Aspen County

On the plane to Michigan, my friends have me sit next to Eyulf for the safety of our fellow passengers and so that we don't get arrested by the Boyne Mountain Airport Security when we land. It's annoying, but I grudgingly understand why they did it after brooding for one and a half hours. I almost stand up again when we land, but out of the corner of my eye, I see Eyulf tense, a threatening look on his normally carefree face that practically dares me to try pulling anything. Feeling a little put-out, I reluctantly lean back roughly in my chair.

I practically race to the transportation desk after we file off of the plane, banging against others and knocking them over in my rush. Angry and exhausted shouts follow me, but I ignore them along with the tiredness that's possessing my entire body. I have a target in sight; that's all that I need. I'm barely aware of my friends hurrying after me down the path I clear, briskly apologizing to the innocents unlucky enough to have crossed my path.

"Ryder Adams, stop!" I suddenly hear a winded voice call from behind me as the transportation counter becomes visible, just yards away from me. I whirl around to see my concerned friends watching from where they stand on either side of Zeeva. She comes up to me, I concerned but fiery look in her eyes, and points to a chair. "Sit down."

I try standing up to her, but I hesitate from the sheer confusion at seeing her this way. "Zeeva, I have—"

"You don't have to do anything right now except sit." I obey her orders, suddenly very aware of all of the prying gazes and glares from passing onlookers. The others move to surround us and block us from them somewhat. "What you have to do is calm down."

"But—"

"I don't want to hear it. Ryder, I really didn't want to do this, but you are in no position to run this Pack right now. You're angry, you're erratic—you're out of control. You knocked a little kid over who was on crutches, Ryder!" She sighs and shakes her head. "Now look, an Alpha can be…denounced if all present members of a Pack unanimously agree, and we all do. I'm sorry, but from this point moving forward, I'm acting Alpha. At least until we find Louve and Lovett. You're losing the title until we believe that you're in a clear enough state of mind to be trusted again." She reaches out to touch my shoulder, but I flinch out of her reach. "I'm sorry, but this is how it has to be. It's not permanent. We're just worried."

I look around at the people I thought were my friends, trying to shake off my shock. "And you all agreed to this?" I ask, fury echoing in my voice. After a moment of hesitation, Eyulf nods, and the others reluctantly follow his lead. I stand abruptly, knocking Zeeva out of the way. She stumbles, but Eyulf instinctively reaches out to catch her, wrapping his arm around her to protectively cover where she got shot as he glares at me.

"Calm down," he warns in a low, growling voice, but I ignore him.

"Well, I guess it's clear to see that you’ve all made up your minds. You don't care enough about Louve and Lovett to even try to find them. After everything that she—that they've both done for you."

"Ryder, please, stop," Nyx begs, her eyes red and desperate. I step away from her and my other 'friends.'

"It's fine, really. I don't need you guys." I spit at the floor in front of me. "I'll find her—them—on my own."

"Ryder, don't go!" Rudi tries, taking a wary step towards me.

"You're not thinking clearly," Nox adds.

Eyulf takes his arms away from Zeeva. "Let us help you. You're just going to run into trouble if you try finding her in the state you're in right now."

"No, now I know how you guys feel. I get it. I always knew that I would one day leave my old family behind, but I never thought that you guys would go behind my back like this. I'm out." And then I turn and leave behind the one group of people I thought I could always rely on.

'Now I know how you feel,' I say to Louve, knowing she won't reply to me. 'Everyone turned their back on me, so I turned my back on them. But I'm still going to find you, Louve. I swear it. I'll hopefully see you soon. I'll hopefully hear your voice soon, but I don’t expect you to respond. I really hope it's you I'm talking to and not her. But if it is her, I'm glad. I want her to know that when I find you, you and I are going to find a way to destroy her together. I love you.'