“She just left?”
“Felix kept asking her what she was running from, and she wouldn’t say. He wasn’t comfortable letting her in our territory without knowing what was after her. When she came onto our lands, she came in from the south, and one of our wolves said he caught her scent on the north end, so we think that’s where she went, but Margo…I can’t get her out of my head.” I scribbled that down on a piece of paper.
“She’s headed towards Caddy’s pack,” I noted aloud.
“Cadence? Your friend? Maybe he could help her, or at least keep her there until Theo can question her, and you both can help her,” she suggested. Joella sounded worried and exhausted.
“I’ll give him a call, thank you, Joella. I can’t imagine how worried you are.”
“Just, please find her. I don’t know what kind of trouble she’s in, but she might end up seeking help from the wrong kind of people. You and Theo need to find her,” she told me desperately.
“We will,” I agreed, halfway certain we could never find a lone wolf running across the continent.
“We’ll talk soon, okay?” she promised.
As I hung up, I noticed Theo standing near the door. I smiled nervously.
“How would you feel about going on a scavenger hunt?”
Interruption
My legs were shaking, knees clacking together, as Theo drove us towards Caddy’s pack. I bit my lip to hide my excitement and stared out the window. Theo’s warm hand reached over and landed on my thigh just above my knee.
“You a little excited there?” he teased. I snickered, and my cheeks blushed a faint pink.
“I just haven’t seen Caddy since the fight, and he left so quickly after.” Theo nodded. We hardly spoke about the fight or anything about that day.
“Well then, this will be a nice visit.” He bobbed his head. I tucked my hand under his on my knee and fiddled with the stereo until the cd player turned on.
The drive was long. The last time we had driven this far was when Theo first took me from the pack. I never realized how long it was, probably because I was trying not to look up from my muddy shoes.
We stopped a few times along the way, for the bathroom, and for our growing appetites. By the time we reached Caddy’s pack, it was the middle of the night.
Caddy stood at the entrance to the packhouse with Bodhi and his mother behind him. I threw the door open in excitement and tried to stop myself from running over to them.
Caddy’s boyish laughter greeted me, and I launched myself into his open arms. I let go after I heard a soft but palpable growl from Bodhi. I looked down sheepishly and searched for Theo, who was approaching with our bags.
“Good to see you again.” Caddy stuck out his arm. Theo set a bag down and clasped arms with him.
“Likewise,” he said formally.
“Come on in,” Caddy invited us, and we walked into the packhouse I grew up in. “Margo, you remember my mother and Jax; he’s the Beta now.”
I peeked at Jax through the corner of my eye. He was one of the bigger wolves, always glaring at me when I walked around the house. I didn’t know how to talk to him now that I was a wolf, too.
“Margo,” Mrs. Delphine bit out painfully. “Nice to see you, dear. And your mate, as well.” Caddy had mentioned she blamed Theo and me for the death of her brother, Dorian. Apart from that, Mrs. Delphine never held much room in her heart for me.
“Thank you, Mrs. Delphine,” I said with a fond smile.
“We’ll talk more in the morning, but for now, I’ll let you get settled in.” Caddy left us at the door of a guest room, pinching my arm as he walked toward his mate. I grimaced and rubbed where he pinched me.
I opened the door to the large room. It was nothing like my old room, that was another floor up. I set my bag on the bed and fished out some pajamas.
Theo found the bathroom and retrieved our toothbrushes. We both collapsed on the soft bed from exhaustion.
“Do you think Saskia is in any real trouble?” I wondered out loud. I felt Theo shrug.
“She’s been running from pack to pack, no one does that if they’re just looking for their mate. The correct protocol would be to inform all the packs you’re planning on visiting and wait for consent from the Alpha. And what about the supposed women she was traveling with; where are they?”
I nodded and began thinking of dozens of possibilities.
“Theo, what if she already knows who her mate is, but she doesn’t know where he is,” I pondered. “She said she was looking for her mate, not that she hadn’t found him yet. And maybe the other women found their mates and are with them.”
Theo rolled onto his side and settled his hand in the crook of my neck.
“How’d you get to be so smart?” His tone was teasing, but also complimenting me at the same time. I blushed and pursed my lips.
“It’s a natural gift.” I smirked, leaning into the warmth of his hand.
“I guess we’ll see tomorrow. If our calculations are correct, she should be passing through mid-morning.”
“Well then, we better get some sleep,” I concluded. He agreed though we stayed up for a while talking. Each time my eyes closed, he tickled the back of my neck, and my eyes shot open again.
“Go to sleep,” I said through gritted teeth. I had turned away from Theo, scooting to the edge of the bed, trying to fall asleep.
“No, I like bugging you,” he said chuckling. His hands pulled the warm covers off my body. I held onto them and was pulled upward.
“Come on, Theo, please?” I begged, looking at him with sad eyes.
“Fine,” he grumbled
