“He’s relieved,” she said, soft enough to evade sensitive warg ears. “He didn’t want to send you out there. This means he won’t have to.”

Dell was wrong. Her trust in Graeson blinded her to the brutal core of him. I had no such illusions.

“Just so you know,” I informed her as I took the steps, “I’m not waiting here.”

Graeson ought to know better. You’d think a dominate warg would understand how being told to sit and stay would chafe.

“Cord said—”

“This is my job. This is what I do.” The wood steps groaned under my weight. “Are you coming or staying?”

“But Cord—”

“I’m not a warg. He’s just a man in need of a mood stabilizer and a bottle of Nair as far as I’m concerned.”

“I…” She bit her lip. “I just— I don’t think...”

“I can’t wait.” My voice came out raw. “That girl needs me. She needs all the help she can get.”

Alone, I marched into the night. I had run once. I wouldn’t run again. I wouldn’t be content to sit and wait while others did the heavy lifting. I was here. The kelpie had taunted me. I was not going to cower and cost that girl another set of eyes in the search. I would not be standing on this porch, too far away to do any good, when she snapped from her fugue and cried for help.

“I’ll get in more trouble if I let you wander alone than for letting you stray in the first place.” Dell caught up to me without breaking a sweat. “I’ve got your back.” She puffed up her already impressive chest. “While you’re with us, you’re pack.” She synced her strides with mine. “Pack means no one stands alone.”

Walking next to her, knowing she meant what she said, I had never felt lonelier.

Chapter 13

Hours later the mud caking my shoes made each squelching step burn in my thighs and calves. The aroma of dead fish washed ashore to rot polluted the muggy air. I trudged on, but the night stretched for eternity out here, and I lost all sense of direction. I felt the absence of my cell phone keenly. The GPS app would have helped. So would the ability to call for backup once the kelpie made its presence known.