Page 43 of Claiming Her Alpha
‘Just one and he didn’t come particularly close either.’
‘Good catch.’
With Devon close, Ryker tried to distinguish the scent of the wolf. He hoped he would be able to smell who he belonged to since each pack had a distinctive scent. Rogues lacked a scent completely. It wasn’t just the lack of a pack smell but also the stink of loneliness sticking to them. This wolf was different and even though Ryker couldn’t smell his pack, he wasn’t rogue either.
‘What is it?’ Devon asked curiously.
‘He’s not a rogue but it also seems as if he’s been separated from his pack for quite some time.’
‘Is that bad for us?’
‘I’m not sure. I want you to run the whole border and see if you can pick him or anyone else up anywhere else.’
Without further ado, Devon ran off, following Ryker’s order. The wolf’s trace was already a day old, so Ryker went and followed it further east. He lost it when the wolf ran through a river and seemed to have followed it north. After an hour of trying to track him again, Ryker gave up and returned home.
Devon’s mind pressed against his just as he crossed the bloodline. ‘At first I couldn’t scent him but when I went further out, I could smell him a few times.’
‘Return to the Nest and show me on the map.’ Then Ryker called for Tailor and Sean. ‘Go on patrol. We might have an unwanted guest circling our borders. Devon will join you as soon as he’s briefed me.’
They both agreed and he broke off the bond.
Arriving at the Nest, he found Devon leaning over a map that he’d laid on the table. As he approached he saw that he’d placed magnets on it.
“This is where I tracked him.”
Studying the map, Ryker noticed the wolf had only come closer to the border when the surrounding terrain had made it inevitable.
“Which one do you believe was the freshest sent?”
“The one on the west was stronger than the one on the east but only by a few hours.”
“So, it could be that he was traveling, saw the border and then circled around to the west.”
“I didn’t find any trace of him south of the border so that might be the case.”
“Good. Go and patrol with your brother and Tailor.”
Ryker quickly briefed Gabriel, who informed Alpha Vallerian. Even before Ryker’s so-called fall of good grace he hadn’t been allowed to link with Alpha Vallerian directly. No one but immediate family members or the beta were allowed to do that. Ryker set up a new schedule for the patrols just to be sure. He would join them in a few hours just in case Alpha Vallerian wanted to see him personally.
He was still staring at the map, trying to figure out what wolf would leave his pack so long that he wouldn’t smell of them, when Gabriel came in with a plate in his hands.
“Adrianna insisted I bring this to you.”
With everything going on Ryker hadn’t even noticed how hungry he was. “Thanks.”
“Alpha Vallerian agrees with you about keeping the patrols on high alert. He will meet with us in the morning.”
“Good. I’ll join them in just a little bit.”
“What’s bothering you about this?”
“He’s not rogue but has been apart from his pack for a while.”
“Maybe a messenger?”
“But why? There are phones and emails nowadays.”
“A parcel?”