"Jesse Honeyford," Leo recited. "Thirty-six years old, technically an enforcer for the Goldfang Stalker pack, more like Alpha Molin’s favorite fixer. Womanizer, and, unless I miss my guess completely, the man that the Goldfang Alpha sends out to do some pretty nasty dirty work. I don't know what, but he sure seems to travel. And he hits up the bars every time he goes anywhere, sleeps with as many women as he can, then leaves town without a word to anyone. Again, I have no proof, but if that man doesn't have blood on his hands, I'd be shocked speechless."
"Hell."
"Yeah, pretty much. Tamika tell you her theory? It's not the wildest thing I've ever heard. Does Kaylee scent like a wolf?" Leo asked.
“Yes, faintly. When we first met, the stench of the wolves I was fighting and the Lathams' terror was pretty much all I could detect. Kaylee is a remarkable young lady, and stayed calm the whole way here, but I could tell that she was frightened. Of the wolves, for her aunt who had collapsed, and of where I was taking them both. She did not truly relax until Jake got hold of her."
Leo chuckled. "I love that kid. Jake is the absolute best. He’s going to be a real force in a few years.“
"I agree. Kaylee is rather special, as well. I think that Jake will see to Kaylee's wellbeing. They have become fast friends."
Leo's eyes sparkled and he propped his chin in his hand, peering through the screen. "And what about Kaylee's aunt? You get this look on your face every time you mention her."
"Faith is a remarkable woman," Aldric said. Even he could hear the defensiveness in his voice, not that he could stop it, apparently. "She put herself at risk to protect Kaylee from the wolves, and then did the same for me. She has accepted the reality of our clan with grace. She has been strong and courageous throughout this whole ordeal. I know that she is terribly worried about her sister, but she doesn't let Kaylee see her fear. And she did an excellent job of dressing my wounds last night."
"Mmmm hmmmm," Leo said, grinning. "I can't wait to meet her. Shall I tell Dad that we're having a family dinner soon?"
Aldric grumbled under head breath and Leo laughed merrily.
"What?"
"Just I haven't seen you dodging like this since, lord. The eighties? Even then I’m pretty sure you didn’t blush like that. Have you asked her out yet?" Leo continued to grin.
Aldric simply sent his cousin a glare through his laptop's camera.
"Okay, okay, fine. I’ll lay off. But still. It's nice to see you interested in someone. I know you got discouraged, but you're young still. Live a little," Leo said.
"I live every day, thank you. And I don't need romantic advice from someone who barely leaves their computer," Aldric sniffed. "Now then. Do you have any idea where this Jesse Honeyford is at the moment?"
Leo sighed. "No. Unfortunately. I've identified the guy with him in that surveillance photo, though. He's a friend of Jesse Honeyford's and seems to be a henchman-in-training. Not an enforcer for the Goldfangs but just on the edge of it. One of Jesse’s personal crew of thugs.“ Leo looked up from the tablet he was reading off of with a worried look now. "If we go up against these guys, then we may be risking a war with the Goldfangs. Jesse is one of the alpha's closest buddies and favorite thugs.”
"Well, if Tamika is right, and I suspect that she is, then Jesse is going to try to claim Kaylee as his own for some reason. Too bad he's too late. Marc has claimed both Faith and Kaylee and has scented them both as Frostwalker Clan members. Honeyford doesn't strike me as the nurturing kind, though. Why would he be after a child, whether or not he fathered them?"
"No, he's not especially nurturing. He's got a wife, though, and she seems to want a kid. And..." Leo grimaced, flicking a glance up to look at Aldric.
Leo's reluctance to finish his thought did not sit well with Aldric. "What else?"
Leo took a breath and scowled. "The alpha has been trying to produce a son, apparently. He is actually on record saying that it's too bad that Jesse doesn't have a sister he could marry, to get some of the Honeyford DNA in his own kid. Then he said it might be for the best after all, since Greg was– and I'm quoting here– as close to a sister as Jesse had. The conversation devolved from there and I'm not going to repeat it." The expression of disgust the scowl had turned into told Aldric all he really needed to know.
"How long has this man been the Alpha of the Goldfang Stalkers?"
"About fifteen years. He seems to have groomed Jesse for the position he's in now as a fixer. Alpha’s one of those who wants to 'return to the old ways' without either understanding those ways or what they were trying to accomplish. He became Alpha by combat," Leo said. "Killed the previous Alpha and left him in the woods for the scavengers. Those who don't like him have either run away to claim sanctuary in other packs or have kept their heads down. Or they've disappeared."
"How did Greg manage to get away?" Alric frowned.
"Couldn't say. I'd guess that Jesse has some sense of family, despite everything, and maybe he's protected his brother? It's the only guess I have." Leo shrugged. “Nobody is a completely evil scumbag. Well, very, very few anyway.”
"So," Aldric leaned back in his seat. "We suspect that Miss Kaylee is– biologically speaking and in no other way– Jesse Honeyford's daughter. Honeyford, therefore, is here following her in order to take her back to his pack to be raised by his wife for whom I have a great deal of sympathy."
"Don't have too much sympathy.
