“Sounds fine to me,” I say. “Go ahead.”
Remy gives me a tight smile, then pulls the deck phone closer to him and puts it on speaker. He enters in a number glancing back and forth from the screen to the keypad. My nerves amp up as the buzz of the dial tone is replaced by ringing.
Each ring sends another burst of anxiety through me.
Is this a mistake? Maybe I should—
“Hello?” The voice is female, tone sharp and annoyed.
“Hi,” says Remy. “I was hoping to speak to Blake.”
There’s a long pause. “Blake Shiflett?”
Remy glances at me and I shrug. The last name isn’t ringing any bells.
“Yes. Is he there?”
“Who is this?” she asks, suspicion lacing her voice.
Remy’s expression grows strained. “Sorry, I’m Remy Matisse, the procurator of the Madison pack and its Alpha, Julien Matisse. With whom am I speaking?”
“Wanda Jenkins, Alpha Mate of the Rockcastle pack,” she replies. “What do you want with Blake?”
“That’s where things get a bit confusing. You see, I have someone here who believes Blake is his brother and—”
“Oliver’s with you?”
“Yes,” says Remy slowly, his gaze sliding to me. “But there’s been an accident and Oliver—Ollie—doesn’t really remember anything from before. Using the bits and pieces he does remember, I was able to track down your number and we were hoping he could speak with his brother to see if it might jog his memories.”
“Where’d you say you were calling from again?” asks Wanda.
“I didn’t. I’m in Madison, Wisconsin,” replies Remy.
“How the hell did Oliver end up in an accident way up there?”
“Well, as I said, he doesn’t remember much from prior to a few days ago, but he was actually found near Smyrna, Tennessee.” Remy pauses. “My brother-in-law’s cousin, the Alpha of a pack nearby, took Ollie in. He brought Ollie up here so our pack doctor could check him out.”
“Huh,” she says. “We’d be happy to have Oliver home if your Alpha friend wouldn’t mind bringing him our way when he leaves to return to his own pack.”
“The thing is—”
“I just need to see with my own two eyes that he’s safe and sound,” she says with an audible sniffle. “We’ve all been so worried.”
Remy glances at me, raising his brows in question and do a little half-shrug, half-nod. “To clarify, you are offering a blanket invitation for Alpha Anderson to accompany Ollie into your territory?”
“Of course,” she says. “We’ll be looking forward to it. Now, I best make sure everything’s in tip-top shape if we’re going to have a visitor.” Her tone gains an odd edge. “Tell Oliver I’ll be looking forward to having him home real soon.”
Twenty
Ollie
Later, Luke finds mealone on the deck staring out into the woods as the moon rises over the tree line. We’re planning to head to Rockcastle early tomorrow, so we spent most of the day trying to prepare for what might be a sticky situation.
The laws regarding leaving or being released from a pack are extremely convoluted, especially when you take into account the fact that not all packs follow the same version of laws. With a pack like Rockcastle… there’s no telling how this visit might go.
Even though Luke and I are fated mates, there’s a not insignificant chance Rockcastle might argue that I was never released from their pack and that, without a formal mating agreement, I have to stay there. And even if they don’t protest the mating, they could still request to be compensated for theloss of a pack member—something Sweet Water probably can’t afford.
But we won’t know what’s going to happen until we get there, so I’m trying my best to put it out of my mind.
