Free Ties (Running With Alphas Book 6) by Viola Rivard

CHAPTER ONE
     
     
    “I’m so sorry.”
     
    A tense silence followed Lark’s stunning admission. Taylor’s jaw slackened and her limbs felt as though they’d been filled with lead. Her mind struggled to process the inconceivable into something rational, but repeatedly failed.
     
    Yesterday, their territory had been infiltrated by Whiteriver wolves. As a result, at least one member of the Halcyon pack was dead and Alder’s daughter had been taken hostage. Why— how could Lark possibly have had anything to do with that?
     
    Taylor was startled back into motion at the sound of Glenn’s voice. She hadn’t seen him enter the room, nor registered his approach.
     
    “I—”
     
    Before he could complete the thought, Taylor all but threw herself at him, flinging her arms around his neck. Her shock at the situation took a backseat to relief. Although openly she had held out hope that Glenn was all right, she had secretly assumed the worst. Glenn had been stationed to guard the perimeter around her home, along with his friend Penny, the young wolf whom Taylor had found torn apart in the woods.
     
    She drew back, cupping his bright red cheeks in her hands.
     
    “You’re okay,” she enthused.
     
    Glenn’s embarrassment quickly turned to distress. His rough hand grazed the side of her face. Taylor frowned.
     
    Just before she’d been beaten unconscious, one of the Whiteriver wolves had gashed the side of her face. The wound had since been cleaned and stitched, and with everything that had happened, the most she’d registered was the moderate pain on her cheek. Still, she could tell from the furtive glances the pack members had given her, as well as the mournful look that Glenn was presently giving her, that it was bad.
     
    Glenn turned his gaze to Lark, who was still awkwardly standing in the middle of the room. She looked intensely uncomfortable and averted her eyes.
     
    When he spoke, Glenn sounded as though he had aged years in the day that he’d been gone.
     
    “I’m sorry, Taylor. I didn’t question it when Lark said that Fenix was coming to take over my post. Or that Alder needed me to patrol the other side of the mountain. They send her on errands like that all the time, because they trust her.”
     
    Lark flinched.
     
    “I don’t understand,” Taylor said, her head shaking back and forth.
     
    Lark looked to her with pleading eyes. “I just wanted to help her. I didn’t realize that—”
     
    Alder cut her off. “Where did they take Snow?”
     
    She held her hands up in front of her. “I don’t know. I didn’t know any of this would happen, I swear.”
     
    With preternatural speed, Alder was in front of Lark, one hand wrapped around her throat. Taylor rushed to intervene. She wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to do, given the circumstances, but she couldn’t stand by and watch him hurt Lark.
     
    By the time she reached them, Lark’s face had begun to color. No doubt some sort of pack instinct, Lark went completely limp in Alder’s grip, her body utterly subdued, save for her eyes, which flew around the room in a wild panic.
     
    Not sure which part of the large alpha she should take on, Taylor opted for placing her hands on his straining bicep.
     
    “Alder, let her go.”
     
    Alder’s eyes narrowed on Lark. He looked downright vicious and Taylor realized that she was actually a little bit afraid of him.
     
    “Snow is gone because of her,” he said, his voice low and guttural.
     
    “I understand, but—”
     
    His head snapped to the side to level the full weight of his anger on Taylor. “You don’t understand. She’s not your daughter.”
     
    “Exactly. She’s not my daughter, which is why I’m not freaking out right now, which is exactly why you should listen to me. You’re going to hurt Lark, and that’s bad because she needs to explain what happened. Whether she knows it or not, she may have information that can help us find Snow.”
     
    Alder didn’t