Page 45 of Scarred Resolve

“Yup, yup,” I groaned as I pushed up and got to my feet. I brushed off the debris that had gotten stuck to me with one hand as I rubbed my eyes with the other. Davor stepped back, pulled his bag up, and swung it onto his back. I looked around as I grabbed my own and pulled it on. “Where’s Niko?”

“He just left, wanting to make sure we’re following the right path out of here. We know the werecat took that U-turn where we picked up its scent, but he’s checking one more time to see if there’s a potential second trail we might be missing.”

“You and he were saying it will use tricks to throw people off its path, right? Worried about something like that?”

“Truthfully, I’m not. It’ll have left other evidence of what direction it was going. I’m certain the scent trail going south is the correct one. Niko just wants to make sure. He shouldn’t be long because all evidence points to something rather interesting.”

“Really?”

“The werecat used the same path to the campsite and away from the campsite. It did enough damage to the vegetation and terrain that it still hasn’t recovered. It had to have been moving quickly. While it was probably quiet enough not to wake the humans, we would have known it was coming from much farther out. It would have been loud to us.” He gave a boyish smile,light dancing in his eyes as though he was excited. “The evidence is light now, but I’ve been tracking like this for a long time. I needed to know where all the game trails were if I wanted my traps to work.”

Something clicked for me.

“This is why you love working on security technologies,” I said, chuckling a little as I put it together. “You don’t want to risk anything by being in the area or spooking. You get data on the target, and you set up a way to trap the target while never having to be there. A snare for a rabbit or a camera to record a thief. They’re the same thing to you.”

“They are,” he agreed, that boyish smile turning sheepish. “I also am the reason our father spies so well.”

“No… you?” Blinking, I realized I should have put that together sooner, but for some reason, it had never crossed my mind. I knew Hasan had spies out there, but I never put much thought into them.

“Me. He has a lot of contacts we’ve never met, certainly, but I’ve equipped them without ever meeting them. I don’t have access to what they learned because it all goes straight to him, and it protects their identities from the family since they’re his spies as a Tribunal Member. Listening devices, hidden cameras, trackers… you name it, and I’ve probably developed something for Father and the family.”

“Do you know where his spies might be?” I asked, crossing my arms, curious in the way any kid would be about their parent’s job, if they were interested at all. I could hear Niko approaching, knowing we would be off soon, but Davor was the one who was certain of what trail to follow, so I decided to keep the conversation going.

“Ha, I’ve gotten some hints, but nothing I can draw any reasonable conclusion from.”

“So, you never tried very hard,” I teased.

“Exactly.” Davor’s sheepishness turned into a smirk.

“Thank goodness. I don’t want to see how angry Hasan would be if we suddenly started playing games by catching out his information gatherers,” Niko said as he reappeared. “Well, Davor, you were right. It’s the only scent in and out.”

“Then let’s get moving and track this thing down.” Davor took the lead this time, and I followed, trusting Davor without questioning anything for probably the first time since I had met him.

20

CHAPTER TWENTY

HEATH

Heath decided to talk to the pack in Landon’s home. He waited as they arrived, standing in the middle of his son’s living room. He knew Jacky wouldn’t have minded him having this meeting at their home, but he wanted to help her continue the separation she needed, even while she was gone. He wasn’t as worried as the pack, which was a positive. He could help talk to them from a reasonable place instead of feeding into their worries that they were on the way out. He had his concerns, but he knew all he could do was be there for her until she was ready.

She would never throw them out because of what happened. I know it. I just need to make sure they know it. Doing this is a good diversion. With only one update in three days, I need to keep busy and stay on track. Jabari warned me this could be a long hunt for them with the news of it potentially being a rogue werecat.

Landon held the door open as the pack began arriving while Dirk handed out bottles of water to everyone so they had something to drink. Simple for the hosts, but Heath didn’t ask anything more from them. Landon and Dirk enjoyed the privacyof their home, and he was allowing this invasion to happen for his own reasons.

With a somewhat forced chuckle, Heath noticed that every wolf in the pack avoided sitting on the notorious couch, leaving it open for Landon and Dirk once everyone arrived. He did a head count. Ranger and Shamus had arrived the earliest, and Heath gave a quick shake of his head. This conversation wasn’t about where Jacky was with her brothers or why. They both nodded and leaned against the back wall, giving them vantage of the room as well from a different angle than his own.

Stacy and Kody came in seconds after their father with their heads down like they had just scuffled and were told to knock it off. They grabbed two chairs from the dining room and sat on either side of Shamus and Ranger. Teagan, always prompt, brought both of the boys, though it was getting harder every day to call Arlo a boy. Benjamin, however, still had a dutiful boyishness to him. The younger boys sat on the floor, with Arlo pointing to an armchair to tell Teagan where to sit. Teagan sat without an argument. Piper and Roselyn were next, taking the loveseat together.

Finally, at the last minute, were Carlos and Jenny. Jenny took Carlos’s hand the moment they came in and tried to find a place to sit. As they looked around, Landon and Dirk got ahead of them. Landon closed and locked the door, then went to grab two dining chairs. Dirk handed them their water bottles and pointed to where Landon had put those seats down for them. Once those two were settled, Heath waited for Landon and Dirk to get seated as well, right on that infamous couch, getting the entire thing to themselves. Dirk sank a bit, stretching his legs, and Landon put an arm around the back, possessive over Dirk. It was the most possessive display in the entire room. Heath studied his son for a moment to consider whether it was intentional or not.

Landon’s smile grew a little.

Intentional, then. Well, son, you’ve done it. You found a mate, and now you get to revel in it. I’m happy for you.

Heath returned with a flash of a smile before looking around the living room once again, schooling his expression into benign Alpha, waiting for the pack to settle down. He didn’t have to wait long.

“Welcome. First, I want to say thank you to Landon and Dirk for opening their home for this meeting. We’re going to keep emergency pack meetings here for a short time until the pack house is completed. If you want more than bottled water, feel free to donate to the hosting by bringing what you would like to see. Don’t feel any need, however.”

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