He knew that Ryker meant well.
“Do you know what hospital he’s in?”
“No, I don’t,” Dylan said. “My mom didn’t say. She wasn’t supposed to be using her phone, so she had to be quick.”
Since he didn’t have any luggage, Dylan was able to go straight to security. He checked his watch and then looked at the line to get through with a worried frown. His flight was boarding in five minutes, and there were about ten people ahead of him.
“What time is your flight?” Ryker asked.
“It’s boarding in five minutes,” Dylan said. He willed the TSA agents to check people’s IDs faster. “I’m in line for security.”
There were now just six people ahead of him, and Dylan relaxed just a smidge. At this rate he’d be through in a minute or two.
“Is there anyone else you could call who might have some more information?” Ryker asked. “Friends or neighbors, maybe?”
Dylan shook his head and then remembered that Ryker couldn’t see him. “No, not that I can think of.”
He couldn’t imagine that there was anyone who would be better updated than his mom.
“Could you give me the contact information of some of their friends, maybe? I could try to figure out what’s-”
Dylan reached the front of the line, and one of the TSA agents waved him forward.
“I have to go, but I’ll talk to you as soon as I know more,” Dylan said, hanging up and bringing up his boarding pass on his phone. He scanned it on the reader and handed the agent his license.
“Have a nice day,” she said, waving the next person forward. Dylan’s next stop was the x-ray machine and metal detector, but there were only two people ahead of him. He put his backpack and phone in a tray, taking out his laptop and removing his shoes before going through the metal detector.
When he grabbed his backpack and phone out of the tray, Ryker was calling him. He declined the call and looked up at the departures screen, confirming his gate number and then setting off on a light jog to reach it.
Fifteen minutes later, Dylan was in his seat near the back of the plane, listening to the captain announce their flight time and instructing them to pay attention to the safety demonstrations.
He exhaled, relieved that he’d made it, but still bursting with anxiety over his father’s condition. He reached for his phone, looking to see if he had any messages from his mom with an update. He tried calling her, but it went straight to voicemail.
As he was listening to the automated message, Ryker called him.
“I made it onto the plane,” Dylan said, answering the call and getting right to it. “I reached the gate with eight minutes to spare.”
“Have you heard anything from your mom or dad?” Ryker sounded stressed.
Dylan stared up at the fasten seatbelt sign and then turned his head to hide his phone when the flight attendant asked everyone to turn their cellphones to airplane mode.
“No, not yet,” he said, keeping his voice low. “I just tried calling my mom again, but it went straight to voicemail. I think her phone is off. She’s not very good at charging it at night, so she might be out of battery.”
“His name is Christopher Landry, right?” Ryker asked. “Or does Chris stand for something else?”
Dylan bit his lip, trying to remember when he’d told Ryker his dad’s name. It struck him then, that he was werewolf married to an alpha who he hadn’t even told his parents about. Regret and shame filled his stomach, a looming dread that it might be too late to tell his dad about his mates building in his chest.
“No, it stands for Christopher. Why?”
“August has been calling every hospital in Anchorage to find out what’s going on, but he hasn’t been admitted anywhere he can find. Is there a private clinic or something like that that you use?”
“No, they just have regular health insurance. They’d go wherever the ambulance took him.” Dylan leaned forward, resting his head against the seat in front of him. “Are they allowed to give out information about him? I mean, aren’t there rules?”
“August says no,” Ryker said. Dylan heard August’s voice in the background, his tone angry, but he couldn’t make out what he was saying. After a beat, Ryker asked, “Do you have any idea where your dad could have been admitted?”
Dylan closed his eyes and tried to think, but he couldn’t even remember the name of any hospitals in Anchorage, let alone one his dad might have been admitted to.
“No. I don’t have a clue.”
