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“What the heck are you doing?”
“Nothing.” He snapped the laptop shut.
That nothing was a very cleareverything, but I don’t want you to know about it, and I’m not going to tell you.What wasn’t so clear was whether it was his business or hers. If it was his, then she’d leave it alone, but she had that instinctual churning in her stomach that told her it was something to do with her.
“You’re looking for him, aren’t you?”
“Who?”
“The guy. The guy from the woods.”
Clay blinked. “No. Of course not.”
“Then why do you look guilty?”
“I was thinking about making this online dating profile, okay?”
“What?” That was straight up bullshit. She knew when her brother was lying to her, and he was doing it now. “No. You aren’t. You wouldn’t.”
“Emma is old enough now. Glendy’s moved on. Why not find someone?”
“Outside of our clan?”
“You did.”
“He’s a shifter too.”
Clay shrugged.
“Mom sent me to get you because she’s trying to match you up with Lyric.” She watched her brother tense further, and this time, it was all about her parents’ endless meddling. They might mean well, but Clay wasn’t interested. He wasn’t interested in dating anyone, as far as she knew. Especially not another human woman he’d possibly fall in love with and have to leave the clan for. A sudden gust of emotion swirled around the kitchen. Bitterness, like regret. She knew it still bothered Clay, what happened with Glendy. Whenever he talked about her, he sounded so sad. He just seemed so disappointed in himself. Maybe even guilty that their marriage had failed. He took responsibility for things like that. Clay was more sensitive than anyone would guess. “If you don’t want to, Clay, just let her down easy. Let them all down easy. She’s my friend. She was my best friend before, and she’s a great person. She’s so kind.”
Clay bristled. He pushed up from the chair. “I would never hurt her.”
Taylee studied the laptop. He would never leave her with it unattended. “So if I were to happen to check your search history just now, I wouldn’t find out that you were trying to get involved with a man who is no doubt dangerous?”
“It’s been more than a few days. The deadline has way the hell come and gone. It’s been almost two weeks, Taylee. Our alphas weren’t interested in giving him money. We’re all keeping watch, not just on clan land, but on you and your family. We’re all wary. The sooner we find this guy, the better.”
“Clay!” She’d known it days ago, when he started acting cagey. She should have known it wasn’t just the deadline that was bothering him. It wasn’t just that his daughter was under threat, like the rest of them were. They were all waiting to see what would happen.
Clay paced the kitchen, but she sat down. She watched every single move he made, feeling as agitated as he was now. “What have you found out?”
“Nothing.”
“Clay.”
“Not really.”
She sighed. “Is Jem involved?”
He wasn’t going to commit to that one way or the other. “Sam’s guy hasn’t found anything. No one has found anything. We’re just hoping he was bluffing about leaking that video. The fact that we haven’t heard anything yet says that he hasn’t done it, or he tried and no one took him seriously. Old cell footage? He hasn’t found a receptive audience yet. But when he does… No, not when. There isn’t a when. He won’t get that far. Jem and I think he’s in Seattle. We want to go one night and try to hunt him down ourselves.”
“Jesus, Clay!” She hadn’t realized it had gone so far with him. “If anyone should be doing the hunting, it’s Kier and me. Maybe Tavish too, because they’ve been guards together for so long and they work as a team.”
“No. Not you. Never you. You have two kids.”
“And you have a daughter, and it doesn’t matter that Jem doesn’t have any kids yet, he’s just as dear to all of us and all of us would miss him if something ever happened. Did you ever think that it’s a trap? That this guy wants us to come out and come to the city, where we’re unprotected?”
“Yes.” Clay nodded. He grasped the edge of the counter, his knuckles going white. “We both think it’s likely that he’s set some kind of trap. A physical one would be the most beneficial to him. If he could cage one of us, then he could physically prove, through tests, that we are something else. He could force a shift. If someone saw it in real time, they’d absolutely take notice. The whole world would change,” he paused. “How could you get involved with someone like him, Tay?”
