“Did you find something?” I asked Christophe while I followed him inside, back toward his office, where he spent most of his time. How he could spend so much time indoors, I didn’t understand, but he was more comfortable behind a computer screen than outdoors. Even during full moons, he rarely shifted and ran with us.
“Yes.” He pulled out his rolling chair and took a seat. Seconds later, the blank screen flashed on, and a picture of Pines’s car came up. “A traffic camera captured this two days ago. The car belongs to Pines, but the angle isn’t clear enough to see if he’s driving it.”
I nodded, noting how blurry the image was.
“It’s heading north,” Christophe added. “This was along the Texas-Oklahoma border. It’s the only image I’ve been able to get of his car. After he crosses into Oklahoma, he disappears.”
I looked over at Chance. “He’s heading north.”
Chance nodded.
“What did you find?” I asked aloud while signing to let Christophe in on the conversation. He and Chance couldn’t speak telepathically.
“The house was empty,”he signed. “We had to shift to blend in with the wooded area around Pines’s home. There are still police coming in and out of there, gathering evidence.”
I nodded, knowing it’d only been a few days since Pines’s house was determined to be a crime scene.
“In the woods, though, I sniffed chloroform. That was probably what he used to knock out Reese and Sera.”
I shook my head. “Chloroform doesn’t work on shifters, though,” I reminded him.
“No, but it wasn’t the only strange odor I detected. A mix of oils that smelled like eucalyptus and peppermint. Mitch almost became overwhelmed by the toxicity of the oils the closer we got to one spot, it was as if he’d dropped a vile of it, and the smell continued to linger in the air.”
“Perhaps that is what they used on Montgomery.” Certain oils and herbs could be highly toxic to werewolves in high doses. It was rarely a problem because of the dose amount, but if the doctor could condense a high concentration of it and inject it into the body of a shifter, it could do some real damage. Perhaps even kill.
“We must speak to Dr. Drake to find out if he was able to detect any of those oils in Montgomery’s blood.”
I clenched and unclenched my teeth, thinking over what my brother had just told me.
“Call Lupine,” I ordered Christophe.
Both of my brothers looked at me with surprise written on their faces. Lupine Monroe was the eldest wolf shifter on the Alliance’s council.
“Do it.” I jutted my head toward the computer screen. “Pull him up on the screen.”
Christophe gave Chance a look but turned back to his computer and opened the app to make the video call. Moments later, Lupine Monroe’s weathered face filled the screen.
“Chael?” he asked. “Is there an emergency?”
“I believe you know what this call is about.” I answered.
“I don’t. If there’s a problem with this month’s tax bill—”
“The Nightwolf Pack won’t be paying any taxes this month.”
“What?” Christophe squeaked, turning to me.
I glared at my brother, who quickly dropped his head and turned back to the screen.
He visibly stiffened before pushing away from the screen. “The Alliance does not tolerate threats. You know this,” he said firmly.
“Neither do the Nightwolfs.Youare aware of this.”
He shook his head. “I haven’t threatened your pack.”
“Someone has,” I replied and folded my arms across my chest. “Not only were we summoned to the Alliance’s headquarters a few months ago because someone who knows about the Alliance spied on us, but my jobsites have been threatened, my employees under attack.” I paused and got closer to the screen, forcing Christophe to move aside. Leaning into the computer, I told him, “And one of you has threatened my mate on multiple occasions. That will cost one or all of you your lives.”
He blinked, his face reddening before he shook his head in apparent disbelief. “I always knew you would turn out like your father. He could never resist needless conflict. His hunger for more power, more money, more land, a larger pack, all of it drove him to his early grave. And your mother.”
