Page 83 of Conner's Luna

"En chinga, cabrón."

“Carmichael," I drawl slowly, "how is Auntie Cass's pup? Still cooking?"

"Motherfucker,"Carmichael says flatly. "I have hysterical females calling my pregnant female. What the fuck did you do?"

I hear the crying of a pup shouting "da!" over and over again and smirk. "Funny story Carm. You have time or do you have to suckle my niece?"

"Culero. You wish your tits were as nice as mine."

I let out a bark of laughter, before sobering. "We took a female from the Caluna LaNu house."

"I've heard," he says drily.

"She was identified as missing, possibly kidnapped, by her family only a week ago. I found her hiding here."

"¡Chale!" Carmichael curses under his breath."You are taking her north to ClearHowl, sí?"I hear the phone shift, then Carmichael croons,"no, Conejita, I wouldn't in front of Isabella."

I hear my auntie call him a liar, then the sounds of a crying pup fades.

"Conner. What is the plan, ey? Miranda knows nothing about this. This is a problem,"Carmichael sounds infuriated. His Beta's mate, Miranda, is a witch and was once a big part of the LaNu organization. If she doesn't know what the current leadership is doing, then it's a problem.

"Velia says the LaNu's think we may be in on the kidnappings," I explain. Everyone knows that LoboGris and ClearHowl are close. What one pack is guilty of, the other is, too.

Carmichael is quiet for a moment,"it doesn't make sense. Let me make some calls. Secure clearance for my wolves, sí?"

I glance around at the five motorcycles surrounding the pickup as we cruise north on the interstate. "Yeah, no problem," I tell him sarcastically.

"Adios, pendejo."The call cuts out abruptly as Carmichael hangs up.

Shit. If Carmichael doesn't know what's happening, then who does? The LaNu's can be prickly, witches always are, but there are wolves in the organization, too. Is it just an overabundance of caution, or do they know something we don't?

We roll north at a fast clip, the truck eating up the miles between Caluna and ClearHowl. I hear my phone chirp with incoming texts, then just seconds later Velia calls.

I answer it reluctantly. "Velia."

"Asshole,"she says flatly."I really didn’t think you could pull it off. Do you have any idea how guilty taking Ariana makes ClearHowl look? Like, hello, Conner."

"Tell me, baby sis," I ask her, "do you all know what we're dealing with, here?"

"Females have gone missing from over seven surrounding packs. From every pack except two. Any guesses which packs those may be?"

"So, ClearHowl and LoboGris are under suspicion because we don't let murderers abduct and kill our females?" I ask her.

"Murderers?" Velia whispers."As in more than one?"

"Uncle Gerald didn't tell you that females were being killed," I say flatly. I figured as much, but now I wonder what the LaNu's know and don't know.

"Oh, Goddess," Velia breathed. "How is Bailey?"

I look at my Sleeping Beauty. "She's sleeping off the shit you poured down her throat."

"Sorry," Velia says, sounding guilty. She pauses for a moment, then heaves a sigh. "So, all the LoboGris are making me go home. They are such bullies. This party was the last one before the break. It's ruined. Thanks, Conner."

"Hey, no problem. I'll always try to save you from kidnapping murderers," I tell her sarcastically. "Even when you're a bitch about it."

"You could have taken me with you,"she snaps."What if the kidnappers come here, dumbass?"

I pause, guiltily, but Braxton doesn't mince words. "We're avoiding Georgina," he calls out from the backseat.

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