“I want to help him.”
Theo placed his hand under my chin and pulled me up. His lips pressed against my forehead, and then his forehead touched mine.
“I know you do, but the most you can do is just be there for him. Every Alpha has a hard time fitting himself in with his role and the expectations that come along with it. He’s doing a fine job.”
“You should tell him that.”
“He won’t hear it from me right now.” I knew Theo was right. “You should talk to him. I’ll leave you two alone.”
Theo got up and snuck out the door before Caddy noticed. I stood up and walked over to Caddy, placing my hand flat on his back. He flinched and then settled himself.
“Caddy, what’s going on?”
“Everyone thinks I’m a joke,” he said sadly, gazing out the window to the front grounds. “Even my own mother doesn’t believe that I can be an Alpha.”
“Caddy, you’re already a great Alpha, despite what anyone may think.”
“Jax rolls his eyes at everything I tell him,” he chuckled, tucking his thumbs into the pockets of his jeans. “My warriors hesitate when I give them an order.”
“It takes time to build that trust up.” I removed my hand from his shoulder.
“When my uncle became Alpha, he had control over this pack almost immediately.”
“Your uncle was also thirty when he took over for his father,” I pointed out.
“My age shouldn’t have anything to do with it. Everyone in this pack knew I would take over for Dorian one day, why should it matter if it was now or in another six years?”
I couldn’t answer him. I didn’t know what to say.
“What about Bodhi?” I asked, watching his eyes glaze over at the sound of her name.
“What about her?” he said indifferently.
“You two don’t seem like you’re on the best of terms.”
“What gave it away?” he chuckled. He noticed I didn’t laugh and then grew serious. “She and I got into a fight right after we got here. She wanted to be introduced to the pack as another Alpha, and I thought it was too dangerous for the pack to be introduced to another Alpha before they were used to the first one. She took that as me telling her she didn’t have as much claim to be an Alpha as I did. It’s been a power struggle ever since.”
“Have you tried explaining to her what’s been going on?”
“Multiple times, but as you can imagine, if it’s not something Bodhi wants to hear…”
“She doesn’t listen.” I finished, nodding.
“I just don’t know what to do.”
“Just keep trying.” He turned and looked down at me through his overgrown hair. “And get a haircut, no wonder Bodhi won’t talk to you.”
He laughed loudly and grabbed my shoulder to hug me. My face was squashed to his chest, cheeks smashed together.
“We need to find out what packs those girls are in,” Caddy said as he released me.
“Already got it,” Theo announced as he walked back into the conference room. He laid out a map of the packs surrounding us, pointing to which three packs the girls were from. They were from packs far west of us, leading all the way to Gabriel’s pack.
Olympia was training to be a Pack Warrior, Pilar was a chef, and Verona was barely out of school. None of the women resided in the pack Saskia was from, nor did they have any similar characteristics. They were various ages, from nineteen to twenty-six, various skill levels, and interests.
It made no sense to me, which I voiced to Caddy and Theo. They ignored the inconsistency and tried to locate placed near the mountains where the girls could be held. Three places immediately came to mind.
They decided that in the morning, we would head down to the mountains to search the area. Caddy sent six warriors with us since he could not leave his pack but promised to help if needed.
I woke up to the sound of Theo packing our bags again, shoving things haphazardly inside. I yawned and rubbed my hand over my face.
He looked up and smiled at me, sending a flock of butterflies to my stomach.
We got back into Theo’s car and started on the eight-hour trip down to the bottom of the mountain range. It was five hours before the mountains came into view, and every minute we drove closer, the more daunting they became.
“Have you ever seen the mountains?” Theo broke the silence.
“No,” I said, face pressed against the glass in wonder. “I was never allowed to go, Caddy always said it was too dangerous for me.”
“They are dangerous, I want you to stay close to me. I don’t know anything about the wolves that took these girls.”
I nearly rolled my eyes at the protectiveness in his voice. It was endearing, but also frustrating because I knew I could hold my own.
“I will,” I agreed.
It was starting to get dark as we drove through the winding roads on the outside of the mountains. Theo had his headlights on, and along with the two other cars behind us, the dark woods and rocky terrain were illuminated. I stared out the window, hoping to see something through the trees.
It began to rain lightly, drizzling down the windows, and Theo slowed down to stay safe. I wiped my hand on the glass as it began to fog from my breath. Something moved in the brush, and I screamed for Theo to stop the car.
He pressed his foot on the break and put the car in park, looking over at me worriedly.
“What’s wrong?” he asked frantically. I didn’t answer him. I opened the car door and walked to the side of the road.
My hair clung to my face from the rain. I brushed it out of the way and steadied myself on the slippery mud.
“Margo, what are you doing? It’s cold and rainy, come back in the car,” Theo insisted, reaching for my hand that was stretched out to give me
