Page 28 of Abundant Moon
Nolan shook his head, passing the slow tractor-trailer ahead of him. They had another three hours of travel, and he couldn’t afford to waste time.
“Nope. I asked him but he wouldn’t cough up any details. Only that it’s important and he’d explain later. It all sounds kinda weird if you ask me. At least I’ll get to see Garrett before he starts his shift. He better be prepared to put out when I walk through the door.”
Ash sympathized, though he didn’t have anyone to rush home to. Some day, and then he and Lance could return to just being friends. Their fun fling seemed to be winding down anyway, and he didn’t want to hurt the man by dragging it out. Maybe he should end it now and put the discomfort behind them. No doubt his future mate wouldn’t appreciate knowing someone else in the pack had shared his bed!
####
ROBERT OPENED THE GUESTROOMdoor to find Donna waiting for him in the hallway. Instead of the sympathy and worry he expected, she smelled at peace and of breakfast.
“Worried I’d leave without saying goodbye?”
She smiled and wrapped him in a warm hug.
“Yes. No one will bother you about what happened, and I wanted to make your favorite breakfast before you left. Erin is here, too.”
Donna pulled back to rest a palm on his freshly shaved cheek. The bags beneath his eyes were dark and puffy, and she doubted he’d gotten any sleep at all. She didn’t either, for somewhat different reasons. Between the events of last night and Evan’s early morning call, her mind stayed busy with how this day would play out. Danger remained, she was told, but if the True Elder’s dream came true, her brother now had a real chance at happiness. Who could sleep with such thoughts rattling around in their head?
They descended the stairs in companionable silence, enjoying the incredible scent of banana nut pancakes, butter, maple syrup, crisp bacon, hash browns, and of course Robert’s favorite morning blend of coffee. When they reached the dining room, Erin stood to give her uncle a hug and kiss, saying nothing about Lou and Micah’s conspicuous absence. Conversation remained light and centered around the safe topics of work, Erin’s schooling, and the weather forecast.
Donna’s powers of observation did not miss Robert’s shaking hands or his continuously beetled brow. Still fighting his wolf, apparently, and she wondered how long he could keep it up. He would, no doubt, want to leave the minute breakfast ended, yet she needed to keep him here for at least another forty minutes. Time to activate “Operation Delay”, and she winked at her daughter while Robert took a drink of his orange juice. Erin excused herself to bring more food from the kitchen, using the time to send Evan a quick text, and then returned to the dining room to finish the meal with no one the wiser.
####
BEN AND EVAN WATCHEDthe drama play out from behind tinted packhouse windows. Robert angrily pacing as two of their best mechanics bent over the engine compartment of his little red sportscar. Except for a mysteriously missing spark plug, there was nothing wrong with it. The sneaky ploy to prevent Robert from leaving became even more necessary after Ash and Nolan got stuck in traffic behind an accident scene, further delaying their arrival.
Robert didn’t know it, but today he would meet his destiny. It was, therefore, imperative they play their part after Luna so graciously tipped Evan off in the wee hours of the morning. Ben slipped his arm around his mate’s shoulder and kissed the side of his head.
“Don’t worry, babe, we have more tricks up our sleeve if necessary. Ash’s last message said they were almost here and that was ten minutes ago...”
Ben’s phone chirped with a text.
At the gate.
“Hoo boy! I want a front row seat for this. Let’s go!”
Hand in hand, they left the packhouse for the parking lot. While neither Ben nor Even were particularly good actors, they managed to approach Robert and Donna with suitably grave expressions. Evan spoke first.
“Any progress?”
Robert ignored them to continue his nervous pacing, leaving Donna to answer.
“They have it narrowed down now and think it will be up and running soon – unless they need to order any parts, of course.”
Robert growled and went to see what the greasy-fingered mechanics were doing to his expensive toy, and find out why the hell it was taking so long. Evan tilted his head in the direction of the access road and Donna nodded silently. Seconds later they heard the sound of a car approaching.
####
NOLAN GROWLED AT ASH, again, who ignored him as before. He’d rolled the window down a couple miles back; head out and sniffing the breeze like a dog on a Sunday drive. Now that they were through the gate, Nolan got a good whiff of arousal from the man; hard cock straining the zipper of his blue jeans.
Only one thing explained such a single-minded focus, and Nolan smiled. Now Evan’s secrecy and urgency made sense, though how he knew...scratch that. As a True Elder, he and Jack were often in the know long before anyone else, just as it was for him and Garrett. No matter. In about two minutes he’d find out for sure.
####
WHILE ROBERT REMAINEDdistracted by the car and his desire to escape Gladstone, his wolf noticed a return of the tantalizing scent caught on the road yesterday. It continued to grow stronger, and while his human did not react, the wolf knew what that scent represented and went wild. Robert abruptly clutched the sides of his head, eyes wide, nostrils flaring at the unmistakable scent of...no it couldn’t be! Not here. Not now.
He looked up as a car entered the parking lot faster than it should have and slid to a stop on the cold gravel. Two shifters jumped from the vehicle, one rushing towards him with arms outstretched.
“MATE!”
