Page 46 of In The Shadow of The Wolf

Ivan had traveled to Lonepine to take custody of Randall and, while there, had surprisingly scented his mate at the police station. Unfortunately, he never met him. Deputy Jamie McCormick had been called away on an investigation of cattle theft on the very day Ivan arrived. He hadn’t returned by the time Ivan had left with his prisoner. Ivan couldn’t stay. He had to finish his assignment and make sure the case of airtight, although it bothered him greatly to have to walk away without making contact with Jamie.

Ivan didn’t alert the Lonepine Alpha of his discovery, choosing instead to return home, finish his business and then go back for his mate. It seemed like the perfect idea at the time. He would have loved to have met Jamie, but his duty was to the victims of Jordan Randall and to his Pack. He knew his mate’s name, and he knew where he lived; surely his mate would understand. Jamie was an officer of the law; he would understand, Ivan tried to reassure himself.

…

It had been three months now since he’d left Lonepine, and there wasn’t a day that went by that he didn’t think about his mate. He would go back to his pack, complete whatever was required of him there, and then head out to Lonepine. He’d been in the city for almost a year now, so there would be pack business that would need his attention before he left. He couldn’t let them or his brother down. He had to see to his duty first.

Before he could even think about his own personal needs, he would have to attend to the needs of his Pack and his Alpha. He desperately wanted to go to his mate, but his responsibilities had to be attended to first. He pressed down his internal drive to seek out his mate and continued doing his job. People depended upon him.

…

“Hey, when are you going to catch those kids that are trespassing on my property?” Mr. Alan Perron was a difficult old man with a difficult old wife. He and his wife, Joan Perron, were certain that children were using their backyard to play, because they could hear them at night but couldn’t see them.

The Perron family was not pack and did not realize that they lived in the middle of a large pack of wolf shifters. Many of these shifters were young ones just getting the hang of their shifting abilities and were often in the wooded areas surrounding the town practicing their shifts. What Mr. Perron and his wife were hearing were just the kids in the woods shifting and supporting each other through it, but Officer Jamie McCormick couldn’t tell them that.

“We are looking into it, sir, but we have found no evidence of trespass or damage to your property,” Jamie stated calmly, knowing that Mr. Perron liked to lose his temper, and he didn't want to deal with it now.

“You and the other officers need to stake out my property and catch them. They think they’re funny running in and out of our yard, and I want it stopped. I pay taxes, and my property is not their playground.” Mr. Perron shouted and waved his fists, but Jamie knew him to be basically harmless. He was full of threats and bluster but had very little follow-through. No one in Lonepine took the old couple seriously.

“Yes, sir,” Jamie said and ushered the man outside, anxious to have him leave. “We will take another look this evening, sir.”

“You do that.” He stated sarcastically and left. Jamie walked back in, rolling his eyes at his friend and co-worker Terry Moore. “Mr. Perron and his wife have become big pains in my ass since they moved to town two years ago. Why didn’t they retire to Florida like everyone else?”

“If Patrick had been paying attention to business instead of trailing his mate, they never would have bought the place. He was specifically ordered to purchase every human residence in the county that goes up for sale, but instead, he was caught up in claiming his mate.” Terry laughed, knowing that no one really blamed Patrick for missing the sale.

“Well, I guess that’s a good excuse, but only once. He won’t get away with that excuse again.” Jamie joked.

“His next excuse will involve children. I hear his mate is pregnant.”

“Well, I guess that’s a good excuse too.” Jamie relented. “Speaking of mates, how is Henry?” Terry got a far away, lovesick look in his eyes as he began to talk about the love of his life.

“He is the most beautiful person in the world. I am so blessed that he is a part of my life and so lucky that he forgave my idiotic ass and accepted me as his mate.” Terry sighed deeply and glanced over at Jamie. “He is my life.”

“Has he moved his business here yet?” Henry ran an accounting business back in Washington before coming to Montana and meeting his mate.

“The move is complete. Some of his clients have stuck with him, and others moved on as would be expected. The Alpha has already referred clients to him, so his business will be as strong or stronger than it was in Washington. He’s good at what he does and drop-dead gorgeous besides.” Terry laughed.

“You are a very lucky man Terry Moore. If it had been me, I don’t know if I would have been as forgiving as Henry. Henry is a handsome man and could have had his pick of this wolf pack and why he stayed with you is a mystery.” Jamie couldn’t resist teasing him.

“When it’s your mate, you are willing to forgive a lot, thank goodness,” Terry stated, and Jamie heartily agreed. “Speaking of handsome men, the Alpha told me that Detective Rand was coming back to Lonepine sometime next week.”

“I never met him, but I heard he was a force to be reckoned with.” Jamie wondered why the man would be returning. “Why’s he coming back? I thought the case was finished?”

Terry shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe he met someone when he was here and wanted to come back and say hello.”

“I doubt that, considering he’s been gone for over five months. If he had someone important to him here, we would have heard it through the grapevine by now.” Jamie said.

“Yeah, and how important could they be if he waited five months to come back and see them.”

“Exactly.”

…

“I’m leaving for Lonepine in the morning,” Ivan told his brother as they sat together in Viktor’s living room, relaxing after a long day of dealing with pack politics. Ivan had forgotten how petty his home pack could be after living among the humans for nearly a year. The Traverse Bay Pack was an old pack, but not large, and their survival depended as much on diplomacy as it did on brute force. Unfortunately, not all members understood that fact and sometimes offended allies.

Viktor had taken over as Alpha when their father, the previous Alpha, had died. That had been five years ago, and still, the pack was somewhat disjointed. To be honest, neither of them had wanted the job. They had been happy being their father’s betas, but Viktor being the eldest, was forced to take over. Viktor had a young new beta that showed plenty of promise, and Ivan would not be surprised if his brother was purposely grooming the man to take over.

“How long will you be gone?” Viktor glanced over at him with a stare that stated very clearly, ‘I need you here.’

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