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When I shake my head, she lets out a sigh of relief, and her face softens.
“I’m sorry, dear. That must have been hard. So, what’s the plan? He’s ending things with her, then meeting you here?”
My silence speaks volumes and her face once again morphs into one of exasperation when she realises she’s wide of the mark. “I’m going to kill him.” Angrily rummaging around in her purse, she is triumphant when she fishes her phone from the bottom. I’m surprised the screen doesn’t crack with how tightly she grips it as she taps away, presumably pulling up Ethan’s number.
“No, no, no!” Without thinking, I snatch the phone out of her hand and hold it out of reach. Leah stares at me open mouthed while Marie looks like she’s assessing whether she’d be able to rip my arm off to get it back. She really wants to yell at somebody, and it looks like it might be me. “Please. If you call him now, you could ruin his chances of figuring out who is behind the attacks.”
That has their attention. Marie switches from angry mama to all-business Luna. “Come on. We’ll go somewhere more private and you can tell us exactly what’s going on.”
Without waiting for Leah to finish her coffee, she’s out of the booth and leading the way to the door. With no choice but to follow, I fall into line behind her, stepping into the sunlight just as Bodhi rounds the corner, ready to attach himself like glue to Leah’s side once more.
Marie puts her hand out and I slip her phone back into her palm as she chuckles. “He’s got a brave one here. Let’s work out how to get him home to you.”
“I’ll tell Rex to meet us.” Leah volunteers, but gets a fright when Marie steps into her path, right into her personal space. Hands on hips, she wears a stern expression on her face.
“He and Jonathan have their hands full with Nathan.” She holds a hand up, stopping Leah from asking a question before she even opens her mouth. “Don’t ask. Suffice to say, everyone in the packhouse is stretched thin enough as it is. Let’s have a chat, just us, and see if we can help first.”
Bodhi pauses, keys in hand as he sighs, “Where are we going then?”
“The Bed & Breakfast. There’s lots of space and Belle can stay there as long as she wants, or until Ethan gets his head out of his ass. Whichever comes first.”
21
ETHAN
Cursing, I listen as another call goes straight to Belle’s voicemail.
She turned her phone off, and I know that, given her role in Steel’s pack, if she doesn’t want me to find her, I won’t. I consider calling Zoe to ask if Belle has gone home, but that would open a whole can of worms I’m not ready for. And something tells me Belle would be thinking the same thing - she didn’t go back there.
Instead of hunting down my mate, like my wolf is demanding, I deliver Alpha Anderson’s note to the doctor, who rushes me out the door as soon as he looks at it. My wolf drags me straight to Liv and Will’s house and, like a pathetic pup, I sit on my haunches and stare at her open bedroom window. It’s where the strongest trace of her scent remains, and I briefly consider breaking in so I can lay on the bed, in her scent, but I can’t afford to be wandering around the pack bathed in another she-wolf’s scent.
Remembering how I laughed when Cooper spent weeks sleeping on the hill behind Hayley’s house, I feel stupid. At least his mate was actually inside.
“You can come in if you want.” Will walks slowly around the corner, making his footsteps louder than normal so he doesn’t startle me. He knows I’m not in a good place and will be quick to anger. “I sleep on Liv’s side of the bed whenever she goes out of town,” he admits. “It might help.”
Shifting back into human form, I shake my head. “Thank you, but that would be weird.”
“We’re all a little weird for our mates.”
I don’t react, unwilling to provide confirmation.
He leans back against the wall and observes me carefully. “Did you know I’m one of Lucia’s drivers?”
Shaking my head, I wait to see where he’s going with this, thrown by the abrupt change in topic and that I’m still reeling from his admission that he knows about Belle and I.
“We’ve never met before, because she always insisted on driving herself when she left to meet you.”
I’ve never thought about it before. Everyone in our pack drives themselves, it’s no big deal. Here, though, pack leadership acts like royalty, and the idea that Lucia would do anything for herself does seem out of place.
“The night after Toby drowned, she requested Nick or Vincent, I’m not sure which one went. You’ll have met them, Toby’s heavies.”
I assume these are the two guys who escorted me to dinner the first night I was here. Will picks up a stick from the ground in front of him and takes a knife from his pocket, whittling away as he speaks.
“I try not to think too much about why she doesn’t want a driver with her who has been loyal to her father for the last twenty years.”
Lifting his eyes, he holds my stare for a second, then drops it back to his hands. He’s not a dominant wolf, but he’s clever and observant.
“She’s happy to let me detail the cars, though, and a few days afterward, as I was vacuuming the Jeep used to pick her up that night, I found something. An ID card. It didn’t belong to anyone from this pack. I meant to ask about it, but the tension after Lucia announced Toby’s death was… unpleasant. I didn’t think it was the right time to bother anyone.”
