12. Mason

Chapter twelve

Mason

T he tension in the room was high as Derek and I sat across from Sam, Ryan, Mai, and Waylen in my office at Shaw Investigations. Derek sat with his arms crossed, his gray eyes scanning the room. Sam, his twin, leaned back in his chair, his shoulder-length brown hair falling over his brown eyes, so different from Derek's disciplined appearance.

Mai sat next to her mate, looking grim. She was friends with Shya and knew what it meant that Tristan had taken her. Ryan had his arm draped protectively over the back of Mai's chair. Waylen fidgeted restlessly in his seat, ignoring Derek's scowls. Derek liked calm. Waylen was anything but calm; most days, he was more like an excited puppy.

My usually tidy space was now cluttered with maps, notes, and empty coffee cups. We'd been here for hours, going over everything we knew about Tristan. I would stop at nothing to find Shya, but right now, we had fairy fuck all.

Ryan and Mai had turned up two hours ago to help, but even they were just as frustrated as I was.

Ryan leaned forward. "There's nothing here. Tristan's covered his tracks too well."

"Er, hell no!" Waylen frowned, adjusting his glasses. "No one defeats Waylen the Wizard! Especially not an ass-eating dickhead like Tristan."

Mai raised her eyebrows at Waylen, a small smile playing on her lips. "An ass-eating dickhead?"

He waved her comment away. "I'm searching for him; that means I get to call him what the hell I want."

Mai raised her hands in surrender, her dark hair falling over her shoulders. "Sure thing, Waylen."

My fist clenched on the armrest of my chair. "We're running out of time. Who knows what that fucker is doing to her."

Sam shifted in his seat. "We'll find her, Mase. We won't stop until we do."

I looked at him for a moment. "We? You forgetting something?"

He tilted his head, his brown hair falling into his eyes. "We won't stop until we're dead?"

"As much as I appreciate the sentiment, you're leaving for the Wolf Council today."

This year, it had been the Three Rivers' turn to nominate someone for the Wolf Council, the body that oversaw and enforced our laws, maintaining the peace between werewolves and with the humans. Mai had told them Sam would be representing our Pack, and he was supposed to meet Talia Johnson in eight hours.

"Fuck the Council! I'm here until we bring Shya back."

Ryan glanced at Mai, then over to Sam, his blue eyes serious. "While I agree that the Council can go fuck themselves, we can't afford to piss them off right now. You don't show, and we'll have half the Council and their enforcers on our doorstep tomorrow morning."

"Ryan's right," I said, though the words tasted bitter on my tongue. Having Sam by my side would have been a comfort, but I knew we had to play this smart. "We need you on the inside, figuring out who the mole who was working with Brock is. They might have information on Tristan."

Brock and Tristan had been plotting together for months, and now that Brock was dead, it was possible the mole was still in contact with Tristan.

Sam locked eyes with me. "I don't like it," he said, "but I get it. I'll start digging around at the Council, see what I can find."

Ryan lifted his chin in approval. "Good. We'll work on it this end."

I turned to Ryan and Mai, my eyes serious. "I appreciate the help, I really do, but the Pack needs you both right now, more than ever."

Mai's brow furrowed. "This is our priority, Mason. Everything else can take a back seat right now."

Derek sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Mase is right. The attack on the Pack by Korrin and the battle with Brock have everyone on edge. They need to see their Alphas, to know that you're here for them, that you'll keep them safe."

Ryan's jaw tightened, his eyes flashing. "We can do both."

"It's not just about protection. It's about stability, about showing them that even in the face of this crisis, the Pack is strong, united. You can't go off hunting right now." Derek leaned back. "Besides, Mase has me. And with me by his side, who else does he need?"

Mai's eyes sparkled with amusement. "The Mason and Derek show, huh? Tristan won't know what hit him."

Derek grinned, his muscular frame relaxing slightly. "Damn right, he won't. We'll show him what happens when you go up against the Shaw brothers."

I turned to Waylen, who had been uncharacteristically quiet, his fingers flying over the keyboard of his laptop. "Waylen, tell me you've got an idea, something, anything, on how to find Tristan or where he might have taken Shya."

Waylen's shoulders slumped, his frustration evident as he looked up from the screen. "It's like that fuckhead vanished into thin air. But I've got some more trails to go down. No one beats me, Mason, no one. I'll get him."

I felt a wave of disappointment wash over me, but I refused to let it show. We had to keep pushing, keep searching. "Keep at it. Check everything, no matter how small."

Mai's eyes lit up with a sudden thought. "What about AJ? The bear Shifter working for Tristan?"

I frowned, trying to recall what we knew about AJ. "What about him?"

"AJ's not working for Tristan by choice. Tristan has his mate hidden away somewhere, using her as leverage to force AJ to do whatever Tristan tells him to do."

Derek raised his eyebrows. "So, if we can find AJ …"

"We might be able to get him to turn on Tristan, give us the information we need," I finished, a glimmer of hope sparking in my chest.

Mai nodded. "Exactly."

"It's worth a shot. If AJ can lead us to Tristan, it could be the break we need. And we've come up with fuck all else in the last few hours."

"You'll need to be careful, Mase," Ryan said. "AJ's not just any bear Shifter. He's cursed; his bear is insane. When he Shifts, he has no control. His bear just wants to destroy anything and everything in his way."

Mai nodded, her expression grim. "Ryan's right. Dealing with AJ is dangerous. You'll need to be cautious, find a way to get through to him without triggering his bear."

Waylen, who had been tapping away at his keyboard, suddenly sat up straight. "Guys, I might have something. I've been tracking bear sightings ever since Mai's last run-in with AJ—I wanted to make sure he wasn't heading here. There was a bear sighting in the forest near Ayer's Cliff just a few hours ago."

"Ayer's Cliff? It's not known for having a bear population."

"Precisely. A good place for a bear Shifter to hang out undisturbed. Plus, the bear matches the description that Mai gave me."

Derek caught my eye. "It's a start. We can head out there, see if we can pick up AJ's trail."

I nodded, already mentally preparing for the journey ahead. "Agreed. If we can find AJ, I'll get him to talk. I'll get him to lead us to Tristan." No matter what it took.