Those caring green eyes looked up at him with so much love that his throat tightened. He remembered the first day Pops had brought him here, and he saw Silke in her crib. He vowed to always protect her and be the big brother she would need. With a deep breath, he confessed everything. About his childhood before he came here, Joanie’s plan, and her involvement with the mages and how they had conspired to kidnap Evan.
“Oh, Ransom.” She hugged him fiercely. “I’m so sorry.”
“There’s something else, Silke. And—and I’ll understand if you won’t be able to stand me after this.” Joanie’s words had been clear. Belladonna was a substance that was deadly to Lycans. It could kill one of their kind if the dose was strong enough. Small doses over time, however, could keep one of them ill. “I think … I think Joanie may have poisoned Pops.”
Her face went white as a sheet. “What?”
“She didn’t say it outright, but that’s what she implied. I’m sor—”
A heart-wrenching sob escaped her mouth as she pulled away from him. “I … I can’t … I’m sorry.” Spinning around, she darted out of the lobby, and through the glass doors that led to the outdoor deck.
The pain in his chest was crippling, and all he wanted to do was break something. How the fuck did he end up hurting the two women he loved most in the same day?
“Ransom.” A hand landed on his shoulder. Bo looked up at him sympathetically. “I’m sorry, son.”
“It’s all my fault,” he said through gritted teeth. “I shouldn’t have … I should have told Isabelle right away. And Silke …”
“Listen here, Ransom.” Bo’s voice turned serious. “You are not your father. Or your mother. You can’t pay for their sins, and you can only do so much with what information you have.”
“But—”
“No buts,” he said sternly. “The past is past. You can’t change it. The question is, what are you going to do now?”
His fingernails dug into his palms tight. “I’m going to get Evan back.” That was the first thing on his list. Then he would beg both Isabelle and Silke for forgiveness. “Hardy,” he called.
“Yeah, man?” Hardy stepped forward. “What do you need?”
“Take care of things here for me,” he said. “I need to go get ready.”
“Get ready for what?”
“A very long trip.”
“What?” Hardy asked, flabbergasted.
“I’m going to New York,” he said. “I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, but I trust you’ll keep things going around here.” The implication of his words weighed heavily between the two men, but Ransom quickly strode out to his truck.
There wasn’t really anything he needed to prep. The only thing he needed was to get his bike. It was going to be a long ride, but with minimal stops, he could make it to New York in ten hours.
He was near the gate that led out of the property when he heard the roars of engines behind him. Checking his mirror, he saw six motorcycles coming up from behind. It seemed all of them had come out to chase after him. He slowed down and swerved his bike around, cutting the engine off. The six bikes slowed to a halt in front of him.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he groused. “I told you to take care of things for me, Hardy.”
“No way, man,” Hardy said. “We’re a club. And we stick together.”
“We may be Lone Wolves,” Snake began. “But we’re a pack. Stronger together than apart.”
He rubbed his hand down his face. “I can’t ask you to do this for me. Those mages are dangerous.”
“You would do this for every single one of us.” Surprisingly, it was Logan who spoke. “And so, we sure as hell are gonna do this for you.”
“We owe you and Pops,” Axle said, his expression serious for once.
Ransom blew out an impatient breath. “There’s nothing I can do to stop you from coming with me?”
“We’ll chase you all the way to New York if we have to,” Hawk added.
The look of determination on their faces told him they were ready to do just that. “All right,” he relented. “I don’t have much time, so we need to coordinate this.”
In the end, he was able to negotiate two members—Bo and Hawk—to stay behind to protect the lodge. “I think the witches did their job protecting the property,” he told them. That was the reason Joanie was trying to make it past the gate and the mages appeared right outside. “But that doesn’t mean they won’t send their human goons in.”
“We’ll be ready,” Bo assured him.
They were about to hit the road when an insistent blasting of a horn made Ransom pause and turn his head. A truck was headed their way, kicking up dust as it zoomed down the gravel path. It stopped a few feet away, and Silke jumped out and dashed over to him.
“Silke?” he asked incredulously. “What—”
Her arms came around him in a tight hug. “I couldn’t just let you leave like that,” she whispered. “I want you to know, it’s not your fault what happened to Pops. Just … be safe, and bring back my nephew, okay?”
As she released him, he looked down at her face. “I will.”
Her face lit up in a smile. “Love you, bro.”
“Love ya back, sis.” He gave her one last hug before turning to the rest of them. “Let’s move out.”
The trip took a little longer than Ransom wanted, but they somehow made it to New York just before midnight. He knew Isabelle would probably be at The Enclave, so that’s where he went first.
“Wait out here,” he said to the guys as they stopped in front of the building that served as The Enclave’s entrance.
The man at the front desk looked up as he burst through the door. He must have recognized Ransom, because he immediately shot to his feet. “I can’t let you in here.”
“I just need to talk to Ms. Anderson.”
“You’re not authorized to be
