Chapter Seven
Byron got off the phone, promising to call Seb back as soon as he could.
“Jay, what do you mean?”
“The man, the one who watched me. That was his name.”
“Tobias?”
Jay shuddered at the word, visibly sinking and making himself smaller.
“Describe him.”
Jay blinked.
“Tell me what he looked like,” Byron coaxed. “What he tall or short, dark hair or light?”
Jay struggled to recall more than a few small details, it was clear his memory was hazy, though the fear was clear as day.
“Had he taken others?”
Jay nodded. “That’s how they knew. That why they kept me away from him. But they couldn’t fool him, he was too clever. And the… the rules were on his side.”
Byron hugged him close, unsure what exactly his words meant. Whose rules? Pack law?
“No wonder you’re scared. But it doesn’t change anything. You’re here with me now and the whole of Raventree will fight to keep you here if needs be.”
He shifted Jay in his arms. “Listen, I need to talk to Seb again. I can hear Odin in the kitchen, why don’t you go and join him for some lunch?”
Jay was reluctant but capitulated, climbing off the bed and padding out into the hall. He stopped at the door and looked back at Byron.
“Was Tobias watching Noah? Did he take him?”
“No, but someone else may have given Noah to him. You were very brave to tell me, Jay. Thank you.”
There a flash of a smile at the praise, lightning quick, before a sad frown took its place. Odin called to him and Jay turned away.
Byron turned his attention to the phone in his hand as Jay slipped away, returning Seb’s call.
“Sorry about that, Seb. Who is this Tobias person and where do we find him?”
He listened intently as Seb explained what they knew about the elusive Tobias. A man who raised Omega according to an extremely old and strict form of the Asenian doctrine.
“James and his people have been actively looking for him since Ben and Adam first met them. They’ve heard whispers here and there, have met people who’ve heard the name or who had seen him before but they’ve never met anyone with detailed first-hand knowledge of him. We have no idea where he’s based or if he’s constantly moving around. Both Adam and Luke were severely traumatized by the conditions in which they were raised. Tracking this wolf down isn’t going to be easy, not even with the number of people we can muster. Our best bet is to do so while the trail is still warm and hopefully while he’s still on the move. But, even then, we don’t have a starting point beyond Gray Valley and they’re saying Noah never came anywhere near their land.”
“At this point, it doesn’t matter, does it? They have information that will help us track Noah, even if it’s just telling us where they handed him over. And they must have some way to contact this Tobias. He isn’t a stork, just dropping Omegas into their laps.”
“No,” Seb agreed, “You’re right, there must be a trail. But it sounds like this Tobias is good at hiding his tracks.”
Byron debated for a moment before relinquishing his tight hold on the secrets of Jay’s past.
“We may be able to shed just a little more light on this Tobias figure. Jay was with me during the first call. He recognized the name, that’s why I had to cut the call short.”
“Recognized it? How?”
“He’s been having nightmares about a man from his past. Apparently, this Tobias was the reason Jay was left in the woods. They thought he knew what Jay was and was coming back for him.”
“And they just abandoned him?”
“It seems so. But his memories are hazy, he might be misremembering, clinging to things that he’s heard rather than things he remembers. But his reaction to the name Tobias is difficult to misconstrue, it was very visceral.”
“Do you think you might be able to get more information from Jay? If we found out where he’s from, where he encountered Tobias, it might go a long way to helping us find him. There may be someone there who knows more than we do.”
“I can certainly try, Seb. But I wouldn’t hold out much hope. It’s been over a decade, a decade during which Jay spent most of his time as a wolf. Those memories from before are likely long faded.”
“We have so little to go on, Byron. Right now, any little piece of information would mean a lot.”
“We’ll do our best,” he promised the Alpha.
“Thank you, that’s all I ask,” Seb said. They talked for a few minutes longer, Seb passing on a list of places they were hoping Raventree might be able to send groups to check. Byron was happy to help, especially with something more concrete. Sending people to scout places was easy. Bringing Jay on a journey into the past was going to be very, very hard.