Page 28 of Wolf Crowned

Mom nodded adamantly. “Of course, I want whatever’s happened and whoever did this and that crime to be brought to justice as quickly as possible.”

The agent motioned to his men. “If you don’t mind, we’d like to have a look around the property.”

My breath caught in my throat. While we’d warned everyone of the impending agents, it still made me nervous someone hadn’t gotten the memo. And I didn’t want them lurking and poking at our property. We didn’t have anything illegal to hide, but we were a giant wolf pack that needed to stay hidden.

I put a hand over my chest. “Why do you need to walk around the property?”

He smirked at me as his brows lifted. “We believe that the person responsible may be here. One of the helpers that you have living on your property.” He shoved the pad back into his breast pocket and frowned. “What exactly is it you do here?”

Mom shifted behind me, but I was the one to answer. “We own a construction business.”

Agent Weatherford looked around, his focus on our little tent camp. “I see. Strange so many of your workers live here, isn’t it?” He motioned to the tents. “And even odder that a construction company would be housing the help in tents.”

There was something about the way his eyes lit up, the way he was looking at me was predatory. He had to be working with Alpha Dane directly.

I gave him a grin of my own as I put my hands on my hips and arched a brow. “Do you have a warrant, agent?“

Mom exhaled, her nails digging even further into my skin. She was going to draw blood if she wasn’t careful. I knew she didn’t mean to this was entirely new territory for both of us.

Agent Weatherford shifted his feet and looked at the ground. “I can obtain a warrant if needed. But it would be easier if you let us just have a look around.”

Over my dead body! I knew my rights.

I gave him a smile. “It will be needed agents. While we have nothing to hide, I don’t need your men wandering around our property when you have no proof that anyone here has done anything wrong.”

Agent Weatherford rubbed his jaw. “Well then, I suppose we will return in a day or two with the warrant. Then you will have no choice but to allow us access to everything on this property.”

I offered the sleazeball my hand. He glared at it for a long moment before shaking it again. “And when you come back with the legal documentation, I’ll be happy to give you a proper tour. Until then, I must ask you to leave.” I pointed to the driveway.

He narrowed his eyes before letting out a small chuckle. “We’ll see each other again very soon.”

I didn’t doubt that, but I also hoped that a judge would be cautious enough to not just throw us under the bus without real evidence, and I didn’t think they had it, at least I hoped they didn’t.

The agents backed away and got into their vehicles at the same tie like they’d been training to be in perfect synchrony for months. I held my breath as their vehicles roared to life and then they started down the drive, thankfully moving much faster than when they’d arrived.

Mom gave me a gentle shake. “I think you just poked the bear, Sloane.” She wrapped me tighter in her embrace. “You shouldn’t have done that. You should’ve just given them what they wanted.”

I shook my head. “No. He’s working for Alpha Dane. I’m almost sure of it. The head honcho jerk might say he has evidence, but I wonder if he really does. If he doesn’t, getting a judge to sign off is going to be impossible.”

Mom put her chin on my shoulder. “I suppose that doesn’t surprise me.” She held me tighter for another moment before pulling away. “That man will stop at nothing to destroy us.”

I slid my fingers through my hair, pulling it up into a messy bun. “Do you think he’ll come back with a warrant?”

Mom massaged her temples. “He will if he can get one.”

I chewed on my lip. “We should start looking at moving up our timeline to attack. If we don’t shut him down fast enough, he’s going to come here.”

Mom swallowed as she brushed flour off her apron.“I wish I could disagree with you.”

Then it was settled. We had to move up our timeframe. It was the only way we were going to stop Alpha Dane before he made sure that none of us ever had our freedom again.

Eleven

Sawyer

Dad was waiting for me when I marched up the stairs to the house. He stood from the porch, swing, crossing his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes at me.

Oh no. What now?

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