Once Ren was satisfied that Katrina was safe and well looked after, he moved into one of the other rooms where Monty’s people had set up a security briefing. The first scent that hit him the moment he entered the room was canine, and he stopped short. It was Sonia that pushed Ren into the room, her diminutive frame hiding a strength great enough to push a full-grown jaguar Alpha around.
“Ren, this is William Rufus Montague Whittaker, another of Monty’s adoptees. He is Alpha of the wolf Pack that lives in, and safeguards, the estate’s vast lands.” Sonia moved between the werewolf, who now stood on one side of the room, and Ren, who maintained his position just inside the door.
Ren wasn’t sure exactly what was happening, but he was willing to listen. He was certain of Sonia’s pure heart, and if she was on good terms with this wolf, then it was worth listening to what they had to say.
“Welcome to Montague,” the werewolf said. “I’m also head of security for the grounds while my human brothers and our Lord watch over the house itself. My Pack is the first line of defense for Monty, and we take our jobs very seriously. Which is why we weren’t at the dinner held in your honor. We thought it better that you meet the house side first, while we kept watch. As you move about during your work here, you’ll get to know some of my people, but it was important to warn you of our presence, to avoid potential conflict.”
Ren watched the wolf cautiously. “I understand, Alpha. Frankly, I’m surprised none of us scented your presence before now.”
The Alpha wolf smiled and shook his head. “Oh, there’s one among you who knew right away, but I’m not too put off by that. Nobody gets much past Sensei Mendez.”
As if conjured by mention of his name, Greg entered the room behind Ren and moved quickly around him with his hand outstretched to meet the werewolf. He had a big smile on his face, and it was clear Greg knew the other man already.
“Rufus, good to see you,” Greg said, shaking hands with the Alpha wolf as they both grinned, then gave each other a bro hug complete with back-pounding affection. Ren revised his opinion. Greg didn’t just know the other man, he actually liked him.
“Sensei, I’m glad you’re here,” Rufus replied as they broke apart, and Ren heard the sincerity in the wolf’s voice. “Strange things are afoot, and frankly, I could use your insight.”
“Always happy to help one of my best former students,” Greg replied quickly, clapping Rufus on the back. “What’s the situation?”
Rufus gestured for everyone to be seated. Once again, Monty had the position of honor at the head of the table, but it was clear that Rufus was running this briefing. He had two other werewolves flanking him, but their roles were unclear to Ren as the meeting started. He assumed they were in support positions, though the female looked too young to have grown into her full strength yet. Ren sat and waited to hear what the wolves had to say, reserving judgment until he had a clearer picture.
“We’ve had tests of our perimeter starting three days ago.” Rufus dove right in with his talk. “Normally, we get this kind of incursion maybe once every few months. Usually, it’s sightseers who’ve gone off the beaten path or are trying to get in to see the castle. Occasionally, it’ll be hikers or even birders who wander into our lands either by mistake or on purpose. We deal with them accordingly and send them on their way, and after one run-in with us, they don’t come back.” Rufus seemed pleased with that result, then his gaze grew concerned. “The last three days, there have been multiple incursions of different kinds every day, and we haven’t been able to track or capture our prey. I’ve asked my brother, Rafe, to prepare a visual so you can get an idea of where and when the tests of our boundaries have occurred.” Rufus turned to the male werewolf on his right and gestured for him to take the lead.
Rafe, who looked just a little younger than Rufus but had a similar commanding presence, began a precise briefing that had a definite military flair. Ren wouldn’t have been surprised to learn that the British werewolf was former Special Forces, or whatever the equivalent was in the British military. He dimmed the lights slightly and brought up a projection on the far wall showing the perimeter of the estate, which was far larger than Ren had thought.
Rafe explained the time, nature and success level of each incursion in chronological order. As each incident was reported, Ren’s concern grew. Greg was sitting next to him and had that serene but intense look on his face that he’d mastered over years of martial arts study and practice. Sonia, sitting on Ren’s left, looked concerned and even a bit angry.
When Rafe was done with his part of the briefing, he increased the lights to normal level again but left the graphic of the castle’s grounds up on the wall. He turned the meeting back over to his brother with a nod, and Rufus introduced the young woman seated on his left.
“This is my niece, Nerene. She’s training with the region’s priestess because she has a little extra something in the way of magic. Her father was a mage. Her mother was my sister.” A shadow passed over his face, and Ren didn’t ask but had the sad feeling that young Nerene was now an orphan. Rufus shook his head just once, as if to banish a memory, then put his hand gently on Nerene’s forearm. “Tell them what you told me about the man you saw,” he said softly to the girl, who was clearly a little apprehensive in such company.
Nerene looked nervously at Monty then began to speak. “I see things, sometimes,” she said hesitantly. “When the incidents started three days ago, I saw the image of a man, stalking the woods. He was big. Very muscular, in the way of humans that lift weights at gyms. I couldn’t see his face, but yesterday, I saw that he had some sort of tattoo on his arm. It looked almost like a military symbol, but not from this country. I’m not all that familiar with such things, but that was the impression I got, though I couldn’t see the design distinctly. I think there were wings and maybe a snake. Perhaps a sword.” She shook her head, and her gaze was slightly unfocused.
“That’s all right, Nerrie,” Rufus told her gently. “Tell them what you saw today.”
“A light,” she said with more certainty. “Shining off his head. He was bald, or he’d shaved his head.”
Ren thought immediately of the bald man who had been hassling Katrina back in the States. T.J. Cochran. Former Marine. A chill went down his spine followed swiftly by anger.
“It was dark in my vision. He was in the forest. Prowling. Hunting. I feel like he’s out there right now, looking for a way in.” Nerene shivered.
Ren could see she was a gentle soul, troubled greatly by what she’d seen. Even as anger and dismay coursed through him at this renewed threat to his mate, he took time to see that the less dominant werewolf received praise for her willingness to help and reveal what she’d seen.
“Thank you, Miss Nerene,” Ren told her, schooling his trained voice to gentleness. This girl seemed fragile in a way shifters seldom were. Of course, losing her parents could have done that, especially when her father was a mage and she shared at least some of his gifts. “I owe you a debt of gratitude for sharing what you know and telling me of this threat to my mate. I will not forget your kindness.” The girl blushed as he praised her, and he realized this little one needed such attention if she was ever going to grow out of her shyness.