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“No joke,” Zachary confirmed. “Our wolf on the ground hasn’t let us down. Says she’s staying at the Golden Acorn.”
“As you do.” Atlas nodded. “So, do we think she’s a threat? Like a scout from a rival pack? Because we’ve had trojans before.”
“I don’t think so.” Zachary shook his head. “From what I was told, it seemed like she didn’t even sense the lookout. She’s a shifter, but her senses are dulled.” The room grew quiet. Colt and Atlas exchanged smoldering looks with the floor.
“A lone wolf in Forest Crest,” Cole said aloud.
Zachary nodded noncommittally.
“The scent was recent?” Atlas needed confirmation.
“Yes,” Zachary nodded once more. “Our source said she just found a room, two thirteen I believe, and is staying there now. She hasn’t gone out for much. Might have grabbed something from the office…”
“So, we need to go fast is what you’re saying,” Atlas clarified.
“Mmhmm.”
“Good,” Atlas said. “We’ll meet you downstairs if you want to take the scouting position, Zachary.”
Zachary nodded, leaving the office and blazing through an empty hallway whose fluorescent lights flickered.
“Well, I guess that puts one matter to bed, potentially,” Colt said, grabbing his orange bomber jacket from the back of the chair. He was wearing a simple gray tee, but it hugged his lean figure, accentuating his chiseled abdomen. He looked back with his piercing blue eyes.
“What’s that?” Atlas wondered.
“Recruitment and outreach,” Colt answered. They spoke as they walked through the empty hallways of the office building.
Many knew that the Gravecrest pack inhabited the town of Forest Crest. Atlas wasn’t naive to that fact, but concealing the pack was still critical. They didn’t want to draw unwanted attention to themselves.
“Look. We still don’t know what this wolf is doing here,” Atlas said, pushing open an elevator that didn’t appear to be functioning but apparently was. “I know you’re upset over what’s-her-face…”
“You know damn well her name is Lauren.”
“I do, but I hoped you’d have forgotten it by now.”
“Right.”
“But I wouldn’t get my hopes up is all I’m saying.” Atlas pushed one of the three functional buttons on the elevator. “We still don’t know why this girl is here. Most likely she’s not here to join our pack. It might be an ordinary woman, and our wolves on the ground are just hitting the monkshood again.”
The elevator door opened to an equally barren first floor with a decrepit front counter that had fallen out of use, a water fountain that hadn’t flowed in years, and several out-of-date tour brochures on magazine stands.
Secrecy was crucial to the pack. Forest Crest belonged to the Gravecrest pack, so there was no risk of this building ever being condemned. Atlas looked both ways outside the tinted double doors, careful not to arouse suspicion. When he saw nobody coming, he gestured to Colt.
Zachary waited outside, sipping from a cup of coffee while leaning casually up against his brightly colored luxury vehicle. Atlas had always emphasized that Zachary needed to blend in and had told him to purchase a station wagon or some kind of junk car since nobody in this town had money to speak of.
Zachary insisted that if he was going to patrol and run security, he was going to do it in style. Even though Atlas called the shots, he knew Zachary was very good at what he did, and compromises were sometimes necessary. Annoying but necessary.
Atlas and Colt squeezed into the vehicle, careful not to splash themselves in the roaring current that flowed across the curbs and into the storm drain.
Zachary crawled into the driver’s seat, and they set off.
Atlas hated being chauffeured but had made his peace with the need. When Zachary had something to show him, he allowed him to take on a leadership role, however brief. To thrive, it was important to delegate.
He looked out at the passing town as they drove, admiring an elderly couple sitting outside the Cove Next Door, the local bar. Part of him genuinely wanted that—to be loved like that into old age.
He used to pity these people, who didn’t know wealth, and who struggled to pay for even basic needs like medical care or plumbing. He used to wish he could channel some of his funds toward enlivening the town and giving back to the poverty-stricken. But he knew that extravagant spending of wealth was the opposite of “covert,” and they needed to stay hidden to stay safe.
He also realized there might have been beauty in that simplicity—in not having to worry about rival packs or the curious and violent types of humans he’d always been warned about growing up.
