13. Chapter 13

Chapter thirteen

T he elevator doors opened to reveal a packed lobby and Ethan Tremblay. The Northwestern local occupied the same spot he had when I first arrived. I made a hard left toward the main door instead of the bar in hopes of avoiding him, but it was too late. He caught sight of me the moment I stepped off the elevator and cut his conversation with the front desk clerk short.

I took a deep breath and counted to ten. The guy gave me the heebie-jeebies, but he had stepped up when Benjamin put out a call for wolves to assist in tracking the rogue after I’d been shot.

The least I could do was be polite.

“Lina.” Ethan strolled across the ceramic tiles with his hand extended in greeting.

“Mr. Tremblay.” I took his hand, inwardly cringing at his use of my nickname— a privilege he hadn’t earned.

“Please, call me Ethan.” He turned my hand in his and brought my knuckles to his lips, brushing them with a kiss.

“Only if you’ll call me Caroline.” I slipped my hand from his and wiped it against the side of my leg.

“Ah, a term of endearment. I wasn’t aware.” His gaze flicked down to his empty hand and back up to me. “Please, accept my apologies. Let me by you a drink to make up for it.”

“Rain check.” I said, with no intention of ever cashing it in. “I’m meeting someone.”

“So, the challenge has begun.” Ethan spared a glance back at the bar.

“This isn’t the bachelorette.” I sidestepped out of his path. “Contenders aren’t here to speed date. If a wolf signs up, he better be prepared to fight.”

“Oh, I will be, Caroline.”

The wicked glint in Ethan’s eyes when he walked away was enough to put him on my wolves to watch out for list. After the announcement, I divided wolves into two categories, those that were a threat and those that weren’t. Ethan Tremblay was without a doubt the former. I made a mental note to give Lucas and Gabe a heads up.

That is, if I managed to convince Gabe to sign up for the challenge. I wasn’t sure there was enough alcohol on the premises to make that happen.

I saddled up to the bar and ordered two Kamikazes. When the bartender returned with the bottle of vodka and a shot glass, I grabbed them both, followed Gabe’s instructions and took a seat at the booth in the back.

Gabe had the demeanor of the unassuming guy down pat, but I knew better. I’d seen him in action. He was strong—mentally, and physically. He had a dangerous combination of book and street smarts that made me glad he was on my side and not that of my enemies. I didn’t know what triggered his break from his pack. I’d wait for him to tell me, but whatever it was must have been bad.

“Who’s Tremblay to you?” Gabe slid into the two person bench seat across from me and poured himself a shot.

“A nuisance.” I refilled my glass and held it out for a toast.

“What are we toasting?” Gabe looked puzzled over the private celebration.

“Dr. Bennett.” I clinked my double shot glass against his. “He was a nice guy. He didn’t deserve whatever happened to him.”

“I thought you said he was murdered.” Gabe’s brow furrowed. He set his empty glass on the table.

“He was. They just haven’t found his body yet.” I explained and poured him another before refilling mine.

I wasn’t much of a drinker, but my rapid werewolf metabolic rate made up for the learning curve. It would take a lot more than a handful of shots to get either of us drunk.

“You’re in danger, Lina.” Gabe slammed the shot back and set the empty glass upside down on the table. “This rogue, he’s not fucking around. At first, I thought he was after the reward, but I think he’s becoming obsessed.”

“So, you don’t think he’ll enter the challenge? Too much of a risk?” I asked curious to hear Gabe’s profile of the rogue wolf.

“No, he’ll enter. The challenge excites him and gives him an opportunity to kill with impunity.” Gabe took a deep breath, flipped the glass back over and poured himself another shot. “Make no mistake, Lina, if things don’t go his way … I think he’d rather kill you than let someone else have you.”

“You got all that just from following him here?” I took the wedge of lime from inside the glass and bit the pulp clean off the rind.

“This is what I do.” He shook his head. “Did. Past tense.”

“But here you are.” I raised my glass in cheers to him before downing another shot.

“Against my better judgment.” Gabe twisted the cap on the bottle and waved the cocktail waitress over, waiting for her to clear the table before continuing. “I can’t believe I’m sitting in a bar on national pack lands with a Redford.”

“Something tells me stranger things have happened.” I shrugged. “They have for me. Besides, the Redford name doesn’t carry as much weight as it used to. Just don’t tell my mother I said that. She’s pissed enough at me as it is.”

“Based on the challenge, I beg to differ.” One corner of Gabe’s mouth upturned in a lopsided smile.

It looked good on him. I surprised us both when I told him so.

“You should smile more often.” Apparently, my metabolism wasn’t as fast as I thought, because the filter between my brain and my mouth was definitely impaired.

“I’m going to ask a huge favor of you, Gabe and I need you to promise me you’ll really think about it before you answer, okay?” When he nodded, I laid it on him. “I want you to sign up for the challenge.”

“I already did.” His foot brushed my ankle as he leaned against the back of the booth.

“You did?” My stomach did another flip. “What pack are you aligned with? Don’t tell me it’s the same territory Ethan’s in.”

“No. Not all of us are lucky enough to be welcomed home with open arms.” Gabe shrugged it off, but the sullen look in his eyes said his past haunted him.

“You call this open arms?” I couldn’t stop the laughter that bubbled up. “If being kicked out of your family home and being slapped in the face after being publicly disowned is open arms, I’d hate to see what you think qualifies as shunned.”

“So, things are going that well, huh?” Gabe chuckled. “No wonder you need my help.”

“Would you be offended if I said the fact that you’re a lone wolf played a major role in that?” I asked, worrying at my bottom lip.

“Coming from a fellow disperser?” Gabe winked. “Not at all.”

“So, you’re a long way from home.” I said, stating the obvious.

Gabe used to belong to a pack in the Northwestern territory. I had worked that much out on my own. He’d fill in the rest when he was ready. Much like I filled in the awkward silence that fell between us.

“I wanted to go cross country, see the Rockies and the Grand Canyon, but I never made it further than Tennessee.” I gave a half-smile. “You’ll have to tell me about it sometime.”

“I didn’t do much sightseeing.” Gabe shifted in his seat.

“Yeah, me either.” I tried to redirect our conversation back to the present where Gabe seemed more comfortable. “So, which territory did you sign up under?”

“Southeastern. I met with T.J. earlier today.” Gabe cleared his throat. “It makes the most sense and explains why I’ll be hanging around the pack lands. More than any of the other contenders anyway.”

“You move fast. I was surprised you even knew about the challenge, never mind having signed up for it.” Though I had a sneaking suspicion of what happened.

“I have an inside man.” Gabe replied, confirming my suspicion.

“Lucas.” I all but growled his name. “And when were the two of you going to let me in on this little conspiracy?”

“Once I got settled.” Gabe shrugged. “You sort of upped the timeline when you called.”

“So, you weren’t camped out in the woods when I called? That was just for show?” I would have been mad if I didn’t need and want his help so bad.

“No, I was. Just not for the reason you think.” A mischievous grin broke out on his face. “I was on a stakeout, keeping an eye on Lucas’ boys to make sure none of them screwed up the crime scene while he tracked Dr. Bennett’s scent.”

“Oh, I see.” I managed through gritted teeth.

The depths of their deception started to piss me off.

“Lucas was supposed to talk to you when he got back.” Gabe held his hand up in a placating gesture. “Things are moving fast, Lina. You have to trust us.”

“That’s a little hard to do when you’re orchestrating shit behind my back, Gabe.” My voice went up a notch and I dialed it back in. “Don’t mistake asking for help as weakness. You and Lucas might see me as dainty princess that needs to be kept safe, locked away in a tower, but let me make something crystal clear here, okay? I slay my own fucking dragons.”

“There was never a doubt in my mind.” Gabe tried to smooth things over. “We weren’t trying to cut you out.”

“Oh, no?” I asked, glaring at him. “Well, he was pretty convincing when he said you wouldn’t agree to help me when I told him I wanted to call you.”

“Lucas messaged me while you were in the council meeting.” Gabe had the decency to at least look remorseful for his part in the charade. “I was close by, trying to pick up the rogue’s trail and things just sort of fell into place from there.”

It was hard to stay mad at him considering things had worked out how I wanted, but I did my best.

Elle King could be heard singing her hit song “Ex’s and Ohs” in a muffled voice through Gabe’s coat pocket. Lucas had impeccable timing and chose that moment to call.

“I tried changing the ring tone.” Gabe’s cheeks took on a ruddy hue.

I just smiled and offered no assistance in fixing it while he answered the call and let Lucas know he was being put on speaker.

“Hey, Lucas.” I greeted him with a chipper voice. “How’s your day going?”

“I’ve had better.” He sounded hesitant.

“It’s about to get a whole lot worse.” I said, only half joking.

“Lina, hear me out. Gabe and I were just—”

“Nope. I heard his side of it and that’ll do for now.” I heard his sigh of relief when he made the incorrect assumption that he was off the hook. “But there will be repercussions, Lucas. You won’t know when or how I will exact my revenge, but I will have it.”

“So, I should sleep with one eye open?” Lucas teased, but there was a hint of concern in his voice.

I’d gone a year without speaking to him, cutting him out of my life. I knew that it bothered him. If I could do that once, I could do it a second time.

“I mean, if I were a man in your position …” I replied, teasing him back. My conscience got the better of me and I eased him off the hook. “How’s the search going? You’re still treating it like a rescue, right?”

Color me optimistic. I couldn’t bring myself to give up hope on Dr. Bennett.

Gabe stared at the table as if it were the most interesting thing in the world while he waited for Lucas to break the inevitable news.

“Take me off speaker.” Lucas switched gears and went into tracker mode.

I recognized the tone in his voice.

“You found him.” I said once I brought the phone up to my ear. “He’s got a fifty percent success rate. If we weren’t talking about—"

“Lina.” Lucas said, reminding me that I was in public, and we couldn’t afford for people to overhear a conversation about two murders.

Dr. Bennett didn’t deserve to die any more than my father did. I wanted justice. Not the kind found in a courtroom, but within the pack.

“What’s the official story?” I asked, knowing full well Benjamin would have come up with something other than the truth. “Another hunting accident?”

“Easy, Lina.” Gabe said, interjecting himself back into the conversation over my accusatory tone. He spared a glance over his shoulder to make sure no one was listening to our conversation that shouldn’t be.

“For now. Dad’s prepared a statement. No hunting or shifting off pack land and restricting access to the DNR side of the reserve.”

“Who is this guy, Lucas?” I asked, holding back tears born of anger and sadness.

“I don’t know, but we’re going to find him.” Lucas made a promise that I knew he intended to keep.

My father was Lucas’ mentor and Dr. Bennett was a family friend. The rogue made it personal.

And that was his first mistake.