“Gave it away? That’s something a warg can just hand over?” Her gaze darted from left to right before she nodded, and my stomach cramped. “As in he no longer feels it?”

“We took it and spread it out among ourselves. That’s why he’s in my head. The pack bond is always present, but usually it’s muted to give us all our privacy. Cord has to keep his mind wide open so we can sort of… It’s hard to explain. It’s like siphoning the negative energy. Right now he’s an open book, and your name is scribbled on a lot of pages.”

A flush spread up my nape. “How long will it last?”

“A few days, maybe a week. That’s why he’s pushing so hard. He’s running out of time. The grief was eating his mind. He couldn’t think for replaying the last time he saw Marie. They fought over something stupid. She wanted to go to the movies with a boy, and he said no. She yelled hurtful things, stormed off to her best friend’s house then didn’t come home. He blames himself for what happened.” Her voice wavered. “He’s our beta. Her death happened on Chandler pack land. It’s his duty—as second to Bessemer and as her brother—to find her killer and punish him. If Cord doesn’t deliver before the next full moon, then the first order of business will be an open challenge on him for his position, and Cord is too dominant to let that happen. He’ll fight to the death before he’s demoted. It’s instinct.”

I spat a string of curses. “What kind of leader throws his own people to the wolves?” Literally.

Wargs valued strength, both physical and emotional. I got that. They were all about survival of the fittest. I got that too. But the man had lost his sister. And his alpha, who should have been sympathetic, had set Graeson on the kelpie’s trail with an ultimatum. No wonder he was bending all the rules. This was about more than Marie. It was about the rest of his life, his position within the pack. He was fighting for her memory as well as his own future.

“Come on.” I grabbed Dell by the hand and dragged her toward the shack. “I need to have a chat with Mr. Machination about the rules before Harlow gets here.”