Page 28 of Wolf Lost

The men looked at each of them in turn, including Sawyer, then at each other. One shrugged at the other, and the first scrubbed a hand down his face before turning back to them. “We apologize for intruding on your territory, but we’ve been sent to deliver a message.”

“The Shane pack, I assume?” Asher asked. He was reclosing the door to the bookstore, sensibly. No reason to bring Kareni into their wolf problems.

The man who seemed to be their spokesperson nodded. “That’s right. It isn’t our intention to stay or bother you, but our alpha needs a meeting with you.”

“We wrote to inform your alpha of our intention to settle in Kismet. We were told there was no one here, and we wouldn’t be encroaching on any previously claimed territory.” Ash crossed his arms over his chest defensively. He’d never looked quite so intimidating, and Sawyer would never have guessed that he was secretly a puppy if he hadn’t known him.

“There’s no issue with the territory,” the man promised. He sighed and scratched his head, a fidget that showed how uncomfortable he was, and then did an awkward looking roll of his neck, baring it, at least a little, to every one of them.

Sawyer almost laughed aloud. The poor guy couldn’t figure out which of them was the alpha because of the way they acted and the smell of paint stripper, and it was killing him. He wondered if he was in the running. Not likely, but entertaining.

After a moment, the guy carefully reached into his coat pocket. The alphas around him all bristled in preparation for a fight, but Sawyer rolled his eyes at them. When the man pulled out an envelope, Sawyer motioned to the granite counter. “You can set it there, since our hands aren’t in any condition to be handling paper.”

The man nodded and set the envelope down as ordered.

Huh. Maybe Sawyer was in the running.

“As the biggest pack in the state,” the man spoke again, staring at the floor instead of bothering with trying to figure out who to look at. “Sometimes outside packs come to us in Denver with issues, when they have a problem with another pack in the state.”

Dez snorted and went back to working on his chair, like the conversation had ceased to be interesting.

“Another pack has an issue with us?” Gavin asked the man, voice light but dangerous.

The man sighed. “I don’t know the details, but they’ve come to our alpha seeking an intermediary. They say you’ve got something that belongs to them, and they need it back.” He glanced away, back to the envelope, and lowered his voice. “I’m not privy to the details, but as I understand it, they say you’ve got one of their children.”

Every eye in the Kismet pack turned to him, and he blanched, taking a full step back.

“A child?” Dez asked. “You’re looking at the whole Kismet pack right here. See any kids?”

The guy shook his head, and his partner cleared his throat. “The alpha would like to meet with youafterthe full moon to discuss the issue, if that would be amenable.”

“We agree to your alpha’s request,” Asher said, and both men looked to him in surprise. They nodded, and in sync, bared their necks to him. Ash looked bemused but didn’t say anything.

Gavin cleared his throat. “Was there anything else, gentlemen?”

“No,” the spokesman answered, and motioned to his friend. They both backed out, eyes on the floor, and the whole pack listened to their retreating footsteps for a long time.

“What the hell was that?” Dez asked after the wolves were out of earshot. “I mean, obviously now that asshole in Bakersfield is calling Sawyer achild, but the rest?”

Asher went to the counter and tore open the envelope. “Bakersfield pack claims we’ve kidnapped a runaway dependent and are holding him. The alpha wants to meet with us to discuss our take on the situation.”

“That sounds about right from what Sawyer’s told us of Mark, but what does it mean?” Gavin asked, calm again now that the men were gone. Sawyer wished he could be so blasé about it. But Gavin wasn’t the one being called a child, so it made sense he wasn’t as offended.

“The fact that the alpha asked to meet after the full moon means they suspect Bakersfield is full of it,” Ash said, and looked to Sawyer for confirmation.

Sawyer thought about it for a moment, then nodded. “If they thought it were critical, the alpha would’ve come themselves, now. If they thought it were going to be a major diplomatic issue, they’d be asking for a meet on the full moon itself. Asking for a meet after the full moon is like saying ‘sorry to bug you, but we have to ask.’”

Ash nodded and walked the paper over to Gavin, handing it to him. “That was my take.”

“But that doesn’t mean they won’t side with them,” Dez broke in, and Sawyer’s stomach rolled. “The fact that you know what they’re signaling because of wolf traditions means maybe they’re old fashioned. Maybe the kind of old fashioned that thinks Sawyer ought to be property.”

The room went silent as everyone digested that, and Sawyer felt sick. The largest pack in the state. He didn’t want to make the Kismet pack enemies.

“Maybe—” he started, but Dez gave him a quelling look.

“Yeah, no,” Gavin agreed with Dez’s expression. “No maybes. No assumptions. We give the Shanes the benefit of the doubt, right up until they show us we shouldn’t.” He folded the paper up and tucked it into his back pocket. “Meanwhile, we have chairs to strip.”

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