Free Red: Through the Dark by Sophie Stern Page B

too nice. That’s one of the reasons I suspect she’s still single: she’s not tough enough to handle a relationship with a wolf. She might be one herself, but being a wolf and handling another are two entirely different things.
    “Ali,” I say carefully. “What can I do for you?”
    “It’s the childcare center,” she says. “Someone destroyed it.”
    “What?” I cry out, and several wolves turn to look at me. “Show me.”
    Quickly, Ali and I dart out of the main gathering space and head down one of the side halls. At some point, Thorn throws me a t-shirt and shorts, which I manage to pull on as Ali and I make our way down the narrow hallways and around several sharp corners.
    We arrive at the childcare room and I’m overwhelmed by the emotions in the room. The scents mingle as I enter and I smell fear, sadness, and frustration. Anger wafts through the room when Ryder enters. He’s almost as mad as I am.
    “Who did this?” I growl, taking in the broken toys and damaged furniture. Mrs. Beaver is in the center of the room with tears rolling down her face. She’s surveying the damage and shaking her head.
    I’m overwhelmed by the damage to the equipment, but that’s not even the worst part. The worst part is the message sprawled across the wall. It’s a message that is obviously meant for my mate. It’s obviously meant for Red.
    “Who the fuck did this?”
    “We don’t know,” Mrs. Beaver says quietly.
    “Does Red know?” I ask. My mate is going to need me. If she hasn’t seen the message, I wonder if it would be better for her not to know. She doesn’t have to ever find out. I don’t like the idea of lying to her, but these words are harsh, and my little darling is already struggling enough without throwing this onto her pile of worries.
    “No,” Mrs. Beaver says. “It’s just me and Ali this morning.”
    “Actually,” Ali cringes. “I showed her.”
    “What? When? Where is she now?”
    “I don’t know,” Ali answers, and I can tell she’s telling the truth. “She went back to the suite.”
    “I don’t understand how this could have happened,” I say. Ryder is walking around, picking up equipment and broken pieces of wood. He’s obviously trying to figure out if any of this is salvageable.
    “When I came in to open this morning, it was like this.” Ali sounds distraught. “We’ve been having so many problems lately, but I didn’t think this would happen. I didn’t think she’d…I mean they, would come after the kids.”
    “She?” I demand, not missing Ali’s slip. “Allison Martin, who did this?”
    Her eyes are big and she looks from Mrs. Beaver to Ryder to me. No one is cutting her any slack, though. Those big eyes won’t do her any good this time around.
    “I just…I didn’t know she’d take it this far,” Ali bursts into tears, but I don’t give a shit. I just want answers. I want to know who would have torn apart what this pack has worked so hard to accomplish.
    “Tell me now, Allison, or dragons help me, you’ll be out in the woods on your own.”
    “Dead,” Ryder adds, though I wasn’t going to be quite that extreme. Excommunicating a wolf? I’m fine with that. Killing one? Not so much. Not unless the behavior was much worse. Not unless my spouse was threatened.
    “It’s Tessa,” she says finally.
    “I knew it!” Ryder blurts out before I glare at him.
    “What about Tessa? Surely she hasn’t been doing all of this on her own.”
    “No,” Allison says. “It’s why I volunteered to work in the children’s center, though. She, um, wanted me to get close to Red and tell her stuff. I didn’t though! I couldn’t. Once I got to know Red she was really nice. I didn’t want to betray her like that.”
    “You did betray her, Allison. You betrayed all of us by not turning Tessa in the second you found out what she was doing.”
    “I’m sorry,” Allison bursts into tears. “It’s just…I didn’t know it was going to go this far. I