Page 62 of Conner's Luna

"Bring her parents to ClearHowl," Dad speaks from one of the screens.

"Already negotiated that with the parents," Uncle Devel says from his seat next to the window. He wrings his hands as if he's strangling an unseen enemy. "I'm sure Alpha Alex would like to talk to them."

I take a closer look at Ariana's picture on the screen. There's nothing special about her, except her smile. It's warm and loving because she's looking at her son.

"They're figuring out who the she-wolves are," Sarj said next to my ear. "Somehow, they're narrowing down the victim pool more accurately."

"There are signs of who we are," Dad admits."Most humans just don't bother to think about it."

Sam nods and taps the screen over Ariana's picture, "we can't protect an entire pack from seemingly random abductions. If Ariana's parents hadn't reached out to us we wouldn't even know she was gone."

Uncle Devel grimaces, "then we need to stop the group abducting them."

I click on another screen, zooming in on a map of Colorado. "How many packs are stretched across the U.S. alone?"

"Only twenty official packs, more if you count the small, under-reported loners,"Dad rattles off.

"And more in Canada and Mexico," Sean points out.

Some of the other men chuckle. Even Uncle Devel cracks a smile. "Inuit Genom holds the north and Carmichael Reyes holds the southern border. No, these assholes are operating right here."

"In our territory," Dad fumes.

Sarj comes next to my shoulder. "Carmichael is here," he says quietly, tracing the region in southern Texas that LoboGris holds. "Inuit in the north," he taps Canada. "Witch covens blanket the east and west. If you knew all this and you were human, what would you think?"

"That this is human territory, not ours," I say grimly.

"They could be investigating us, figuring out weapons that would harm us."

"Is there a weapon that would harm us and not hurt humans?"

"Silver."

"Wooden stakes."

"Full moon."

"Naked ladies wearing silver under a full moon."

"Peanuts."

A few more asshole comments are thrown out before Devel takes control back.

"Alright. Sam take your team and collect the Leifson family. Conner, you'll canvas campus. Mike, figure out how we can get some bodies into RedMoon."

I roll my shoulders. This is becoming complicated. Lydia is slipping down the list of importance.

"I'll talk to Stasia," Sarj volunteers as we leave. I look at him, eyebrow quirked. Sarj meets my gaze without flinching. We start to leave as Uncle Devel's team disperses to their jobs.

"You need to decide who is more important to you," Sarj says quietly as Sean walks behind us.

I know who he's talking about without asking for any clarification at all.

"Bailey... she just makes me feel so good. When I'm with her, she's all I can see," I tell him truthfully.

"Who do you think about when neither female is in front of you?" Sean asks calmly.

I pause, wondering about it. "Lydia," I say reluctantly. "is the first one who popped into my head when you asked me that."

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