Ash
Ash sat at his desk and rubbed his stomach. Clover had made a mountain of pancakes with bacon and eggs for them. His wolf rumbled in the back wanting to go on a run instead of working. I need to find the pups. The computer finally turned on and the brown W logo on the bottom corner popped up. The software he had been using for the last few weeks waited for him to click on it. Trying to track down the fucking hunters kidnapping kids had been a royal bitch.
Images of having Clover in his room rolled around in his mind thanks to his wolf and Ash shook his head. I need to focus, damn it, he reminded his beast, but the fucker didn’t care and pushed ideas of different places to take her into his thoughts. One of the images was on the very desk he tried to work at. Come the fuck on! There’s not enough room. He hoped it would stop his wolf, but it only spurred him on more as in his fantasy he shoved all the computer crap onto the floor before fucking Clover from behind.
Ash let the images play out and when he opened his eyes, his cock was harder than freaking steel. Happy now? His beast chuckled. Ash stared at the dark monitors and rolled his shoulders.
His set up had two screens for better multitasking, so he pulled up the software for the wolfbase and let it load. While it took its sweet time, he faced the other computer and after a few clicks of his mouse, had Clover’s social media profiles all pulled up. He liked how all of them had the privacy settings fully engaged. Tara had tagged her in a few photos from college which weren’t covered because Ash was friends with the wolf.
“Ash?” Patrick’s little voice called out as he opened the door.
“What?” Ash didn’t turn to look at the little guy. Instead of answering, the pup climbed up into his lap and pointed at the picture of Clover.
“She was pretty with those colors.” Patrick pointed at one of the pictures where her curls had blue and purple. The brightness of her smile made his wolf rumble.
“Yes, she was.” A small bark vibrated through the speakers as the database loaded up. Whoever found the little noise to be amusing deserved a punch in the face. “I need to get to work. Go find Clover and play.” Ash lifted Patrick up and set him on the floor. Tempting as getting lost on social media was, he clicked on the x to close the browser. He didn’t want to start scrolling through social media and lose track of time.
He scrolled down to the satellite maps and clicked on the link. The wolfbase held pack information, news alerts, and the map section he’d been working with for the last few months. The pack information section had been a mess for a while until someone thankfully stepped in, making all the information flow easier instead of a million packs all listed on the same page.
When the current map page loaded, he sensed Patrick hovering by the door.
“What?” Ash kept his focus on the screen instead of the pup.
“Read to me,” Patrick pleaded.
“I can’t right now.” Ash dragged his mouse around the pad and spotted Rayne’s house when the hunters tried to take Annmarie. His mind raced, trying to figure out a way to track them down because after the attacks they always managed to turn onto a road in the city with a ton of cars and no security cameras. He’d managed to catch a few breaks but the trail died after the damn shacks they took the kids to.
Scanning each screenshot, hoping they stayed on the same road, had been a freaking nightmare. He’d lost them in neighborhoods a few dozen times because of all the parked cars and those coming and going. The satellite overview pictures were only so good. If he zoomed in too much, the pictures became pixelated and useless. They managed to keep falling off the grid which only pissed him off every time it happened.
“But,” Patrick whimpered. Ash turned to face the pup who jumped back.
“I have to work to keep you safe, Patrick. Now go ask Clover to read to you.” Ash pointed toward the door to make his point extra clear. He faced his desk while Patrick shuffled away.
He checked the time before refocusing on the screen. After a few clicks, his wolf shook his head inside when he had to back up to find them again.
“Ash?” The pup’s voice grated on his nerves.
“Patrick,” he growled back.
“She finished the story.” Patrick ran up to his side and Ash checked the time. Less than five fucking minutes since Patrick came into the room. He shoved his hands through his hair.
“Go ask Clover to play outside in the back,” he suggested, and Patrick scrambled from the room. Ash rolled his shoulders and scanned the screen for the last spot he verified the hunters were. Found it.
“She wants to know if it’s safe!” Patrick called out, ruining Ash’s focus again and the screen kept scrolling up. He ground his teeth.
“As long as you stay in the backyard.” Ash wanted to close the door and lock it. When Patrick left this time, he stared at the door, waiting for the little boy’s feet to return with another question. How on earth is this going to fucking work? Ash needed to do his job but having a little one bug him every few minutes broke his concentration so badly it felt like he started over when his eyes returned to the screen.
Most of his leads were from sightings about odd activity reported from the team or the patrols. But hardly any of them panned out, only the trails from the kidnapping days managed to get him farther. And yet they kept slipping away undetected.
Ash zoomed out on the map then refocused on Patrick’s old house and adjusted the day to when Clover saved him. A little dot leaving the house was Clover holding Patrick. The four-minute delay to the next slide always pissed him off. So much could happen in fucking four minutes. He zoomed out just enough to find Clover again and clicked on the next slide. Tracking individual people was harder on this system because it didn’t give much detail and the images were always pixelated
When Jaiden had been over helping him a few weeks ago, he said it reminded him of Google Maps with an up-to-date street view program. Ash wondered if the creator of the system had bought the software from Google or even been the one to create it.
“Ash?” Patrick called out and Ash’s shoulders dropped.
“Patrick, what do you need?” He let go of the mouse, so he didn’t accidentally hit a button.
“Actually, I was trying to wait for you to stop clicking to call your name but he’s impatient. Sorry to bug you. I wanted to see if you needed anything.” Clover’s calm voice helped relax his wolf.
“Just some quiet time.” He glanced back at his mate to find Patrick at her side.
“That’s pretty hard with a little guy in the house.” Clover smirked and lifted Patrick into her arms.
“Well, he needs to learn that this room is just for me to work. Not for playing.” He motioned toward the area and his wolf pushed the image of taking Clover on the desk back into his mind. No, this room is for work. Not play.
“He’s also scared to do anything without you or me,” Clover snapped back.
“Then what’s your solution?” He folded his arms over his chest and turned his chair to fully face her.
“Take me and Patrick to Tara’s house. We can hang out till you’re done working. We’ll be safe with her and you can work in peace.” His mate adjusted the pup and he smiled and nodded quickly.
“Tara’s cool.” Patrick bounced in Clover’s arms. The idea had merit, but his wolf didn’t want them out of the house.
“Or you could keep being interrupted every few minutes.” A smirk lifted her lips and he ground his teeth together. He hated losing his damn focus because Patrick needed something.
“Let’s go to Tara’s house.” Ash logged out of the system so no one would be able to get in. Even the log-in had to be memorized because the wolf community didn’t want anyone to be able to get the information who shouldn’t. Like the blasted hunters taking the children. Just last week, Raymand had to change the password, every alpha had two months of access with the same password so they were heavily rotated through. Ash thought it should be weekly changes but Raymand pushed the idea to the side. ‘I don’t have time to change the thing every freaking week,’ Had been the alpha’s response the last time Ash brought it up.
“I did try to keep him out but he’s persistent.” Clover nibbled on her lower lip before walking away. Ash snatched his phone from the desk and followed them.
“Did you tell Tara you’re coming? I don’t want him over when someone else is there.” Tara had a reputation of being overly flirty with men in general and a complete handful.
“Tara doesn’t bring guys home. She makes them go to their house, for your information.” Clover shook her head. “And to answer your question, I asked if she was free before I suggested it.”
“Good.” Ash nodded. The sooner they left the house the sooner he could get back to work on hunting down the fuckers putting Patrick and his mate in danger. The failure of not getting them sooner ate at his soul with every passing day.