Elizabeth and Gavin both got into their cars and left.
David rolled his shoulders, realizing again that the tension he typically felt this time of month, the worry for his packmates, wasn’t as strong as it normally would be. Elizabeth had his back—had all of their backs—and man, did it feel good.
Chapter 16
Kintail seethed. Hans had reported back that Sheri’s bags were gone from her apartment and some of her clothes had been cleaned out. That meant she had gone with Elizabeth and the others to the United States, he was certain. Then Bentley showed up, bad news written all over his face.
So what else was new?
Kintail said, “What is it?”
Even though Kintail’s people could send him text messages or call him, the pack knew he wanted updates face-to-face. It was a way for him to see facial expressions and gauge whether they were being truthful with him.
What made him the angriest was that if Bentley had just mated Sheri, none of this would have been an issue. They needed some new blood in the pack—wolf pups—to continue their line. Kintail and his mate hadn’t had any success so far, but maybe Bentley and Sheri could have.
Bentley said, “So, we checked Seattle and their PI agency, but they’re not there. And haven’t been for a while.”
Damn it! Kintail prowled from one end of the living room to the other, his mind churning. Where? Where could they have gone?
“I was thinking we need to hire a private investigator to search for them.” Bentley’s voice was hesitant, as if he knew the reaction he would get from that suggestion wouldn’t be favorable.
As much as Kintail hated the notion of hiring a PI because Cameron and his friends were all PIs and it just irked him, he figured that might be their best bet right now. His pack didn’t have the resources or the training to find the runaway wolves. He had two police officers who had worked for him back in Maine, where some of Kintail’s pack members had guided wilderness tours in the winter, but they wouldn’t do him any good in Seattle—or wherever Cameron’s pack had ended up.
“I could find one here in Yellowknife—” Bentley said.
“No. We start in Seattle, where we know they were.” Kintail had done his own research, scouring David’s Facebook page, taking particular notice of the lake in the pictures. But David was still showing his home as Seattle, and he never once mentioned the name of the lake. Kintail tried an image search, but there wasn’t enough of the lake to go on.
He’d always doubted that story—that David had actually mated someone—and now Kintail was certain he hadn’t. That it had all been a ruse to pretend that Elizabeth would have no reason to leave her pack and join him. Fake mate. Fake pictures. All to fool him.
Kintail growled, punching out at the wall in anger. Behind him, Bentley jumped.
“Okay, I’ll get right—” Bentley said.
“Wait, the last contact they had with wolves was Leidolf and his red wolf pack in Portland, right?”
Bentley scratched his head. “You don’t think Leidolf would have taken them in, do you?”
Kintail thought the red pack leader would be smarter than that. It would be difficult to keep the human population from knowing that a group of newly turned Arctic wolves were living in the Portland area. “I wouldn’t think so. He’s a sly wolf. But maybe they spent some time down there. It’s the only lead I can think of, beyond them still being in the Seattle area. And truly, they probably couldn’t hold their wolf forms well enough to manage their PI operations in Seattle. Maybe they are still in the area but are keeping themselves separate. Working remotely or something.”
“Oh, sure, I didn’t think of that.”
Which is why Kintail was the pack leader. “You know if you and Sheri had just mated, we wouldn’t be having this issue.”
“I know. I’ve tried to convince her, but she just kept putting me off.”
“She could be with another wolf right now.” Kintail mentioned it to light a fire under Bentley if he needed one. “Or if not right now, she could soon mate another. So it behooves you to find her now.”
“Okay, I’ll hire a PI out of Seattle and tell him what we know about the men so far. And the reason we’re trying to track them down?” Bentley looked a little flustered. No wolf liked to think the she-wolf they wanted to mate might throw them over for another wolf.
In the pack, Sheri hadn’t shown any interest in the other wolves, though Kintail knew of one who was trying to get to know her better, if Bentley would just give her up.
“Do we need to give him a reason? No. Just do it.”
“Yes, sir.” Bentley left, and Kintail was feeling even more irritable.
Sheri was the type of she-wolf who would go along with just about anything. Whoever was more alpha could convince her to do what Kintail wanted her to do. Now she was being influenced by Elizabeth and Cameron and his people, and he wasn’t going to stand for it without a fight.
Though if Cameron and his people were with Leidolf and his red wolf pack, that would cause more issues. Kintail knew Leidolf would go to bat for his own people and not cave to Kintail’s demands. He didn’t know how strong Leidolf’s pack was, how many fighting wolves he had, so that could be a real problem. Whereas with Cameron and his men, they were few in number and they didn’t stand a chance against Kintail’s pack if they were on their own. Being newly turned, Cameron and his friends wouldn’t fight as well either, not against royal wolves who had been born that way and had fought other wolf packs for ages.
So Kintail hoped Cameron and his pack were on their own. They just had to find them before Sheri ended up mating one of them! Elizabeth might be a lost cause—he could end David just for mating her—but he figured some of his pack members wouldn’t approve.
But Sheri, she was another story. She should still be available, and he had to make sure she still was by the time they found her and brought her home.
***
While Elizabeth was out helping Gavin with his case, David decided to hold off on Ms. Lamont’s case and instead took Sheri over to the dealership. He also took her to the bank so she could set up her own banking accounts.
“I can’t believe how wonderful it is being with your pack. Kintail would never have done anything like this for us,” Sheri said. “Do you want me to park my new car at the office or somewhere else?”
“You can park at my house.”
She gave him a hug and then followed him home in her new car.
With that taken care of, David started back in on the birth-mother case. Elizabeth and Gavin returned shortly thereafter. Gavin went into his office, and Elizabeth checked in with David to see if he needed anything.