Where The Ice Gives Way Chapter 131

**Blake**

Something feels off. It’s been nagging at me on and off all day. Even with the win and the fun I’m having with Charlotte, there’s this thing I can completely ignore. Lex hasn’t dropped his guard either. I glance back toward the stall as I step away and see her still there with Charlie, excitedly showing him her prizes. I turn and head for Dad near the main doors. His posture is relaxed, one hand resting casually in his pocket while his eyes scan the room. Anyone else would think he’s just watching over the event, but I can see the distance in his gaze. I slow as I approach, waiting for him to finish his mindlink. His jaw tightens, then he exhales and looks at me. “There’s been a few rogues at the border,” he says quietly. “We caught them in time.” My stomach drops anyway.

“How many?”

“Enough to notice. Not enough to alarm the humans.”

I flick my eyes out the doors, toward the dark beyond the lights, where the trees sit just out of view. “Should we cut the event short?” I ask, already knowing the answer before he gives it. Dad shakes his head. “Half the people here are human. You start clearing a room like this without a reason they understand, and all you’ll get is mass panic.”

He’s right. I drag a hand through my hair, forcing my shoulders to stay loose even as the pressure in my chest tightens. Then a voice tears through the pack link, cutting straight through my composure. *ROGUES, INCOMING. ROGUES. There are too many!* Everything in me locks.

I don’t need to check if that went pack wide. I feel it in the way the air shifts. Every wolf in the room stills for half a second before instinct takes over. I snap my gaze back toward the stall. Charlotte and Charlie are both looking around now, their faces pale. Shit. *Every wolf who can fight, head out now,* Dad’s voice comes through the pack link. “We need to keep the humans safe.”

Movement starts immediately. Conversations end mid-sentence, people step away from tables, bodies move toward the exits in a way that looks casual if you don’t know what you’re looking for. Though there are too many of us for it to stay invisible for long, and not enough time for us to move any slower. Dad’s hand comes down on my shoulder firmly. “We take the fight away from here,” he says, already turning slightly toward the doors. *They’re coming in from every angle, Alpha.* Another voice cuts in through the link. Dad swears under his breath. *They’re headed straight for the hall.*

My focus snaps back to Charlotte. I need to get her out. Now. “I’ve got her,” I tell Dad.

He slaps me on the back, already moving himself, “Go.”

I move at an aggravatingly slow, walk-like pace, so humans don’t see the panic. I push through the crowd, slipping between people and excusing myself where I have to. I keep my expression polite even as every instinct in me is screaming.

I can feel it now, the pressure building under the surface. Lex is pacing hard inside me. *Hurry.* I’m trying to, but all the pack members are moving now, making it harder to get through. A few of the humans are starting to notice, their conversations faltering as they glance around, trying to figure out what’s changed. One of the raffle callers lowers the microphone before she finishes announcing a number, but still the music keeps playing, too cheerful for the way the room is shifting. I cut past a table, sidestep a group, and push through the edge of the crowd until the stall comes into view. Table thirty-four, fucking finally, but relief hits me too early. I close the distance in seconds, and then the world drops out from under me. Charlotte and Charlie aren’t here. They’re not here. Where are they? The noise in the hall is too loud and disorienting now. My pulse starts to slam hard against my ribs. No. No no no no.

I scan the area, eyes moving over faces, bodies, movement, searching for even a glimpse of her hair, his height, anything that stands out. Nothing. There’s nothing. I can’t find her. Why can’t I find her?

“Blake?” Jessica’s voice cuts through the noise.

I turn toward her quickly. She’s standing a few feet away with Annabelle, both of them looking at me, confused. “Where’s Charlotte?” I ask.

Jessica looks around. “Ah… She was just here.”

“When?”

“Like two minutes ago,” Annabelle says. “Charlie was with her.”

“Did she say where she was going?”

They both shake their heads. “I thought she went to find you,” Jessica says. “Is there something wrong?”

I look over her shoulder, toward the side door, then the bathrooms, then the entrance to the outside games. Too many exits. Too many people. Too much noise. The room that felt warm ten minutes ago now feels packed too tightly, bodies pressed between me and every place she could have gone. *Blake,* Dad’s voice cuts through the link. *Status.*

*I can’t find her.* I rush out.

*What do you mean?* Dad asks.

*Exactly what I said.* I snap. *Charlie’s gone too.*

The panic in Dad’s voice scares me as he says, *Find them. Now.*

I’m already moving past the girls, scanning everywhere, pushing back into the crowd. “Charlotte,” I call out loud enough that any wolf close enough would hear it. I push the link to her open, forcing my way through the panic snapping through the pack. *Charlotte.* 

For one terrifying second, there’s only noise. Voices. Orders. Fear. Wolves moving outside. Dad barking commands through the link while Mum tries to keep the humans calm. Then her voice slips through, small and breathless. *Blake, don’t be mad…*

My whole body locks. *I’m already mad. Where are you?*

*I had to lead them away,* she says in a rush. *I couldn’t let anyone get hurt.*

The hall tilts around me. *What?* 

Charlie’s voice cuts in next, rough and strained. *We’re okay. We’re moving.*

My teeth grind together so hard my jaw aches.

*Where are you, Charlotte?*

A crash sounds somewhere outside, and someone screams near the front doors, but I barely hear it now.

*We’re headed toward the lake.*

Everything in me goes cold with fear. Then Lex comes up, teeth bared. I turn toward the back doors, shoving through bodies with every bit of restraint I have left fraying between my fingers.

*Dad,* I send, voice shaking with fury. *They’re heading for the lake.*

His answer comes back like thunder. *I'm on the other side of the town. Get there now!* 

I don’t wait. I run.