CHAPTER SIX

Sean and his wolf did not want to leave their mate, but he had to let him go for a while and let him visit his friends. The pull was fierce, and he knew he wouldn"t be able to stay away long. He wondered if the pull was as bad for Lowell. His expression when he dropped him at the hospital looked sad, but he might be reading more into it than was there.

He arrived at the Council house and saw Eamon waiting for him out front. He parked and jogged over to meet him. "I just received some upsetting news." He said when Sean came up to stand beside him.

"What is it?" Sean inquired.

"Murphy"s body has been found on the banks of the river deep in the woods. He was murdered. His throat was torn out, but he was drugged first, according to the doctor." Eamon was both angry and saddened.

"Do they have any leads?"

Eamon shook his head. "The scents in the area were obscured by bear scent, which, as you know, is very pungent. They spread it to cover their own scent after they killed him." He glanced down at the pavement beneath his feet and then back at Sean. "Who are these people that could do such a thing? They aren"t the people I know. They aren"t the people I grew up with."

"What about Jaron and you are they planning to protection for you both?" Sean saw them both as targets.

"Jaron has a few soldiers he hangs around with who volunteered to keep an eye on him, and he is stronger and better capable of fending off an attack than Murphy." He grunted in disbelief. "Jaron will lean on the soldiers, I"m sure. As for me, I told them I would prefer to look out for myself. I don"t want soldiers or enforcers tailing me right now. I don"t trust any of them at the moment except for Noah." Eamon sighed and took a look around. "This mess just keeps getting messier."

"We'll figure it out."

"The meeting with the elders has been postponed. I"m going to meet Noah at the coffee shop over there." He pointed at the Coffee Cup, a small shop across the street. I"d appreciate it if you came along."

"Absolutely."

"I know you have a mate to tend to, and I"m sorry for taking your time, but I don"t have many here that I can trust." Eamon apologized.

"I"m glad I"m here, and I"ll do everything that I can." They headed over to the shop when they noticed Noah had arrived.

"They found him, and they have no idea who did it." The young wolf reported to Jaron.

"Was the Sheriff notified?" Jaron barked.

"Yes, but he is keeping the information on a need-to-know. The locals aren"t aware of the murder."

"What are you doing to make them aware?" He snapped, walked over to his desk, and sat down. The young wolf was getting increasingly uncomfortable under the scrutiny of this man. His office was intimidating all on its own with the weapons firearms, knives, swords, and even spears hanging from the walls, along with a few stuffed trophies. It was a dark and ominous place.

"There are people in town asking about Murphy and putting out the theory that he is missing. They are also planting stories of wolf attacks happening in the woods and tying that to Murphy's disappearance." He stated, slowly starting to go back toward the door.

"Good." He said and leaned back in his chair. "Where is Eamon?"

"In town with his friends Sean and Noah at the Coffee Cup."

"Have them continue to follow him, and if the opportunity arises, they have my permission to kill him. If his friend or Noah gets in the way, kill them as well."

"Yes, sir."

Lowell went straight to Patrick's room after being told that John had discharged earlier that morning. Patrick was still in bad shape and receiving care and Lowell felt bad that they hadn't been able to do more to protect each other. He was also saddened that Sean and Eamon hadn't arrived sooner to have spared Patrick his torment.

When he entered the room, he was surprised and delighted to see John seated there. Patrick was still unconscious, with plenty of tubes and needles attached to him. "How is he, John?"

"He"s been asleep since they brought him in. The doctor said he would probably wake soon, but his body needs time to heal." John spoke quietly, and his grief was real. "He"s going to be alright, but it will take time before he gets full use of his arm back."

"I"m glad he"s going to be okay, and I"m glad you weren"t seriously hurt," Lowell remarked.

"What about you? How are you doing?" John asked.

"Just a lot of scratches but nothing too bad."

"Yeah, me too." They fell silent for a while and just listened to Patrick's machines working. "Do you remember anything about the attack? I have just fleeting recollections but most everything is a blur until the medics showed up."

"Wild animals are all I remember." Lowell offered, and John nodded his head.

"Where did they take you?"

"I was the most coherent, so I was taken for questioning. Unfortunately, my memory of the attack was not clear." Lowell tap-danced around that question as best he could.

"I remember the two guys at the end. We wouldn"t have survived without their help." John remembered Sean and Eamon, but he remembered them as men.

"They"re really good guys, and you"re right. We were lucky they came along." Lowell stayed for about an hour and excused himself once Patrick"s parents arrived. He told John he"d be back tomorrow and said his goodbyes.

Seeing Patrick so vulnerable and so injured was hard and left him with a feeling of guilt for escaping with just minor injuries. Patrick had a loving and supportive family, and they would see him through this. Lowell went down to the cafeteria and got a cup of coffee.

He sat outside on one of the benches and pulled out his cell phone and thought for a minute. His apartment wasn't far from the hospital, it wouldn't be difficult to walk, but Sean had made him promise to call when he was finished. Lowell decided he had to call and besides he was keen to see Sean again and explore their new relationship.

Sean checked his watch a couple of times, expecting Lowell to call, but nothing has come up so far. He"d promised to call, so Sean had to trust that he would. The meeting with Noah was a strange one. He"d been on the scene shortly after Murphy was found, and it was obvious to him that Murphy had been killed elsewhere and dumped by the river.

"The Sheriff is one of ours, so he"s managing this incident in a way that does not alarm the human population. But someone is going around town spreading rumors about the case and implicating rabid wolves." Eamon told Sean.

"Someone is sewing chaos in order to assume control of the pack." Sean speculated, and both men agreed.

"Jaron has some shading fucks working for him who might be okay with clearing the field for their boss." Noah shared. "The Sheriff is looking into it, but it could take days to build any sort of case, and in the meantime, people are dying and being attacked."

"The attack on the fishermen last night was a setup," Eamon told him. "The wolves went in prepared to do maximum carnage."

"This Jaron, is he capable of trying something like this?" Sean asked.

"He"s on the list to be considered for Alpha, and he"s one of the older enforcers who have been on the job for over a century. I couldn"t imagine him lowering himself to killing his opponents or hurting innocent humans just to get ahead." Eamon defended, but there was uneasiness in his eyes.

"What about the shady fucks he's hired?" Sean reiterated Noah's comment.

"That was strange." Eamon admitted. "He hired them from a pack out east he never gave a name. Jaron sponsored them so they were considered okay on his word alone."

"Avoid Jaron and his men until we figure this out," Sean asked, but Eamon had other ideas.

"I can't just sit by and do nothing." He stated. "Noah and I will go out to the scene and see if we can discern anything maybe the Sheriff and his men missed something. We will go deep and wide and see if we come up with anything." Eamon was adamant so Sean did not comment. "You go take care of your mate and I'll call you if we find anything."

"Call if you need me, Lowell will understand. He's a smart guy." Sean bragged a little.

"Go be with him." Eamon insisted. "I can feel your angst from here." He chuckled, and just then, Sean"s phone went off. "There he is now. We"ll see you when we get back." Sean waved them off and answered his phone.

"Hello baby, are you ready for me?" He said sweetly while walking to his car.

"I'm ready for you." Lowell shot back with a giggle that was music to Sean's ears.

Lowell could not believe that he"d giggle on the phone. It just came out as a thrill shot through him at Sean"s playful banter. The man was digging deeper and deeper into the recesses of Lowell"s heart. He sat on the bench and waited impatiently for Sean to arrive.

Suddenly, the need to be near him again was on the rise, and he felt his heart begin to pound with expectations. There was a connection. He could not deny that, nor would he. The draw he felt was body, mind, and soul, and Sean"s description of Fate"s hand at work in their relationship was making more sense by the second.

He kept his eyes on the street out front, excitedly watching for Sean's arrival. The desire to see him, touch him, and hold him again eating him up. It had only been a little over an hour or so, but it felt like they'd been separated for days.

"Aren"t you Lowell French?" A man he did not know walked up to stand in front of him, blocking his view of the street. Lowell did not answer immediately. He was getting an odd vibe from the man. "You and your friends were attacked by wolves yesterday at the campsite by the lake." He spoke as a fact, not a question, and he was loud enough to garner the attention of several people standing nearby.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I think you are mistaken." Lowell went with his gut and attempted to back out of the conversation.

"No, it"s you; I know that it"s you." He insisted and took a step closer to Lowell, who was still seated on the bench. "Wolves, rabid wolves, nearly killed you all and put your friend Patrick in a coma."

"It was a wondering bear who came looking for food and we got in the way. Nothing more. It was unfortunate but not a crisis next time we will store our supplies more carefully and Patrick is not in a coma." Lowell explained so everyone around could hear.

The man was becoming agitated when I became clear his version of events was not being taken seriously and took another step toward Lowell. Lowell leaned back on the bench unable to get up and leave with the man standing so close.

"What's going on here?" Lowell was relieved to hear Sean's voice and the man quickly took a step back and pasted on a fake smile.

"Nothing going on." He said. "I was just asking him about the attack yesterday at the lake, but he doesn't seem to have any real information." The man nodded to Lowell and walked away.

"Do you know him, Lowell?" Sean seemed tense.

"No, and I could sense he wasn"t being honest," Lowell told him what the man had said and how he had responded. "I thought the bear made the most sense."

"You did well, my love." Sean put his arm around Lowell"s shoulders and began walking to where he"d parked just down the street.

"Before we go to lunch, do you mind stopping at my apartment for a few minutes so I could freshen up?"

"No problem." He responded easily. "I'd love to see your place."

Sean did not go into detail about the man accosting his mate so as to not upset Lowell, but he recognized him. He was a pack member one who has been supporting Jaron for the position of Alpha. Obviously, he was one of the people Noah spoke of who were trying to stir up trouble between the humans and the pack.

Once they were seated and on their way, he reached over and took Lowell"s hand. He enjoyed touching his mate, feeling the life and vitality beneath his fingers and knowing with just a touch that his mate was well and secure.

He also knew that the regard and the growing love he felt for this small human was reciprocated. Lowell was not hiding his feelings and although he couldn't see everything, he could feel Lowell's passion and desire.

"How were your friends?" He asked.

"Patrick is still unconscious, but the doctor said he is recovering well. John has been discharged, but he was sitting with Patrick when I got there." Lowell paused for a second before adding. "I think he feels guilty."

"For what reason? You all did your absolute best. There is nothing to feel guilty about." Sean didn't see it.

"The girl," Lowell stated. "They were fighting over a girl, and then we almost died." Sean nodded his understanding. "But Patrick will get better, and their friendship will go on, and Cheryl will probably be forgotten. From what I understand, she didn"t visit either of them in the hospital, so the attraction couldn"t have amounted to much."

"They'll work it out and there will be many more fishing trips in the future." Sean added. Lowell agreed and the gloom he was feeling regarding John soon dissipated. They soon were parked out front of Lowell's apartment. It was three floors with the bottom being commercial spaces and rented to several different shops the top two floors were apartments and Lowell's was on the second floor.

"How did you know where I lived? I don't remember telling you."

"It was on your license." He said with a smile.

"Are my things at the ranger station?" Lowell remembered what they'd discussed.

"Yes, I thought we'd go pick them up after we have lunch."

"Sounds good." Lowell was an easy human to be around, he was intelligent and low drama with an open mind Sean couldn't ask for anything better.