Twenty minutes later, I sat on the living-room couch trying not to nod off on Dr. Carver’s shoulder. Lucas was perched in the armchair on our right, much too stiff and nervous to fall asleep, and Marc sat across the coffee table from him, hands clenched around the arms of the chair nearest the front door. No one spoke. We looked like children lined up outside the principal’s office, waiting to be called in. And essentially, that’s what we were doing.

My father had locked himself in the dining room with the other Alphas to brief them on what we’d done. Try as I might to overhear their meeting, I could only catch the briefest of urgent whispers. They had Beethoven cranked on the stereo again, probably trying to make me sweat.

It was working.

It was nearly 8:00 a.m., and though I was on my second cup of coffee in under five minutes, no one had even started breakfast, because there was no one around to cook. My father and a couple of the other Alphas had called in extra backup to help with the search, but none of the flights would land until evening, so Jace and Michael were about to head into the woods. One of the other enforcer pairs had had to take a double shift because Marc and Lucas were in trouble along with me and Dr. Carver.

Everyone who’d searched until dawn was now sleeping.

So after another night without finding either the strays or the missing human hikers, we were understaffed again, and now walking on eggshells.

Still straining to hear something useful from the dining room, I nearly jumped out of my skin when a sudden pop sounded from the kitchen, followed by a soft fizzing sound—someone opening a can of soda. An instant later Jace stepped into the doorway with a Coke in one hand. “Anyone else thirsty?” He smiled at us hopefully.

My eyes met Jace’s, and irritation fueled the fire of nerves smoldering deep inside me.

“Don’t look at me like that.” Jace’s eyes pleaded with me as the can hovered in front of his mouth. “Your dad was already up when I got to the cabin, and I couldn’t very well lie to him, could I?”

“Of course not.” I sighed. It wasn’t Jace’s fault. We’d known the Alphas would find out eventually. “I’m not mad. I’m just…nervous.” I’d told my dad I was ready to accept the consequences of my actions. But that didn’t mean I was looking forward to it.