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“They said I could never go home,” Will said. “Were they lying about that too?”
“No, they weren’t lying there,” Benny said. “It’s called the first rule.”
Will nodded. “They told us about that. But my parents must be worried about me. And I worry about them. They’re old, and I’m their only child. What will they do?”
Benny closed his eyes briefly. And this was why this whole situation was so messy. Then he sighed. “When things settle down, you can write them a letter,” he said. “I’ll read it. In fact I will help you write it.” Damned right he would, he thought grimly. “And I’ll have someone keep their eye on them. In turn though, you have to help me figure all of this out. What Diogenes is doing is wrong.”
“He didn’t ask me if I wanted to leave my family,” Will said.
Benny flinched.
“No, he didn’t,” he said steadily. “And that’s wrong.” He considered what other questions he needed to ask.
“Here’s my house,” Duncan said, pointing to a big white house with a large front porch. There was a 6-foot tall wall around the large property. It was hard to tell this time of the year, but Benny thought it probably had a big lawn. In back, nestled against a wooded area, were a series of small cabins.
“Jesus, Duncan,” Benny said. “It’s the size of a hotel!”
Duncan shrugged. “Five bedrooms, three baths. When I was raising Miles and his family, we filled it all — and a couple of the cabins. But I do kind of rattle around in it now. It would be a good place for the women.”
Will looked at it. “It won’t be enough space,” he said doubtfully. “Or are you talking about just Amanda and her friends?”
Benny stilled. The silence in the Jeep seemed so total that even his own breathing was loud. Will was looking at him and then at Duncan anxiously, aware that he’d said something wrong. Benny thought Will might spend a lot of his time wondering what he had said — and done — wrong.
“Are there more women?” Benny asked, keeping his voice calm. “Another house?” Please God, let there be just one more house. Not more.
“Another house,” Will agreed. “Four more women. I was there once. But I liked....” he trailed off. Benny didn’t pursue it. He figured he knew — Will had a crush on one of the women, he probably wove a whole narrative about how they were really boyfriend and girlfriend. And hearing it would just piss Benny off. He was having a hard time keeping control of his temper —and his wolf — as it was.
“There’s another dorm for men too,” Benny said, guessing, but there had been strangers in this mix, and he thought he knew everyone by sight from the door last night.
Will nodded. “By the college. And there’s the cabin in the woods,” he said. “They call it the lodge? There’s lots more men there. They’re training to be soldiers. But I’m not really cut out to be a soldier. So they gave me to Bjorn and said to put me to work here in town.”
The lodge. Benny swallowed his rage.
“Can you show us where the other women live?” he asked gently.
Will nodded, and he pointed back the way they’d come.
Duncan swore under his breath when they arrived at the house Will led them to. “You know this one?” Benny asked.
“The house? No, it’s not on my inventory. But that SUV? It’s one of the packs,” he replied.
Benny frowned. It wasn’t a tan RAV4 like the others. This one was dark green, a larger Ford Expedition. An older model, he thought. “Do you know who usually drives it?”
Duncan glanced at Will, and then met Benny’s eyes in the rearview mirror. Later, he mouthed. Benny nodded. “So someone is here,” Benny said, and that worried him. He pulled out his phone and called Ryder.
“Going to need you, and your guards,” Benny told him. He gave him the address. “We’ve got a second house. Leave those men in Titus’s care, and the women in Doc’s care —and Jessie’s, if she’s OK with staying behind. I checked out Duncan McKenzie’s house — it’s a good place for the women. When Dennis thinks they’re able to go there, we want them there as quickly as possible.”
“Running out of men,” Ryder observed.
“I called Geoff,” Benny replied. “He’s sending up three teams with Michel tomorrow —one for Michel, two for us. We just have to hold out for 24 hours.”
Benny’s ears caught something —so did Duncan’s. A scream, muffled. “Got to go,” Benny said. He shoved his phone back in his pocket. “Will. I want you to get out of the car and lean against the driver’s door as if you’re waiting for someone. You are not to get back inside with Trevor — even if he wakes up and asks. You got that?”
Will nodded and got out of the car. Duncan was already on his way across the street. He handed Benny the key fob. Benny locked the car doors. When he looked back, Will was doing exactly what he’d told him to —arms folded across his chest as if he was impatient.
“Just a big dumb kid,” Duncan muttered.
There was another scream. Not loud enough for neighbors to hear, Benny didn’t think, but for shifters? He looked at Duncan. “Here’s how this goes,” he said rapidly. “You find the women and get them out of there. And you stay out of my way.”
