ERIC
Fury washed over me as I watched the same unknown shifters drive Spencer away from me. I wished I could chase them, but I had to return to the meeting. As an heir, it was my duty to accompany my father, escort him back home, and safely deliver the relics to the pack.
On my way back to the meeting, I collected the largest pieces left of Spencer’s clothes, and later, I put them in a plastic bag so that her scent wouldn’t air out. I was planning to give them to our pack’s guard. The more of our wolves knew her scent, the easier it would be to find her.
Following the tradition, Marcus invited the members of the secret meeting to dinner in his house, and it was nearly 11 p.m. when we hit the road.
We drove the whole night, but since my father and I weren’t alone in the car, we couldn't discuss the meeting or the dinner. We exchanged a few words about Marcus’s pack, then about the alphas, but most of the time we drove in silence, which I used to try to make sense of what Spencer and those wolves were doing in Marcus's pack. Did they plan on arriving the same day we did, or was it just a coincidence?
After nearly twenty-four sleepless hours, all I wanted was to get some rest. When my father got the relics safely to his office, I headed back to my cabin, dropped on my bed, and blacked out.
A few hours of sleep were all I needed. It was almost eleven when I got up and headed to the bathroom. I took a warm shower first, then at the end, I closed the hot tap and let the refreshing cold water run over me.
I rubbed my head with a towel, then wrapped it around my hips. When I came out into the living room, I found Tessa sitting on the couch. Her arms spread on its back, and her legs folded; she eyed me from the top of my still wet head and down my naked torso until her look hit the edge of the towel.
She raised a brow with a sly smirk.
“You look tasty.”
“What are you doing here?” I threw her an askance look and moved to the kitchen area where I left my phone. “Next time, ask before showing up.”
“I haven’t seen you in days. I missed you.”
I picked up the phone from the table and opened the friend finder, hoping to see Spencer’s dot on it. But her phone was still off.
“Are you going to tell me what’ve you been up to?” she asked.
“Mind your own business.”
Tessa was a year older than me, and she didn’t have a mate. She thought that whatever we had was a relationship, and she tried to get involved in my business to make the bond stronger, even though I’d shown no sign of commitment.
She snuck up on me from behind. Her hands slid under my arms and glided down my front, slithering under the towel. The towel loosened and fell. I grabbed her arm, pulled her around, and pushed her against the table. I could hear her rising heartbeat as she glanced down my naked body. She drew her face closer.
“I see you missed me too,” she murmured next to my ear before running her tongue along its edge. The tips of her black, shoulder-length hair brushed against my neck.
At first, I wanted to tell her to get lost, but as she took off her t-shirt, I changed my mind. Why not? The last few days have been nerve-wracking, and she could help me relax.
I unzipped her short skirt, and the second she took it off, I grabbed her and sat her on the table. She was right, I was ready. But not because I missed her, as she thought, but because I was a man, and it was my normal reaction to an inviting woman’s body. She glanced at me with lust in her eyes, and as my look slid down, her legs parted.
* * *
I walked into my parents’ house and headed to the kitchen.
“Eric?” Mom called right before I showed up in the doorway. “You’re awake.” Her blonde hair was tied in a loose bun, and she was standing at the kitchen island cutting some meat.
“Hi, Mom.” I kissed her on the cheek.
“You must be hungry.” She eyed me with a smile.
“I am. But first I need to talk to Dad.”
“He just woke up. He’s in the backyard having coffee. The pot is full,” she nodded toward the coffeemaker, “if you want some.”
“Thanks.”
I grabbed a mug from the dishwasher, filled it with coffee, and made my way to the backyard.
All this time, I've been trying to make sense of everything that had happened after the day I saw Spencer at that wolf's house, which I was sure now was the day she turned for the first time. Who were those wolves? How was she connected to them? They protected her as if she was someone very important, which was strange. Women were never important members of any pack. But then, it didn’t seem like they belonged to any pack at all.
Our backyard faced the woods, and it was always quiet and calm.
“Eric.” My father looked up at me as I approached him. “Join me, son.” He pointed at the wicker chair across from him.
“Thanks.” I sank into the soft seat.
“You look rested. But the frown on your forehead tells me something is bothering you. If you’re worried about your mate, don’t be. We’ll catch her.”
“Of course I’m worried. They keep getting away from us. Now her phone is always off. How’re we going to find them?”
“For starters, we could send a few men to check their house?”
“No. I don’t think they’ll be going back just yet.” I took a sip of coffee.
“I think it’s pretty obvious now that they don’t belong to any pack.”
“Yeah. Maybe they’re trying to get into one.” I shrugged. “Being a lone wolf is not safe.”
“Then why would they run? No,” my father shook his head thoughtfully. “There’s something else going on here.”
I had an idea that I knew my father wouldn’t approve of, but I decided to try anyway.
“I was thinking.” I put my mug on the table between us, “I have some pieces of her clothes. We could ask witches to do a locator spell.”
“What?” He frowned at me. “You know we can’t do that. It’s against our rules to use magic.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time. Alphas have asked them for help in the past.”
“Yes.” He barked. “For something much more serious. When it was a question of life or death. And it always came with a price.”
“You said it yourself— there’s something going on here. They might be up to something.”
“We would need more proof for that theory before taking such extreme actions. We can deal with them ourselves. What kind of danger could a bunch of wolves present to a pack? We don’t need witches. Those two at the meeting were already suspicious. They said they could sense magic. Like if someone used it nearby. Complete nonsense, of course. Marcus can be ruthless, but he would never risk his pack’s reputation by bringing witches there on the day of the meeting.”
“Then why would they say that?”
“Who the hell knows? To convince us that they know things we don’t. Or accuse us of breaking the rules. As a future alpha, you should learn patience, Eric. And remember, you can do whatever you want in your pack as an alpha, but you can’t break the rules set up by the council to make your job easier. Have you done everything you can to find Spencer? You haven’t even begun.”
“Sorry, Father.” He was right. I haven’t done my best. “Spencer is my mate, and it’s my job to find her.”
“And I will do everything to help you,” he said in a much calmer voice.
“I’ll need men. To send them on a hunt. Those wolves . . . hell knows why, but they seem to be lurking around packs. They’ve already been to Chicago and Tallahassee. So there are only two left—us and Georgia.”
“Take as many men as you need. I’ll help you with the tracking. We’ll take a map and mark territories you should search on your way from here to Georgia. You know? They could be from one of the packs just trying to mess things up. I’ll give the order to increase the security around the borders.” He pulled himself up. “But first, let’s go eat something.”
I spent the rest of the day preparing everything I needed to hunt down Spencer. I gathered the best trackers in our pack, divided them into groups of two to three men, then gave them a copy of the map prepared by my father and me.
I put my best friend Max on the second important route. He was my father’s beta’s son and was well trained. Plus, he had seen Spencer once. He was with me that day at the gas station where I saw her for the first time.
I gave each group a piece of Spencer’s clothes to get familiar with her scent.
“Keep it with you in case you need to double-check. If you find her, don’t act. Call me. That’s an order.” My gaze moved from one to another. “Keep an eye on them until we get to you.”
After I gave them a few more instructions on not attracting attention and being careful, we all got in the cars and took off.
*********
SPENCER
We drove for hours, and it was getting dark when we arrived in Brentwood.
I eyed the handsome properties as we drove through that small city until we came out on Route 65 and stopped at a two-story, brick-wall hotel, illuminated by cozy yellow lights standing by the road.
“Let’s get the rooms, then we can have dinner,” Alister suggested as we all got out of the cars.
He pulled out Mom’s bag with essentials from the trunk and, chatting, they headed toward the entrance.
“Something is definitely going on there,” I said, looking after the two of them. “I’m not surprised. He’s a smart and handsome man, and that charming smirk of his seems to be working.”
“Yeah,” Finn nodded. “But don’t worry, he’ll behave.”
“Oh, I’m not worried. Mom can take care of herself. Though he does have something cunning in his look. But to be honest, I’m glad she enjoys his company. She never had time for herself.”
“Alister thinks she doesn’t see him that way . . . you know, as her match.”
I chortled. “He actually talked to you about her?”
“Only after I gave him a warning. But it looks like I didn’t have to. He does seem different around Clare.”
“Come on, guys,” called James. “Let’s do this and go eat. I’m starving.”
“Me too.” Finn threw his arm around my shoulders and pulled me toward the hotel.
* * *
The hotel didn’t have a restaurant, but there was a steakhouse nearby and it took us only a few minutes to get there.
We walked in and I stopped for a second, eyeing the interior, which had a lot of cowboy implements hanging around, and the chandeliers were in the form of deer antlers. We found ourselves a round table with six chairs.
“The food must be good here.” James put down his phone, “I just checked. The rating for this place is four and five stars.”
“Seriously?” Liam rolled his eyes. “That’s what you were doing?”
“What?” James shrugged. “I was curious.”
“While we’re waiting, let’s look at this.” Alister pulled two folded papers out of his pocket. “Here.” He unfolded them on the table and put them next to each other. It was the map. “I marked the most secure places where you,” he looked at Clare, “and Spencer could get through. But,” he heaved a breath, “I have to say, I agree with Finn. This plan is too risky. You barely escaped the first time.”
“No. It wouldn’t be the same,” said Mom. “They found Spencer's clothes the first time.”
“I know they did. But we don’t know what gave you away and why they came looking.”