Everything blurred through my teary eyes, and Austin helped me up and walked me to the guest bedroom that used to be mine. It was cheery and bright with yellow paint and white furniture. I sat on the edge of the bed and watched him peel off his shirt, using it to wipe my tears and mouth.
“Don’t worry. I’ll find her, Lexi. My brother’s on his way and we’re going to track them down.”
Just then, a loud motor shut off outside and there was a ruckus at the front door.
“Stay here and rest for a minute while I talk to him,” he said.
After Austin left, I wept so hard that my chest began to ache with fear. I needed to become emotionally spent before I lost control and went on a rampage through the neighborhood.
I walked into the living room and Austin folded his arms, staring at a man who favored him a little in the face, except his handsome features were stern. He matched Austin’s height, but not his style. It was at least eighty degrees outside and he wore a long-sleeved black shirt with matching pants and shades, like he was ready to join a SWAT team.
Austin closed the distance between us and lifted my eyelid, treating me as if I were a patient. I jerked my head away.
“Just need to make sure you’re not going to shift on me,” he said in a low voice.
“Who’s that?”
Austin approached the formidable man. “Lexi, this is my brother, Reno. This is Wes’s little sister.”
I was starting to notice that was how Austin was introducing me to everyone.
Reno removed his shades, tucked them in the collar of his shirt, and studied me with narrowed eyes. His brown hair was neatly styled with short sideburns and a little length on top, but not much. Chocolate-brown eyes, tough features, and he looked like a guy you just didn’t want to mess around with. Deep lines were carved in his cheeks and around the corners of his eyes—the kind that are etched into your face from smiling hard. But Reno didn’t look like the smiling type. He wore a gun holster strapped to his left arm as if he didn’t have a care in the world if a cop pulled him over. We had a concealed handgun law in our state, but I didn’t have a clue if that meant you actually had to conceal it. Truthfully, I never imagined I’d even be asking myself these questions. Reno might as well have put glitter on the handle and drawn a red arrow across his shirt to the holster.
“Are you going to find my mom and sister?”
His serious eyes flicked back to Austin. “You wanna search, or me?”
Austin looked between us. “I’ll shift. Call up Denver and give him her address. I want him to pick up the tape on her machine, trace her calls, and set up a hidden camera outside her door. Keep an eye on Lexi, and don’t let her out of your sight. She’s one of us,” Austin said in a deep, smooth voice.
Reno’s eyes cut to mine and he sized me up. “No shit. I thought Denver was pulling my leg,” he remarked, pinching his stubbly chin.
Austin handed Reno his wallet and keys. “Scan the house; do your thing. If I’m not back in an hour, take her to our place.”
“Wait—” I started to say, but Austin interrupted in his take-charge voice.
“You do as I say.”
How could I argue? I hardly had a plan of my own, and these guys didn’t want to call the cops. Not that the cops would do anything except speculate my mom took off with Maizy.
Austin kept talking to Reno. “Tell Denver to sit tight and I’ll be joining him. It’s been a while since this happened; the milk on the table is warm and so is the house. The thermostat is set to seventy-two,” he added. “If I pick up a trail then I’ll stay on it, but I got a feeling they’re long gone. Maybe the kid wandered off to a friend’s house or something. I’ll mark the yard in case one of ours was involved; then they’ll know who the fuck they’re dealing with.”
I watched him storm out the back door and out of sight.
“Mark?” I asked.
Reno straightened a picture on the wall and glanced around. “Leave our scent. He’s marking territory. We might get some help this way.”
“Someone is going to smell Austin’s pee and help?” I threw my hands up. “This is ridiculous!”
“You don’t know pack rules, do you?”
And I didn’t care. I just wanted my family found safe. I called April and explained I’d had a personal emergency. Then I called Naya, because I’m sure she was going to immediately notice a hot guy outside my apartment rigging up a camera. She was at work on her cell, so I just told her I planned to stay away for a day or so and not to worry.
Naturally, she worried. Naya knew I wasn’t a “stay away from home” kind of girl.
Chapter 13
Reno was a hard man to warm up to, but I had to give it to him, he was effective at distracting me. He gave me a brief lesson about Shifter rules and how things worked, and I wasn’t sure if he was doing it for my benefit (being that I was completely ignorant of their culture), or his own so he wouldn’t have to deal with watching me cry.
