Reluctantly Lycan (Dakota Wolves Book 1)(11)

"We all know why we're here," Kaden said, not sitting down, but walking  around the table slowly to make his presence known. Today, the hall was  all business, no fun and games. "Does anyone have anything to share?"

The brothers shook their heads, Nashoba remained silent, and poor Levi looked like he would vomit.

Kaden slammed his fists down on the table. "The pack is dying. A boy is  missing. Not one wolf here can find him. I can't pick up his scent. What  do we do?"

Nash snarled faintly.

"Something to say, Nashoba?"

"You are the leader. We are falling apart because you fail to pay homage  to the spirits. What kind of pack leader spends nearly twenty years  without a mate? What kind of wolf cannot satisfy the mate he was handed  by the Moon herself!"

A cold, quiet fell over the room. No one talked to Kaden that way. The  truth in the statements only pissed him off further. The other wolves  lowered their eyes, not wanting to challenge their leader or Nashoba.                       
       
           



       

"I will whip your pure-blood ass back into submission soon enough."  Kaden enunciated each word through clenched teeth. "Now." He pressed one  finger down on the table. "Our priority is finding Mason."

Kaden kept his eyes locked in a stare with Nash, who finally dropped his  gaze with a half shrug and said, "Let's interrogate everyone. For all  we know the kid skipped out because he was scared of the shift. There's  no room for weakness."

Levi sighed. "I talked to him. He was not afraid. Nervous."

"Nashoba, I want you to talk to all the wolves. No violence. Levi, see  what you can find out from the boy's human friends. Maybe have Elle help  you out with the school. Blake and Luke, go up into the mountains and  see what Old Finn has to say. Good?"

Nashoba had a sadistic grin on his face. "And what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to find the traveling medicine man."

"Alone?" Levi asked.

"Yeah. I can handle it. He'll never reveal himself if more of us show  up." Kaden sighed, remembering his last visit to the infuriating and  unnerving man. "Dismissed. Levi, hang back a sec."

The wolves left to attend to their assigned tasks. When they were out of  ear shot, Kaden spoke. "Call Marala and tell her to stay where she's  at. I doubt she's coming, but I don't want her and Jak here when I don't  have things under control."

"Sure." He hesitated. "So, you and her …  things didn't go so well?"

"I'm not discussing it." Kaden gave Levi a look that ended the conversation and the beta left the cabin.

Kaden thought of Jak and how he'd lose his mind if it were his son out  there, lost or dead. The walls he'd built up with anger were falling  down around him and it wasn't a good time for it. At least his family  would be safer for the time being where they were.

~*~

"Careful, Mom! You're going to drive off the side of this mountain!" Jak  panicked every time he looked out the passenger window. The drop was a  long way down and his mother was not the best driver in the world.

"Calm down. You're not helping." The GPS had led most of the way, but  now they were off the grid in the mountains. Secret lycan communities  didn't have addresses. She knew where she was going. Sort of. But the  nearby cities and surrounding forests had changed a lot since she'd  runaway. The darkness didn't help. The drive had taken longer than she'd  expected, too. Jak had wanted to eat what seemed like every five  minutes. She dreaded the day he changed. He'd never stop eating.

"Stop!" he called out and she slammed on the brakes. The front wheel stopped just short of the overlook plummet.

"Too close." She put the car in reverse and backed up a little before  parking. "The entrance should be around here somewhere. We should have  stayed in a hotel until morning."

Jak hopped out of the car and stood frozen as he took in his  surroundings. He heard crickets and owls, the scurrying of animals in  the woods. "We should have. We're going to get murdered out here.  Someone is going to chase us and when we look back we'll fall. The  killer will catch us even though he's walking and slash us up."

"Don't be ridiculous. It's safer here than in the city." Marala found  the makeshift roadblock and tried to pull the heavy log out of the way.  "Did they really need a log this big? No one even knows this overlook is  up here anymore."

Jak ran over and pushed while she pulled. He was too skinny and lacking  of muscle to do much. It wasn't budging. He stopped shoving and panted  from the exertion. "What do we do now?"

"We would have to walk. Let's wait in the car until morning. Someone  will probably leave by then and move the barricade." She dusted her  hands off on her jeans and headed back to the car.

"This sucks," Jak mumbled, joining her in the midsized car.

"It was your idea."

He shot her a frown, reached into a shopping bag from the convenience  store, and grabbed a bag of chips. "What does Kaden do anyway? Like for a  job?" He crunched loudly on the snack then sucked the cheese residue  off his fingers.

"I don't know. Take care of the pack. His father owned a business in  town. Some of the pack worked there and made handcrafted, traditional  knives and things. Tourists love that stuff."

"What about your parents?" he asked.

Marala was anxious and irritable. She rubbed her eyes and leaned against  the headrest. "Mom home-schooled the children whose parents wouldn't  let them go to public school. Dad was high pack. They're protectors of  the village. They make sure wild animals don't hurt the weaker people or  kids. Repair things. Hunt if things gets rough."                       
       
           



       

"And a hunter shot them?" Jak rolled down the top of the chip bag, the  way the conversation was going appeared to make him lose his appetite.

"I was young. Eight. They were out for a run. Wolves do that. Helps with  the stress. When they didn't return, the pack went out and found the  blood trail. The hunters were long gone with the bodies." Mara hated  recounting the memory, but the time for lies had passed.

"Sorry that happened. Who took care of you?"

"Everyone. I stayed with Levi and Elle. You'll like them if they're  still around." She turned her head to the side and studied Jak. "You  okay?" She sure wasn't. Thinking about her parents, the past, coming  home. It was almost too much.

He nodded. "Yeah. It's so quiet. No cars or police sirens."

"Try to get some sleep." She ruffled his hair and he swatted at her hand.

"I'm almost a wolf, Mom. You can't do that."

She kept the frown off her face, but only barely. "Goodnight, Jak."

"'Night." He slipped an earbud in each ear and closed his eyes.

So much for the quiet.

~*~

Kaden let loose a slew of curses when a tree branch smacked across his  face. He'd been tromping through the forest all day and night with no  sign of The Wanderer. Kaden hated all the mumbo jumbo about the moon,  medicine men, and bonding. He believed in it, but despised being bound  to it all. Maybe it was the lack of a stable counterpart to sate his  lust. Or the ever present emptiness in his life. Half of him was gone. A  normal wolf would have leapt off a cliff by now.

"Where are you, Wanderer?" he yelled loudly, sending lesser critters scurrying.

Nothing. Then a whisper all around him. "You know what to do. You've done it before," the ghostly voice said.

"I am no longer the pathetic pup who came to you. As pack leader, I  command you to reveal yourself." Kaden kept his voice steady, though  whispers in the woods would make almost anyone want to turn tail and  run.

The Wanderer stepped through a cluster of maple trees. He wore a  blindfold. His visions did not come from his eyes, but from within his  mind. He was dressed in common clothing, offerings from the other wolves  at his shrine. Kaden had never left any gifts.

"Pack leader? In title or action? All I hear is discordant howls among the pack."

"I don't have time for games."

The man lifted one finger to his mouth. "Shh. Listen." He held one hand up to his ear. "They don't believe in you."

Kaden growled lightly. "No, shit. You need to listen and tell me where to find the lost boy."

"Where is your boy?" He sat down on the ground calmly.

"Safe with his mother."

"Is he? Their return will split the wolves, but without them, you will  never save the pack." Wind blew through The Wanderer's long, unkempt  hair, a trail of leaves with it.

"They're coming home?" Kaden drew in a sharp breath, relief flooded him, but then fear made him shiver.