Jake went silent for a long time. “Not sure I know how to live among people anymore. Not as a human, I mean.”
“Not as hard as it sounds,” Peyton assured him. “Duncan was gone for fifty years, and he’s settling back in with minimal issues. At least it won’t be as much of a culture shock for you.”
Outside, the rain poured, an extra curtain between them and the rest of the world.
“How long you think this will last?” Peyton asked. “The rain, I mean.”
“Long enough,” Jake said. “We need to sleep while we can. We’ll see what’s up in the morning. Don’t want to try leaving in the rain at night when we can’t see if the water’s up in places.” He pointed to the back of the cave. “I have several backpacks, so we can carry supplies. We’ll likely be able to hike most of a day without running across any people. Rare to see anyone in this area unless they’re surveying. This is a huge nature preserve in the middle of nowhere. No hunting or mining or logging. Nothing spectacular for hikers to look at. I think the last time I saw someone within a mile of this place was at least four summers ago, and they were surveying.”
Once Peyton finished his chili and Jake tidied up the space, they both stripped and shifted to sleep curled up on a fairly comfortable sleeping pad the man used, made up of several layers of sleeping bags and blankets, toward the rear of the cave.
For the first time since his ordeal began, Peyton crashed hard into a deep and dreamless slumber.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Aisling
Aisling had gone to bed early and had just fallen asleep when her cellphone rang. Her new one that the Targhee Pack had issued her, which she mostly used for work, so she knew it wasn’t likely to be her mam or other family. Without opening her eyes, Aisling reached out and flailed her hand in the general direction of the nightstand until she found the offending device and dragged it to her ear.
“Walsh anseo.”
The caller was a man. “Uh, hello? I’m sorry, what?”
She growled in exhausted frustration. “Walsh here. What?”
“Oh, hi. It’s Ken. Ken Ethelbert? Dewi’s husband? I need to talk to you.”
Her eyes snapped open at his grim tone. Of course she knew who he was, now that her brain was processing. “Are Tamsin and Maisie all right?”
“What? Yeah, why?”
Her pulse had leapt off a cliff and now started to slow a little. “Sorry. I was asleep.” She sat up, scrubbing her face with her free hand. “What is it?”
“Can you talk privately?”
“I’m alone, yes.”
“I need to catch you up. And it’s Pack Alpha business—this is for your ears only, for now. Not even for Carl and Mateo to know yet.”
“Right,” she said. “Get on, then.”
As he quickly detailed the latest events, Aisling closed her eyes and fought the urge to punch something—anything.
Once Ken finished, Aisling needed a beat to process it. “What’re my orders then?”
“Nothing, so far. But part of my orders are to make sure you’re updated.”
“When’s the vote happenin’?”
“In a couple of hours, once the Enforcers arrive. After that’s settled, then the rest of the Enforcers will be notified. We want to keep this info close, for now. Just the Enforcers. At least for a day.”
“Because if Peyton turns up right quick that’ll throw a spanner in it all.”
“Exactly.” He hesitated. “I guess Peyton and you have had some… privileged conversations?”
She knew she needed to tread lightly. “Ye might say that. Why?”
“Because I don’t know what, exactly, your instructions are. I only know that you have instructions, and that I have to pass information to you at certain points so you have what you need to make decisions or carry out those orders.”
