Chapter 11

The next morning, when Maya walked into the small conference room where they had arranged to meet, only Garrett and Charles were present, sitting opposite each other at the rectangular conference table. Garrett was swirling in his chair, staring out the window, but he turned to her as soon as she walked in, his gaze unnerving and direct. Charles was on the phone, his head down and hand cupping the cell phone as he listened and took notes with whomever was on the other end. The smell of fresh coffee filled the room, and she beelined for it to delay facing Garrett.

As she stirred the cream and sugar into her coffee, a shadow fell across the counter. "You look tired."

"I haven't slept much over the past few days," she replied without looking up. Her wolf, the traitorous bitch, pushed at her to get closer. She didn't tell him that she slept in his jacket the previous night, that it was the only way she could get to sleep. Having his scent around her soothed her, calmed her wolf, and helped her sleep. She didn't want to dig too deeply into what that meant.

"I'm sorry." He even sounded sincere, but then again, what asshole wouldn't be concerned about the kidnapping of pups?

She turned to face him, tilting her head up so she could see him, the dark brown of his eyes with the faint glow of gold shining in them. "Why? You had nothing to do with it? Or did you?"

"I wasn't even here. I just returned yesterday from my assignment with the Council. How could you think I would do such a thing?"

"Honestly, at this point, I suspect everyone. The longer this drags on with no word, the more I worry about what those babies are going through, and what the teens are dealing with." The worry bled into her voice and her hand shook, coffee sloshing over the edge burning her hand.

She cursed, and he quickly took the cup, grabbing napkins with his other hand and dabbing at the liquid. "We'll find them, Maya. Soon. I promise."

She opened her mouth but, before she could say anything, Charles ended his call. "We have news."

Maya and Garrett headed for the table and sat across from Charles. "Do we know where they are?"

Charles shook his head. "No, but we found rumors of a group of the former Tri-State pack, a group of rogues who refused to join another pack and who disappeared after the war between their pack, Dirigo, and Saranac. I need you to go talk to them, find out if they were involved."

Maya looked around. "What about Caleb and Rafe?"

Charles shook his head. "I needed them somewhere else. Can you two work together or will your pack rivalry get in the way?"

Maya stiffened, but it was Garrett who answered smoothly. "We've got this. Give us the information and we'll head out."

Charles handed them a scribbled address. "They know you're coming, but not what this is about, though I suspect they may have heard. They're in western Connecticut, technically in Dirigo territory, but I get the sense they move a lot."

Maya frowned. "That's not too far from here, just a couple of hours. It's possible they could be involved."

"Or know something," Charles said. "Talk to them. See what they know. I wish Caleb could go with you and see if they were involved, but Maya, you could scent if any of them were at the scene, right?"

She nodded and stood. "We can leave right now. My jeep is outside."

She braced herself for Garrett's argument, but he only stood and followed her outside, getting in the passenger side. Before she started the engine, she reached in the back and dragged his jacket up front.

"I brought your jacket. Thanks for lending it to me." Her wolf protested at letting it go, but she needed to do it or she feared becoming too attached. She could already feel the bond strengthening the more time they spent together. And, if she had his jacket, his scent would settle with her, creating a stronger bond. Or maybe that was his intention?

He took it and folded it on his lap. "Thanks. I forgot how cool it gets up here at night. I've been working in the southern states and it's a lot warmer there."

She plugged the address into her GPS, then headed out of the parking lot and onto the highway. They drove in silence for several minutes, then Maya cleared her throat.

"How did your interviews go?"

Garrett paused for a long moment, as if considering what to say. "About as expected. The enforcers didn't have much to offer beyond denying the allegations, saying they had nothing to do with it."

She snorted. "Of course they would say that."

He stared out the side window as if considering his next words. Or maybe he was that transfixed by the western Massachusetts scenery. Highly doubtful. "But they didn't seem to know the new border."

"Because it's not the border. If they didn't know it, it's because that's Dirigo territory and they weren't supposed to be on it. Who did you speak with?" Garrett named a couple enforcers, and she grunted. "Low level soldiers. They haven't been on this border in months. They're northern soldiers. You need the ones assigned here. Murray, Jones, Dobson, Sanchez, Ellis. They're the ones I run into more often than not. Have you seen them?"

He didn't say anything for a long moment. "What about my cousin, Brandon?"

She flinched. "I stay away from him, as do most of my pack. He rarely runs patrols anyway. Why?"

He shrugged. "Just asking. I'll check on those names. I was told there was a patrol switch, and that is fairly common along the border."

"News to me. These have been the same soldiers I've been dealing with for the past few years. And I could swear I scented Murray and Dobson at the scene."

* * *

Fuck. His father had lied again, if Maya could be believed. Should he believe her over his own pack? Just because she was his mate didn't mean she was automatically right. She could be mistaken. There was no way she came across all members of his pack on a regular basis. They could easily rotate enforcers and she would not be aware of it, unless her pack spied more closely on Saranac than they implied, which meant they may have triggered this incident with an act of aggression, not that attacking pups was ever an appropriate retaliation. It could have all been a misunderstanding, though.

Or maybe it was the Tri-State pack members, now gone rogue, causing trouble between the packs.

Until they knew more, he didn't want to speculate. But, since he had Maya as a captive audience, his wolf needed to know something. His hands were buried in his jacket, and he could smell her scent all over it. That made sense since she wore it the previous day, but it seemed more saturated than if she had just worn it for a couple of hours at the scene. Her scent was embedded in the fibers, like she had worn it for hours, and he wondered why.

Her black coffee drizzled with rum and a hint of sugar for sweetness scent twined around him, teased his senses. It triggered the mate bond, inciting the frenzy, driving his wolf mad, goading him to claim her. But the time wasn't right, may never be right for them. Yet, she had worn his jacket, had wanted his scent near beyond the time when she needed the warmth. So, on some level, his scent soothed her.

"Are we going to talk about the bond?"

"Nope," she shot back almost before he finished the question.

"Why not? No one is around to hear us. This is the perfect time."

She veered the jeep off the highway suddenly to a small rest area that was little more than a pull off for tired truck drivers. There was nothing there beyond an out building with bathrooms and a few trucks whose drivers were sleeping off the long drive. She slammed the jeep into park and got out, stalking toward the forest.

Cautiously, he followed her, not sure what was going on. "Maya? Are you planning on killing me and leaving my body in the woods?"

She gave him a fake smile, all teeth and no humor. "Hilarious. No, you wanted to talk, so talk."

He sucked in a breath. Okay then. "I think we've always known we're mates. Now that we're together again, the bond has ignited."

She stared at him, her arms folded tightly across her chest, her gaze hostile. "So? I've always like chocolate cake. I couldn't have it every day as a kid because my mom said no. As an adult, I can do what I want but, newsflash. I still don't have it every day. You know why?"

He eyed her warily, not sure where this was going. "No, why?"

"Because it's bad for me. Just like you are. A Dirigo and a Saranac wolf can never work. We're enemies. Our packs hate each other. And I'm too dominant to be the submissive little she-wolf your pack likes."

He stepped forward. "That's not true. My uncle was in favor of our mating. He thought you would make a strong mate, a worthy one."

She froze, growing so still that she resembled a statue. "You told your uncle about our bond?"

He stopped, sensing the need to backpedal. "No, he suspected it and asked me about it. I denied it but he saw me try to protect you at the first meeting and he thought that confirmed there was something between us. He said he would welcome you to Saranac."

She snort laughed. "Sure. Like he would let me be an enforcer there."

Garrett shuffled his feet. "Would you want to once you're mated? What if you got pregnant? Wouldn't it be dangerous for the pups?"

"Female wolves hunt and fight until they give birth. I would modify my duties as appropriate when it's time. I would never put my pups in jeopardy. But I've worked too hard for my accomplishments to leave them all behind. Would you expect me to?"

He heard the tone of hurt in her voice, and it felt like a sucker punch to his gut. "Of course not. I wouldn't want you to be anything or anyone you're not. I don't want to change you."

She smiled a little sadly at him. "You understand I can't join Saranac, right? I'd never fit in. They would never accept me for who I am, never let me be who I am."

He sighed. She was right, even as he had hoped it could be different. "Dirigo will never accept me, either. I'm too close to Saranac"s leadership."

She shook her head sadly. "We need to step back from this. It can never work."

He stepped forward until she was forced to look up at him. "Then why don't I give a fuck?"