Chapter 13
The next morning, David was having shifting issues again just as he planned to make breakfast, and he was trying not to be annoyed about it. He had made love to Elizabeth early this morning instead of going for a wolf run, and he faulted himself for not doing what he knew had to be done during this phase of the moon. But she’d been in such a loving mood, he had soon forgotten all about the moon and only thought of pleasuring her.
He’d planned to make breakfast for them after, but his body warmed and he was feeling the pull to shift. “Go ahead and make whatever you want.” He knew he sounded irritated, but he couldn’t help it. Instead of inflicting his bad attitude on Elizabeth and Sheri, he stalked back to the bedroom, nearly growling in frustration. He hated that about the full moon, that he couldn’t do his usual routine, and that meant checking messages at the office and being the first one in there in case they had any walk-in clients. Plus he wanted to get to work again on the Mel Warner case and now that would have to wait too.
“We’ve got it,” Sheri called.
“Yeah, you made us administrators,” Elizabeth said, raising her voice so he’d hear. Neither of them moved from the kitchen to check on him, and he appreciated the space. He felt like a lousy mate prospect, but he would have felt worse if she tried to come in and baby him. She’d said she was fine with it; he just hadn’t come to terms with that yet.
“We’ll make breakfast and see you over there,” Elizabeth added.
He barely heard her, the pull so strong now that he really had to fight it. He ditched his clothes and shifted in a flash.
“I’m calling Cameron to let him know we’re going in to the office,” Elizabeth said. “Do you need anything?”
David ran into the living room as a wolf and bumped Elizabeth’s hand, letting her know he hadn’t meant to be all growly. She smiled down at him, leaned over, kissed his cheek, and ran her hand over his head. “We can do this. That’s what we’re here for. And for more.” She smiled at him.
“The more is what I want,” Sheri said, getting ready to leave the house and acting like David having to shift was no big deal.
“We’ll find you someone.” Elizabeth had the phone to her ear and said, “Hi, Cameron, this is—” She glanced at Sheri. “I got an answering machine.”
“This is really why we’re here,” Sheri said. “Just think, during the full moon, we can take over the pack.”
David smiled. He knew Sheri was joking, but he loved that she could make light of what he felt was a dark situation.
He licked Elizabeth’s hand, and she laughed. “Yeah, but they’ll all be back to their human forms and we’ll be in trouble.”
***
“We’ll open up the shop, talk to clients, and tell them you all will get back to them as soon as you can. Maybe one of the other guys hasn’t shifted,” Elizabeth said, hopeful that someone could come in and soon.
Sheri pointed out the window with her free hand. “Well, Cameron and Faith and their pups are all out for a run.”
That discounted them.
Elizabeth called Gavin, and Amelia answered the phone instead. “He’s a wolf right now. I can take a message for him. I’ll be leaving to take a flight out in a few minutes.”
“Sheri and I are headed to the office. We’ll do what we can until one of the guys can show up,” Elizabeth said.
“Okay, thanks. I’m glad you all are here. My brother and I are taking some flights out and can’t hang around, with the summer tourism in full swing. We get a lot of seaplane sightseeing tours over the lakes, and we’re taking a lot of canoeists into the BWCAW this time of year. Um, that stands for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Welcome to the pack!” Amelia said.
Elizabeth smiled. “We’re glad to be here.”
She gave David a big hug. “We’ll see you when we see you.” She hoped he wasn’t stuck as a wolf for a really long time. Not that it would bother her, but she knew it would bother him.
Then she and Sheri walked over to the office. All the homes were privately screened from the office, making it look like it was sitting in a park. They were really off the beaten path out here, so most people called in their requests for services, or emailed them, or filled out a secure form online, but some still came in to speak with the investigators in person, probably wanting to see their setup and make sure they were getting what they were paying for.
The building itself was made of logs, but more modern rustic than old-cabin-in-the-woods. They had a good-sized parking lot and a large sign out front so passersby could see the phone number, website, and name of the business.
Inside, the place was immaculate—no trash accumulated on the investigators’ desks, no used coffee mugs, and no one smoked. It looked like the place was newly opened, the men’s degree completions and awards they’d earned while on the police force in Seattle and their PI licenses all beautifully framed in each of the offices.
“You know, the place looks a bit too clean,” Sheri said, checking messages.
“What do you mean?” Elizabeth asked as she turned on a computer at the receptionist’s desk and logged on.
“It’s too new looking, like they just opened for business.”
Elizabeth liked clean and neat. “We still need to get plants.”
Sheri smiled.
“Plants add to any decor.”
“You know how I kill potted plants. Stick it in the ground, and it does fine for me. Plant it in a pot, and I’m in trouble,” Sheri said.
“I’ll water them.” Elizabeth loved plants, indoors and out.
“Okay, sounds good. I can’t believe they’ve been managing this on their own for so long. I think seeing them all shift like that put it in perspective for me.”
“Yeah, me too. And not just one or two wolves in the pack have trouble with it, but almost the whole pack.” Elizabeth looked at some canvas prints they could hang on the wall of forests, lakes, Arctic wolves. “I know how it was in the beginning. I was there. I guess I just thought it would get better with time. I know it has to have, but I guess I thought it would be much better than this.”
Sheri had begun filing documents, a seemingly endless task. “ I really didn’t have a clue. It’s one thing when we have one or two wolves in a large pack who have issues, but when practically the whole pack does? I really feel for them.”
“You’re not afraid how that might affect you?” Elizabeth asked.
“That one of them will get caught, and we’ll all be outed? No. It just makes me more determined to stay and help out. I can’t imagine working here all this time without more royal wolves to be here for them. And Amelia and Slade can’t be because of having to fly so much.”