A MISSING WOLF AND LYCAN

         Dean went to bed as soon as he got home and slept until morning when the enforcers he left to watch Kiera reported that she’d run them off close to dawn. They saw nothing that would lead them to believe anyone other than her was out there.

         Kiera lived alone in a cottage that shared a road with the Rocking Horse Saloon. It originally was used by the first owner of the Rocking Horse, but the current one preferred to live in town. Kiera often opened and closed the bar for him when he wasn’t there or needed to leave early.

         No other buildings were near there and the town was a good twenty minutes away by car. She was alone out there.

         “Fine, go get some rest. I’ll go see her again this morning when I can.”

         “Dean, you have things to do for the pack. You can’t be running around after a Lycan through the neutral zone. Your presence threatens the denizens.”

         “Oli, that is probably the weirdest thing I’ve ever heard you say, and you have a few doozies, if I remember correctly. She’s part of the pack and she’s in crisis. I don’t understand why others aren’t up-in-arms about it. But someone has them believing she’s not worthy or something of continuing as a member of my pack. I never accepted her leaving us and it’s my pack. I’m the only one that can release any member. Well, and my Luna if I had one. The point is, she shouldn’t have been able to leave the pack like that.”

         “Well, it proves she doesn’t belong with us if the Moon Goddess allowed it. Heck, we don’t even know if the Moon Goddess recognizes them. I don’t think she does.”

         “She recognizes us. We’re all created by beings, just different beings at different times. Why are we blaming them when it was yet again humans that have changed the way we live again? There’s too many changes to blame the Lycan where the Lycan don’t exist. Oli, be reasonable. She’s lost and we’re failing her. If we fail her, who’s next?”

Dean looked at Oli’s blonde head as he bowed it. Dean hadn’t lied or exaggerated anything about what he said.

         Oli saw where Dean was going with, and his words reminded Oli that his words were helping repeat history. “Hey, I’m the one telling you how the wind is blowing inside the pack. We have to do something. They’re shifters or not. She was a wolf shifter and now what is she? A bloody dire wolf and I don’t know any other wolf shifter who can stop their shift halfway through the process.”

         “For all we know there are, but they keep it quiet. You can see the outrage right now. But she’ll be hungover, and Don claims this is a regular occurrence. That points to a crisis. I know some things said about her from Don. What else I have said to hurt her? Why are people lying about this? Have you seen her shift since she returned? I’d say that’s more control than most of us have. She’s not hurt a single person, but someone has the pack worrying that she’ll harm the pups like some crazed monster.”

         Oli didn’t reply because he’d said something to that effect in passing before Kiera arrived. Could they have blown his offhand remark out of proportion? “I wouldn’t know who ran with that idea or exactly where it came from. I’ve heard so much from so many people. We won’t be able to track the gossip back to the original person after such a length of time.” Oli hoped it wasn’t him and he’d hate himself if this was his fault. “Fine, we’ll go there, talk to her and then be back before lunch. Then you can get back to leading the pack. We have the gym booked for our usual sparring session. Then there’s planning the monthly pack run too. You need to look over the latest crap James sent over in response to the land dispute.”

         “If that land didn’t block our water source, I would just give it to him just to end all of this.”

         “Yeah, but he could block our water access and we’d have to leave.”

         “This is ridiculous.”

         “I think everyone agrees.”

         “I’ll deal with it when I get back. You want to come with me? I want to wake her up and then show her she needs pack. We need to bring her back here. I’ll need to find some way to speak to the pack at the next run about this. We can’t name names, but I can make it clear after this run it won’t be tolerated and I will hand out punishments for it.” The two men left the study in the packhouse and headed to the garage, where a couple of enforcers waited for them with an SUV ready to go.

         It didn’t take long to reach the little cottage. They stood in front of the small building for a moment. The place was quiet right now. She must be asleep still. It was too quiet for anything else.

         Dean sent the enforcers out to petrol the area for trouble. It was routine, better safe than sorry.

         He knocked, and then a few minutes later, rang the bell. Oli was peeking in the living room’s main window when Dean’s senses told him a pack member was experiencing a shock. His phone rang not long after that. It was one enforcer reported that the back door was open and there’s glass everywhere in the kitchen.

         Oli looked at Dean. He’d really misread this entire thing. “Maybe she accidentally shifted inside before going for a run?” Dean gave him a look that said that wouldn’t be the case. The two shifters moved quickly around to the back of the building. The enforcers waited for them before entering. They said they’d heard nothing from inside.

         Dean didn’t know why, but he didn’t pause or wait. He went right in. There were five hours between the time his people left and now. Anything could have happened during that time.

         The kitchen was a mess and Dean knew the old Kiera was a neat freak.

         It didn’t take long to go through the small home. She wasn’t there. He knew she should be there.

         “I’m calling Trisha. Maybe she knows where Kiera went.”

         Oli nodded distractedly as he looked over the kitchen. “Is it normal for her to leave a shotgun lying on the floor in a pile of broken glass?”

         Dean already had his phone to his ear, waiting for Trisha to answer, and followed Oli’s discovery.

         “It’s been fired. You can smell the gunpowder in the room. But I don’t think she shot out the window and the door must have been opened. She missed whoever she was shooting at. There’s no blood.”

         “Hey, Trisha. Do you remember Kiera saying she was going somewhere this morning?”

         “Dean it early. My head hurts. I don’t know. I don’t think so. Why? What’s going on?”

         “Can you try to contact her?” Dean watched Oli go into the bedroom and Dean’s stomach dropped when a phone rang in there. Oli appeared with it in his hands.

         “She not answering. Kiera goes nowhere without her phone. Dean, I’m scared. What aren’t you telling me?” Dean could hear the dread and feel it himself. She knew he’d found something very wrong here.

         “There are a few places she might go. I’ll check them now. I will call you as soon as I know something.” Trisha hung up, seeming to have forgotten her hangover and ignoring the fact he was about to tell her she’d do no such thing. She should have told him where and he’d have sent someone to check, or he’d do it himself.

         She didn’t answer when he called back. When he looked back at Oli. “Can I rely on your nose to find her? Maybe you’re right?”

         “I think we’re passed that and on to calling in Sheriff Morton.” Oli didn’t like saying this, but something was really wrong here and he’d not accept this for an enemy, let alone her.

         “Not yet. I want to exhaust all avenues first. I don’t trust the humans to not mess up any evidence because they don’t know better.”

         “Fine, then. Where are we looking for her?” Oli hated the idea that this wasn’t over.

         Trisha tossed back some painkillers and grimaced. She found the day was overcast again because, as a wolf, she couldn’t wear sunglasses to avoid the worst of the sun until the headache left.

         Three hours later, Trisha came to a pond where they used to hang out. Kiera still came here when she wanted peace. Trisha didn’t because this was part of the contested land.

         She was looking around for some type of evidence that Kiera was here or nearby. While Trisha was looking about and turning up nothing, a familiar voice sounded behind her and sent her heart pounding in her chest. She wasn’t sure if it was fear, excitement, or a combination.

         “I know your brother told you to stay out of my territory. So, tell me, what has you risking punishment for you to risk punishment for trespassing?”

         “Do you know where Kiera is? She’s missing.”

         “Kiera’s probably at home sleeping like you should be.”

         “She’s not and Dean’s right now. He won’t tell me what he found. I came here to see if she came here to think. It is one of her favourite spots before she…”

         “Come along then. I will contact your brother.”

         “What? Wait? Why?”

         “I’m arresting you.”

         “No, I don’t have time. She could be in danger.”

         James shook himself and ushered her toward an ATV. “What would happen if they took again her, and you encounter the people who have her? What’s stopping them from doing the same, or worse, to you?”

         Trisha groaned while she ignored Alpha Duncan’s tirade. “I failed to see that. Ugh, why does my hair hurt? I took something to fix that.”