Emma chewed her lip. “Okay, it’s not that I need more help with the baby. I lied. Everyone has been overly helpful. I’m the most well-rested new mother in the universe and my house and clothes are too clean.”

My head jerked back at her admission of lying, my hands fell to my lap. “Okay … so what is it? Do you feel unsafe?” Female werewolf safety was a big deal and lately they were getting snatched up. Maybe she thought we couldn’t protect her and Avery.

Emma gave me a haunted look. “That house!” she screamed, pointing in the direction of her home. “Our room, we picked out the bedspread together. The living room paint color, we fought for three days over that. It’s all Devon. Everywhere it’s all I see. My soulmate. I miss him.” She collapsed into sobs again.

Oh, shit. I hid back my own tears and swallowed hard. How stupid of me. I should have guessed. Why didn’t I think of this sooner? Why did we keep her in that house?

I held her as she cried. “I understand and I’m so sorry. We’ll fix it. If that’s the only reason, we can fix that. You can have our house. You can have any damn house you want. Just don’t leave me!”

Her sobs turned to laughter. “I’m not taking my Alpha’s house.” Her gaze rested on my chin and my little submissive mouse was back.

I smiled. “If you want it, you can have it. Whose house do you want? You name it and it’s yours.”

She laughed. “There are perks to being best friends with the Alpha’s mate.”

I laughed. “Yes, there are. Think about it. Seriously, anyone in this pack would switch with you. Kai owns them all, anyway. Take Max’s house, it’s nice.”

She smacked my arm. “You just want to piss Max off.”

I grinned. “Maybe.”

“All right, I’ll stay if we can move Avery and me,” she said finally and it looked like a weight had lifted off of her.

“Consider it done,” I told her.

“So, the pregnancy, was it planned?” she added, smiling.

I nodded. “It was. After seeing Avery, my biological clock kind of exploded.”

Emma laughed and wiped her eyes. “I needed a good laugh. Thank you.”

I squeezed her hand. “I’m here for you. Always. So you will stay?”

She nodded and hugged me. “I better get home. It’s near feeding time.” She pointed down to her huge milk-filled chest. Wow, was I ready for being a mother? I swallowed nervously and watched her leave. Thinking back to that day that Devon was killed made a darkness slip over me. I couldn’t imagine Kai being killed, feeling his essence ripped from the mate bond. Shaking off those dark thoughts, I decided to take a long, hot bath, and then head off to bed. After my bath, I was lying awake reading a book when my phone buzzed with a call. It wasn’t a number I recognized. I had been meaning to call Kai and check in soon before I went to sleep.

“Hello?”

“Aurora, it’s Brett. I’m going crazy over Sadie. I need to talk.” He sounded on the verge of madness, his voice shaky. I sat upright.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. Sadie’s mate was in the Seattle pack and it was unusual that he would call me with problems. He should be talking to his Alpha.

His voice shook. “I can feel everything. They’re hurting her. She keeps fighting back so they keep hurting her. I can’t take it, I need to find her. Can you help me? Layla wants you, she will come out for you. Please.”

My heart was hammering in my chest. “Do you know where Sadie is? Has she been able to tell you anything?”

Brett growled. “No! They blindfolded the girls before taking them. They keep them inside. That witch keeps messing with the bonds, so I can’t talk to her all the time.”

“Shit.”

“Aurora, they are doing procedures on them, to make them pregnant. This is urgent. We can’t wait. My Alpha doesn’t agree. He thinks going to Mexico and trying that option is a good idea. But I fear that if we wait, then we will have ten female werewolves with vampire babies inside of them.”

The gravity of the situation slammed into me. Even if I killed Layla, what the hell would I do with vampire-induced pregnant werewolves? I rubbed my temples.

“Where are you?” I asked him.

“I’m driving your way. I have to find her. I just talked to Shamus. He said they have already stirred trouble at the border with no sign of Layla. She isn’t stupid, she won’t come out with hundreds of militia and wolves waiting for her.”

My breathing stilled. “What are you asking of me, Brett?”

There was silence. “Go with me tonight, out in the open, away from the protection of the pack. I will keep at a distance and follow. I’m the best tracker in my pack. I won’t lose your scent.”

Holy shit. I let the idea roll around inside my brain and chewed the inside of my lip. It could work. She was probably watching the mountain right now, somehow. If I slipped away and exposed myself, she would snatch me up. Kai would kill me. I was planning on doing this when he got back from Mexico anyway though.

“Okay,” I agreed quickly.

He sighed in relief. “There’s a coffee shop in Portland, in the Pearl District. Vinnie’s.”

I nodded. “Yes. I’ve been there.”

“Meet me there. She won’t kill you, she wants your blood. She will take you and I will follow. When I reach the destination where they are keeping the girls, I will call in everyone.”