Holding onto her anger at Grace would have been easier if her answers were less direct, less believable. Having a mother who loved her son so much that she stayed behind with a megalomaniac to keep her child safe... Samara could only imagine herself doing the same if she ever had a child.
At the rate things were going, that was a big if.
"I still wish you had at least tried to help." Hey, if honesty was the word of the day, she might as well confess her truth right now. "And I will not allow you or Kellen's wolf shadow to determine my future with Kellen. If he wants me, I'll stay with him until the end of our days."
"And I admire you for trying to fend off Josiah by killing your wolf shadow. If only it had worked."
"How do you know it didn't? Even Kellen isn't completely sure."
Grace started to answer, but the other bedroom door opened, and Stephen walked out, dressed in fresh jeans and gym shirt, his hair still wet and slicked back from the shower. Leo followed behind, wearing his ever-present brown leather jacket with a similar t-shirt and jeans. Grace placed the platter of bagels and fixings in front of them and offered to pour coffee while they ate. Samara selected a plain bagel and regular cream cheese to nibble on along with her coffee. It took another ten minutes before Kellen joined them.
He stopped just short of the kitchenette and stared. Samara could almost untangle the look of surprise on his face. His mother was serving his best friends and his girlfriend breakfast, presenting him with a perfect picture of domesticity. Maybe one he's always dreamed of, but never thought he could have.
"Morning," he muttered, and sat on the last available bar stool next to Samara even though he wouldn't look at her. His mother gave him a cup of coffee, but he waved away the cream and sugar. Samara could smell the far more pleasant scented shampoo and soap the hotel had provided mixed with his aftershave. She kept her eyes on her food. More than anything she needed to hide everything she felt for Kellen until they settled things between them. Just the two of them, a man and a woman, with no wolves or brothers or mothers involved.
It was the only way Samara could be sure of Kellen's feelings, and anything less than love and devotion was not acceptable. If she had to walk away the least she could do was keep her pride and save her tears for when she was alone.
Grace finished her breakfast first, so she cleaned up the sleeper sofa before closing it. Then she pulled a heavy polished desk away from the wall and pulled it toward the middle of the room and placed the canvas bag on top. The rest of them quickly finished eating before wandering over.
"I'll take the bank ledgers." Stephen picked up a stack of old-fashioned account books and settled into a comfy corner chair near the window.
Leo picked up a stack of what looked like scrapbooks. He flipped through the first few pages of the one on top. "These are from a news clipping service. I'll see if I can figure out what Josiah was tracking. Stephen, would you hand me..."
Stephen grabbed the hotel's branded pen and paper pad and handed them to Leo.
"I'll take those envelopes." Grace reached for the one on top of the stack before sitting on the floor. "I've seen Josiah filling them with receipts. I can trace what he was purchasing and from where."
"Here, you can use this pad and pen. I'll get the ones from the bedroom." Leo handed Grace both and left to get his own. Grace watched him with an odd look on her face. It was almost as if the friendly gesture was completely foreign to her. When she noticed Samara staring, she just shrugged her shoulders and went to work.
That left the smaller lock boxes. Kellen grabbed one for himself and handed the other to Samara, careful not to brush his fingers against hers. "Let's see what's inside."
"The combination is the same as the big safe," Grace said before repeating the numbers.
Samara opened her box. More papers were folded and stacked. Since they looked yellow with age, Samara made sure to remove them with extra care to keep them from falling apart. Unfolding the first one, she discovered it looked like a map of Montana, but before Montana became a state. Someone had drawn circles over the map, marking the names of Native American tribes: Crow, Cheyenne, Salish, Blackfeet, and others. But there were more circles naming the territories of wolf shifter populations: Riverstone, Firebrand, Moonclaw, and Shadowstalkers. The name Shadowstalkers was crossed out with a thick 'X'. Not the most subtle way of telling a map reader that the pack no longer existed.
There were more maps of the same area underneath, each one from a different decade. In each one different territories of the Native American’s lost lands were circled and the boomtowns that flourished then died were listed. And in later ones, railroads starting to connect different communities across the state were drawn on top of the circles. The location of the three surviving wolf shifter packs stayed the same. The X over the Shadowstalker territory also remained, as if Josiah needed a constant reminder of their demise. She could see Josiah getting off on their extinction, but why would he care?
There were twenty maps in all, and Samara got the impression that Josiah was marking the boundaries of his competition for whatever resources he needed.
"Have any of you ever heard of a wolf pack called Shadowstalkers?"
"No."
"No."
"No."
"Yes."
Of course, Grace would have heard of them. She put down the receipts she was looking at. "Josiah led a raid on their territory right after he took over the Riverstone Pack. He ordered his omegas to lace their wells with silver. While those who didn't drink from the well did what they could to save their families, Josiah sent both his omegas and betas to slaughter them all. Just like he did with Riverstone."
After watching what the Brotherhood had done to the bounty hunters, she could only imagine what that bloodbath would have looked like.
"Mothers and pups?" Leo asked, turning away from Grace as if he didn’t want to hear the answer. He had survived something similar.
"Of course,” Grace confirmed. “Josiah wasn't going to make the same mistake he made with Riverstone. He'll never leave an enemy at his back or anything short of absolute destruction to chance."
Brow scrunching, Samara leaned forward. "But he didn't lead the raid. He never joined the battle, did he?' She just needed to confirm her suspicions. "He stayed on the sidelines and watched."
