him to stay focused, not distracted by minor scuffles with the shifters or even bigger fights with Mira and the nightwalkers.
“The Daylight Coalition has been harassing the lycans and nightwalkers of Savannah recently,” Barrett explained, resting his forearms on his knees. He looked tired and more than a little haggard, as if he had spent too many sleepless nights worrying about something. “They knew where to hunt us during the full moon. They knew too much. We deduced that they must have some kind of insider providing them with information, so we decided to send our own mole to infiltrate their ranks.”
“Who went?” Shelly inquired.
“A local police detective by the name of Daniel Crowley,” the lycanthrope replied. “He has long been a supporter of our kind, and we needed a human who could sneak into their ranks. I promised his sister-in-law—a member of my pack—that he would return to Savannah safely.”
“I don’t know this Daylight Coalition,” Cynnia said with a shake of her head as she looked over at me.
“It’s a human group of mercenaries,” Rowe said, unexpectedly speaking up, but then I was forgetting that he had been alone on earth for centuries while I was locked away. He would naturally be more familiar with what was happening among the humans and the other races. “They made it their mission to hunt down anything they don’t classify as human. For now, they seem content to set their sights on the nightwalkers and the shifters.”
“But should they discover that there is someone else out there in their world, I am sure they will be happy to expand their focus,” James added.
“Is that a threat?” I demanded, pushing away from the mantel. The young man with the copper-colored eyes met my gaze and pressed his lips into a firm line in attempt to hide the fear I could feel rattling around in him.
“It’s a statement of fact,” Barrett said calmly, ending the standoff. “They think they are protecting the purity of the human race. The lycans and the nightwalkers have been betrayed by someone to this group, so it is not a stretch to believe that the naturi are not safe either.”
“How long has Mr. Crowley been with the Daylight Coalition?” Shelly inquired.
“He left three days ago,” Barrett said with a shake of his head. “He reported back that he made initial contact with the group, and we have since heard nothing from him. He was supposed to report in each night and retreat to Savannah if things started to feel bad. Daniel is an experienced cop and a good detective. Something has happened to him.”
I shifted from my left foot to my right, crossing my arms over my chest. I didn’t like where this was leading. “But it’s only been a few days. He may not have a good opportunity to report in if he’s being closely watched by the coalition. I think you should give this more time before acting.”
“There isn’t time,” Barrett growled. “We had an agreement that he was to report in every day. If he went silent, we would come in to get him. We made a promise.”
“Then I guess you should go,” Rowe said with a shrug of his shoulders.
“No, you need help,” Shelly snapped, throwing Rowe the darkest look I had ever seen cross her sweet face. “That’s why you came here. You can’t go in there alone.”
Barrett flashed Shelly a weak, grateful smile while wringing his strong hands together with worry. He didn’t seem to be the type accustomed to asking for help. In fact, lycanthropes didn’t like to help anyone outside their own pack. “I would have gone to Mira and her nightwalkers, but the sun is rising and we need to leave now if we are to have any hope of saving Daniel.”
“I will help you,” Shelly offered.
“You can’t,” I immediately cut in.
Shelly’s head snapped up and she pinned me with wide blue eyes filled with hurt and desperation. “What? Why?”
I frowned at her. “You’ve already promised to act as the personal bodyguard to my sister. Are you going to abandon her to help these animals?”
Her face crumpled as she looked from Barrett to Cynnia. She knew I was right, and I didn’t think she would willingly abandon Cynnia after making such a pledge. It was clear that she was attracted to the alpha and wanted desperately to help him, but she was trapped by her own words.
“If you believe so deeply in this cause, I will release you,” Cynnia said gently. She kept her face perfectly blank, but the witch stuck to her word as she shook her head slowly.
“No, I can’t. Nyx is right. I made a promise to you. I will not leave your side until we have taken care of this matter with Aurora.”
“While we appreciate your offer,” Barrett began, patting her hands, which were fisted before her. “We were looking for the help from a naturi or two.”
“What can we do for you?” I demanded.
“Like the nightwalkers, you can cloak yourselves from sight. You would have a better chance at sneaking into their headquarters undetected. We don’t know if it’s a lycanthrope or a nightwalker that has betrayed us. Either way, you can at least cloak yourself from the view of humans in the headquarters, allowing you to sneak in and dispose of the traitor. You would give us a needed edge as we searched for Daniel.”
“We can’t help you,” I said firmly.
“Excuse me?” James demanded in a harsh voice before Barrett could speak.
“We can’t help you,” I repeated, narrowing my gaze on him.
“Nyx—” Cynnia started, but I quickly cut her off.
“Our numbers are not so great that we can sacrifice anyone for a mission that does not exclusively put us closer to taking care of Aurora. We have to remain focused.”
“I can respect your need to remain focused on your plans,” Barrett said calmly, though I could see the anger and frustration growing in his eyes. “But my people cannot move forward if we have someone at our backs waiting to kill us while we attempt to help you. We need to know we are safe on that front before we enter another war.”
“We all have our problems,” Rowe said with another shrug.
“Then you have a new one,” Barrett said, pushing to his feet. “Because the lycans are no longer available to help you in your war.”
“Barrett, please, wait!” Cynnia said, jumping to her feet at the same time Shelly rose, a look of panic shooting across her face.
Barrett raised one hand, halting her words. “You want us to put our lives on the line for your war against Aurora. I agreed to risk my people for you in a war that currently has nothing to do with us. Now when my people need help against a much smaller but equally deadly enemy, your people are unavailable to help. That is not how you treat an ally.” He shook his head as he balled his fists. “If the timing had been different, I would have gone straight to Mira. She would have helped me without question, but even she has her limitations. I thought after pledging my assistance in your war, I could rely on you to help my people in the name of maintaining the fragile peace we had established.”
“We’ll help you,” Cynnia agreed, stunning me.
“Cynnia!”
“No, Nyx! He’s right,” she said, glaring at me because I failed to see the need to risk our few men in an attempt to save a few lycanthropes when we had a bigger problem on our hands. “We came before him and Mira asking for their assistance, asking them to risk their lives in a naturi war. The least we could do for our allies is to help them with their own threat. We owe them that.”
“Is this what you really want?” I asked, fighting back the frown trying to pull at the corners of my mouth.
“Yes. You and Rowe will go look into this matter for me,” she announced. “The lycans deserve our help after promising to come to our aid.”
I bowed my head to her, wiping my face clean of all expression. “As you wish.”
Cynnia turned her attention back to Barrett and extended her hand to him in friendship. “Barrett, I am offering up to you my two strongest and most skilled warriors. They will help you get your friend back and take care of the Daylight Coalition threat.”
Barrett nodded, quickly shaking her hand. His entire body was stiff, his ego clearly bruised from having essentially come begging for assistance. The lycans had their own skills, but if there was a traitor in the Daylight Coalition, that person would likely be able to sniff out a lycan in a heartbeat. They would have no edge in a stealth
