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He stayed joined with her until the barbs released and he could roll from her without injuring her. “Are you all right?” he asked, drawing her to him.
Snuggling in next to him, she burrowed her face into the side of his neck. “I’m a whole lot better than all right.”
The following morning, they woke and showered together before heading down to join the clowder. Their days began to fall into a familiar and comfortable pattern. While Winter compiled reports, Sean tried to help with the more mundane tasks involved in the running of a large estate. Once the members of her clowder saw he was no threat to their beta, tempers cooled, and he found himself accepted and respected for what he could and did bring to the table.
On the morning of the third day, the instant they opened their bedroom door, they could feel a difference in the air. It was as if the entire estate had been holding its breath and could now breathe again.
“He’s back, isn’t he?” asked Sean.
“I suspect so. I’ll be interested to hear what he learned. Most days we don’t talk business or strategies at the table. So don’t do it unless Colby brings it up. I’m sure he’ll want to meet with us after breakfast.”
Reynolds stood as they approached, extending his hand to Sean and hugging Winter with his other arm. Sean shook his head. How could he have ever been jealous of the two of them? He wondered if in some way Winter hadn’t replaced Reynolds’ beloved little sister. Sean knew she was on the run with a lynx-shifter who had ties to Scotland. He’d see if he couldn’t find out more and then do what he could to help Reynolds reconcile with her. He owed the man a debt he could never repay, but if he could help him, he would.
“Welcome home, Alpha,” said Sean.
Reynolds inclined his head. “I’m glad to see you here. My people tell me you helped shoulder the burden I leave with your mate whenever I am gone. I fear some day in the not-too-distant future, I will not have her here with me.”
“Sean and I haven’t really talked much…”
“Shh, mate. Your alpha has good cause to be concerned. The loss of a close friend and a beta with your talents and skills could be devastating if I didn’t have a plan that I think will serve us both.”
“Intriguing,” said Reynolds. “Any scenario that means I don’t lose Winter altogether is one I’m in favor of.”
“And if the two of you don’t stop talking about me like I’m not in the room, I’m going to thunk the both of your thick heads together,” she snarled. Taking her seat, she pulled at Sean’s hand to make him sit next to her as she looked up at Reynolds. “What did you find?”
“I thought we weren’t going to talk business at the table,” said Sean.
“You two started it.”
Reynolds chuckled. “She has a point. I have to admit the trip was somewhat frustrating. Whoever purchased those snowplows not only went to the trouble to make them look like they were part of Windsong’s fleet, but the purchase order shows me as the purchaser, only with an address out of Snoqualmie. I have no business holdings in Snoqualmie, but the documents looked authentic. Only I knew they weren’t. However, they weren’t as thorough as they might have been.”
“Why do you say that?” asked Sean, genuinely intrigued by how similarly Reynolds and Winter’s minds functioned.
“I took a list of the VIN numbers from the bogus snowplows. They didn’t match those on the purchase and delivery order. I recorded the VIN numbers from the paperwork, and we can start searching for both and any places they might cross over.”
“Why are the snowplows important?” asked Sean.
“Because someone tried to frame Colby, or at least those at Windsong, for an incident a few months back. We think the Shadow League is trying to drive a wedge between Colby and the rest of the town. If they can discredit us, they can discredit the information we have, at the very least.”
“Winter believes there is a more nefarious agenda at work. She just hasn’t figured it out yet, but she will. As it would appear you two are no longer at loggerheads, I am hopeful we might be able to bring you onto our side in the fight that’s coming.”
“That is a done deal. With whomever my mate is allied, so are the snow leopards at Curaidh. I have some heavy arms you might find useful.”
Reynolds nodded. “And drones. I believe you outbid me withLa Grenouille.”
Sean chuckled. “I believe I did, but they are at your disposal, Alpha.”
“This is not good,” said Winter dramatically. “The last thing I need is for you two to become buddies.”
“Too late,” both Sean and Reynolds quipped simultaneously.
Late that afternoon, while he was sitting in Reynolds’ study with the lynx-shifter and Winter, Sean received a phone call. Fishing his cell out of his pocket, he looked at the caller ID to see it was Hamish.
“You’re on speaker. Tell me you’re calling to tell me you’ve convinced Trudy you’re not half the oaf I know you to be and convinced her to join her life to yours.”
“I wish. Last night Curaidh was attacked. We were able to fight them back and very few lived to tell the tale, but they bore no standard. Nothing to identify any of the bodies.”
“Shadow League,” said Winter. “Classic Shadow League. They’re worried you’ll join forces with those of us forming the resistance. To have Curaidh as an ally would be a devastating blow to them. Their best defense against your entry into the fray was to keep you convinced they were just bogeymen.”
