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Since I smell them, they might also smell me, depending on how strong their noses are. I don’t have backup here and everything inside me warns that I shouldn’t track down that scent and ask questions without my pack brothers at my back.
I quickly throw my clothes on and get the fuck out, driving toward my village while calling Joel who answers on the first ring.
“Hey Rye.”
“Joel. Any reason you know of that there’s shifters visiting the area from another pack?”
“No.”
“Gut’s telling me it might have something to do with Grey’s mate. My head’s fucked, so I can’t be sure, but the scent of one… might be related to the scent I caught in that meeting tonight.”
I don’t have an accurate sense of that waitress’s scent, as it was just vague remnants of it. Not to mention how my senses are muddled because of my own mate.
My own mate?
The phrase bounces around in my chest, feeling like a ball covered in spikes.
“Might be?” Joel asks.
“Think so, not a hundred per cent.”
“The way shit’s been goin’ for us lately, me and the others made a decision tonight after you left.”
“What’s that?” I ask.
“We’re in the orange zone for now with one council alpha, one pack alpha or strong beta on surveillance watch here at my place around the clock.”
Joel’s house isn’t far from the village’s four corners; he has our surveillance setup in his basement with a separate entrance so the team can access the room without disturbing him when he’s not on shift.
“Good idea. Who’s downstairs now?’
“Me and Sean.”
“You sendin’ me the schedule?”
“You and Grey aren’t on the schedule.”
“Why?” I demand.
“Riley,” Joel says, and he means you know why.
“Fuck,” I mutter. “I’m headin’ home from town. You call me if you need anything.”
“Will do, bro.”
12
Joel
Ten minutes after I hang up with Riley, I see his truck come up on the screen mounted on the wall in front of me. He idles at the intersection of the four corners. And I know why he sits so long. He’s watching the dark van on the corner with the pop-top tent.
Sean snores in the chair beside me. He’s been at it half an hour, but I’ve left him be. The guy has an infant at home that doesn’t like sleep and loves exercising his lungs. I figure Sean’s offering to do as many nightshifts here as he can knowing he’ll get a chance to catch twenty winks at a time instead of five. I’ll only wake him up if I need to. Partly because we’ve got another set of eyes on the corner as well. Linc’s.
Right now Linc is wolf, hunkered down at the back of the store, low and out of sight. He’s likely using his clothes as a pillow for his chin as he keeps one ear on Riley’s mate. Making sure she’s not going anywhere. He has his phone there, too; if I phone him, he’ll shift so he can answer.
There’s been major traffic at this corner today anyway. After the scene I heard about in Roxy’s this morning, word traveled that Riley’s mate isn’t dead, she’s in town, and a witch who’s been in hiding. There are a lot of people asking questions and unhappy that they’re not getting detailed answers. There are also a lot of busybodies finding reasons to go to the store, drive by or walk past it hoping to catch sight of the mystery woman that broke Riley Savage’s heart.
Rye finally pulls over into the corner of the parking lot and sits idling there for a few more minutes before his truck door opens. I lean forward in my chair, feeling like I’m watching a movie, waiting for the big thing to happen.
I’m sure he’s about to step out and stride to that van, kick the door down, and claim his woman. If he does, Linc will give them privacy.
But the truck door shuts without him first getting out, and a good five minutes go by with no movement from his truck, no lights. And then I mutter a cussword when his headlights go on and he backs out and drives through the intersection. Fast. He’s going home without her.
I lean back with a disappointed shake of my head and then I dial Linc’s number. It takes three rings before he answers.
“Yeah?”
“See that?”
“Yeah. He was warring with himself.”
“Yeah,” I agree. And then I cock my head and frown. “Strange. Feels like I can’t sense him in our pack connection. Something feels… missing. It’s been a little fucked since he found out she’s alive, but it’s… fading or some shit.”
“I agree,” Linc says. “This ain’t good. Witchcraft?”
“Might be but more likely it’s his state of mind. We all know what can happen to an alpha who rejects his mate.”
Nothing good, that’s for sure. He can go feral as a wolf and stay that way. He can lose his ability to shift. He can lose his mind. Riley knows all this, too.
