Brian, wide-eyed, turned and began walking away. “Tell me about the cactus thing.”
“Don’t you dare, Greg!” Parker started to scramble after the pair but was brought up short by a hand on his arm. A very strong hand. “Can I help you?”
Noah Wulfenbach’s teeth were clenched. “I’m here to apologize.”
Parker shook free of the werewolf’s grasp. “Where did you go the other night? One moment you were racing along behind us, the next you were gone.” Most of the pack had returned, but enough hadn’t that Parker was pissed.
Noah grumbled, low and full of discontent. “One of ours was taken.”
Parker relaxed, some of his anger drifting away. “Bloody hell. Is he all right?”
“He’s missing. One of my strongest too.” Noah leaned back against a convenient pillar and shoved his hands into his tuxedo’s pockets. “We can’t find a damn trace of him.”
“Shit.” Parker rubbed his chin. “You think this has anything to do with Iva going missing?” The dryads were still looking but hadn’t found a trace of her yet.
Noah twitched. “Possibly. No one asked my opinion before. How long has she been gone, and why haven’t they said anything?”
“Is it your beta who’s missing?” Parker shot back.
“No. One of my enforcers.”
Parker’s eyes widened, and he whistled softly. “Damn. An enforcer would be tough to take down.”
“Which is why I think it was more than one person who did it.”
“Hell.” He looked around, but he could no longer see Greer or Ash. “Greer and Ash need to know about this.”
“I know your loyalty is to the dryads, but—” Noah sighed, “—we could use your, and Amara’s, help.”
He didn’t even have to think about it. “Of course.”
Noah straightened slowly, removing his hands from the pockets of his tux. “That’s it? You’ll help me? No making me grovel? No asking for favors?”
“You’ll grovel all right, but onstage, and to my wife. Other than that? We agreed that once you did, all would be forgiven. And if two of our people are missing, who else could get taken? Amara? Brian? Even Greg?” Parker shook his head. “I think we need to talk to Mina, Dragos and Selena, get their take on this as well.”
Noah nodded. He clapped Parker’s shoulder, and if he hadn’t been a vampire, he would have been driven to his knees at the force of it. “You’re good people, Parker Hollis.”
“Wonderful.” Parker tried not to wheeze, but he was pretty sure his elbow was somewhere down by his knee. Actually it would be difficult not to wheeze, considering his lung was folded in half. He straightened as best he could once Noah lifted his hand. “Where is Amara? It’s about time for your apology, I believe.”
Noah winced, but he followed Parker toward the stage.
“Amara, sweet?”
“Hmm?”
“Noah is here and needs to talk to you.”
“He doesn’t have to do this, Parker.”
Parker had made a pact, and by damn the alpha would stick to it. “Yes, he does. It’s a man thing. You wouldn’t understand.”
“Uh-huh. Where should I meet you?”
“By the stage, sweet.”
“On my way.”
“Everything ready?” Dragos, looking both suave and surly, appeared at his elbow. He grunted hello at Noah, who grunted back.
“Yes. And we need to have a powwow when this is over. It seems one of Noah’s enforcers has gone missing. It’s possible the same person may have Iva Yamauchi.”
“Yew?” That seemed to snap Dragos out of his self-imposed pity party. “You think they’ve been kidnapped?”
Noah glanced up at the stage as the music came to an end. “There’s my cue. We’ll finish this discussion later.”
“Come on, big guy. A few simple words and this will all be over.” Parker followed Noah onstage but stood back, letting him be the center of attention.
Noah stepped up to the edge and took a deep breath. The crowd turned quiet, waiting for Noah to speak. They all knew what was coming. Some were anticipating it with glee, others with dread. For some reason Parker didn’t think the alpha would take out his embarrassment on his pack; the man, for all he could be an arrogant jerk, had bone-deep integrity and a sincere desire to protect what was his.
Noah’s gaze raked the throng. “Two weeks ago my pack hunted an innocent woman.”
There were murmurs of disbelief, mostly from those who, despite evidence to the contrary and testimony from witnesses, still believed Amara was responsible for the deaths. Those voices were few, but Parker knew who each one belonged to.
He’d already visited a few of their dreams. He’d warned them, after all.
“We learned the hard way that you do not go after a dryad in her woods, especially a hamadryad.”
Most of the crowd laughed at that, some darting sly glances at Amara, others nodding in either understanding or approval.
“Yet she did nothing that would cause us permanent harm. She taught us a lesson and nothing more. And when we learned she was not the one responsible for the tragedy that occurred here, we realized some form of reparation would have to be made.”
Parker’s brows rose. This wasn’t what he’d expected Noah to say. “At first I thought that reparation would be monetary or perhaps a favor owed.”
Not uncommon payment in the supernatural community, but Parker had been after something far more precious than gold.
“Imagine my surprise when I was informed the price of forgiveness would be a public apology.” Noah was growling at the end. Some in the audience laughed, but most backed up a step. Parker noted that all those who laughed appeared to be pack.
What is he up to?
“Everyone knows I don’t apologize. Ever. I haven’t since I became my father’s beta, and I certainly haven’t since I became alpha.” He bowed his head and stared at his hands for a moment before looking back over the partygoers. “But today I offer one to Amara Schwedler-Hollis, mate of Parker Hollis, wrongfully accused of causing the deaths of two people and hunted by my pack for crimes she didn’t commit. I would defend our actions, except they were made in the heat of the moment and without proper knowledge of who the true culprit was. The fact that we thought we were protecting our mates, our cubs and our town should have no bearing on this. That, I have discovered, is no excuse for what we tried to do. The death toll, had we succeeded, would have been three innocent lives and the knowledge we would never again be allowed to roam freely within our beloved forest.
“For that reason—because the life we tried to take was an innocent one and because we were wrong—I offer this apology to Amara in all sincerity and with the full backing of my pack.”
And one by one, the pack walked onstage and stood behind their alpha, offering their silent support and their own unique form of apology.
Amara joined the wolves on the stage, her green gown floating around her legs, her brilliant curls pinned neatly to the top of her head. Parker had every intention of taking each and every pin out and watching those curls tumble about her head before he stripped that floaty gown from her body and tasted every inch of her skin.
He might even wait until they got home. This was an awfully big house. Dragos wouldn’t mind him borrowing a bit of it.
Amara stopped in front of Noah and bowed. “I accept the apology of the alpha and his pack. I also accept that you thought you were defending your people and your town.” She winked at Noah and grinned broadly. “I can understand the need to defend. Consider this over and done and your safe passage through the forest renewed with the blessing of Oak, Ash and Birch.”