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“I’m sorry,” Zachary was quick to apologize. “They insisted on coming. There was no stopping them.”
Atlas moved from his seat at his desk and then looked at the crowd from the doorway beside Cole, towering over them.
“Were they spotted?” Atlas asked Zachary coldly.
“They entered the building one at a time, like policy states,” Zachary tipped his head in acquiescence.
Atlas grunted. “Good.”
Zachary and Lauren looked to Atlas, insisting on a response. The crowd behind them was quiet, but tension was building. Their minds were working, preparing questions or grievances.
“We’ve heard of the tracker, and we’re looking into it,” Atlas addressed the crowd.
“Are they here because of the new girl?” a stern voice from the crowd spoke up. Colt could have imagined it, but he swore he saw Lauren’s lips curl into a sneer.
“We don’t know yet,” Atlas said. “We are going into town to investigate. As soon as we know anything, we will tell you.”
“They’re concerned, Atlas,” Zachary murmured to the alpha. “Can you say anything to ease their minds?”
“What I can do, Zachary,” Atlas countered. “Is exactly what I’m telling you I’m going to do. Do you want me to ease their minds or yours?”
Zachary grew silent at this suggestion. Colt could read the uneasiness in him. Zachary never wanted to openly contest anything Atlas did, but he also had to manage the discontentment where Atlas failed.
“Here’s what we will do,” Atlas went back to addressing the full crowd. “We will head down to the town and see why these outsiders are here. If we find out, in two hours, we’ll come back and inform you.”
Atlas looked back to Zachary. “If pack members want, they can stay up here while they wait, for their own safety and peace of mind. I’m counting on you to keep everybody safe in the meantime.”
Zachary nodded. Atlas said it louder for the pack. As Atlas and Colt shuffled through the crowd, Colt heard Lauren mutter some things under her breath about Harlow, and Colt’s fists clenched involuntarily.
“What do you think that was about?” Atlas questioned as they moved to the elevator.
“We knew this would happen.” Colt sighed. “Girl from another pack shows up. There’s going to be some people upset about it.”
“No, not that,” Atlas shook his head. “Of all the pack members, I wouldn’t think Lauren would lead a mob into the office. She isn’t really the ‘take charge’ type, and I think she knows that.”
“Good that you clarified that, considering they can probably still hear us,” Colt added. They left the elevator, wedged the doors closed, and then proceeded quietly out the front door of the building, one at a time, before climbing into Atlas’s vehicle.
As Atlas drove, Colt thought. What would motivate Lauren to take charge? Why had she become so brash and disagreeable? Colt and Lauren had broken up what felt like an eternity ago, and with the months after the breakup, any lingering hostility faded into indifference. Colt had a position of authority in the pack under Atlas, and he had always gotten the feeling that Lauren never cared or respected his position.
After an hour of driving through town, monitoring businesses and residential driveways, Colt and Atlas had nearly given up. The bittersweet message was that maybe the hunters had moved on, but at least they wouldn’t trouble the Forest Crest community. Colt felt relief that whoever reported the strangers had been mistaken, but also dread that they might be somewhere among them, waiting.
It crept up on them like an omen. They spotted the vehicle at the convenience store on the edge of town, near the Golden Acorn. It was a dark green SUV with a California license plate, stained by mud, paint chipping near the wheels. The vehicle had suffered from neglect, its exhaust pipe loosely hanging from its frame and its windshield cracks leaving it barely functional.
Colt crept up to the convenience store window, looking beyond cigarette ads and egg sandwich promotional posters. Four stout hunters, who made no attempts to conceal their weapons, piled as many roller grill items, drinks, chips, and candy items into their arms as they were capable of carrying.
A small, dark-haired, bearded man waited at the counter, stuck in a perpetual hunch. From appearances, he seemed to be flirting with the part-time clerk, who remained chipper despite his advances.
As Colt recognized the scent of a fellow shifter, the man at the counter turned his eyes to the window. Colt moved quickly away, hoping he hadn’t been spotted. “It’s them,” he said, moving into the passenger seat of the car.
Colt and Atlas parked at the Golden Acorn, within sight of the convenience store. Here they camped out, watching the gas station pumps and the dilapidated SUV.
Frustratingly, or perhaps relievedly, Colt and Atlas could see no ill intent from the interactions of the five at the convenience store. While they seemed disreputable and untrustworthy on the basis of body language and conduct alone, their only apparent goals were to buy food and fuel up their car.
Atlas and Colt returned to the offices, reaching the top floor thirty minutes earlier than anticipated. Zachary had broken out several board games to entertain the crowd, brought here from the lodge. They were huddled together into cubicles, playing Monopoly and Charades. Lauren stood outside Atlas’s office, her arms folded.
“We found them,” Atlas said. “They seem to be just stopping by, but we’ll be monitoring the situation as it develops. You can all return home in peace.”
The crowd filed out as noisily as they had entered, Lauren being the last to leave.
