He stepped toward them, and Willow flinched. He raised his hands. “No need to be scared, pups. I don’t want to hurt you.” He crouched down. “I just want to make sure you’re okay.”
He was lying. Cassidy knew he was.
“Come over here,” he urged, but Cassidy shook her head. He seemed to think that was funny. “Don’t you trust me?”
“No.” She’d meant to shout it, but it came out a whisper.
“Clever girl.”
Willow pushed her face harder into Cassidy’s chest, shaking even worse now. Couldn’t he see that she was just a baby?
“Really, I’m not going to hurt you. In fact, I have something for you. Something nice for you to wear. Come over here and I’ll show you what it is.”
Cassidy shook her head again. She wasn’t going to let him hurt her or W—
He snatched Willow’s hand and dragged her to him, making her scream.
Reaching for the little girl, Cassidy cried out, “No!”
Hector shook Willow hard, making her head snap back, and growled, “Quiet.”
Willow stopped struggling and sobbed, hiccupping. “I want Mommy.”
His face went all soft and he stroked a finger down Willow’s wet cheek. “You do? You want to go back home, little one? I can arrange that. You just have to do something for me first. Just one little thing.”
Coming down hard and fast from her adrenaline rush, Harley ran a shaky hand through her hair as they all moved silently through the trees toward Hector’s territory. She felt cold and feverish. The pain that had earlier been dulled by the adrenaline was now in full force; although many of her injuries were healing fast, they still burned like a motherfucker. Overriding that pain was the all-consuming rage that had come with the discovery that the pups were gone.
Ally glanced over her shoulder, eyeing Harley cautiously. The Seer had tried to heal Harley, just as she and Taryn had healed the rest of the wounded. But each time the Seer neared Harley, her cat pushed to the surface and hissed, warning her away. The cat had gone hysterical when she’d realized the pups were missing, and the only person she’d let close was her mate. Knowing that the little girls had to be terrified wrenched at Harley’s heart; it was no doubt chipping away at Shaya’s.
They had all figured out pretty quickly that the eagles were a distraction. Hector had known the Phoenix wolves would come and that the two packs would eventually overpower the harpies. It was the pups he’d wanted, and they could only assume that Hector had smuggled them onto his territory. As such, both packs were heading there. Harley stayed at the rear of the huge hunting party, deciding her edgy cat would be better off if she weren’t surrounded by people.
Up ahead, Nick was holding his mate to his side. “We’ll find them, Shay, we’ll find them.” Fury coated every word.
“I never thought Hector would go for the pups.” Shaya’s voice was small and weak.
Nick kissed her hair. “Of course you didn’t.”
“I should have,” she said. “Pups are the heart of every pack.”
“He may not intend to hurt the pups,” said Cain. “He could be simply trying to lure you off the territory.”
“The pups are more important to us than any land,” Nick gritted out.
Cain didn’t back down in the face of the Alpha’s anger. “That could be what he’s counting on.”
Even with rage clouding his thoughts, Jesse could concede that Cain was right. But so was Nick; the pups mattered more than their territory, so it made no difference. His eyes jumped to Nick as the Alpha’s cell began to ring. Everyone quickly gathered around Nick as, halting, he pulled out his phone. Pure hatred contorted his expression, so Jesse didn’t have to ask who was calling.
Nick answered, growling, “You motherfucking son of a bitch! Where are they?”
The night was so quiet that it was easy to hear Hector’s response. “Easy, Nick, easy.” There was a lazy amusement in his tone that made Jesse’s wolf bare his teeth. The animal wanted to rip out the bastard’s throat, wanted to watch him bleed and howl in agony.
“Easy?” snarled Nick.
“You’re upset,” said Hector with mock sympathy. “I understand.”
Nick’s hand clenched around his cell so tight it wouldn’t be a surprise if it cracked. “If you hurt them—if you even imagine hurting them—I will fucking destroy you, even if it means coming back from the dead.”
“They’re unhurt,” Hector told him. “I’m a lot of things, but I’m not a child murderer.” He sounded genuinely offended that Nick would think differently. “Would you like to talk to them?”
Nick opened his mouth to speak, but then they all heard, “Daddy?”
Nick’s eyes squeezed shut and he cleared his throat. “Hey, baby girl.” Shaya put her shaking hand to her mouth.
The pup’s breath hitched. “I wanna go home.”
Eyes snapping open, Nick said, “You will come home, sweetheart.”
There was a shuffling sound, and then a shaky voice. “Nick?”
The Alpha male swallowed hard. “Don’t worry, Cassidy; we’ll come for you, I pr—”
“Coming for them won’t be necessary, Nick,” said Hector. “If you want them back, I’ll take them to you.”
“In exchange for our territory, right?”