Aldric bit back his first reply and took a deep breath. "A group of rogue wolves broke into a cabin and attacked two humans in Frostwalker Clan territory, and the third human is missing in our town which now scents like strange wolves. It strikes me that this was no random attack. This was a hunting party.“
"And a hunting party of wolves, rogue or otherwise, in our clan's territory is about the last thing we want. What the hell are they after around here, anyway? We haven't bought anything or gotten any new members or anything, have we? They can’t be after the humans.“
"You would know as well as I do, Tamika," Aldric said. "I know you screen everything before I even see the reports.” He sent her a small smile, and she tipped her head in acknowledgement.
"I do my job as your second," she said. "But this is gonna take more than just two of us, if it's as bad as all that. And that Kaylee sounded like a sweetheart."
"She is," Aldric allowed himself a bigger smile. "She is charming, and she is remarkably calm in a crisis, and so brave. She helped me take her aunt out to the truck and followed directions perfectly. After she considered the small issue of trusting a complete stranger that she couldn't even see, since her aunt had instructed her to keep her eyes shut, and she did even after Faith lost consciousness.”
Tamika whistled low and slow. "Damn. I can't wait to meet this kid,"
"Her aunt and her mother are doing a remarkable job of raising her," he frowned, suddenly struck by a thought. "None of them have mentioned her father, not even Miss Kaylee.”
"Huh," Tamika shrugged. "Divorce? Bad breakup? Maybe he's dead?"
"Maybe they're hiding from him? Miss Kaylee does have a very faint scent of wolf about her, but Faith does not."
Tamika hummed under her breath and they rode silently for a few minutes. Finally, Aldric turned onto the access road and after half a mile of pitted dirt road, he stopped his truck and parked in the same place he had just left two hours earlier.
They both got out of the truck and stood at the front bumper, gazing at the modest cabin. There was the lumpy shape of a rogue’s corpse just visible around the side of the cabin, but most concerning, in Aldric's mind, was the small blue Toyota sitting with its door wide open just to the side of the cabin's porch.
There was a bag of groceries on the ground about halfway between the car and the porch steps, split open up the side and spilling cocoa powder and chocolate bars out the side. A carton of eggs had been stepped on and the raw eggs were half congealed in the grass.
"Shit," Tamika muttered and moved to the car, taking care not to step on any more groceries.
Aldric stalked forward himself, sifting through the different scents. His nose wasn't as sharp as Tamika's was, not being a wolf himself, but it was more than good enough to pick out the same scents they'd caught in town. Three wolves, unknown to him, had been here and had clearly taken Christina Latham.
"Gather as much information as you can, but leave everything but the bodies alone. We will take those for disposal," Aldric said, and Tamika nodded sharply. "I will go inside and pack bags for Faith and Kaylee. We will need to come up with a story for them in case the human authorities get involved. And find out what happened to Mia. She was supposed to be here, was she not?”
“Definitely” Tamika said, then she grimaced. "This is going to be a real mess, isn't it?"
Aldric simply growled and flashed his fangs in reply.
7
Faith sat in the kitchen drinking coffee and, after a few minutes, eating apple slices and cheese with the kids who came crashing into the kitchen like a herd of elephants. She and Marc put the discussion on hold by an unspoken agreement when the kids showed up.
Faith was glad for the break, frankly. She wasn't sure how she felt about all this. Sure, she had her own secrets, but finding out that there were so many more things hidden in the world than just her odd little tricks made her more than a little uncomfortable.
"I wish I had my phone," Faith sighed. "I want to call Crissy and make sure she's okay."
"I'm sorry I forgot your phone Aunt Faith," Kaylee said between apple slices. “I forgot you dropped it. I thought it was in your purse."
"It's okay, Kaylee-bee. None of this is your fault, sweetie," Faith reached over and tugged a stray wisp of Kaylee's hair. "You're handling this really well, sweetheart. I'm impressed."
"Mister Aldric said I'm very brave, and good in a crisis," Kaylee said.
"I see. I have to agree with him.“
"You can borrow my phone if you want, or there's a landline phone in my office you can use," Marc said. He was at the counter, chopping something, vegetables piled next to him. "Hey, is there anything you don't eat? I should have asked first."
"Nope, we eat pretty much anything," Faith said.
"Especially chocolate!" Kaylee said, loudly seconded by Jake. Kaylee deflated almost immediately though and looked at Faith. "Will we still make brownies when Mommy gets here?"
"I'm sure we will. We just have to wait, I guess," Faith said.
"Aldric and Tamika will find your mom, don't worry," Marc said. "Until then, how about you finish up that snack there and Jake can show you the play area out back?"
"Oh yeah! It's got a clubhouse an’ a slide an' swings an' everything!" Jake said. He shoved his last apple slice in his mouth and grabbed Kaylee's hand. "Come on come on!"
"Be extra careful out there, Jake! Kaylee, don't let him get away with anything!" Marc called after them.
Faith was
