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Cor’s mantra became the only sound in the car. Someone had turned off the radio. Roark squeezed Rusty’s thigh, helping ground him as they eased into the pass and the ground leveled out. A jagged fork of lightning ripped across the sky, striking a tree on the mountain, sparks flashing like fireworks arching everywhere.

“Holy shit!” Cor muttered as they reached the crest of the road and crept over the top of it.

“Thank fuck!” Flame growled, keeping his voice low.

All of them did now, even as they whispered and cheered.

Rusty kept a lookout and started counting the cars as they reached the entrance to the pass, losing track after they hit a bump and he was jostled, his ankle hitting one of the spikes on Atlas’ mace. If it hadn’t been for his boot, he might have injured himself, which wouldn’t have been helpful to anyone. The Suburban soon picked up speed on the other side of the pass and began barreling toward the valley below.

“There they are!” Flame announced.

“Cor, circle around, we need to contain everything and everyone here,” Brooks announced. “Hit the ground running and mow down anyone who tries to stop you. We are operating under the full authority of the High Council, which makes every last one of us officially deputized.”

“Hell yeah,” Roark growled. “Let’s end this.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

(Roark)

Now that the adrenalin rush had worn off, exhaustion was beginning to hit. Still, Roark squared his shoulders and killed half of the lukewarm coffee in the paper cup he held. There was nothing to do now but wait for his next assignment.

Someone had thoughtfully dragged a small table and chair out of one of the tents and set it up for Flame to use. There was a line of newly freed shifters in front of where he sat recording their stories so he could direct them to the right group to care for their needs.

Of the forty-three shifters they’d freed from the trafficking ring tonight, thirty-one were on their recent missing list. The high council had arrived and immediately set up a mobile command center where they could reach out to the families and arrange to get them home. Vehicles hadn’t stopped arriving since they’d rolled in.

Roark watched Flame wave Wild over and knew another owl was going to get back home.

“I just spoke to Cage,” Rusty said, making Roark jump, since he hadn’t heard his mate approach. “Sorry.”

“Naa, you’re good. I was just keeping an eye on Flame. He’s doing a great job over there.

“He’s going to have to use the walking stick longer after the flying tackle he pulled off tonight,” Rusty said, chuckling. “But it was a thing of beauty.”

“What did Cage have to say?”

“Huh?”

Roark nudged him with his shoulder. “You said you talked to Cage. What did he say?”

“Oh, um, just that we’re going to be here until the High Council finishes taking statements from the three wolves we recovered tonight that were not listed as missing. Something about the packs they’re from being among the ones under investigation, so we might be bringing them home with us. Brooks is up there now. He wants us to caffeinate and inspect all our vehicles for damage before he decides whether we’re going over the pass or taking the long way around.”

“We’d better get on it then,” Roark said, downing the last of his coffee.

The storm had moved off over the mountain, keeping whatever moisture it contained to itself for now. Unfortunately, it was headed straight for Comet Lake, which could lead to a muddy, treacherous ride home.

Cor was already over there when they reached the vehicles, a grim look on his face.

“What did we fuck up?” Rusty asked.

“Don’t know yet, I just got over here.”

“You had me scared for a moment,” Rusty said. “You looked like you’d spotted fluid in the snow or something.”

“There better not be,” Cor replied. “Zane is up in arms over something to do with Erik that he refuses to share with me until I get home. Apparently, they are not sharing whatever it is with Wild, either, so I’m not supposed to let on that I’m worried as fuck because they’re back there and we’re all the way out here with that fuckin’ pass between us and home.”

“Come on, let’s go squirm around in the snow and hope we don’t find anything under any of those SUVs that’ll keep us from getting over it,” Rusty said.

Cor nodded and pulled out his phone to use the flashlight feature while Rusty and I did the same.