Unconditional

Which was totally true.

“Of course. We have to stick together. Especially now. These mages are a danger to us all. I was down the street at our offices, and I admit I wanted to stop by to check in and meet you in person. I spoke to my sister, she’s the Enforcer for Cascadia, they’ve had some missing wolves. We’ve had I guess. I’m still Cascadia in my heart, even though I run my own pack now.” She shrugged, concern on her face.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Owen has been a big help. They think there’s something else at play. Something bigger.”

A shiver roiled through her. “Worse than these mages working with turned witches?” That was hard to imagine, and truth be told, she sort of dreaded the thought of what could be worse than that.

“They’re working on it. Whatever it is. But we’ve put out an order that all our wolves travel in twos or more. Safer to stick together.”

If it scared things that turned into giant wolves who were fast and vicious, what the hell chance did witches stand?

Michelle blew out a breath. “I need to check in at work and then with Pam. She’s been a big help, by the way. Josh, I know you have work to do with your pack, I’m fine on my own.”

Tracy and Josh rolled their eyes in unison.

“Did you both just tag-team eye-roll me?”

Tracy looked to Josh and they both laughed. But a bit of tension threaded the sound. Something wasn’t being said.

“Use my office.” He pointed toward a door to the right of the living room. “I’m not going anywhere. I have a right hand. Damon is perfectly capable of holding down the fort when I’m out with you. If I’m ordering my wolves to travel in twos, do you really think I’d let you go out alone?”

He had a point. But.

“They don’t even know I’m here.”

“Of course they do.” Josh cleared his throat. “Go, make your calls and check in. I’m going to do the same. Tracy and I need to talk about a few things. We’ll talk when you have an idea of what you need to do today.”

She gave him side eye, but let it go. For the time being.

“It was nice to meet you, Tracy.”

Tracy smiled at her. “Me too. I’m sure we’ll see each other again soon. I was just telling Josh we were having a pack dinner tomorrow night. We’re a raucous bunch, but though I’m biased, we’re all pretty fun. And, Gabe, he’s one of my mates, he’s an amazing cook so it’s worth it.”

“Oh. Um. Maybe. Thanks for the invite. I appreciate it.”

“Gina will be there. The other Owen witches who live in the area tend to come to our events. Safety in numbers and they’re hours away from Seattle. I know they’re all excited to meet you. I hear you met Gina yesterday. She’s awesome, isn’t she?”

Michelle was nearing her whoa too much point. So much stuff flying at her at once. She knew her magick began to rise, which was odd because she rarely had this problem at home. Then again, at home she wasn’t really around any Others aside from Allie and her mom. Even Michelle’s mom wasn’t much for working her Craft.

Josh reached out and took her hand, squeezing, and her panic ebbed some. “Go. I know it’s a lot. We’ll talk more later. I’ll bring you some coffee in a bit.”

She nodded and smiled at Tracy as she headed into Josh’s office, closing the door behind herself. She leaned there for a few long moments, getting herself together.

Over ninety-six hours had passed. Four days since Kathy’s call had turned Michelle’s life inside out. Every minute now was a little bit of luck in finding Allie slipping away.

She chose the desk in the room that looked like it was used less and sat, grabbing a nearby pad and pen, and called Roseburg.

She spoke to her boss.

“Anything new?”

“No. Other than the canvass of the apartment complex.” Which she knew about because Michelle had been the one who organized it after all.

Dexter continued on, shuffling papers at his desk as he spoke. “No further sightings. The plates are still on watch, but since the last sighting in Portland there’s been nothing. She hasn’t been seen. Her ATM card hasn’t been used. What about you?”

She sighed. “Nothing else. We did a canvass in an area the SUV was last seen. Portland PD helped with some manpower.” Dexter was a good cop, but he hated shifters. She hadn’t divulged any of the help she’d received from Pacific. He’d been active in a campaign to change hiring practices in city government to ban shifters. On one hand she wanted to tell him all about how much assistance Others had been so she could say, see, they’re good people who help. But reality told her he’d shut down and stop believing anything she said.

“We didn’t find anything. I’m going in today to speak to the guy they took into custody at the scene of the murder in the convenience store the SUV was seen at.”

“Bunch of paranormal violence, that. Probably a shifter. I saw the pictures. Nothing human coulda done that. You just keep out of their business. You think Allie was tied up in it? Could be why she up and got herself taken. Hell, maybe she left with them.”

Her magick rose hard and fast. So hard her esophagus burned and several things rattled in the office around her.

“What did you just say to me?”

Josh burst in, his magick mixing with hers. His wolf shone through his eyes.

She held her hand up to keep him quiet. “Did you just blame the victim of a kidnapping? My best friend?”

“Alls I’m saying is, you get what you get when you go mixing with them what’s causing all this ruckus.”

“With all due respect, sir, Allie was taken against her will. All the evidence we have points to that. Whether or not she was involved with anyone or anything paranormal has absolutely nothing to do with our duty to find her.”

“Sure. You need to come back. You said yourself you haven’t found anything. Let Portland PD keep an eye out. Question the guy and come back to work. There are cases we need you on here. Whether you want to admit it or not, our missing person is just one of many.”

She hung up. Without saying goodbye. She shook so hard, her nails dug into her palms until the scent of blood hit, and Josh was on his knees in front of her, taking her hands.

“What’s going on? Talk to me, Michelle, because I’m about to lose my shit. You already have. What is happening?”

She thought about what to say. Her boss’s prejudices bothered her. Embarrassed her even. It was hard enough on her being a witch, but Josh was a shifter and she didn’t want to hurt him. At the same time, she needed to talk.

“No new clues on Allie. My boss wants me back in Roseburg. I don’t think he cares about Allie at all. He’s… he’s a bigot, and since he’s seen the pictures from the murder at the convenience store, he’s convinced shifters are involved and he’s pretty much written Allie off as a ‘shifter lover’ who gets what she deserves for mixing with Weres.”

He growled. “Are you going back?”

“Not without finding her.”

“Don’t go at all.” He kissed her fists until she relaxed and unclenched. He hissed when he saw the half-moon wounds. He kissed them too. “I know it’s not just me. You feel it too. This connection between us.”

“I don’t know what I feel.”

He locked his gaze with hers. “Liar. You’re too brave to be such a liar, Michelle.”

“Okay, to be honest, I don’t know all the words for all I feel. Yes, there is a connection. But I have a life in Roseburg. I can’t just walk away.”

“Why not? Since I’ve been gone have you and your mom gotten close?”

She snorted. “No.”