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As far as I knew, none of my foster families had been shifters or even remotely associated with anything outside of mundane human existence. Consequently, I didn’t shift much at all, and my wolf wasn’t let out to play; top that with the fact I had been shot with a silver bullet when I was ten, and it was kind of amazing she survived at all. Wolves were pack animals. I’d read that dogs sometimes perished of loneliness when they lost their pack, and as a young teenager, I sometimes felt like the same thing was happening to my wolf.
My parents and best friend, everyone I loved and cared about, all ripped away in one night. We had no answers, and the foster care system wasn’t a replacement in any sense of the word. I hid her away, so badly wanting to beacceptedby any of these families — I’d gotten so good at it that most times I couldn’t feel her at all. A week or two or more could pass before she’d stir again.
It took a lot of effort to draw her back to the surface; even when I came across other wolves on cases or as a client, she usually stayed in the background. She was so weak that I wondered if the other shifters could sense me in return. If they could, they rarely commented, clearly seeing me as no threat — I was fine with that. I’d rather be underestimated and surprise them.
But now? She’d woken up for a wolf — and analphawolf, no less. The only thing I could be grateful for was that this Eli Archer fellow wasn’t the alpha of anything — not yet, anyway — and I was still in disbelief she cared at all. Even now, she was still near the surface, rumbling quietly even though the man had stalked off to harass someone else. My wolf gave a near-silent whine.
What? No. Absolutely not. We are not interested.
Dating… in my line of work?Yeah, right.Even if I was interested in dating — and I definitely wasn’t, I tried that once when I was twenty and again when I was twenty-two and realized within weeks what a terrible idea that was when I was always on the road — there was no way I wanted to date analpha. I barely wanted to spend time around other wolves. I felt awkward and out of place with them — an alpha was even worse. I could barely remember what mine was like, but he was an older man, more like a grandfatherly figure than anything else.
Nothing like the surly man with eyes the color of a stormy ocean.
Ugh! Iris!
This was clearly my wolf’s influence. She gave another soft whimper, not understanding why we weren’t trying to go back and chat with this man. I understood, in theory, that I shouldwantto be with other wolves. We were social animals. There was even that whole ‘fated mate’ mumbo jumbo, but just like Disney movies, that was a fairy tale. Good for little girls who couldn’t fall asleep, but problematic when you started devoting your whole adult life to it.
Once I had a client who wanted to hire me to help find her fated mate. She’d been looking since she’d turned eighteen and, ten years later, she hadn’t found ‘The One.’ I was rarely in the position to decline work, but that? She could be looking for another five decades. There was a whole world full of shifters, and I didn’t have connections outside of the United States. More importantly, the only guys I’ve dated were human, so — my expertise in that region was less than none.
Needless to say, that was one of the few cases I actually declined.
I glanced over my shoulder, compelled by my wolf, but I could see the dark-haired alpha was already chatting up some other woman. I wrinkled my nose.See?I tried to convince my wolf.We don’t need the likes of him. I didn’t need a man, a family, or even a home. My car and my job were all I needed.
My wolf gave one last sigh, already retreating. I felt a bit sad that she seemed so disappointed — maybe I shouldn’t have been so cold towards Eli, but he was just a standard alpha or something. I forced myself to take a deep breath.You can’t be so dismissive of everyone just because you don’t want to be here,I reminded myself.You have work to do, and people don’t like to talk if you’re not being friendly.
At least he hadn’t been one of the alphas associated with the wolves I was trying to track down — it was a good reminder, though, to get myself together. While I couldn’t trust any of them, I still needed them if I wanted to get any further. It seemed the police weren’t going to be helpful, and I couldn’t let this go cold. I was better than that, and if someone was actuallytargetingshifters like I was beginning to fear…
I couldn’t risk letting my personal feelings get in the way.
I retreatedto one of the outer tables, a drink still in my hand, and tried to urge my wolf back to the surface. Once Eli had left, she’d sunk back into my depths — I wasn’t sure if she was sulking or simply tired from the sheer volume of wolves surrounding us. Even when we’d been in a pack, it was small. I could recognize that even as a girl; there were only two others my age, and I think we numbered twenty in total.
I couldn’t entirely remember now — and that made my heart seize in my chest.
Focus, Iris. The party is winding down — we can’t afford to waste time.While some of these pack alphas and their pack members might hang around for a few days — especially if any connections were made — the same wasn’t true of all of them. Some pack alphas had things to attend to at home; for the most part, they weren’t looking for mates.
I scanned the crowd again, trying to hide the purse on my lips with my glass. I’d managed to get information on six of the missing wolves — and confirm the majority I wasn’t entirely sure about — but each person I’d spoken to had put me on edge. Even though I didn’t have hard evidence, the conclusion I’d come to a few days ago wouldn’t leave me alone.
What if the predator is among us?
I hadn’t run into a shifter preying on other shifters before… but that didn’t mean it didn’t happen. It just meant no one had been caught yet. Any one of these people could potentially be the traitor, and asking the wrong question would tip my hand and expose me. I hated doing this with so little background information; usually, I’d do significantly more research before interviewing relevant people. Unfortunately, the Moonmate ceremony had been planned for months, if not longer, and what was I going to do? Call this Remus Silverstreak guy and ask if he’d mind pushing the ceremony back a week or two because it wasn’t convenient for me?
The imaginary conversation made me roll my eyes. Even I realized how foolish that sounded; how often did I go out of my way to do something for a complete stranger that had no benefit for me at all? And I never had anything planned out this far in advance.
At least I had gotten here in time for the party, though. If Demi had called me even a few days later, I might not have been able to make the connections I had, and that was no small thing.
Taking one last drink, I forced myself to abandon the safety of my table and rejoin the crowd — maybe I’d have better luck with some of the women. I was tired of trying to flirt with these men, anyway.
It didn’t take long for another woman to join me, looking a little more haggard than I felt. “Long night?” I asked, lifting my empty glass.
She gave a tired laugh, tucking a strand of glossy black hair behind her ear. “Like you wouldn’t believe,” she replied. I could believe it — she looked like she’d stepped straight off a Bollywood set and right into this party. “What I wouldn’t give for some peace and quiet right now.”
I couldn’t help but smile, put at ease by the like-minded shifter. “You’re at the wrong place for peace and quiet.”
“I know,” she sighed, glancing around. “But I promised my younger cousin I would come with her. I don’t know why she needed me, really.” She nodded to another woman in the crowd, currently talking to three men. “Our alpha is here, too.” She paused, flushing a bit before she offered her free hand. “Where are my manners? My name is Mitali. Mitali Blazepaw.”
I took her hand and shook, brightening a bit at her name. “Oh! Are you related to Seff Blazepaw?” I asked. “My name is Iris Walker, by the way.”
She smiled a little more. “Yes. He’s my cousin — the other side of the family.” She laughed softly and shook her head. “He’s good friends with the host; my cousin, Aponi, didn’t need me tonight. I think at least seven of our other packmates are here.” She sighed.
