Chapter 31: Royce - Marked By Love

Amelia’s hawk had disappeared what must have been four hours ago. After they reached a main road, she’d flown ahead for some time. Upon her return, she screeched four times in succession. Then five beats of silence, she screeched twice.

They couldn’t talk when shifted, so the enforcers had their own code. Four meant ‘on the left,’ and two meant ‘home base.’

Amelia was letting Royce and Buford know they had to follow the main road until their query was found on the left-hand side of the road. She was also letting them know she was returning to Elk Cove. In this instance, it was for her to get back up.

They’d wasted so much time cutting through the rough terrain of the rocky woods surrounding the road. The sun had already set when, at long last, they found a dirt road on the left of the main road.

The little two-track dirt road led to a structure in the distance. It was illuminated from the inside, a modest one-story building made from old and rotting logs. A rustic hunting cabin. Was this just a pit stop, not the final destination?

Royce and Buford moved from the asphalt to a trail of packed dirt and into a sea of leaves, traveling through the trees in hopes of keeping the element of surprise. Buford was practically foaming at the mouth, eager to barrel forward and charge through the front door. Caution be damned.

While part of Royce appreciated the urgency, caution was essential. From the scent in the area, there were five alphas inside with two omegas. Royce had no intention of camping out in the woods waiting for the enforcers from Elk Cove to arrive while his mate was trapped inside, but he still wanted to do this smart.

He snapped at Buford. With a snarl, the bear whipped around, paw raised, claws extended, and swiped at Royce. He leapt backward in the nick of time. To his credit, Buford’s grizzly curled in on itself and walked backward after the outburst as if he hadn’t realized what he was doing.

Growling, Royce’s wolf pointed to the thatch of trees close to the back of the cabin. That was their ticket to getting close to the traffickers without being seen first.

The rumble of a car came through the silent night. Royce and Buford turned in anticipation at the same time. The car was far down the road, but it was moving fast. Was that their reinforcements?

Royce sure hoped so, but he didn’t recognize the vehicle.

A luxury car rolled to a stop alongside the paneled van in front of the cabin. The driver’s side door opened and closed, a single alpha emerging. He scanned the tree line, and Royce’s hackles went up. Beside him, Buford’s bear rumbled. They both knew that face, the one Lucy had taped up in their conference room.

Gage fucking Prescot.