Page 50 of Blades of Ice

Beck was afraid if he lay back down, he wouldn’t be able to get up again, so he settled against the cold wall of his prison.

“Nicole. I’m not aware of any Nicoles in our pack. Is she new to the area?”

“Nah. She’s not one of us. I got tired of waiting to find another bear, so I settled for a human.”

“What’s she like?”

“Let it go, Chloe. It doesn’t matter. By now she probably thinks I’ve ghosted her and moved on.”

“That’s because she’s human. I’ve not met one yet that was worth the trouble.”

Beck was taken aback. This Chloe was out of character with the sister he’d grown up with. She never had a disparaging word for anyone, humans included. She was friendly with their passengers. She hung out at the diner every morning to chat with the couple who owned it. And her best friend was human. “What about Cynthia?”

“She met a woman and moved to California with her.”

“Oh. Good for her.”

Chloe huffed harshly. “Good for her? What about me? She left me for someone she knew for two weeks.”

If Beck didn’t know better, he would say his sister was jealous. He’d never known her to date a woman, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have feelings for her best friend. Beck started to say she’d find someone else, but would she? Would either of them ever get out of their prison? Beck closed his eyes. Keeping them open in the darkness made his head throb worse.

“Nothing to say about that? No, ‘I’m sorry, Chloe. You’ll find the right one.’ You’re like every other male.”

Beck sighed. “I didn’t know you had those kinds of feelings for her. It’s not like you or Delaney share your lives with me. I’m nothing more than an employee. Just ask Delaney. Oh, that’s right. You can’t because we’re stuck in this goddess forsaken cave!” Beck roared and wished he hadn’t.

Lydia and Kennedysat on their packs while they waited on Dooley to return from scouting ahead. The blood had lessened with each mile, and Lydia prayed that meant the bear was healing. Dooley was the one who pointed out that Amara, or whoever the tracks belonged to, was running on four legs instead of walking. If they continued that way, they would never catch up to them as long as Lydia was among the search party. She pulled out her sat phone and called Carleigh to let her know what was going on.

“Hey, Cuz. Did you find her?”

“We found a cave where someone had been restrained in cuffs laced with wolfsbane, and there were signs of a struggle, but no one was there. Dooley’s gone off in his fur to see if he can catch up to her. What’s new on your end?”

“I’ve been keeping tabs on Boyd, and either he knows someone bugged his rental house, or he’s extremely paranoid. He had a visitor, probably the same one you saw the first night you went to his house. Whoever it was didn’t arrive in a car. They came through the woods, and when they shifted from their fur, they had on a hoodie, so I couldn’t see their face. I’m assuming they’re female by their size. They knocked on the door, and Boyd followed them outside. They took off through the woods, and about twenty minutes later, he returned alone. Other than that, he hasn’t left the house. At all.”

“Then who is responsible for taking Beck? It has to be another male.”

“Why? You think because he’s six and a half feet tall that a female shifter couldn’t lift his body? You could pick him up if you wanted.”

“True, but there were two sets of tracks at the cave and one of them was male. If Boyd is staying in Sterling, then someone else is doing the heavy lifting, so to speak. We need to find out who’s behind the hoodie.”

“I’m trying. And the one name I keep coming back to is Heather. Before Dooley left Kodiak for Valdez, he put me in contact with a former packmate who lives in BC. This Russell hasn’t seen Heather around for a few weeks, which fits our timeline.”

Lydia pulled her knees in and propped her arms over them. “It’s been ten years since she dated Beck. Why go after him now?”

“Maybe he’s collateral damage.” Lydia growled, and Carleigh backpedaled. “Sorry, Cuz. That was harsh. If the plan is to take over Amara’s pack, then Heather would know Beck is going to defend his mother. And if Heather is in Alaska, who’s sending the messages from BC?”

Lydia stretched her legs back out so she could reach the pack containing their food. She dug around for a banana. “Well, a coup could involve several players. But why take Chloe and not Delaney? Delaney’s next in line for the throne.”

“I haven’t figured that out yet. Unless…”

“Unless Delaney’s behind it all? Maybe she was planning to take on Amara, but then she found out she was pregnant and came up with an alternate plan. Boyd was in the same building where she works right before he knocked me down.”

“Playing devil’s advocate here, but if she is after the throne, why send Beck to find their mother?”

“She would want Amara’s strongest fighter out of the way, and what better way to do that than send him off on a wild goose chase where he ends up out of commission?”

“Okay. I’m going to take a closer look at her. Tap into her phone and see if I can track where she’s been other than theoffice. I’m also going to try and locate Heather. Who knows? Maybe the two females are colluding. How are you holding up?”

“Not well. I’m farther away from where Beck was taken, and we didn’t catch up with Amara. It’s all been a waste of fucking time.”

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