16. Oscar

Chapter 16

Oscar

When Daxton came home, he was frazzled. He'd been T-boned at a stoplight, and the car was totaled. He was fine, but his car was a mess.

"You got T-boned and didn't think to call?" I hated that I was mad at him, but I was. He didn't need to go through all that alone. Not when I was one call away. But my mate was stubborn, and there we were with him in my arms after a horrible accident, one that would have seriously injured most people.

What I wanted to do was take him to the hospital, but he reminded me that was a very human thing to do. He assured me he was fine and explained that the reason he got into the accident was, yes, a drunk driver, but more importantly, he was racing home to me because he found something at work. Something that couldn't wait.

While that sounded important, all I cared about was that he was okay. I insisted on giving him a shower, massaging his hair as I washed it, and gently cleaning his body, making sure there were no breaks or bruises. He was visibly shaken, but as I ran my hands over him, checking for injuries, I felt a profound sense of relief wash over me. His body was fine.

Finally, after he was out and dressed in fresh clothes, I asked him about his day.

He told me about finding a list at work. There was a name on it, RIGG, but the way it was listed made it seem like it wasn't a name but rather a title. He couldn't be sure, but another name on the list caught his attention—Gene Nelson. He couldn't remember why it stood out, but something about it bothered him. The name Gene could refer to a person, or it could mean genes, like in biology. With all the genetic manipulation going on in his line of work, that was a troubling thought. The answers he found really weren't answers yet, but they were a bread crumb, and I for one was about following the trail as far as we could.

I was a little confused, trying to piece together what it all meant, though. But then again, what about this meant anything. "What should we do?"

He shook his head, clearly at a loss. "I don't know. I was going to River's Edge to figure it out, but it's kinda late now."

"We can still call." Alden seemed really nice, and he'd want to know about this.

He nodded, grabbing his phone and calling the Alpha, Alden. Alden told him to come right down, saying they were having a pack meeting later that night anyway. So, we drove down together in my car.

Daxton was still a mess, and he tried to actively remember more names on the list, but the accident had frazzled him enough that he only remembered that one.

When we arrived at River's Edge, we went straight to Alden's house. Alden was the pack Alpha and a really nice guy. I didn't really understand all the dynamics of it because, apparently, the pack wasn't just shifters—it was also people, and some of those people weren't even mated to shifters. This went against everything I thought I knew about wolf shifters, which, I supposed, was bound to happen. My knowledge of wolves was pretty much based on romance novels and horror movies, and this definitely wasn't either of those.

Alden greeted us warmly, and I gave him a quick hug.

"Thanks for seeing us, Alden. I had some interesting things happen at work today." Interesting wasn't the word I'd have chosen.

There weren't many people at this pack meeting; it definitely wasn't an all-pack type of affair. There were just a handful of us there. I didn't recognize everybody, but Daxton started to tell Alden about what he found at work and then about the accident.

I watched as Alden stiffened at the mention of the car.

"Are you sure it was an accident?" Alden didn't pull any punches.

"I don't know." Daxton hadn't mentioned this concern to me before, and I had never once suspected it wasn't accidental. But if both Daxton and Alden thought it might not be, then maybe there was more to this than I realized.

"What are the names you remember?" Alden grabbed the back of his neck and sighed.

"Well, the file said RIGG, but that's the first name on the list. And then there was Gene Nelson. G-E-N-E. Does that ring a bell to anybody?"

Everyone in the room shook their heads, but Alden did a quick search on his phone. "There's a Gene Nelson not too far away, if the internet can be trusted." He frowned as he read. "He's in his seventies, lives in isolation…sounds like a recluse."

"Do you think it's worth checking out?" I tried to gauge whether this was the lead we needed or one of probably a million people with that same name.

"It's definitely something to look into." Alden stood up. "We should pay him a visit."

"How about my mate and I go? Having a pack Alpha show up could be pretty intimidating." And by pretty, I meant the kind of intimidation that had you not answering the door, or worse, opening with a shotgun."

"You will have me on speed dial." Alden's command was felt deep in my bones.

"Understood."