“Oh, Isabelle.” Sabrina drew her into a tight hug. “Do you really think she could have done it?”
She didn’t answer, but instead let Sabrina’s comforting arms soothe her. The knots in her stomach became tighter as the seconds ticked by. “I just need to see my baby and know he’s all right,” she whispered.
“You’ll get him back,” Sabrina assured her.
“Hey, Silke, I finished—What’s going on?”
Isabelle’s head snapped up, and she met Ransom’s gold-green gaze. His brows pressed together into a scowl, and his body went entirely still. “What happened?”
Her mouth went as dry as the Sahara, but thankfully, Silke spoke up. “Evan’s missing. Joanie took him.”
“What?” He turned back to Isabelle. “Are you sure?”
“I …” Her wolf protested, seething at him that he could even doubt her.
“I’m sorry, Ransom,” Arlene said, tears pooling in her eyes. “I just left them alone for a minute and—”
“It’s not your fault, Arlene,” Isabelle said. “I—”
The front desk phone rang, and the older woman started, then picked up the receiver. “Seven Peaks—Bo! What did you find out? Her car’s not there? But … gotcha. You’re the best, hon.” She turned to them. “Her car’s not at her cabin, but Axle said he saw her driving down the main road, on the way out to the property gates.”
Ransom’s entire body tensed, fingers curling into fists. “Send out a call to everyone to stop her if they see her.” Turning on his heel, he jogged out toward the exit.
“Ransom? Wait!” She chased after him. “Where are you going?”
“I’m going after her,” he said tersely as he continued toward his truck. When she made a grab for the passenger side door, he yelled, “What are you—stay here, Isabelle.”
“No!” She yanked the door open. “I’m coming with you.”
“I need to deal with her myself,” he said. “Stay here and—”
“He’s my son,” she snarled. “If you want me to stay here, then you better be prepared to drag me out of this truck kicking and screaming!”
Scrubbing a hand down his face, he let out a frustrated growl, then slid into the driver’s seat. “If—when we find her, let me talk to her,” he said. “You stay in here.”
There was no way in hell she was going to sit by while that … that woman had Evan, so she didn’t say anything. Instead, she strapped on her seatbelt and held on to the grab handles as Ransom sped out of the driveway.
The tension in the small space was thick enough to cut with a knife. A million questions raced in her head, but she couldn’t say them out loud. Why would Joanie take Evan? Did she have emotional problems? What was she planning to do?
He drove like a madman, racing down the road that led out to the main gate. She spotted something in the distance—a white car. Ransom pushed the truck harder, swerving off the road to circle the Lexus then suddenly hit the brakes.
Gears screeched loudly, hurting her sensitive ears. Her brain rattled in her head from the sudden jolt, but she recovered quickly. But Ransom was faster, and he was already sliding out of the driver’s side. Her hands shook so hard it took her two tries to unbuckle her seatbelt, but she finally did, and bolted out of the passenger seat.
“… let him go, Mother,” Ransom said.
Isabelle’s stomach dropped when she saw Joanie had stepped out of the car, Evan in her arms. He was facing away from them, babbling quietly, but she had a small knife pressed to his side.
“You bitch!” she screamed and lunged for Joanie. Her wolf, too, was pressing up at her skin begging to be let out so it could tear her apart. Unfortunately, she didn’t make it far as Ransom hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her back.
“Don’t even think about it.” Joanie’s face was eerily calm, though there was an unnerving glint in her eye. “Not if you want to keep your precious Evan in one piece.”
“What do you want with my son?” Isabelle cried. “Please … I’ll give you anything.” She took a deep breath. “Is it money? I can give you anything you want. My family—”
“Is the reason we’re here in the first place. But,” she smiled down at Evan, “I’ll be getting what I want soon enough.”
Her family? “What do you mean?” she asked.
There was a dark glint in Joanie’s cool blue eyes. “Such a gorgeous boy you have here. Who knew our genes mixing would produce such a beautiful pup? I’m sure your father would find this as ironic as I do.” Joanie’s face twisted in hate.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Her patience was running thin. “Let my son go or—”
“Ransom, should I tell her? Or do you want to?”
Isabelle swallowed hard as her gut wrenched. Slowly, she looked up at Ransom. “What is she saying?”
His face was inscrutable. “Isabelle, please, I—”
Wrenching away from him, she straightened herself and went toe to toe with him. “What’s going on?”
“Tell her!” Joanie barked. “I think it’s better she hears it from you.”
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. “Isabelle, I swear … I didn’t mean for this to go this far. When I found out about Evan, I’d already decided I wasn’t going to go through with it.”
“Go through with what?”
When he didn’t answer, his mother did. “Revenge, dear,” Joanie scoffed. “On your father.”
“My f-father?” Her head whipped back to Ransom. “What is she saying?”
He glared at Joanie, before turning to her, green-gold eyes filled with emotion. “My father … my biological father, I mean, was an Alpha.” He swallowed hard. “His name was Grayson Charles.”
Was she supposed to know who that was? “And?”
“He was the Alpha of Connecticut,” Ransom continued. “Was, until the council had him sent to the Lycan Siberian Prison.”
There was something familiar about this story. She racked her brain, trying to recall the things she’s learned and heard about from the first war with the mages. “Why?”
“Because of Grant Anderson,” he said. “Grayson went to Grant for help
