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He turned back to his men. “Fan out,” he said. “Slow walk, just out sauntering around. Two by two. I’d trust those three to get themselves out of any situation —short of nuclear war —so don’t stir up a panic, you hear me?”
His men nodded, but only four left. “Well?” he demanded.
“Sorry, boss,” one of them said apologetically. “But we’re not leaving you here alone. Could be the point. Lure those three away? We go chasing after them? And....”
Ryder grimaced, but he didn’t argue. He hated to admit it but Ken had a point. He sat down on the cement steps leading up to the porch. He closed his eyes and focused inward. Where’s our mate? he asked his wolf.
Mate, the wolf said. And Ryder knew where to go. He got up, and started down the block, following the bond.
Duncan McKenzie caught up with him. “You should be able to find any one of them,” he said conversationally.
“I’m following my mate bond,” Ryder said tersely. His head hurt from the focus. If they’d just decided that the coffee was better down the block, he was going to strangle someone.
“Don’t you have a family link with your brother? Pack bond with Titus?” Duncan asked.
He shook his head. “The family link never formed. Benny was grown and gone when I was born —and he’d already been declared a lone wolf. I might be able to find Titus, but I doubt it. I couldn’t find him when we came through here. Pack for me was always a warm blanket. It didn’t really have distinct bonds, not even with my father, really. But the mate bond? I followed it yesterday.”
“How long have you been mates?” Duncan asked, puzzled.
“Sealed it....,” he had to stop and figure it out. “Barely 24 hours ago?”
“Shit,” Duncan muttered. “OK, so focus on the bond. Let your wolf surge forward. What do you keep thinking about?”
“Better coffee?” Ryder said perplexed. “Jessie’s a city girl. I don’t think she was impressed with the breakfast coffee.”
Duncan chuckled. “Good luck getting that fixed. Dennis has been trying for years.” He considered that, then shrugged. “Then, let’s go find better coffee.” Duncan picked up the pace. He led them down three blocks toward the center of town and made a left onto Main Street. Ryder’s wolf assured him they were going in the right direction. Were they really going to find them at a coffee shop?
Apparently. He saw the trademark red sign for Tim Hortons splayed across the front of a khaki stucco’d building, set into a small strip mall. Ryder paused and took deep breaths.Did you really desert me and go get coffee?he asked.
Wait outside, Ryder. We’ve got a problem.
He stopped. “She says to wait outside. There’s a problem?” He looked at the men with him and grimaced. None of them looked non-threatening. Big men, wearing black leathers? Right. He looked down at himself. He was no better. He glanced at the two McKenzies. Did he trust them enough to send them inside? And if there was a problem, were they the right people to send in anyway? He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Trust your mate, he told himself. Although they would have words about her going off like this. She could have told him!
It was Titus who came out a few minutes later. He looked around, spotted them, and walked over shaking his head. “Not like you’re conspicuous or anything,” he said dryly.
“You all disappeared!” Ryder said furiously. “Conspicuous? I....” He shook his head and started walking down Main Street toward the lake. Well that was a given. There was a lake at both ends of town. Titus fell into step beside him. “While we were outside, a woman came up that Jessie knew,” Titus said quietly. “A woman from Vancouver.”
“Shifter?” Ryder asked, trying to contain his fear enough to listen.
Titus nodded. “She was brave enough to break free of the house she was held in and come out looking for news. Miles brought her to the Social Club, but then he had to get back to work. She’s scared to death, boy.”
“Broke free from where?” Ryder said grimly.
“She’s afraid. Says she’s willing to risk her life, but she doesn’t know if she has the right to risk theirs,” Titus said. “She’s about to bolt. But she recognized Jessie. And Benny’s sweettalking her around.”
“Titus?” Ryder said gently, turning back toward Hortons. “Get to the point.”
“When Hansen came out here, he didn’t come alone,” Titus said. “Somewhere around the lake, there’s another residence. Not his apparently, because Benny would have felt them Sunday night. Three more women —a brothel for all the recruits, apparently.”
“Fuck.” Ryder considered it. He glanced back at the two McKenzies. “Do you think they know about it? I’d swear they haven’t been lying to us.”
“I don’t think they do,” Titus said. “The Alpha did, apparently. He visited them.”
Ryder blew out air between his lips and realized it was getting colder. He could see his breath. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s see if I can reassure her.”
Titus looked at him skeptically. Ryder gave him a wry smile. “I’m the new Alpha, right? Who better to have on her side?”
Titus nodded, and the two men walked back toward the coffee shop. “Wait out here,” Ryder ordered. His men started to protest. “Stuff it. If Titus, Jessie and for God’s sake, Benny, can’t bust me out of a Tim Hortons, we’re truly fucked.”
