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“She was roofied, carried out to a car,” Trent stated baldly and Thomas blanched, his mind no doubt thinking the worst based on the few facts we had. “There may have been a woman in the car,” Trent added, motioning to Anna. “Wearing perfume, maybe?”
She nodded. “That’s my impression from the scent signature Dom imprinted. A flowery scent, probably lilac.”
Thomas stilled and my head came up as I realized that meant something to him. It was Monster who said it though in a soft whisper almost lost against my fur, “Mother. She always smelled like flowers.”
The keen ears in the room caught his words though and it was Trent who finally said what we were thinking, “Her mother kidnapped her?”
Thomas shook his head in disbelief, “I don’t see why.” He slumped lower, his gaze unfocused. “Jess is an adult. There’s no reason why she would want to take her.”
Her mother is a breeding female, raised Pack. I informed the others over the Pack bond. She may have reasons he knows nothing about. She’s clearly kept it a secret what she was and what her kids could be.
“Could she have kidnapped her to take her back to her Pack?” Trent theorized.
“I just….I’m sorry, I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that Vivian was Pack or a breeding female,” Thomas denied, yanking on his hair and causing it to stand upright.
“It seems unlikely,” Anna said, glancing at Trent. “Why keep it a secret all these years and then kidnap her and take her to a Pack? She’s part of our Pack.”
Anna’s easy acceptance of Jess as a Pack mate warmed me even as guilt flared once again inside of me. She didn’t know that Jess was not part of the Navarre Pack, not really. She was mine and I’d somehow created my own separate Pack, a fact I’d have to admit to eventually. Trent shot me a look, his thoughts taking a similar track as mine, as Liam crossed his arms stubbornly.
We’re a Pack, I reassured them, even if it hadn’t been exactly my plan.
A soft knock on the door startled us and I raised my nose to sniff, but Monster beat me to it. “It’s Wren,” he whispered, impressing me with his quick accuracy. “She always knocks like that,” he added, putting more of his weight against me as he grew tired. I sat on my hunches so he could lean against me more fully.
“Wren, come in,” Thomas said, opening the door to allow her in. “We were just,” he stopped, not knowing how to describe our conversation, and she nodded in sympathy, understanding how upset we were.
“I hate to interrupt, but I might know something,” she revealed, grabbing all of our attention. “I don’t know if it has anything to do with Jess’ disappearance, but I would hate to not say anything and find out later it did.” She fiddled with something in her hand, a crumpled piece of paper? I guessed, when Trent came striding across the room toward her. He yanked the paper from her hand, smoothing it.
“This was in Jess’ room earlier,” he snarled, his tone accusing as he held it up and I realized it was a photograph. “What are you doing with it?”
She flinched at his aggression, but Trent rarely lost his temper without cause. Monster lifted his head from my side, his wide eyes watching everything. Anna came over, resting her hand on Trent’s arm as she wiggled between the two.
“Maybe you should let her speak,” she mentioned carefully, using her body to push Trent back a few steps. A fact made possible only because he allowed it. Her superior strength was still no match against him.
Wren glanced over at Thomas shamefaced, as she confessed, “I took it from her room.”
Thomas kept his face blank as he asked, “Why?”
Wren sucked in a shaky breath, her nervousness flooding the air, as she fought for the composure to explain. Trent stood poised behind Anna, ready to take action if Wren confessed to anything that would implicate her in Jess’ disappearance.
“I went to speak to Jess earlier, after dinner,” Wren began, her fingers flickering in the direction of the photo still in Trent’s grasp, “I saw the picture on her nightstand.”
“And you took it?” Trent blasted, barely wincing when Anna’s elbow made contact with him.
“Not then,” Wren denied, lifting her chin. “It shocked me.”
Trent gave her a puzzled frown, holding up the photo, but I couldn’t tell who or what was in the picture. “It’s a picture of Jess, Monster, her Dad and her Mom,” he explained, staring at her. “What’s shocking about that?”
Anna’s expression shuttered and I suspected she had an idea of what Wren knew. Anna? I questioned mentally and she gave a tiny shake of her head. Let her say, she implored. I suspect I know what she’s going to say, but I’d rather hear it from her.
