I stormed into the kitchen in search of Augie, but I couldn’t see him. I didn’t have the patience to search the house, so instead I did the adult thing, and screamed his name, hoping he’d hear me.
“Holy shit, woman!” Augie’s head slammed against the counter. “Was that necessary? I was just getting bowls for our desserts.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “We need to speak in private.” I paused, then added, “Now,” for emphasis.
“Can I at least get the ice cream first?” He pouted.
I growled. “No.”
“You’re such a party-pooper sometimes.” His eyes rolled, but he followed me to my dad’s office.
The room was empty. I turned toward Augie. “Where is Dad?”
“He’s greeting the shifters who just arrived. They came in early and Gerald said he’d fill in for me, since you and I had made plans.”
Ugh. That’s the crowd of people I saw. It made more sense now.
“I need a list of guards who would have been outside just now with that group,” I demanded.
Augie eyed me curiously. “Why? What the hell happened?”
I turned for the door to make sure it was closed tightly. I motioned for him to sit on the couch near the far wall. I didn’t want to chance anyone overhearing what I told him.
“I heard the traitor whispering to someone on the phone outside the pack house. By the time I turned the corner, he was lost in the group of people that had just arrived. I have no idea who it could have been, but they said they were working. That should narrow it down to a guard, right?”
Augie leaned back and sighed. “It should. None of the other workers should have been up near the house just now.” He tapped his finger against his chin. “Let me grab my tablet. I left it in the kitchen when you yelled at me.”
He glared at me as he stood, but I had no sympathy. I bounced my legs up and down as I waited for him to come back and tried to think of who it was I heard, but nothing came to me.
Augie waltzed back in like he didn’t have a care in the world. I hated that he had so much control over his emotions when I had so little. He seemed to have already learned so much from my dad in the short time he’d been beta.
His fingers were already flying across the screen as he pulled up the patrol schedule. He handed me the tablet as he took his seat next to me.
I gave it a good look and recognized all the names, but only a handful of them I knew well enough to doubt we’d have any issues with them.
“Why is this list so long?” I asked. “How many shifters do we have on guard right now?”
“Unfortunately, there were two shifts outside the pack house when you were coming. Night shift and day shift were split up. A third of each group was responsible for delivering the last of our pack members to the other packs and then bringing the borrowed shifters back who would help us fight.”
I scrunched my face in confusion. “So, the pack was left short-handed last night and this morning?”
He shook his head. “We extended shift times. Instead of eight hours, they did twelve-hour rotations and we mixed in swing shift. It was the best short-term solution.”
It made sense, so I went back to glancing at the names. There were a few people I began to immediately cross off in my head: Rick, Sam, Greg, Jessica, and Marshall to name a few.
“There are a lot of names on here,” I said. “How are we going to narrow them down?”
Augie sighed. “I don’t know. We’ll have to mention it to your dad. So much for our friend-date. I want a piece of Declan when it comes time. He’s screwed with too many people and I’m tired of having to live our lives based on his actions. He needs to die.”
I laughed. “Yes, he does and he will. I can promise you that. Dad’s still busy for a little while with the visiting shifters. Let’s go at least enjoy ice cream in the kitchen while we wait for him.”
He nodded, and we headed back to enjoy some time in which we attempted not to think about all the bad shit and focus on what was good. I’d yet to tell anyone about my blood bond with Liam. I knew I could trust Augie and my dad with anything, but something told me it was better nobody knew.
A storm was brewing and, at some point, I was going to be in the eye of it, whether by choice or not, and I was going to be ready for it. I wouldn’t accept any other outcome. Declan would not ruin any other parts of my life.
Before Dad came back, I got a text from Liam. Caleb and Jamie had arrived early.
I gave Augie a hug and told him to call me when he spoke with my dad before rushing home. I was excited to see my new family. Technically, Jamie was now my sister-in-law.
Laughter could be heard from outside when I stepped on to the porch and it made my heart happy. Our pack needed more of it. I could feel the joy from my bond with Liam and wasted no more time before joining them.
When I entered the room, Caleb was dangling a set of keys from his fingers.
“It took me a few days, but the family finally caved.”
I tilted my head. “Who did what now?”
Jamie’s face lit up as she hugged me. “We bought a house right next door.”
My eyes bulged. “There aren’t any houses for sale right now or we would have bought it already. How did you do that?”
Caleb grinned. “One of your neighbors passed away last year and his daughter was living there with her city slicker husband. He was miserable. I made an offer they couldn’t refuse.”
Jamie nudged him. “He means he paid triple the property value just so he could have a reason to visit his brother more often.”
“Well, there was that and they have a really good view, too. Scratch that, we have a really good view.”
I laughed and hugged Jamie again, then Caleb. This was just the kind of news I needed after coming so close to catching the traitor and failing.
When we settled at the table, I made sure everyone had a drink in hand before telling them what I had learned. Moscato for me and Jamie, beers for the guys.
“So, what’s the plan?” Liam asked me.
“I don’t know. I told Augie to–”
The door burst open and Augie strode in as if he still owned the place.
“I thought you were going to call me?” I glared.
He smirked. “That was so much more fun than a phone call. Plus, did you think you were the only one who missed them?”
Caleb and Augie did some weird man handshake. Then, he gave Jamie a hug before he sat down at the table with us.
“Your dad wants us to go out on patrols tomorrow. Split up into key groups and see if anything stands out. Give the traitor every opportunity to make a move without thinking they’ll be caught. Liam and Taya will lead one, Caleb and Jamie, me and Rick, followed by Sam and Gerald.”
I hesitated but couldn’t hold my tongue. “Do we really want to include Rick and Sam? What if…”
Augie nodded. “I said as much, but your dad said they’d proven themselves and it was time we brought them in. He’s briefing them now. I told him I’d come here while he did so.”
I guess it made sense. We had to trust others at some point or we’d never get anywhere.
“So, what do we need to do today?” Caleb asked.
“I need to check in with the patrols and make sure the new shifters are settled,” Augie answered. “Other than that, until we leave tomorrow morning, there’s nothing we need to take care of. There’s a whole team looking for other holdings Declan might have had, but we haven’t found anything.”
I glanced at Jamie. “I’m sure you’ve been asked already, but any other ideas?”
“I told Aiden everything I could think of, but it wasn’t much.” Jamie shrugged. “Looking back now, I realize I was only a glorified babysitter. I never really had a purpose.”
Caleb pulled her closer and whispered something in her ear that had Jamie blushing. I smiled, glad they were doing so well. I would have hated to harm Caleb if he had hurt her. Actually, I would have enjoyed it, but that was neither here nor there.
We made plans to still go down by the pond as soon as Caleb and Jamie were settled. They were going to be staying with us even though they technically had their own house nearby. It wasn’t furnished and still needed some updates before Caleb deemed it worthy of his presence.
I didn’t mind his pickiness. It just meant that they’d be around longer to fix it up.
Since we weren’t in a hurry and it was a gorgeous day out, we walked to the water. Once we arrived, Jamie and I kicked back in the chairs, while the guys went fishing.
“How have things been in the new pack?” I asked Jamie when we were alone.
“They’re getting better. Aiden is handling everything really well. Sera is by his side for everything even though he doesn’t really need it, but it keeps her busy and that’s what she needs. Caleb has been great. We took over their house and Aiden moved into the pack house.”
I smiled at her. “That’s great. I know how much of a difference it made for Liam and me when we got our own space. How is the pack doing? Are they healing after the attack?”
Her face downturned. “There’s been a lot of fighting. Nobody trusts their neighbor anymore. Until we figure out who helped facilitate the attack, I don’t see it getting any better.”
I sighed. “I’m really sorry. Hopefully, we can capture some of Declan’s men and get names.”
“Enough of the bad,” she said. “How about things here? How are you and Liam doing?”
I grinned and came really close to telling her about the blood bond, but Augie interrupted us.
“They’ve each caught three fish and I haven’t even had a bite on my hook,” he whined. “I’m over it. I don’t have the patience for fishing anymore.”
I laughed. “But you can read a book for six hours instead of watching the movie in two?”
He rolled his eyes at me. “It’s not even close to the same thing.”
Jamie winked at Augie. “I have to agree with him. I’ve grown quite fond of reading since meeting Augie. He gave me a decent list of recommendations and I’m almost in need of more.”
“You, too? How did I end up with book nerds for my two closest friends? It doesn’t make any sense,” I teased.
I heard one of the ATVs getting close and glanced up to find my dad coming down the path toward us. His face was tight with tension and I was afraid to hear what he had to say.
I sat up. “What happened?”
“I sent Sam out with Jessica and Marshall to check on Iris this morning, but I just received a frantic call from Jessica. They didn’t make it to the Crater Lake pack before they were attacked. The phone cut out, so I didn’t get much info, but they should have been about halfway there. They left after the group arrived earlier.”
Damn it.
Augie was already up on his feet, and I called for the guys to join us. We were going hunting sooner than we planned, but I was ready. The only thing I worried about now was how eager I was to make something happen.
I needed to get control of my emotions before I got myself or someone I cared about killed.