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Becca eventually dozed off on the kitchen table, her mind massaged by memories she had forbidden long ago. Any thoughts of a threat had hovered in the ether, along with the steam from the boiling kettle.
SEVEN
NOAH
When Noah arrived at Lev’s house, he was surprised to find that the enforcers were already there. He began to wonder if the situation with Dustin was more dire than he anticipated, just as it was when he had initially left with his brother Mitch.
He went inside and met up with Lev and the enforcers, most of whom he knew. There were a few new ones who had joined the clan after he left, and he cordially introduced himself to them before Lev called for the meeting to begin.
“All right, cubs,” Lev said, smirking in front of a map pinned to the wall behind him. “Let’s get things organized before shit starts to get too wild in here.”
Lev was what Noah considered the perfect alpha … he was a natural-born leader with a touch of playfulness, but he knew when to be serious with maturity and mindfulness. He wasn’t old, but he was wise beyond his years. Noah looked up to him, as did everyone else in the clan.
Everyone quieted as they were asked, then Lev began, pointing at spots on the map marked with a bold red X and speaking in a booming, articulate voice.
“So these are the spots where the rogue bear has been spotted. Its scents are still fresh, so I think it would be best if we go out tonight.”
“Tonight?” Chris, a resident grizzly, responded.
Lev nodded, never wavering.
“Dustin has been ruthless and dedicated in the past. I don’t want to let him have any more time ahead of us than he already has.”
Lev’s hand clenched into a fist, and he knocked against the wall a few times, brooding silently. The entire clan hung on his every word, big men and some women scattered over the living room and spilling over the furniture like oversized dolls.
Noah thought Lev looked a bit disturbed, the deep folds in his face taut with thoughtfulness. He knocked one more time against the map, then turned to the clan with his hands on his hips.
That bothered look had vanished, replaced with one of proud dutifulness.
“So, I’m thinking we divide in half. One group can explore the woods where the bear was sighted while the others notify the rest of the clan. I know it’s a bit late, but I don’t want to take any risks that we don’t have to.”
Half of the men and women volunteered to talk to the others of the clan who were likely settled in for the night. The rest would contribute to the search party and would seek out possible hideouts in the woods. Noah shot his hand up for the latter, thinking it would be the act that would earn him the most respect and admiration from Becca.
Though, the idea of her wearing nothing but her pajamas and answering the door with those bouncy breasts, her thighs quivering as his tongue roamed the trail all the way up to her …
“You coming?”
The meeting had been adjourned, and Noah had remained perched on the armchair of one of the loveseats. Lev was giving the enforcers instructions on what to say to the clan in a way to not frighten them but to keep them alert.
Turning to Noah, Lev smirked on one side of his face, that playful look returning. Noah shook his head as if the movement could jostle the vulgar thoughts out of his mind.
“Yep, sorry, Lev,” he said, rising from the loveseat. “Where are we headed first?”
The clan was located at the center of a lush, dense forest. It was a picturesque place with endless emerald seas of trees and rich soil fed by generous rainfall. It was one of the few shifter homesteads that had been saved from deforestation by big corporate bloodhounds, all thanks to shifter lawyers and dedicated human allies.
Scents of heady jasmine and saffron mixed with the natural cedar wood of the seasoned bark. Even in the dark, it somehow glimmered, humming with a cinematic glow from the crescent moon that poured over the trees and animal life like gentle silk.
It made Noah homesick not just for the place itself but for time. Homesick for a time when he and his brother were free. When they were just little cubs prancing about within the same stunning forest, the only care in the world was the intention to make it back home in time for supper.
Then, of course, there was Becca.
Exploring the woods in his bear form along with Lev and three other enforcers reminded him starkly of what he had lost … time, and it was the one thing he could never get back no matter how hard he fought to gain Becca’s trust.
Like water slipping through his fingers.
He tried to mask the sorrow in his heart by focusing on the hunt, capturing the rogue bear’s scent in his snout, and following the path that Lev had mapped out for them to explore. The scent of a crisp citrus luster remained but was fading quickly in the wind. Noah, Lev, and the rest of the enforcers explored until midnight after the moon had moved behind the curtain of clouds.
Lev called off the search until daylight hours when the woods would be easier to investigate. Due to the fact that the forest had remained untouched by human influence, it remained lush, thus difficult to navigate without a light source.
