Page 6 of Wanted

Jack levels me with a look and drops his voice. “And if your best starts to feel like too much, be sure to call before there’s a problem, yeah?”

“Will do,” I mutter with no small amount of annoyance.

Bennett appears at the top of the stairs, a smile stretching across his pink cheeks, with Aiden trailing behind.

“Is it time for waffles?” Bennett’s out of breath as he crashes into Jack’s legs. Jack picks him up and settles him on his hip.

“I think so. How’s the dog?”

“She’s sleepin’,” Bennett replies.

“We better leave her to sleep, then.” Jack smiles at the little boy in his arms before looking at me. “See you this weekend?”

Meddling asshole. “Yeah.”

“Nice to see you, Jude,” Aiden says with a sarcastic inflection and claps me on the back of my shoulder as he passes. Whether his phrasing is a coincidence or not, I still bristle at the implication that my family doesn’t see me enough.

They know where to find me. I’m always here at the Sanctuary.

“You too,” I reply.

“Bye, Uncle Dude!”

“See you later, my man.”

I remain at the counter in my kitchen until the door closing behind them silences their chatter and signals their departure.

Only then does my face crack into a semblance of a smile I feel safe enough to reveal.

The pack moves around the main room, their nails clicking across the floors. Playful yips and growls break the quiet air like the hum of a TV left on in the background. I set about filling bowls of food and water for breakfast and set them strategically around the room.

My brow furrows as I’m left holding one.

“Who’s missing?” I say aloud, garnering the attention of Toyota, a playful black lab. His ears perk up at my voice before he resumes eating.

I count the dogs again.

Fourteen.

It clicks, then. The enormous white fur of my Samoyed, Ashe, isn’t here.

With the bowl still tucked in my fist, I freeze at the front door. The pane of fogged glass separates me from the property as I squeeze my eyes shut.

One. Two. Three.

Seven. Eight. Nine.

The tension in my neck melts away along with the fear of imminent danger. My heart slows to its normal rhythm.

I tuck my feet into the muddy boots and step out onto the front porch.

“Ashe!” I call, my voice a deep reverberance in the otherwise still air. Greeted only by the whip of the wind, I shout her name again.

“Where the fuck are you?” I mutter. Leaving the dog bowl on the porch, I cut across the property to the shed and unlock the padlock. Swinging over the nearest ATV, I fire up the engine and take off down the trail.

“Ashe!” A sharp whistle follows the grainy shout.

This isn’t like her. She sticks close to me. Ever since Winnie, my old German shepherd, passed last year, Ashe has become my new sidekick. The first to snuggle against me when it’s time for bed. The first one up to greet me for breakfast. She’s never left the pack, never strayed, never not come home.

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