CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Hayley leaned back and sighed. Grayson was in the driver's seat now. He had insisted on driving her home in her little car after lunch. There wasn't much leg room for him, but Grayson gracefully folded his long, lean frame into her car and handled her car with utmost care. He leaned forward and placed both hands on her steering wheel. He didn't floor the accelerator or stomp on the brakes. He drove very conservatively and handled her car with tender, loving care.
Lunch had been an enjoyable, noisy affair. Everyone stopped at their table to chat with them. Grayson had introduced her to all the staff at the coffee shop and even given her a tour of the bustling kitchen. It was obvious that his pack members respected him, but they also showed their affection for their Alpha openly. There was some good-natured ribbing and teasing, which Grayson took in his stride. The Sentinels didn't fear their Alpha. They loved him.
Hayley looked out the window and gazed at the quaint little shops and houses lining the streets. The dappled sunlight danced on the sidewalk and leaves swirled in the breeze. She was seeing Wolves Hollow in a new light. It was a really beautiful small town. For the first time since she moved here, Hayley felt like she belonged. She liked Grayson's packmates, his sister Ari and her neighbor Yaya immensely. She would certainly like to know them better and get to know even more of the residents in Wolves Hollow. She could live here, and make this town her home.
As the car passed Yaya's house, Hayley saw Yaya at the window. But when she gave a cheery wave, Yaya looked away quickly.
Hayley followed Yaya's gaze and saw a young man leaning against a tree across the street. He pretended to be inspecting his shoes when he realized that he was being watched.
Hayley frowned and turned back towards Yaya's house. But Yaya had pulled the curtains closed and disappeared from the window.
She looked at the young man again. There was a bored look on his face as he kicked lazily at some stones, but Hayley wasn't fooled. She was pretty sure he was watching Yaya's house.
Hayley gulped.
Was Yaya in danger?
“Grayson...” she said, putting a hand on his arm.
Grayson parked her car in her driveway and plopped her car keys into her palm. “You're home,” he announced.
“Do you see that man by the tree?” she whispered urgently.
“Yeah.”
“I think he's watching Yaya.”
“Uh-huh.” Grayson got out of the car and jogged round to open the car door for her.
Hayley frowned at him. “Don't you think we should warn her?”
Grayson looked up and saw Yaya pulling her cloak tightly around herself as she hurried out of her house. Hayley followed his gaze and saw that Boris was trooping happily behind Yaya on his bristles. “She never goes anywhere without that broomstick,” Grayson remarked.
Hayley turned and saw the young man push off the tree and follow Yaya. An older, stocky man walked out from behind another tree and trailed the young man.
Hayley gasped and tugged frantically at Grayson's arm. “Grayson! Do you see that stocky man with the salt-and-pepper hair? He is shadowing that young man, and that young man is tracking Yaya. What are they up to?”
Grayson shrugged.
“Who are they?” she hissed. “Do you think that Yaya is in danger?”
“Nah.”
Hayley's mouth fell open. “Nah? You...you don't care that Yaya is being stalked by two burly, dangerous men? She's your neighbor!”
Grayson cracked a smile. “It's just a simple surveillance mission. Craven and Dean won't hurt a hair on Yaya's head. In fact, she's safer with them watching her.”
“Y-you know those men?” Hayley stuttered. Her eyes widened as the truth hit her. “Oh my God! A surveillance mission? You...ordered them to watch Yaya. They're your men. They're...”
“Dean was from the Red Razor pack. This is his first assignment as a Sentinels wolf. Craven is one of my senior lieutenants, and he's watching Dean to assess his performance on his first mission. As I said, it's just a simple surveillance mission,” Grayson said.
“But—why Yaya?” Hayley asked in confusion. “What has she done?”
Grayson walked her to her front door in silence.
Hayley unlocked her door but she didn't step into her house. “Grayson, please tell me what's going on,” she said worriedly.
“Last night, after I defeated Strom—” Grayson began in a tight voice. “We left his body in the woods. But this morning, when my Beta and lieutenants went back to the clearing, Strom's body wasn't there.”
“Was it...”
“No, it wasn't eaten by wild animals. There was no trail at all, no marks and remains on the ground. Scott and his team combed the surrounding area and followed the scent of the body but they found nothing.”
“Nothing?” Hayley frowned. “If they followed the scent...”
“The scent led them back to the original spot, the spot where we last saw the body.”
Her surprise and confusion must have shown on her face, because Grayson went on to explain, “We encountered something like that before. Before I became Alpha, I was a tracker in the pack. My team was tracking a rogue wolf, and we followed his scent into a deep rocky ravine. We kept moving without realizing that we were actually just going around in an endless circle. The scent looped around and kept coming back to the same spot, trapping us at the bottom of the treacherous ravine. We lost two of our members when the ravine flooded suddenly without any warning.”
Hayley shook her head. “How...”
“Witchcraft,” Grayson said tersely.
“A spell,” Hayley breathed.
“Yes. That rogue wolf had help from a witch. A looping diversion can be used to trap and confuse a victim. The victim can be lured deep into a cave, a forest, a place where escape is impossible, and he can starve to death or simply go mad.”
“So…you suspect a witch took Strom's body,” Hayley whispered and turned to stare at the thorny, twisting plants in Yaya's overgrown garden which now looked insidious and ominous even in the daytime.
“We don't know who did it,” Grayson said. “We're keeping tabs on all the witches in Wolves Hollow.”
“Including Yaya?” Hayley said with a heavy sigh. She didn't want to believe that Yaya was an evil witch.
Grayson nodded gravely. “Including Yaya.”