Page 19 of Scarred Resolve

The door shut and left us in the room together, the humans beginning to pick up on what they were in the middle of.

All I could think about as I stared at Callahan, though, was Fenris.

“I’m Agent Doug Miller, and you may call me Agent Miller. For those who have never been to one of these meetings, allow me to explain a few things,” the agent started, looking between both tables. Needing that information was the only thing that forced me to stop staring down the werewolf across the room. “First off, there are no recording or listening devices in this space. What will be discussed here is considered a matter of national security, something none of us want leaked to the public. You are perfectly safe here, as well. There’s an entire story of reinforcement over this room to keep the building from coming down on it. You are free to leave at any time, but entry requires an agent with proper clearance. There are coffee pots in both corners for each party, so please do not go to the other side of the room. We know of the tension between your groups and would ask that you set it aside for this meeting.”

I turned to see the little drink tables in the corners nearest to the door since I had missed them as I came in.

“Are there any questions?” Agent Miller asked, looking around.

“You know why every werewolf is allowed into these meetings. I understand why Jacky Leon was invited if you felt that was the right call… but what ishedoing here?” Callahan asked, pointing across at Niko. Niko chuckled but didn’t say anything as the agent looked between him and Callahan.

“We felt giving Miss Leon a plus one was in the best interest of her right to feel safe enough to attend this meeting,” Agent Miller responded after leaving the silence long enough to concern me. “If she had walked in and seen all of you, she would have been well within her rights to leave and refuse to attend,but we need her here. We have to trust her judgment on who she has brought with her to attend. We asked her not to bring any werewolves, knowing there are some conflicts there.”

I crossed my arms with a smile at Callahan and leaned back.

“Did she know we would be here?” he asked softly.

“No, I didn’t,” I answered before the agent had the chance. “My brother lives nearby now, which meant I didn’t need to call in anyone else and force them to take lengthy flights.”

“You probably heard that I left my home in Germany in April, and I’ve been settling down here in Texas. I wanted to live closer to my son, you see.”

“Dirk Brandt, correct?” one of the agents asked suddenly, sounding innocently curious. “He’s the younger adult werewolf in the Everson pack, isn’t he?”

“The very one,” Niko confirmed. “Adopted son, but Jacky’s probably explained how we don’t often make the distinction when it comes to our families.”

“She has,” Beth confirmed, sounding more at ease than anyone else in the room.

“Lovely,” Callahan muttered.

“We don’t have time for introductions and gossip,” Agent Miller said, standing by the projector and clearing his throat. “We need to get down to business. This is time sensitive.”

I waved for him to start and saw Callahan do the same. With confirmation from both of us, he hit the laptop’s keyboard, and an image came up on the projector, glowing on the wall where everyone could see it clearly.

I whistled softly as I took in the destroyed campsite, looking like a bear had torn through it with a righteous amount of anger. Niko muttered a curse in German, leaning forward, his elbows on the table.

“How many dead?” one of the werewolves asked softly.

“A couple, married for ten years, from Portland, Oregon,” the agent said, sighing. “Two weeks ago, they went camping in this region. They were experienced campers, going out to remote camping spots around the world. They even had a blog.” A second image replaced the first, a map of Alaska with a red circle narrowing down what we needed to be looking at. “This is what they had posted when telling their readers they were going to Alaska. This wasn’t their first time camping in this area.” It was so far north, I wasn’t sure how they even got out there, but something bothered me about the location.

“We have a pack in Alaska, but not in that region,” Callahan said, frowning. “They’re in Fairbanks.”

“This is in the Noatak National Reserve,” Agent Miller clarified. “Remote, but not unreachable. This came on our radar because this reserve had never had a recorded bear attack. When we saw images of it, it certainly seemed bear-like, but we had to look closely. The rangers in the region were smart and took as many pictures as they could. They came across a print that they weren’t sure how to identify.”

Oh no.

The next image was exactly what I feared it would be—a large werecat print sinking deep into the dirt. National parks, reserves, and remote land were prime territory for my kind. I was pretty sure I could find emails for werecats that told me they lived in Alaska.

“It was the only one like this they saw,” the agent explained, looking at me. I opened my mouth, but he held up a hand, stopping me. “There’s more you need to see before you say anything.” He hit the same button, changing the image once again.

This one made my stomach drop. The scent of fear rose in the room like the tide, rising above my head. Me, Niko, and the werewolves, even Callahan.

“I’ve never seen the werecat version of this print,” the agent said softly, turning to the picture. “Is our hunch correct, Miss Leon?”

9

CHAPTER NINE

It was too human-looking. I stood up slowly, leaning closer, wondering if I was really seeing what I thought I was. So human, but not at all. My own hands had looked similar before. I recognized it all too well even though I shouldn’t have been able to.

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