Page 37 of Moon Fated

Lana nodded, then paused. When she spoke, her voice was low. “Rowan…Kitimat is expecting their alpha as early as tomorrow night.”

My chest tightened. “He won’t cross territory lines.”

“And if he does?” Jasper raised an eyebrow.

My wolf let out a low growl. “Then we’ll be ready.”

Chapter

Nineteen

Evelyn

Istared at the front door, shifting my weight on my feet. A community picnic. Why the hell was I considering going to a community picnic? My friend was missing, and I only had three days to find her, and yet there I was wearing my favorite jeans and a tank top, holding a bowl of freshly cut watermelon.

My phone buzzed, jarring me from my thoughts. I set the bowl down on the side table and pulled it from my back pocket.

Bruce:

Hope you're enjoying your little retreat while I'm drowning in paperwork here. Remember the Fairclough case? Yeah, that's on you.

Bastard. I typed back swiftly, my fingers a staccato rhythm on the screen.

Enjoy the mountain of files, Bruce. Consider it payback for all those coffees you 'forgot' to pay for

I swiped back to my messages, realizing that was the first text I’d received since taking off at the beginning of the week. That was pathetic. Also not exactly a surprise.

“Hey, you good?” Marissa asked behind me.

I turned, slipping my phone back in my pocket. “Yeah.” I picked up the bowl of watermelon, my thoughts spinning as Marissa walked to the door and slipped on her flip-flops. I didn’t have another lead. I wanted something to do—some other clue that would lead me back to Callista’s trail, but I had nothing. Going out into the community would give me a better chance of finding something than sitting here in Will and Marissa’s house.

“Ready?”

I nodded, then followed Marissa out the door.

We made our way toward the communal space where the lunch was held, guided by the sound of laughter and the welcoming aroma of home-cooked food. Not the scent I should be following, but who was I kidding. Smoked meat? Yes, please.

The clearing was abuzz with activity. Pack members and humans mingled. Children darted between tables, their giggles punctuating the hum of conversation as they played tag around, under, and between their parents.

I paused at the fringe of the gathering, taking in the festoon of colors from tablecloths fluttering in the gentle breeze, the array of dishes. Smoked salmon, wild berry preserves, and freshly baked breads seemed to call out this is what you’ve been missing!

It was true. In Seattle I went from work to home, wash, rinse, repeat. If there were events like this, I definitely didn’t know about them.

"Hey, Evelyn! Over here!" The call came from a cluster of Black Lake Pack members lounging on checkered blankets. Why were they being so nice to me? Some of them had to still remember who I was. If not them, then their parents. Wouldn’t they want to get as far from me as possible?

"Didn't think you'd miss out on Marianne's blackberry pie, eh?" teased a burly man with a grin that crinkled the corners of his eyes. His laughter was infectious.

"Wouldn't dream of it.” I mustered as much cheerfulness as I could manage. The group parted to make room for me, and I settled onto the soft grass and set down my bowl of watermelon. A group of three toddlers instantly stuffed their hands in for a piece.

"Bacon-wrapped date?" A woman whose silver hair spoke of wisdom and years spent nurturing the bond between shifter and human passed me a plate.

A man wearing a Nanaimo EMT hat passed me a plate piled high with home-cooked rolls.

“You’re EMT?” I asked, knowing there was a chance he got the hat at a Value Village or something.

He nodded. “Thirty years.”

“You work around here?”

---