Chapter Eighteen

Xerxes

Nobody knew who I’d been talking to…at first. I called the alphas of all the packs invited to the ball and anyone else I could think of, but when I described the female I’d helped, they all seemed to draw a blank. Her beautiful hair and those eyes with their long lashes. I described the delicacy of her form, the fact that she seemed underfed and like a strong wind would blow her over, yet she managed to pull free of my hold without too much effort.

Finally, when speaking to an alpha from a pack on the other side of the mountain, I described the two pushy females who waited for her in the car. And I struck gold. “Two heavyset, loud females?” he asked.

“Sounds right. I met them in town another time before I ran into the female I’m asking about and they were a little overwhelming.”

“A little?” he asked. “Because Violet and Calla would never be a little anything. Those two are like overblown roses at the end of summer, petals falling around them and past the first flush of youth.”

“No, that’s them. I was trying to be tactful. Are they in your pack?”

“As much as I hate to admit it, yes. They and their mother are thorns in my side. They show up for every run and meeting with opinions and demands. The past few years, they are determined to find their mates and that those mates be alphas, no matter what the alphas concerned may think.

“Or feel. In fact, the alphas in our pack will do just about anything to avoid them up to and including, in a couple of cases, joining other packs.”

I chuckled, remembering the time I met the two sisters. “You are serious?”

“Deadly. You said you met them?”

“More like was accosted by them on the street of town. I didn’t know who they were but they kept calling me a visitor?”

“Rumor has it that there are a lot of guests coming into the area for the ball your pack is throwing,” the other alpha said. “Since we haven’t socialized with your pack in over a decade, and they would have been young then, they likely don’t remember you. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to leave it that way.”

“Thanks for the advice. Now, the person I do want to run into again is the female who was with them in town. Long silver hair, big blue eyes, on the thin side?”

“No…no idea who that could be unless…no. Nobody has heard of or seen her in almost ten years. Since right after her father died. Everyone assumed she’d gone away, maybe to a family member or school or something.”

“What are you telling me?”

“Mostly that I don’t know for sure. Wynter’s father was married to Mitzi, and when he died, we stopped seeing her. Wynter, not Mitzi. You say she was very thin?”

“Yes.”

“Now I’m concerned that maybe she’s been sick. Everything is so chaotic with your ball and everyone getting ready to attend. After they all get back, I’ll have to pay a visit to Mitzi and her family and make sure things are as they should be.” He was quiet for a minute. “Actually, I’d heard something else.”

“What is it?” I was eager to know everything about her. Any details. My wolf growled deep inside me.

“I’d heard that Wynter was unable to shift. Maybe from grief after her father died or some other trauma. I’m not sure, but Mitzi told me that Wynter stopped going into wolf form right after that. I think she implied that she’d sent her away to school for her mental health?”

Nothing I was hearing was encouraging. My wolf was demanding I go find her now. Rescue her from what was surely wrong. “Ernest, I think there’s something wrong in that house.”