the goddamned wall. The hole is fucking back. Someone shattered through Ejo's wards like they were nothing."
Henry's voice was low when he asked, "Red?"
"The Diner," Red answered immediately, feeling a little out-of-body. Around him, the walls of Henry's office began to spin. He didn't know who he was more worried for – Blake or his packmates. "I left her with Phillip, Li, and Lucas."
"You left her with my goddamn little brother?" Toby snarled, his face a mask of fury. There was a slight cracking sound – his fingers starting to reshape. His canines were lengthening in his mouth.
Red was grateful for the command in Henry's voice. The voice of a pure Alpha male. "Toby, go get Monroe. I want the two of you to organize a patrol and perimeter run. Make sure no one slipped in. Red, you're with me."
Toby stiffened, glaring balefully at Red a second longer before sprinting down the hall towards the front door. Henry and Red were right behind him, giving Red the split-second to see Toby Shift – the male replaced by a growling brown-furred wolf.
They didn't waste any time, jogging brusquely over to the Diner. Not fast enough to attract attention but swift enough that Red didn't have the time for panic to overwhelm him. He was one step in front of Henry and so he was the first through the door as he threw it open.
And stopped dead – not expecting the scene in front of him.
No sign of hunters or bleeding, dying wolves. Absent were the shouts of terror he'd half-expected to fear upon approaching this place he'd left Blake in two hours earlier. What he found was so different than what he was anticipating that it took a moment for his brain to process it.
Because what he saw was Blake in an apron, her dark hair held from her face in two long dark braids. She was in the process of grabbing plates of food through the pass and depositing them in front of patrons dining at the tables.
Red tracked her as she walked, saw her bend over a table to drop two plates. Blake was smiling as she straightened and it was only then that he realized that she was serving Lucy and Chandra – the latter of whom was Annalise's babysitter-slash-protector when the Alpha pair were busy at work.
So if Chandra was here that meant –
Blake spun away from the Luna to stride back towards the counter where she paused, leaning towards a small form with a mass of curls. There was a tender, lively smile on Blake's face as she picked up a pencil on the counter and began doodling on the edge of the page that Annalise pushed towards her.
"Here you go," Phillip said to Blake as he slid two bowls through the window.
He was in the kitchen with a hairnet on and what looked to be pancake batter on his cheek. Somehow Lucas was beside him, wearing a chef's hat – shocking and terrifying because Red had eaten Lucas' food before and had been sick for two days afterwards. Red hoped that Lucas hadn't done anything more than put bread into the toaster.
"Thanks!" Blake said brightly. She picked it up and swung back to face Annalise. "Bon appetite, kid."
Red watched, the anxiety leaching from his body as Blake dipped her finger into the edge of the bowl and – quick as a viper – went to tap Annalise on the nose. His goddaughter squealed with laughter at the whipped cream that Blake deposited on her face. Chuckling, Blake drew a strawberry from the second bowl and bit into it.
Blake, as if sensing his stare, glanced up from the giggling child. The gentle smile she'd worn for Annalise changed a little, fading slightly as she read his face. Quietly, she excused herself from Annalise's presence and walked around the counter to come to him. She paused a few inches away, the grey in her eyes turning brittle and hard.
"What's wrong?" she asked, her voice pitched low and even. Hardly above a whisper. Without seeming to think about it, Blake reached for Red, wrapped her fingers around his wrist.
He burned at the point of contact – sparks and warmth shooting up through his system. And a bit of relief, an unconscious response upon seeing her here. Seemingly out of trouble.
"Nothing," Red said quickly. Probably too quickly from the way her eyes narrowed.
Henry jerked his chin towards the door. "We need to talk with you."
It wasn't a question, but Blake nodded. "Sure." Over her shoulder, she called, "Reba, I'll be back in a few minutes."
Red wasn't sure why he was surprised that Blake was giving the Diner's owner an explanation but Reba waved a hand absentmindedly as if giving approval. Almost as if Blake was an employee.
What the hell had happened in the two hours he'd been with Henry?
Henry held the door open and Blake ducked through, followed quickly by Red. A moment later, Lucy jolted out of her chair and followed them. As the door swung shut, Blake spun around to face them.
"What happened? Why are you all looking at me like I kicked somebody's cat?"
"Have you left the Diner at all this morning?" Henry asked.
"No." Blake surveyed them, first Red, and then lingering on Henry and Lucy. "You can ask Phillip, Lucas, Li or Reba if you don't believe me."
Lucy murmured to her Mate, "I've been here for the last forty-five minutes and Blake hasn't left the building once. What's going on, my love?"
Henry said, "The wall was breached again. The hole is back."
Blake's expression cleared and then went as hard and blank as a stone wall. "And you think I had something to do with it."
"You were attacked yesterday." Henry's voice was low, controlled. The way you might speak to a startled animal that could bolt at any moment. "And you and your hunters were the first I've come across that have ever managed to break down a pack's warding. I want you to tell me how you did it."
"I can't," Blake said firmly.
"Consider this a test in honesty and trust," Lucy supplied, her dark eyes insistent, almost glowing as she monitored the dark look that was brewing on Henry's face, furrowing those dark brows above his eyes into one line.
Blake only shook her head at the Luna, a hint of exasperation crossing her expression. "Even if I wanted to, I can't. I don't know how they did it. Those discussions happened before I was brought into the preparations for the hunt. When those decisions were being made, I was in Chicago."
There was a pause before Lucy spoke again, "Chicago?"
"There were mermaids drowning humans and then feasting on their flesh in Lake Michigan." Blake glowered at them, the corners of her mouth and eyes tightening. "I was sent to clean up the problem. I'm sure you all have enough contacts out there to vouch for the fact that the mermaid problem is over."
She faced Red and added, "When I arrived in Denver, I asked about the barrier surrounding your pack. It's not like it's something special – all hunters know that werewolves are protected on their lands which is why I wanted to know whether your pack had it. I was told that you did but that they had a way of breaking it down. I'm not sure how – I was never that important.
"The morning of the hunt, the hole in the wall was already big enough for us to pass through. I was too focused on what I needed to do that I didn't consider how they'd done it. Quite frankly, I didn't care. Above my paygrade and all that. What I know is that the wall is made from magic which means that hunters can't put one up or take one down. I only know that they managed to punch a hole. If you want to enlighten me about how it works, maybe I can help you more but without that context, I've got nothing."
Henry hesitated, searching Blake's face intently, before murmuring. "Faerie magic."
He didn't elaborate but Blake's eyes turned thoughtful. "Well, I didn't see any fae running around our camp when I arrived but I know that their glamours and wards are notoriously hard to break through. It's why hunters have never been able to gain access to the faerie Courts. I don't know of any way to tear down that kind of magic and spell work the so most likely explanation I can think of is that if a hunter used fae magic itself to punch the holes through. How they got that faerie magic, I can't say."
"There aren't any tools that could do it?" Lucy questioned.
"None that I'm aware of. I mean, there are weapons of lore that might have those kinds of capabilities. I've heard rumours about weapons forged by the fae themselves that imbued with their magic. Perhaps if a hunter got their hands on something like that but most of our weaponry is standard. Guns, blades, explosives, that kind of thing. Some of them have been adapted for what we're fighting – silver for wolves, iron for the fae, wood for vamps, that kind of thing – but nothing in our usual armouries could take down a faerie magic wall."
Red watched her hands clench into fists, though he didn't think she was planning on throwing a punch. If anything, it seemed like she was preparing mentally for something – like she thought they were here to pick her up and throw her back in the slammer.
"If you had to guess," Red started. "How are they getting through?"
Blake considered for a moment. "Well, faerie magic can be bought at Shadow Markets. Most hunters avoid the markets because of the supernatural aspect but I know of a fair few who will go there if they're looking for something specific like summoning salts or hex bags. Usually, the faerie magic at the markets is pretty mundane – like things to put on your garden to grow better plants but I suppose there's always places to find the grittier stuff."
She crossed her arms over her chest. "Of course, there's always the potential for a faerie to be helping the hunters if they have some kind of personal vendetta against you. Did you do anything to piss off the fae recently?"
Henry didn't bother to answer that question. The anger and tension were fading from his face, his shoulders losing their stiff set, as he instead said, "Do you have any idea why someone would be trying to come back into the pack now after the last time? Hunter or otherwise?"
Blake was silent for a moment, thinking. She bit her lip and then said, "It's possible that word got out that we were able to get through your wall in the first place. Word travels fast throughout the hunter community. Someone might have thought to test it for themselves. Was anyone hurt? Did you pick up a track?"
"No – nothing beyond our own pack members," Red cut in. "Even before the hunters came, there was nothing."
A shadow crossed her face, there and gone so quickly that Red thought he might have imagined it. She schooled her expression into blank nothingness.
Henry glanced at Red and it was clear that he'd noticed it too. "What are you thinking?"
"Well, it's obvious isn't it?" Blake glanced at each of them in turn before settling on the Alpha. "Your wall is breaking down but there's no trail. The only trace you have is coming from within your own pack. If you think logically, you'll make it to where I'm at."
Dawning horror coiled in Red's gut but he didn't have the chance to speak, not as Lucy said, "I'm not following. What do you think is happening."
Blake shook her head and pursed her lips and now there was a harder glint in her eyes. "The person responsible for breaking down your wall is within the Sanguis Ridge pack. Since your wall is faerie-made and you lot can't do magic at all, then I'm going to assume that whoever is responsible for this is working with the fae, a warlock, or a demon. The latter two have powerful magical capabilities so it's possible that they might be able to punch holes through but not enough to bring it down entirely. I don't know."
She shrugged and took a breath as she added, "But if you're not tracking a scent outside of the wall then it's probably a being that can use magic to cover their tracks. And if you're not scenting anything inside of your territory, then the only logical explanation is that it's someone inside of your pack. Someone whose scent would go unnoticed. None threatening."
At the blank looks on the faces of the Alpha pair, Blake huffed a laugh but her next words froze them all, even Red who'd already been suspecting what she was about to say.
"The culprit you're looking for is a werewolf from Sanguis Ridge."