His Untamed Desire

Epilogue

Three days later

Daphne opened the door to her and Hector’s home and hung up her keys on the hooks she’d put up. Since his place hadn’t been tainted with any craziness from Troy she’d decided she’d rather move in with Hector than the other way around. Plus now she was a lot closer to school.

Saul and a few packmates had decided to move into her previous home and she could only imagine that they’d already turned it into a horrible bachelor pad.

Exhausted from a full day of classes, she headed into the kitchen, ready to open a bottle of red wine, but froze when she saw Hector sitting at the table with his head in his hands. She’d known he was home but now that she was in the kitchen a sour, lemony scent assaulted her at once. Grief.

“Oh, shit,” she muttered before she could stop herself.

He looked up, his face etched with pain. “Leta’s been taken,” he said, his voice broken as he looked up at her.

The words echoed hollowly inside her. Daphne dropped her purse and covered the distance between them in seconds. Tears were already falling down her cheeks as she wrapped her arms around Hector. He buried his face in her neck and she felt his own tears on her skin. “What happened?” she asked hoarsely. She’d just talked to her friend that morning and everything had been fine.

Hector pulled his head back but tugged her into his lap. “She and Cesar were out to lunch. She went to the bathroom in a public fucking place and”—his voice broke but after a few moments he wrestled his control back and continued—“she never came back. It’s not just her, though. Imelda from your pack was also taken. Your entire pack is going insane right now.”

Daphne tried to digest all his words. She’d turned her phone to silent while she’d been in school all day so she could only imagine she had dozens of missed calls. Shit, shit, shit. More tears fell freely. Leta was truly missing. How could that be? Her mate, Cesar, had to be tearing himself up right now. They needed to be with him. “What did Angus say?”

“We’re going out on a search party in half an hour. He’s getting everyone together, but . . .” He shook his head, his normally bright eyes dull and filled with agony.

He didn’t need to finish. New Orleans and the surrounding areas were massive. If someone was taking pregnant shifters there were so many places to hide them and clearly whoever was behind these kidnappings wasn’t afraid of the Campbell pack. They’d been targeting felines up until now, but today they’d taken not only a feline, but a lupine. And Imelda was incredibly loved by the pack. That was a ballsy move. “We’re going to find her and everyone else.” They had to. Daphne refused to believe they were dead either.

Hector ran a hand over his face. “Angus said the newest enforcer is on the way. She should be here tomorrow.”

She? Daphne had heard rumors of a new enforcer appointed by the Council, but she’d wondered if it had been bullshit. Now she was incredibly grateful for an enforcer’s presence. They lived by their own set of rules, and as far as she knew, an enforcer had never failed a job. Maybe those were bullshit rumors too, but right now she’d hold on to that hope.

“We’re going to find her,” she repeated again, stronger this time, needing to say the words for Hector as much as for herself.

He tightened his grip around her for a long moment, then stood, a mask of anger and determination covering his face. The rage pulsing from him chilled her. “You’re right. We will. And when we find out who’s behind this, they’re going to die.”