Page 22 of Wolf's Claimed Mate
“Aidan, you can hang up now.”
“Yeah.”
And still, he didn’t. “Anything on your mind?” I asked.
“Nope.”
“Bye, then.”
I went to hang up. “Wait—” Aidan said. I waited. “Feels good to be back on your side of things.” Before I could answer, he said, “I’ll still drag your ass through the mud though.”
“’ Course you will,” I muttered. “I missed you, A.”
We’d been just as close as I was with Fenrys once upon a time, and I missed my friend. I hung up after that, not willing to waste more time. I snuck around the back of the high school grounds, looking out at the empty yard and benches. In the windows, figures walked around in the building. I bypassed any notice, slinking into the trees, and stripped quickly, folding my clothes away under a brush, and then shifted.
As I did, I felt my mind slip away.
All the worries and anger went away, leaving me as a beast with one goal: find the enemy. I wasmadefor that. My paws pounded the ground as I ran until I picked a trail of wolves.The woods were expansive but popular for locals' walking routes, according to the internet. I’d have to be careful.
I slowed my prowl when I caught wind of a scent in the air, my nose flaring as I swiveled my head, looking for the direction. Two scents, I noticed, both of them masculine, twined together. I lowered my face to the ground, letting my senses take over. I hadn’t shifted in a while, wanting to be human with Sasha more than be a wolf and highlight the undeniable difference between us.
The scents led me deeper into the wood, where I had to slow down to avoid detection. Some voices came from the main trail to my left, but the scents were purely human. My hacklesrose. They could have hired external help to throw off our suspicions.
No. I was overthinking, and the hiking couple bypassed, talking about the species of birds they’d seen. The male planned to write an essay about the falcon they’d spotted. If I was human, I’d have laughed. Yeah, I couldn’t see them joining a wolf pack.
I followed the scents further until I spotted a log cabin in the depths of the woods. Far away from the school enough to avoid any notice, and off the trail enough that hikers and campers might not seek it out for shelter. It was barely bigger than a shed, but I stayed back, my wolf’s senses heightening my sight and hearing. If they were wolves, I’d have been screwed. But to my luck, two men paced back and forth.
I wished the basement would have held at least one trace, but I’d clasped the keyring the whole journey here. Whoever owned the chain wasn’t either of these two. That meant my suspicions could be true: the pack had dispersed and was slowly coming back together.
I eyed the two men, and my wolf’s paws remembered the swipe of skin beneath my claws. For a second, I was back in that basement, a gun aimed at my best friend, blood spraying. My Luna holding her swollen stomach, her unborn cub drawing Fenrys to them no matter what danger it had put him in.
I saw two faces in the background of my memory, two men tackling Lyna. She’d caught one of them across the face. When a skinned-headed man turned around, his neck as thick as my paw, I saw the scars across his face, twisting his features.
A growl built in my throat.
It was two of them from that day.
Were any of them Sasha’s ex-boyfriend or even Darren Garth? She had said her ex-boyfriend had left the pack, butwhy? And could he have gone back to it?
I listened to their conversation. Another location was mentioned, some sort of office building, they mentioned. It must be their new headquarters, in Palmetto, Georgia. I heard Silverlake Valley mentioned a scout being placed there as well.
I ran back through the woods, shifted, and redressed, sprinting back to my car.
I headed back onto the highway, typing on my phone with one hand. My other message to my brother was left unanswered, but I still offered the damn olive branch.
Want to go on a stakeout this weekend?
My phone pinged less than a minute as I headed back to Silverlake Valley.
Declan: GFY.
“Nice,” I sighed. “Real fuckin’ nice.”
I dialed another number. Sasha answered immediately, her voice bright. “Ya?”
I squinted at the time. God, how was it not later than three in the afternoon?
“Have dinner with me tonight,” I said. “No ifs or buts. I’m booking us a table for six at the Starlight.”
