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A knock came at the front door, and Noah zoomed out of his room, making the sounds of an airplane the entire way to the frosted glass door. I chuckled as he reached for the locked doorknob and gave it a jiggle.
“Daddy, I can’t reach the lock,” he complained.
“I know. And that’s a good thing ’cause we didn’t check the camera yet, did we?” I reminded him. “Remember, we have to see who’s at the door before we open it.”
Noah had started picking up the habit of opening doors without me, whether at home or in the car. I’d been teaching him how to be safe and never open the door for strangers. There was no telling who was out there and what they were planning. The idea of Noah opening the door just to be yanked out of my home was enough to make me want to move to a different country.
I rose from the couch and walked to stand next to him, pointing at the new screen. “Remember what button to press?”
He nodded and pressed a round button emblazoned with an eye. The screen flicked on, revealing my grandfather and about a dozen other shifters standing behind him. I was so relieved to see so much new blood. Our ranks were wearing out, and an infusion of fresh-faced shifters would do so much for our morale.
I unlocked the door and nodded at my son, prompting him to let them in. He opened the door and beamed up at our visitors. “Daddy’s gramps!” he said brightly.
Vic laughed down at Noah, instantly kneeling to pick him up. “You can call me Grampa Vic, all right?”
“Grampa Vic!” Noah repeated.
“Come on in, everyone. You’re all welcome,” I said, stepping aside to let them in.
I could hear a few faster clicks from Marley as she finished ordering the food. After a minute, she came to greet everyone from the Georgia pack. She smiled and hugged Vic first. River, who’d first taught Marley how to hold her own against a shifter, was among those who had come. He made his way over to greet her.
“It’s good as hell to see you, Marley,” he said, opening his arms as she finished her half-hug with my grandfather. “You look like you’re holding up well.”
“Something like that,” she said. “As well as I can with my friends missing.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll find them,” River said firmly.
“Come on and sit down. We’ll get you guys all updated on the state of things,” Marley said. “We only have a few more places to look before we have to consider the possibility they’ve been taken across state lines. Maybe to somewhere that isn’t as stringent about protecting shifters.” She added, “I ordered a bunch of pizza. It should be here soon.”
“Sounds perfect,” Vic said.
We all sat down, and I was grateful I’d invested in better furniture for the lounge. Now, we actually had the room to host a group. Between the sectionals, recliners, and a few seats from the dining table and the breakfast bar, everyone had a place to perch.
I stayed standing, as did Marley. Noah seemed content to play with my grandfather’s hair and crawl all over him like he was a jungle gym. My grandfather, in turn, was happy to act as his entertainment. I enjoyed seeing my son interact with him and watching my grandfather handle him so well. After shooting them a grin, I turned my attention to the entire group.
“We’ve scoured pretty much every surface of the mountains and most of the regions around where the pack members went missing,” I said. “We have a few things with their scent for you guys to check out, along with a packet of maps we’ll hand out to show you what’s been searched and what hasn’t.
“We caught a few trails, and we’re trying to figure out where they lead. One is in the easternmost part of the city, adjacent to the mountains and right along the state border, which is why we’re considering that they’ve been taken out of state. The other trail is by the canneries on the shoreline, about an hour’s run from here.”
“Should we split up?” River asked.
Marley pursed her lips. “We think it’s really unlikely that they’re being kept at the canneries, so Cole and our second are going to scope that out. They’re some of the faster runners in our pack. If it ends up being a dud, they can join you guys at the state border really fast.” She paused. “Actually, let me go print those maps.”
She hurried away, and I leaned against the breakfast counter. “I want to sincerely thank you for coming out here to help my pack,” I said to Vic. “It’s not something I would have ever expected from you, and I’m not taking it for granted.”
“I know you said you and your second were going on your own, but I think you should take a few people with you for backup,” Vic said. “It’s dangerous to go on your own, even if you think you’ll be safe.”
I shook my head. “Respectfully, Gramps, we’ll be fine. We’re fast and vicious. I’d rather have you guys where we need you.”
“Maybe you guys should all go together,” Marley suggested as she returned with a stack of maps. “I don’t think a detour will make or break the search. A few hours won’t make much of a difference at your speed.”
I rubbed my hand over my chin and sighed. “I suppose if we leave a couple of hours earlier, we can have that lost time overlap with the search party that’s already going.”
“Yeah,” Marley said, smiling as she handed the stack of maps to the person nearest her. “Better safe than sorry.”
“Well, if you guys are okay with a longer shift tonight, we can do it that way,” I conceded.
“Sounds good to us,” Vic said. “We’re all pretty well-rested and ready to go.”
