Chapter213: True Friendship

*Shelby* “Adam?” I ask as I watch the Alphas run off. I almost don’t want to know what’s going on because there’s only one thing that could make those men move so quickly toward the castle. I touch Adam’s shoulder lightly, and he sets the warm palm of his hand over mine. In any other moment, that would be comforting, but right now, there’s an ache growing in the pit of my stomach. This is about Rose or the pups, and I know it’s bad news. He nods and looks into my eyes. “The pups are missing,” is all he needs to say. I’m not a mother—I certainly hope to be one someday—but just those four words invoke an instant panic response that I feel throughout my body. I’ve never even had a chance to meet the little ones yet, but all I want to do is shift and run right behind the Alphas to help them find them right now. That instinctive feeling subsides slowly while I consider the bigger picture. We’ve just finished up a bloody battle that has ended in the death of a rival Beta and the surrender of