Page 23 of Wanted
Ms. Cynthia finally says. “From the picture she showed me, your parents looked like lovely people. They looked like they could’ve been one of u—” She pauses when she looks my way.
I subtly shake my head. I know where she’s going and I want to stop her before she goes there. Emery, as far as I can tell, knows nothing about our world.
Even if her sister did or at least had suspicions. I want to know why Emery doesn’t know, and what exactly it is that makes her different.
“Can I speak with you?” Ms. Cynthia asks me as she rises from her chair. She stops though when Emery reaches for her arm.
“Please. If you know where my sister is, can you help me?” The strain on Emery’s face tells me she’s pleading.
The need to comfort her takes over.
I take her free arm. “We’ll only be a minute,” I assure.
“But my sister,” she pleads with me this time.
“What Ms. Cynthia and I need to talk about isn’t about your sister.” Her face drops and I curse myself for disappointing her. “We’ll only be a minute and then I’ll do everything I can to help you track down your sister.”
The words come out automatically. As if I made the decision before fully realizing it simply because of the expression on Emery’s face.
Her hand tightens on my arm imploring me to keep to my word. Chael’s face flashes across my mind. If my brother were missing or hurt, I imagine the same desperation I see on Emery’s face would be on mine.
Oddly, my mind conjures up the picture of another. One of our own who I thought of as a brother. Who I protected and loved like a brother.
But he betrayed not only me, but our entire pack.
Christophe.
My younger brother.
As soon as I realize what I’m doing I push his image aside and tighten my muscles, erasing him from my mind. There’s no room for softness regarding the bastard who betrayed our pack.
Even if he is my adopted brother.
He’s in prison, where he belongs, and will never see this side of freedom again. He’s lucky that’s all the punishment he received.
Calming my breath, I return to the present. To Emery’s imploring gaze. She’s not asking for help to find a sister who betrayed her. She’s asking for a sister she loves and cares for.
I cover her hand with mine.
“I promise,” I say.
She pushes out a breath.
I look at Ms. Cynthia who nods and pivots, leaving me to follow her down the hall to one of the bedrooms and close the door behind us.
She turns to face me, head on, so I can read her mouth for this conversation.
“I went to Mike’s Bar,” I say. “Chael wants to know if there’s something going on with the Alliance. A reason they’ve selected him to represent the wolf shifters since the death of Rufus Dalton. Have you heard anything?”
Dalton is the former Alliance member who used Christophe in an attempt to eradicate the Nightwolf pack.
Cynthia purses her lips and wrinkles her forehead. “There are some grumblings around here over the selection of Chael. Mike and a couple of the other lone wolves who think they’re more powerful than they actually are, believe they’ve earned the position.
“They want there to be a lone wolf member of the Alliance to represent the hundreds of lone wolves in this country.”
I fold my arms across my chest. “That wouldn’t make any sense.”
By nature, wolves are communal animals. We’re not just part of a pack because it’s how we’re born. It’s how we survive, how we celebrate life, how we endure life’s challenges.