Chapter 7
“Dayum,” Vega said, shaking her head as Arya jumped up, all bloody and victorious. “I thought for sure Mira would win.”
Gabriel simply smirked because he’d bet on Arya. Vega should have done the same, though she cared little for the outcome of the bet. She and Gabriel had come to Montana to see Victoria and Drake before their baby was born. Or they were hoping the baby would be born soon. Poor Victoria. And now she was on bed rest until further notice. The whole thirteen-month pregnancy alone was enough to put Vega off getting pregnant for a long time. Like…a hundred years or so. Hell, she had a baby brother now, she didn’t need a pup of her own. At least Victoria was okay as long as she stayed in bed. Talk about a scare though.
Vega was close to both Victoria and Drake, having escaped an actual prison cell with Drake, and then spending the last part of her teenage years under Drake’s protection. Victoria had become a dear friend to Vega and Gabriel already viewed her as a younger sister. To say they were all close would be an understatement. Though since they were here to see their friends, Vega wanted to take care of something else. Unfortunately, her sexy mate disagreed.
“We should just ask one of them,” Vega said, hands on her hips.
“I don’t think he’s been off the radar long enough to start to worry,” Gabriel said, already shaking his head. “This isn’t a disappearance.”
“I don’t know. Neema says he never goes dark this long. He should have checked in by now.” Maybe Vega was worrying too much? But August was her mentor, the male who’d recruited her out of college into black ops.
“Who are you two talking about?” Mira asked, the ancient female appearing out of nowhere. Her inky black hair was pulled back into a long ponytail, her silvery-gray eyes bright with mischief. Somehow in the last few minutes she’d wiped off some of the blood covering her and found clothing—jeans and a white T-shirt with a picture of a pug wearing a Santa hat.
If it hadn’t been for all of her training, Vega might’ve jumped at the way Mira had just appeared out of thin air. The woman was seriously stealth personified. Though the pug T-shirt took out some of the scariness. “August,” she said before Gabriel could give a non-response.
“The big bear shifter?” Now her eyes gleamed with something else entirely. “He has disappeared?”
“We don’t know that,” Gabriel said.
The epic fight between Mira, Prima and Arya had quickly disbanded, and now just Vega, Gabriel and a few others were standing around. Right now, Vega’s instinct was telling her something was wrong and she wasn’t going to ignore it. “He headed to South America on a mission he said was a one-person job. But other than that, he was tight-lipped about what it entailed. And…before you ask, he asked me about you. I don’t know for sure but I was under the impression that he planned to come find you after his mission. His mission that was supposed to be over weeks ago. So, I thought you might know something about his whereabouts.” Clearly not though. Gah.
It had been a little strange that August had asked Vega about Mira since he was her boss and Mira was…well, she wasn’t sure what Mira was to her. Mira’s twin sister had saved her life—literally, she’d brought Vega back from the dead. And she was the aunt of some of Vega’s dearest friends.
Mira tapped a finger against her lips. “Do you think he is in danger?”
“I do,” Vega said as Gabriel answered, “We don’t know.” Vega shot her mate a sideways glance.
He lifted a shoulder. “August is a capable, trained male. He’s where he is because he’s hard to kill.”
“True.” Vega could concede that. “But he also taught me that we always look out for each other. That we are each other’s backup. I’m going with my instinct on this. Something is wrong. I’ve felt it more and more since we arrived here.”
Gabriel sobered then. “Okay. If you truly feel that way we’ll head out now.”
She nodded. “I need to see my parents and little brother once more before we leave, but Neema is already on standby waiting. She’s in Arizona and it won’t take long to reach her.” Luckily her parents were staying here too so she and Gabriel should be able to leave soon enough.
Vega looked at Mira. “This goes without saying but please keep this conversation between us private.” Vega and Gabriel worked for the paranormal black ops division for the US government but their allegiance would always be to the supernatural community. She liked humans a lot but she didn’t trust all of them. Well, she didn’t trust most of them. Their instincts were garbage and they were quick to fear that which they didn’t know or understand. And the only reason Mira was aware of what she and Gabriel did was because of the circumstances of Vega’s very first op.
“Of course. You have my discretion.” She walked away without another word, as was her way.
Okay, then. Vega shook her head once before focusing on her mate.
“We should talk to Bran too,” Gabriel said as they started heading across the field, back toward where the clan members’ homes were.
“Perfect. Maybe he’ll know something we don’t.” Bran had worked for August many years ago and had been one of her references when August had done his standard background check before officially recruiting her.
She really hoped the older dragon would have some insight into August’s whereabouts. Vega slipped her hand into Gabriel’s, glad they were finally on the same page.
She hated leaving right before Christmas, but something told her that her boss—her friend—was in trouble.
* * *
Bran nodded politely as he stepped inside Conall’s foyer.
The other Alpha shut the door behind him. “It’s good to see you,” he said going in for a short hug.
Bran thumped the other male on the back once before stepping back. “Likewise. The house looks good,” he said glancing around, somehow keeping a straight face. It was a little bit like Christmas had thrown up inside.
Conall snorted as a grin tugged at his mouth. “It was Rhea’s first time decorating.”
“You guys have been together for a few years,” he said.
“Usually one of the members from my clan goes around and decorates the majority of the houses, but Rhea really wanted to do it herself this year. Pretty sure it will be the first and last year she does.”
Bran laughed out loud, but simply nodded. He knew exactly shit about decorating but even he could tell their house had no theme. There were greens, reds, blues, silver, a mishmash of various Christmas themes. One area in the living room had Santa’s workshop and another was themed The Nightmare before Christmas. And yet another was…what looked like a Christmas circus. It wasn’t ugly, but it was interesting.
He shook himself and said, “I could go for a drink right about now.”
“My man,” Conall said, clapping him once on the shoulder. “I’ve missed you.” They headed into the kitchen as the other Alpha continued, “Where is my sister anyway?”
“Your mother basically kidnapped her after the big fight.”
“Fight?” Then he shook his head. “You know what, never mind. I don’t want to know.”
Yeah, Bran understood that. There were some things Alphas just had to let go. “Anything new with clan matters I should be aware of?” Bran asked as he stepped inside the sleek, modern kitchen that was all stainless steel, white cabinets and marble.
“I’ve been making a few alliances. The ones I’ve told you about, nothing new except…I was contacted by two wolf Alphas I know in passing in the past week. Both of them seemed eager to make alliances with my clan. They were subtle about it but I know the two packs are allies themselves.”
“Which packs?” Bran nodded after Conall named both packs. “I recognize the names. They’ve both been around for a few centuries. Solid packs. Strong wolves for sure. I’ve never heard anything negative about them and that’s saying something.”
“Agreed. I just thought it was odd they both contacted me separately right around the same time. And there was an odd sense of urgency about them wanting to meet with me.”
Bran frowned slightly. “I’ll reach out to some of my contacts. See if there’s something more to the requests than simple alliances.”
“Thanks. How is your clan? Are they okay with you and Keelin missing Christmas?”
“Everyone will miss us. Her more than me,” he said, snorting. “They understand Keelin wants to be with her family. And we all had a big celebration last week.”
“I swear it never gets any easier. Never slows down, does it?”
He gave his brother-in-law a dry look. “Doing black ops work was easier than running a clan and dealing with a hundred-plus different personalities.”
“I’ll drink to that,” Conall said handing him a tumbler of whiskey.
Bran clinked his glass with Conall’s.