Bart and Paul left there through the back way and headed down through the alley to the clinic. This was easy for them to walk it. They could dodge around the dumpsters and overgrown bushes that vehicles couldn’t. “This is where Grace interrupted my tracking.” “Is she really your mate?” “If I was a cat, she would be catnip.” “Okay, enough said. Forget I asked. That’s an image I don’t want to see.” Paul waved Bart off from further discussing this subject, and got back into searching for the scent. “When you find the scent, you’ll know. It’s a chemical trail that vaguely smells like lemons or citrus. I think it’s a cologne or shampoo they’re wearing, but there’s nothing natural about it.” “Oh, geez. I got it. It smells like that old spray furniture polish, but a knock down cheap version made in a lab.” Paul’s voice trailed off and he looked at Bart for confirmation. “How did I miss that connection?” Bart pulled out h
Bart returned to the motel where he left Grace to her own means after he got off work. She was oddly unhappy about that. But she told Bart she wanted to take the information she now knew and do a little research. Grace thought she might have something, but it was in her notes. She’d also warned Bart that her investigative instincts told her that his new workplace was having issues, and he needed to watch what he said or did. Little did Grace know that was something Bart always needed to do. Edit what and how he said things, make sure he could explain how he figured out something that wouldn’t raise suspicion. That was the life of a shifter who worked with humans. You couldn’t actually tell them you were following a scent trail. Humans didn’t do things like that. But no matter how much he wanted to explain that to her now, it was far too early. If he could tell her at all. He let that go, claiming he wanted to go home, do a few things and change. Which was su
Rob woke to a strange cellphone ringing and cracked an eye open to see Becky struggling to answer it. “Yeah, hello, Mr. Kyle. Gertie’s acting restless and her flanks are soft. Yes, that is a good sign if she were a couple of weeks later in her pregnancy, but it’s not a bad sign. Yes, yes, I’ll be there as soon as I can get the vet mobile going. You just keep Gertie as comfortable as you can, and don’t let her sense your unease. Or she’ll panic and we can’t have that.” Becky disconnected the call and looked. “I’m sorry. We’ve only slept a few hours. I need to check in on the cow. This is probably her last calf and Mr. Kyle is counting on the money from the calf's sales to stay afloat. He’ll have to replace her before the next breeding season.” “Well, that’s tough. Does he really need to keep his anxiety hidden from the cow?” “You’d be surprised how responsive animals are to emotion, but no. She’s an old pro at this, it’s more for Mr. Kyle’s benefit I
Bart could spend some quality time with Grace that evening and still got enough sleep before work. The next morning, they could come in late because of the fire investigation and the break-in. The bull pen was jumping today, and Grace was sitting in his office looking angry. “Morning. What brings you here?” “You know how I want to talk to a few of the families of the missing?” “Yeah, have any of them contacted you?” “Now that I think about it. No, and that is odd. Normally, in something like this family is out trying to lead the charge. What did you find out?” “Well, it’s taken a week to get any of them to return my calls. I ended up on the doorstep of one in sheer desperation of speaking to someone. Bart, someone paid for their silence with money and who knows what threats.” “That’s crazy, and it makes it a matter for me to investigate, not yours. This proved my point last night that this is far too dangerous for you. Who
Becky couldn’t believe how casually Rob spoke of this. He knew, and she felt like he’d let things go so that she’d play right into his hands. He’d all but planned for her to seduce him and set herself up. The truck barely pulled out a stop in a parking space. Miracle after miracle, a decent parking space. Becky grabbed the med kit bag and tore out of the truck. She was storming through the clinic door by the time Rob shut the engine off and followed her. “Hey, Beck... Uh... What hurricane level is this blow out and am I the cause?” Jane Ann asked from behind the front desk. She knew Becky by now and what she looked like when her temper actually found a crack to escape from. “I’ll be in my office, and I don’t want to see Rob.” She stormed through and slammed her office door, all before Rob could follow her into the clinic. “Hey, Rob. I’d let her calm down a bit. This isn’t a good time. I’m not sure what you said to her, but she’s not in a po
Grace couldn’t get a moment to herself to think about today. She’d slipped out of the police station while Bart was dealing with his own nightmare of a boss. That, too, was a story she’d love to tackle. There was something weird about what he permitted to be done and what he didn’t. Grace hadn’t figured out what he was trying to do. If he was padding numbers or letting certain people get away with crimes and not others. It was a problem in many of the small towns. But as long as it didn’t go too far, no one blinked an eye. Now, though, Grace was looking at this small town through a microscope and little things would pop up. No trails to follow or signs spelling out exactly what was going on. But it was enough to keep her here. That and this Hectric situation. That would go a long way if she could offer them up to the correct media and law enforcement agencies. She was coming to terms with the idea that Charlie was small potatoes, and her story was too big fo
Grace couldn’t find a connection to the last two to go missing to working for any of the subsidiaries of Hectric. So, when she got to the police station, she was glad to hear the news that they found them and were in hospital, but they’d be fine. One was injured, and the other stayed with them as they waited for help. The phone they took with them malfunctioned, and they couldn’t call for help. The rangers’ dogs did their work and found them within a few days. They needed a miracle, and they got it. There was an article about their job. Showcase their talent and their track record. What made them different from the groups that existed around the country and the world? That would be an interesting article to research, if she didn’t have to worry about eating, or a roof over her head. “I’m glad they found them. Now, if only we could find something on these others that are missing.” Grace sat in Bart’s office speaking with him as he finished up for the day.
Becky couldn’t believe this was happening in her clinic. She couldn’t deal with it. This wasn’t her problem. Why did she have to deal with any of it? She’d still not come to terms with the idea that she’d messed up her life by having sex with someone who wasn’t fully human. What was she thinking about that? If she got pregnant, it would be nothing but trouble. How could she protect herself and a baby? Now, there were people in her waiting room protesting and threatening her against becoming Rob’s mate. They’d just met a few days ago. This was all too fast for her.“Jane Ann, I can’t. Make them stop, please. This is all too much. I never asked for any of this. Who do these people are to threaten and bully me? What did I ever do to them?” Jane Ann watched the door close behind Becky as she leaned against it and melted down into quiet sobs.They could hear the confrontation happening in the waiting room through the door. Rob handled the heated situation with authority. If Becky wasn’t so
Becky stopped in at the new broadcasting centre in town to have lunch with Grace. Jane Ann was back in the pack, claiming she couldn’t get away because her twins didn’t let them sleep last night. She’d had two males in offspring. Becky still thought it was odd to say that, but they could be lynx, wolf, or human. It was anyone’s guess right now. No one would know for another seven to ten years. Grace sadly lost a pregnancy. The healers claimed it was because she was doing too much, and the stress was too much for her. They would continue trying to have pups once Grace’s schedule settled down and became more manageable. Becky and Rob were still trying after a few false positives. But today was the day they’d first gathered as the mate’s self-help group and explained everything to Grace. How did the pack take the news that their Beta’s mate wasn’t human but a lynx shifter? It was mixed, but nothing like the reaction of the elders who were remo
3 Months later- First Lycan Pack The seer entered the new territory and felt the rush of the past and present mingling there. Sadly, she may feel it. She wasn’t strong enough to see it. Thankfully, she couldn’t see it either. The headache she received to some time to get rid of. The land had a lot of traumas associated with it; the druids did their job and tried to wash it away. The issue was that only a god or time could purify a land fully, and no one had time like that to wait. She settled into the seat the pack provided for her as she waited for the time she’d be needed. Many spoke carefully with her, and it was all quite sombre and different from the last one she’d presided over. Someone pushed her right shoulder forward and when she looked behind her, there was no one there. Well, no one with a physical body. She’d told no one that she had a physical connection to the dream realm. She’d encountered no one with this curse? Ability? Whatever people
“Jon, wait. Uh, we need to talk. I want to know when we’re breaking the news to everyone. I mean, what’s one more scandal? One more controversial mating fact? I hate sitting here lying to everyone.” Jane Ann held onto Jon’s forearm and looking into his eyes. Her guilt and frustration were written all over her face. Only Jon knew their family’s secret, the reason they were one of the few families that kept the pack’s secrets over the years. Only the alpha’s knew about them, except no one told Rob directly and since Rob didn’t correct anyone about assuming Jane Ann’s species, she’d struggled with telling him. Jon though kept begging her not to say anything to him, because it was all too much at the time. Her big secret? Her mother and she were lynx shifters. One of the few shifters that didn’t have a pack or community. They lived usually in family groupings only. Jane Ann’s father followed her momma here and kept her secret and that of the pack this entire tim
Becky couldn’t believe how quickly the pack pulled off the preparations for the mating ceremonies. Two for the price of one. It seemed this was offending the case where there would be a spree of matings at the same time. She’d been given several reasons for this, but it all came down to people finding the one that fate made perfect for them. The wolf shifters don’t believe that people complete each other. Rather that they complement each other. No one is lesser in a pairing. Where one goes, the other will surely follow. The drive for family and community or pack was a driving force for the wolf shifters Becky was somehow now intertwined with. Rogues were an exception to the rule she found out, and it often harmed them mentally and eventually they would see physically it. That’s why the Ruling Council and Rob were so keen on convincing the young rogues and their pups to settle for the pack life. They didn’t show the signed of the mental of physical decay yet;
Everyone in the First Lycan Pack territory was trying their best to adjust to the changes. Even Bart found he had difficulty adjusting to the new routines. Half his problem, he found, was that he needed to write the routines so he could refer to them again and again. The week went by far too fast. Bart learned quickly that the rules and routines he introduced were a strong suggestion. Those rules and routines right now needed to be written in wet cement rather than be set in stone. Grace’s day was insanely busy with her forced to travel between the packs for her job with the Ruling Council. Once the rest of the pack was here, they’d find people to train for the jobs she’d need help with, and then they’d move everything over to their territory. Rob right now was being nice to them and more than generous to let them use the space they were using. Today, the plan to bring the rest of the pack here was in full swing. There was an excitement in
The seer sat last, and she smiled nervously between her guests. “Now, let me guess. You’re here because you want your lives to go on as the Moon Goddess planned them, but you’re encountering obstacles. Am I right?” She looked expectantly at Rob and Becky as if they had the answer she sought. They looked among themselves to see who would be the first to say anything, but the seer carried on as if there wasn’t an awkward silence. Her friendly voice prattled on as she tried to entertain her guests. “Don’t worry, it wasn’t anything mystical or magical that gave me that information. My phone and messages have been lighting up like a Christmas tree mid season with calls from many people who are angry one way or the other. Heck, one elder called me to find out if I, a seer, could put a curse on you, like I was a mage, druid, or witch. When I told him I couldn’t and wouldn’t he threatened to harm me. You really must get those old wolves under control, Alpha Northgate.”
The next day, Rob took his brother and their mates to see the local seer. She wouldn’t accept membership within his pack, but she didn’t have to. All she needed to do was provide guidance when some came looking for it. They well paid the seer for that. They hoped she wouldn’t respond like the Council of Elders had. If she did, they’d have to delay the mating ceremony until he would repopulate the Council of Elders with a better representation of the pack. This wasn’t something Rod discussed with anyone else. It was a silent worry that nagged on his mind as they travelled the distance to get to the Seer’s small home, which she’d built in a quiet corner of the county district. “How are we going to approach this one? A little more information would go down more nicely this time, because what you did yesterday, Rob, was a shocking revelation, and it doesn’t look good when the people backing you up have to pick up their jaws off the floor. We should k
“Okay, now I have a list of all your names here, and packages with the information you’ll need to know to settle in here. These packages contain everything from what room you’ll have here for now to the house that will be yours. Contact numbers are pre-programmed into the phone inside each package, so when you get your package, don’t drop it. Yes, your new position is within the package, along with a list of your duties. There are several maps, so you can get around here on your own. Your phones have an app that, if you get close to one of the current borders, it will beep. No one is coming to get you if this happens. But if you’re lost, please call. I’ve seen the land out there and it’s a mess. The humans messed with the terrain extensively. So try going for a run in pairs or small groups until you are familiar with the location. Or at least tell someone you’re going and about when you’ll be back. One of the lynx stone masons found a rather steep hillside one evening and wen
Becky and Rob were both pleasantly surprised by the response his speech received from the pack. Rob learned quickly that he’d been wrong. His pack was with him, and not the Council of Elders. He couldn’t believe the support he received with people volunteering to help set up the mating ceremonies for both couples. “Yes, I’ll let everyone know when we have a planning meeting, and we can make all the decisions then.” Rob assured them over and over until he had to stop the crowd forming. “I’d like to thank everyone who’s offering or offered to help right now. I’ll set up a meeting for everyone who’s interested in offering their services or volunteering. We’ll take a few hours and decide, organize who’s doing what. Just set things up so we don’t miss anything, or have too many people doing one thing. We’ll make this a success.” A murmur of approval went through the small crowd of people, and they talked among themselves. “Look, I’ll put a clipboard out tonight in the pac