We sat by the window, and I glanced across the street. To my surprise, I thought I saw Camille for a minute, walking around a corner. She was wearing big sunglasses, hair tucked under a hat, but I knew that face, knew that figure and her body language, well enough to recognize her even from a distance – or did I? That could not possibly be her, could it?
She disappeared in an alleyway between two shops.
It couldn’t have been her. She’d have to be crazy to stick around here.
I studied the menu as Virginia sat and texted on her cell phone. Teenage shifters are no different than teenage humans like that.
“Why are they so protective of you, anyway?” I asked her . “Are they like that with all of the girls in the pack?”
“No,” she shook her head. “Just me. There’s no reason at all. I’m the little sister, they’re a-holes.”
“Is that so?” an angry voice cracked through the air. “No reason at all? Care to rethink that, Virginia?”
Virginia let out a squeak of dismay and shrank back in her seat.
Lance and Maxwell were standing there, glowering at her.
“How did you know I was here?” she pouted.
“Oh, come on, Virginia. It’s a small town. People called and told me,” Maxwell snapped.
“Max,” I said. “She’s an adult. Why on Earth wouldn’t you let her drive into town by herself?”
He stared at her and raised an eyebrow. “Would you care to explain, Virginia?”
She stared sullenly down at the menu.
“How about because somebody tried to kidnap her the last time she came to town by herself, and she barely escaped?”
“What?” I turned to stare at her. “Why didn’t you tell me that? You said there was no reason they were acting like this.”
She stared down at her plate, not meeting my gaze. “That was a whole two months ago,” she mumbled.
“Yep. We never caught the person, and we have no idea who was behind the attempt. And a female member of an Alpha’s family was kidnapped in Wisconsin a month ago, a teenaged girl, and she’s never been seen since. It is possible that for some reason that we don’t know, someone is targeting teenaged female Alphas,” Lance said.
“Did you know that?” I demanded of her.
“That was in Wisconsin,” she said in such a low voice I could barely make it out. “It wasn’t here.”
“You’re not helping,” Lance growled.
Max jerked his head towards the door. “Let’s go.”
We walked outside to Max’s truck. As we drove out of town, I saw the woman in the sunglasses again. She was standing in the shadows, and she looked at us as we drove by. I still couldn’t tell if it was Camille.
I had an odd feeling, a feeling that I couldn’t explain. I felt like she was looking at Max. Was she an ex-lover? Was he sneaking into town to get together with her? Maybe that’s what the phone call was all about. Maybe he’d manufactured that whole fight this morning as an excuse to get away from me.
Or, maybe I was being insecure and paranoid. It was really hard to tell. Gee, I thought, it would be nice if I could call my two best friends and talk it through with them. Too bad I didn’t have a phone so I could do that.
We pulled in to the big flagstone house where I’d picnicked earlier. Someone had told me that it belonged to Cody and his wife and their kids, but apparently a lot of the socializing went on there.
Vince and Jade were waiting outside the house. Virginia got out of the truck, head hanging, and sullenly walked over to them, with Max and Lance by her side. There were a few dozen shifters standing around chatting amongst themselves.
After some angry, animated conversation with a lot of arm waving and yelling on Vince and Jade’s part, Vince, Jade, and Virginia walked over to a car, got in, and drove off.
I stood outside of the truck, waiting for Max. Max walked back, with a surprisingly jaunty spring to his step. The other shifters were standing there, looking at Max and me expectantly.
“Why are they all here?” I asked.
He smiled devilishly. He no longer looked mad. “To witness the punishment,” he said.
“Punishment?”
“Here’s the thing. I understand that you didn’t know that Virginia was in any danger. Virginia lied to you, and she is now grounded, and will have security following her around for a long time. Until we figure out who tried to kidnap her and why, she’ll be shadowed everywhere she goes. She screwed up, she knows it, and she’s in trouble. However, you also sneaked off the compound and defied my authority, and Timber Valley tradition calls for me to re-assert that authority and assure everyone that I am still in charge here. I can hardly lead a new pack if I can’t even control my wife.”