What she would do when this was all said and done she honestly didn’t know. For the first time in a really long time, she just didn’t know. She was alone and drifting, and she had to let that be okay until she found Allie. Then she could go soul searching.
“Is she going to be all right?” Damon tipped his chin toward the car. “Gotta be a lot to take in for her.” He did grin for a moment though. “I will say she’s a little bad ass. The way she handled Charlie was a sight to behold.”
“She’s a nice girl from a small town who has just had her entire world turned upside down. So yeah, I think she’s a little overwhelmed. She’ll deal. She’s got a spine of steel to go with her badassery. She made a tackle I’d have admired back in the day.”
“I forget you played football. She was a cheerleader I hear.”
“Better not let Gina hear you talk like that. Your witch will cut you.” GiGi smirked as she referred to Damon’s mate, a witch like Michelle, but one who’d grown up within the clan system and was far more versed in the world of the Others.
“Depending on how long she’s in town, you guys should come over for dinner or something. Gina would like Michelle, and Michelle could use some allies, people like her.”
“One step at a time. Let’s just find her friend first. I know this girl, Allie. Grew up with her too. You and GiGi track here in town. Work with Pam on any other sightings of that SUV. We’re headed south to those other rest stops. I want to be sure they’re the same mages.”
He checked in briefly with Pam, but the coroner had shown up and she was far too busy to say much, which was fine. His mind was already on Michelle.
That was a lie.
His mind had never left Michelle. His skin still burned at the small of his back where she’d touched him. Her scent had pushed even the pervasive and horrifying stench of death from his nose.
He wanted her. So much he had to force the need from his mind with other things. He remembered that body in the convenience store. He hoped like hell that wasn’t Allie’s fate. He’d die before he let it be Michelle’s fate.
“Ready?” he asked, sliding into his seat and fastening his seatbelt.
“Yes. I checked in but there’s nothing new. Kathy, that’s Allie’s mom, she’s got her sister staying with her and the coven is in touch with Owen. No one else has gone missing, though I find it hard to believe they just stopped off in Roseburg, kidnapped a witch like a cup of coffee on a road trip. This seems far more organized than junkies grabbing a fix.”
“Yes. The fact that they’re working together with turned witches and have started targeting Weres points in that direction.” There was silence for a while and he wanted to fill it. Wanted her voice.
“So, since your cop boyfriend moved away, has there been anyone else?”
“I’ve been on nights for the last few months. My turn I guess. It’s hard enough to date when you’re a cop. Your schedule is already sort of wonky as it is, and then once you add night shift, it sort of kills your social life. I work, come home, go to bed, get up, eat, work out, go to work. What about you?”
“I go out here and there, but nothing serious.”
“Wolves mate for life right? I mean, that would have to be weird when it comes to dating.”
“It’s complicated, but yeah. I tend to date only other wolves. It’s hard to explain to humans, hey look, I already know up front this won’t be permanent and I could meet that forever person at any point so hey let’s keep things light.”
“All I know is what I hear about in the news or whatever. And it’s always so sensationalized it’s hard to know what’s true and what isn’t.”
“So ask. I’ll tell you.”
“You got bit you said. Wolves tell the media all the time that they’re safe to be around. Clearly that’s not the case.”
He treaded carefully here. “That’s partially true. I was bitten by a wolf who had really poor control. Most of the time when a human is changed, or when a natural wolf hits maturation, they’re guided through it by older, stronger wolves with a great deal of control. But the guy who bit me hadn’t told anyone he’d been bitten when he’d been on a camping trip. The day he attacked me had been his very first shift. To their credit, when Pacific heard they came to get us both. Being turned at my age is hard. Being nineteen is hard enough, you’re still a teenager, on your way to manhood, all those hormones. It wreaks havoc, and most humans that age who want to be turned are refused until they’re at least twenty-five. After I was bitten, I lived in the Pack House for eight months as I worked on my control and I shifted regularly in the company of other wolves. It’s not a perfect system. Accidents do happen. But we work as hard as we can to ensure they don’t.”
“And you didn’t hate them? I mean you ended up one of their leaders even after they changed you without your consent?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Lots of that going around.”
He snorted. “Life is complicated, I suppose. But what was I going to do? I wasn’t good enough to play professional ball. My grades were okay but nothing spectacular. My parents couldn’t have cared less about where I was going or my plans for the future. I had a dead-end in my past but a freak occurrence opened up many doors for my future. I was strong. And fast. I could control my shift early on. Pack life can be pretty disciplined and regimented. I…took to it. I thrived. Each time I challenged for a position and I won, I earned respect. It was a totally different world, but it feels natural to me.”
“So you advance by fighting?”
He shrugged. “Sometimes. I ended up as Enforcer without a fight. I was second-in-command to the Enforcer who is now the Alpha. I ascended and no one challenged me. I’d earned the respect of the pack.”
“That means a great deal, I imagine.”
“Yes.” It meant everything.
“I’m glad you have a good life.”
“Yeah? Even if I was a dick to you before?”
She snorted. “Even if you were a dick to me before. Why would I wish a horrible life on anyone, much less someone I cared so much about once?”
“Only once?”
“I knew Josh the jock. I don’t really know Josh the Enforcer. But I appreciate the help in finding Allie. That’s a start.”
It was.
They got off the freeway south of the first rest stop and then got back on heading north so he could pull into the northbound one. He caught the scent right away. The mages had a rotting meat stench.
“Their energy is still here, faint, but here.”
“I can scent it. It’s the same as the convenience store.”
“I think there are surveillance cameras here.”
“I know just the person to call for that.” He pulled out his phone and dialed Nina Warden, who at one time in her life happened to be a pretty notorious hacker. He explained the situation, and she told him she’d get right on it and call him back when she had news.
“I could have gotten a warrant, you know,” she muttered when they got back in the car and headed north to the next stop.
“Maybe, sure. Though how you’d have known the SUV stopped here would have been fun to explain, no? Well, Your Honor, I got out and I just sensed they’d been here.”
This was a one-way road, and she was far too late in the journey to turn back. He felt for her, knowing it had to be hard. But she couldn’t count on human help for this. She had support in the Others, and the sooner she accepted it, the better off she’d be.