Chapter 7

Alpha Micheal was waiting for the exact location pings from the tracker. One of his enforcers placed a map on the table and began putting little pins in it, marking the various pings on the system.

When they were done, they sat down and studied it. "This one here is the base, her home. Then there's one at the school, one at the library, and the next when she was working at the hotel. This is where it gets a little odd. After her shift at the hotel, she came home briefly; we assume she was packing. Then she traveled in a northbound vehicle. They stopped 412 miles north of here, where there's a pack called The Storm Crow Pack."

Alpha Micheal let out a growl of anger. "That is the pack that the spy was from; last name is MacPatton."

"Did any of you manage to get anything other than his name and pack?"

"No, Alpha. We only found what you already know. We went back the next morning, but he was already gone. He paid for everything in cash; there wasn’t a paper trail to follow."

"Sir, if I may continue with the timeline?"

"Yes, by all means, continue."

"Well, as you can see here, she was there for almost two days, then she was on the road again, going another 230 miles north from there. She hasn’t moved since."

“Alpha Micheal, we don’t know what is up there. If it’s a pack, it’s off the grid or very small. Perhaps they didn’t want to keep her at their pack, not wanting any trouble, and decided that she should go deep into the north woods to hide, maybe with some of her friends, or perhaps she is alone. It would make sense, especially since they wouldn’t know we had the tracker.”

“He knew that we had enough information to at least find out where he came from, so he couldn’t keep her at his pack; he knew we would come looking for her there.”

Alpha Micheal smiled. “Well, the joke's on him; we will just skip over his pack and go straight for the girl. Whoever is there with her, kill them.” He sent all six of his enforcers, fully armed, to go pick up his niece.

SD Jack and his pack warriors were all ready to go; they were just waiting for the guests of honor to show up for the party. His boys had been itching for a little fun, and he couldn’t think of anything more fun than chasing stupid flea bags through the forest.

He could hear the engines of the cars about two miles away now; all of the werebears were excited. They were shifted into their bear forms, except for Jack and his second, Morgan. Jack and Morgan waited at the gate, which signified the beginning of his territory. The cars pulled up to the gate, and very arrogantly, they stated that they knew they had a girl that was missing from their neighborhood.

"What a bunch of idiots, so arrogant that they didn’t even bother to take a sniff. They just assumed that they were human." Jack smiled at them and said that they were welcome to come on in and look for her. Just like that, they came inside the gates. "Talk about stupid; it almost takes the fun out of it. It’s more like we are doing mercy kills for mother nature. Stupid fleabags."

"Remember to link everyone; I want one left alive. I do not care which one. The rest, kill, and have some fun with them first. After all, it wouldn’t be any fun if no one was left to tell the tale." All he had to do was make that messenger believe that he had the girl, and they would keep on trying to get her, giving Duncan more time to get things sorted. Not to mention, more fun for the guys and less of an army to send Duncan’s way, that is, if they ever figure it out. As soon as the cars were out of sight, Jack and Morgan shifted into grizzly bears and were off to start the fun.

Duncan got a message from Jack saying that the Rising Moon pack was a bunch of stupid flea bags and that the plan was in motion. That gave him some breathing room, also time to get in touch with some other friends of his and to contact the King.

After that, Adira told him everything and where he could get proof. He was really angry that she had gone through all that; he wondered what else they had planned for her. He also wondered if this pack was starting to get involved in the international mob scene. They sure fit the bill. Evil bastards, they should all get a silver rod shoved up their asses.

He looked over at Adira; she was so gorgeous, wow, and that kiss the other night. His wolf was practically purring if that was even possible. Marnie had just left after watching a movie with Adira; all she left behind was Cheeto dust on his pillow in the shape of her hand. He laughed at that; she was always doing things like that, to either make you laugh or to bug the crap out of you.

“Adira, how about you and I go for a run? Nothing too intense, more like a little run and then a stroll. There's a place I want to take you to.”

He decided to make it a picnic. He mind-linked Marco and told him of his plans. Marco loved the idea and agreed to have all they needed at the cave waiting for them.

The walk to the caves was only about two miles, and though the trail isn’t easily marked, Duncan knew the way. Only a few of his pack members go here anymore. He doubted that even some of the younger generation knew about them at all.

They were walking along as Duncan was telling her some of his pack’s history when she reached out and grabbed his hand. He didn’t make a big deal about it, simply held her hand a little tighter. This made his wolf dance in circles. “Apollo, stop that; you’re going to make us both dizzy.”

“Duncan, you know what this means; it means they like us and are starting to trust us.”

Duncan didn’t bother to answer Captain Obvious. He looked down at her; she seemed relaxed and happy as the sun shone through the trees all around her. When they were almost there, he brought out a blindfold. She looked at him skeptically; for an instant, there was fear in her eyes.

Duncan stopped her from going into a panic. “Adira, it is a surprise; that is why I have the blindfold. Don’t worry; I won’t let anything happen to you. If you prefer, we can leave the blindfold out of it and walk in backwards.”

Adira started laughing, turning around so he could put on the blindfold. He took her hands and gently guided her through the last part of the trail. When they were at their destination, he took off the blindfold. As she opened her eyes, he could tell that she loved what she was seeing.

Adira was gobsmacked; she couldn’t believe that something this beautiful existed. It wasn’t a cave but rather a stone formation around a waterfall and what looked like a natural garden. When they walked inside, she noticed an open tent. Inside the tent was a huge picnic basket sitting on a very fancy rug; on the rug next to the basket was a huge chest.

The tent looked like something out of a romance novel. It was all white. There were curtains tied back, and they were white as well. Though it was early fall and the leaves were changing, inside the enclosure, there was just a little breeze, and the air was warm.

“I know you’re wondering why it is so much warmer in here than outside. Actually, there are a few thermal pockets still active. Also, there is the legend of a witch that once lived here as well.”

They went into the tent to see what was there for them. Inside the chest were blankets, pillows, towels, swimming suits, and a change of clothes for each of them. The picnic basket was loaded with all kinds of things: sandwiches, snacks, fruit, brownies, as well as some fried chicken and salad with dressing.

“Well, would you like to try out the water? It’s warm.” He reached down into the chest, pulling out their swimsuits and towels. Adira was excited; she always wanted to go swimming, though she didn’t know how.

“You will have to teach me to swim; I have never been in the water before.” Taking her hand, they walked down to the pool formed by the waterfall.