Read Ties (Running With Alphas Book 6) for Free Online Page A

gave a meek shrug of her shoulders. “Snow’s doing well. Silas took us for a walk and we gathered stones and she made this bracelet for me…” She trailed off at the sight of Alder’s impatient glare. When she spoke again, her words spilled out quickly. “One of the beta wolves fell out of a tree and hurt his leg, Olivia caught a really big fish, we found a bird’s nest and ate eggs for lunch one day—”
     
    “Did anything useful happen this week?” Alder asked. “Did you overhear anything? Is there some sort of schedule we can exploit?”
     
    Her face fell. “They mostly just talk about finding food and there’s not really a schedule for anything. They don’t even sleep at the same time. It’s actually quite chaotic.”
     
    Before he could say anything else, Taylor put a hand on Alder’s shoulder.
     
    “You mentioned that Silas took you and Snow out for a walk,” she said. “Does he do that often?”
     
    “Almost every day, but never at the same time,” Lark said with a frown.
     
    “Why does he do it?”
     
    “I don’t see how this is important,” Alder interjected.
     
    Ignoring him, Taylor waited while Lark considered the question.
     
    “Well, Snow cried a lot the first couple weeks. When he started taking her out for walks, she stopped crying so much. Now she almost never cries. They’re her favorite part of the day.”
     
    Taylor rubbed her chin. “And what do you do on the walks?”
     
    “Sometimes we collect useful things. Snow knows how to make a lot of medicines, so sometimes we get stuff for that. Other times, we just collect interesting things.”
     
    “Does Silas ever talk to you?”
     
    “Me? Not really. He did a lot, at first. Asked me a lot of questions about Halcyon—I didn’t tell him anything useful, I swear.”
     
    “I don’t doubt that,” Alder sighed. He’d sat down in one of the chairs, though didn’t look the least bit relaxed. He never did anymore. “Taylor, we’re taking her back to the border in less than an hour and she’s already answered all of these questions.”
     
    Taylor refused to back down. “You’ve had weeks to interrogate Lark and it’s gotten you nowhere. At least give me a chance.”
     
    He looked annoyed, but let her continue.
     
    “So,” Taylor continued. “You said that he used to ask you a lot of questions. But he doesn’t anymore, right?”
     
    “Yeah, now he mostly talks to Snow.”
     
    “About what?”
     
    “Lots of stuff. Mostly about her pack—”
     
    “He’s fishing for information about my brother,” Alder surmised.
     
    Taylor asked Lark, “Is that what you think he’s doing?”
     
    Lark considered the question for a full minute. It was clear that no one had asked it before. “Um, I guess I did at first, but…he seems to just want to know stuff about her. You see, Snow and Silas have a lot in common. They both lost their moms when they were little, they were both sick a lot when they were kids, and they’ve felt a lot of pressure to be something they’re not.”
     
    Alder appeared uncomfortable. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
     
    “Silas is under a lot of pressure to be an alpha. I think it’s really overwhelming for him sometimes. And Snow, everyone in her pack expects her to be a wolf, but she doesn’t feel like one. Anyway, they have a lot to talk about and they, uh, get along very well.”
     
    Taylor brought her hand to her mouth. “ Oh . Wait, but she’s barely a teenager.”
     
    Lark grinned sheepishly. “Silas is the same age as Glenn, believe it or not. It’s really not much of a stretch.”
     
    Alder looked between the two women, his brows drawn together. “What are you talking about?”
     
    Ignoring him, Taylor asked, “You don’t think he’s manipulating her, right?”
     
    “Not a chance,” Lark said. “Snow’s really smart and Silas, he’s not really a bad guy. He’s actually sort of…lonely.”
     
    “They’re not, you know, doing anything,