I turn my attention to the windows and notice it’s still overcast and drizzling. “I’m going to duck out the back and see if Brock and Niles are next door, then we can get going,” I tell my guys.
“I’ll come with you.” Gryffin drains the rest of his coffee and stands up. I wait for the others to insist on coming, but none of them move. Maybe they already discussed it. If too many of them accompany me, they might overwhelm the two male shifters. Gryffin is a good choice because of who his dad is. Even if they don’t view me as the queen, but as the girl who worked next door, they will recognize his authority as prince of the shifters.
“Drink up, boys. We need to open in ten minutes,” Justin warns the others as Gryffin and I make our way through the kitchen.
“I’ll come back and say goodbye before we leave,” I tell my grandparents as they exchange a worried glance.
Out in the alley, Gryffin follows me as I walk to their back door. It’s closed, but that’s not unusual given the weather. I knock and then rub my hands together to warm them, the cold quickly seeping into my skin.
“I can’t believe how cold it is compared to yesterday,” I murmur as we wait. Gryffin grabs my hands and rubs some warmth into them. I instinctively move closer, seeking the heat his body is putting off. My beast twirls with excitement at his proximity, and when I look up at him, he’s smirking at me.
“You okay?” he asks, knowing full well the effect he has on my body. “Is the mating call giving you a hard time?”
I arch an eyebrow and look down at the bulge in his tight pants, and my lips lift in a smirk.
“Not as hard a time as it’s giving you.”
He shrugs unapologetically, but I turn my attention back to the door. It’s taking too long for them to answer.
“Come on, we’ll go around to the front. They might be inside the store and not hear us banging on the door.” I reluctantly pull my hands from his and lead the way to the storefront, but when we get there, the closed sign is still on the door and the lights are off.
“Doesn’t look like anyone is around,” Gryffin says, peering through the window. “There aren’t even any lights or movement farther back.”
“That’s really weird, and if what Granny said is true, then this is the fourth day in a row that they haven’t opened.”
He turns back around, and he’s frowning. “Do we think that Niles and Brock were in on it with his family?”
I shake my head. “I doubt it. They shunned him when he mated with Niles, and then Tideman got him banned for giving him permission to bring my mother into the shifter zone. Also, Tideman only stole the book two nights ago.”
“Well, maybe they are just licking their wounds from being banished by my father.”
I sigh and pull my phone out of my pocket. “I’ll call my mother and ask her if she knows what happened when they were left at the border and if she knows where they went.”
Before Gryffin can stop me, because I can see he wants to, I press the screen and put my phone to my ear. It rings a couple of times and then cuts off. I look at the phone in surprise before trying again. This time it goes straight to messages.
I roll my eyes and shove my phone into my pocket.
“I think she declined my call and then turned her phone off. That’s weird. Then again, she’s probably pissed at me. I bet she blames me for the consequences of her own actions. It wouldn’t surprise me if she found someone to lick her wounds for her—metaphorically and physically.”
Gryffin grimaces.
“Come on, let’s go. There’s no point in wasting our time. I wouldn’t even know where to start looking for Brock and Niles, since I don’t know where they live.”
“The watch teams should have changed over now, and it should be easy enough for us to get back to our apartment, then we can sneak you in so no one asks any questions. Bryson was going to make sure that all on duty teams were out patrolling in areas that aren’t close by.”
When we return to the bakery, I give my grandparents hugs and promise to keep in touch. Granny packs us a bag of things to eat for breakfast, and with a goodbye to Olivia and Justin, we walk from the bakery to watch headquarters. Thanks to the rain, we only come across a couple of people who don’t pay attention to us because they are too busy trying to get out of the weather.
We make our way through headquarters without being accosted, and then we eat breakfast in the guys’ living area. We talk about the mission and all the possible scenarios, but eventually, we decide to go to sleep since we will be getting up at midnight to travel into the human zone.
I share Liam’s bed, but I can’t help noticing that Gryffin and Gem go into the same room. Gem gives me a wink before he closes the door, and I imagine what the two of them might get up to.
“Does it bother you?” Liam asks, sounding concerned as I close the door behind me. I find him sitting on his bed, already stripped down to his briefs, a small frown between his eyebrows.
“What? Gem and Gryffin?”
He nods.
“No, not at all.”
