Aldric scrubbed his hands over his face and glared at the photograph Leo had pulled up onto his screen showing a slim, well-dressed young man in jeans and a pale yellow button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Just as Kaylee had said, his shortish hair was a rainbow of sparkly colors spiked up seemingly at random. He was smiling at a child who was pointing to something on a small table, and seemed to be in the middle of explaining something.
"No, I imagine not. That alpha has done more to drive a pack into the ground than any other alpha I have heard of. He and his cronies are people I have thankfully avoided until now," Aldric sighed.
"I know. I'm sorry, man. Anyhow, Greg here is clearly not living anywhere near the Goldfang pack lands, even if he hasn't officially renounced his pack affiliation. Maybe. These guys don't exactly keep digital records of that, so I can't tell you," Leo rolled his eyes. For an eighty-six year old man, he certainly seemed to have a very modern opinion on appropriate record-keeping. "Anyhow, whatever his pack status, he's clearly still in touch with his older brother."
A new photograph popped up onto Aldric's screen, replacing the pleasant preschool scene. In this one, a man leered at a group of women at a bar. Aldric couldn't imagine why, but the women seemed to be smiling back. This man was exactly what he imagined the Goldfang standard was: tall, broad, and even under his leather jacket his muscles seemed to be on display. He had, it seemed, skipped shaving altogether, and had his dark hair cut so short it was almost a buzz. Something about him irritated Aldric.
"That is certainly one of the men in the surveillance photograph Detective Lincoln showed us," Aldric said leaning forward to peer at the image, as if it would tell him exactly where the man was hiding.
"Jesse Honeyford," Leo recited. "Thirty-six years old, technically an enforcer for the Goldfang Stalker pack, more like Alpha Molin’s favorite fixer. Womanizer, and, unless I miss my guess completely, the man that the Goldfang Alpha sends out to do some pretty nasty dirty work. I don't know what, but he sure seems to travel. And he hits up the bars every time he goes anywhere, sleeps with as many women as he can, then leaves town without a word to anyone. Again, I have no proof, but if that man doesn't have blood on his hands, I'd be shocked speechless."
"Hell."
"Yeah, pretty much. Tamika tell you her theory? It's not the wildest thing I've ever heard. Does Kaylee scent like a wolf?" Leo asked.
“Yes, faintly. When we first met, the stench of the wolves I was fighting and the Lathams' terror was pretty much all I could detect. Kaylee is a remarkable young lady, and stayed calm the whole way here, but I could tell that she was frightened. Of the wolves, for her aunt who had collapsed, and of where I was taking them both. She did not truly relax until Jake got hold of her."
Leo chuckled. "I love that kid. Jake is the absolute best. He’s going to be a real force in a few years.“
"I agree. Kaylee is rather special, as well. I think that Jake will see to Kaylee's wellbeing. They have become fast friends."
Leo's eyes sparkled and he propped his chin in his hand, peering through the screen. "And what about Kaylee's aunt? You get this look on your face every time you mention her."
"Faith is a remarkable woman," Aldric said. Even he could hear the defensiveness in his voice, not that he could stop it, apparently. "She put herself at risk to protect Kaylee from the wolves, and then did the same for me. She has accepted the reality of our clan with grace. She has been strong and courageous throughout this whole ordeal. I know that she is terribly worried about her sister, but she doesn't let Kaylee see her fear. And she did an excellent job of dressing my wounds last night."
"Mmmm hmmmm," Leo said, grinning. "I can't wait to meet her. Shall I tell Dad that we're having a family dinner soon?"
Aldric grumbled under head breath and Leo laughed merrily.
"What?"
"Just I haven't seen you dodging like this since, lord. The eighties? Even then I’m pretty sure you didn’t blush like that. Have you asked her out yet?" Leo continued to grin.
Aldric simply sent his cousin a glare through his laptop's camera.
"Okay, okay, fine. I’ll lay off. But still. It's nice to see you interested in someone. I know you got discouraged, but you're young still. Live a little," Leo said.
"I live every day, thank you. And I don't need romantic advice from someone who barely leaves their computer," Aldric sniffed. "Now then. Do you have any idea where this Jesse Honeyford is at the moment?"
Leo sighed. "No. Unfortunately. I've identified the guy with him in that surveillance photo, though. He's a friend of Jesse Honeyford's and seems to be a henchman-in-training. Not an enforcer for the Goldfangs but just on the edge of it. One of Jesse’s personal crew of thugs.“ Leo looked up from the tablet he was reading off of with a worried look now. "If we go up against these guys, then we may be risking a war with the Goldfangs. Jesse is one of the alpha's closest buddies and favorite thugs.”
"Well, if Tamika is right, and I suspect that she is, then Jesse is going to try to claim Kaylee as his own for some reason. Too bad he's too late. Marc has claimed both Faith and Kaylee and has scented them both as Frostwalker Clan members. Honeyford doesn't strike me as the nurturing kind, though. Why would he be after a child, whether or not he fathered them?"
"No, he's not especially nurturing. He's got a wife, though, and she seems to want a kid. And..." Leo grimaced, flicking a glance up to look at Aldric.
Leo's reluctance to finish his thought did not sit well with Aldric. "What else?"
Leo took a breath and scowled. "The alpha has been trying to produce a son, apparently. He is actually on record saying that it's too bad that Jesse doesn't have a sister he could marry, to get some of the Honeyford DNA in his own kid. Then he said it might be for the best after all, since Greg was– and I'm quoting here– as close to a sister as Jesse had. The conversation devolved from there and I'm not going to repeat it." The expression of disgust the scowl had turned into told Aldric all he really needed to know.
"How long has this man been the Alpha of the Goldfang Stalkers?"
"About fifteen years. He seems to have groomed Jesse for the position he's in now as a fixer. Alpha’s one of those who wants to 'return to the old ways' without either understanding those ways or what they were trying to accomplish. He became Alpha by combat," Leo said. "Killed the previous Alpha and left him in the woods for the scavengers. Those who don't like him have either run away to claim sanctuary in other packs or have kept their heads down. Or they've disappeared."
"How did Greg manage to get away?" Alric frowned.
"Couldn't say. I'd guess that Jesse has some sense of family, despite everything, and maybe he's protected his brother? It's the only guess I have." Leo shrugged. “Nobody is a completely evil scumbag. Well, very, very few anyway.”
"So," Aldric leaned back in his seat. "We suspect that Miss Kaylee is– biologically speaking and in no other way– Jesse Honeyford's daughter. Honeyford, therefore, is here following her in order to take her back to his pack to be raised by his wife for whom I have a great deal of sympathy."
"Don't have too much sympathy. She seems like she's about as lovely a person as Jesse himself," Leo cut in.
"Nevertheless, he swore her loyalty, I presume. Weddings generally have that sort of language involved somewhere," Aldric shook his head.
"You're a romantic," Leo grinned.
Aldric just stared balefully at the camera. "At any rate, let us assume that Honeyford is here to take Kaylee back to the Goldfangs. He intends to hand her over to his wife for a time, then to his alpha in some sort of arranged marriage, if I follow your logic accurately."
"I think that's not an unreasonable scenario to assume, disgusting as the idea is."
"Then, when the first attempt failed–“
“Thanks to you, cuz. Excellent work, by the way.” Leo grinned at the camera.
Aldric smiled with his own satisfaction in the deed. “When the first attempt failed he goes back and discovers t
hat Kaylee is no longer at the cabin, so he and his... associates take Cristina Latham in the hopes of tracing her daughter."
"Which plan is thwarted by you and Marc keeping them there at the clan house, thank goodness," Leo said. He paused, then sent his cousin a thoughtful stare. "Hey, I know I'm more technician than soldier, but if you need another body in this battle, you can count on me. I'm not useless in a fight, after all."
"Thank you, Leo, but you are being the most help right where you are," Aldric said. He appreciated Leo's offer, but if they were going into a fight, he would prefer to have his trained enforcers around him. Leo, while he did, indeed, spar on occasion with a few other clan members, was not a soldier. That said... "But I shall keep the offer in mind."
"No problem, cuz. I'll keep looking for where these jerks are holed up. I have a few ideas," Leo said. Leo started tapping away at his keyboard when there was a knock at Aldric’s office door.
"Hey, can I come in?" Faith asked. "Tamika took the kids out for ice cream."
Aldric frowned. "Alone? In town?"
Faith raised an eyebrow. "No, she took some guy I haven't met yet, but Jake shrieked with joy, then ran up and launched himself at the guy and demanded hugs, so I figure he must be okay. That kid seems to be a pretty good judge of character."
"Oh! Is that her?" Leo perked up on the screen. "Hello? Are you Faith?"
"Um, yes? Hello?" Faith came around and leaned on Aldric's shoulder and peered at the screen where Leo was dancing around and grinning. "Hello strange bouncing person."
"Hi! I'm Leo, Aldric's cousin." Leo waved.
"Oh, the computer whiz! Any news?" Aldric braced as she leaned further.
Leo's grin faded. "Well, a bit, and none good. We know who those guys in the surveillance photo were, and they're bad news."
"Shit," Faith's own smile faded and Aldric wished they had better news to convey.
"They are both from a pack that is run by a man who is disreputable at best and twisted at worst," Aldric told her. "The one we believe to be leading this small group is named Jesse Honeyford, and we suspect that he may be, in a biological sense only, Kaylee's father."
"Wait... you really do think Kaylee's half werewolf?” Faith's voice raised with each word. "And her sperm donor is after her now? What the hell right does he have to do that? And why take Crissy?"
"I don't know the answer to that last question, but it might be an effort to discover where Kaylee herself is," Aldric suggested. He didn't like the idea that this Goldfang brute would so brazenly come into Frostwalker territory and start kidnapping people.
"But, wait," Faith leaned onto Aldric's shoulder again, pulling him from his thoughts. "I thought that we were attacked by rogues?”
Leo scrunched his face up, puzzled, and Aldric nodded. “That is true enough. And you found that corpse with evidence of vampires in the area. I’m not sure how that fits in, but it’s too much of a coincidence to be random.“
"So, maybe–" Leo's guess got cut off by Marc who slammed into the room, wild-eyed and half shifted and growled, "Some dead wolves took my children."
17
The second the words left Marc's mouth, Leo started pounding on his keyboard and Aldric reached up to wrap his hand around Faith's where it was clutching at his shoulder. She had been just balancing herself on him while chatting with Leo– and because she enjoyed the feeling of his warm muscles under her hand. Now she couldn't feel that warmth because ice had replaced the blood in her veins.
"How did you find this out?" Aldric asked. His voice had an edge to it that made her glance over. He was stock still, but something about it made her think that it was the stillness before action rather than anything relaxed. A coiled spring. A pendulum at the top of its arc, held there by the barest thread.
"Madeline called me. You weren’t answering your phone, apparently. Simon is at the clinic getting stitched up. Tamika is so angry that she can't sit still long enough to get her own stitches, and is snapping at anyone who comes near her. Madeline says she might have to sedate her," Marc said. As he spoke his features regained their usual, fully human lines, though he didn't stop pacing and snarling. "Whatever happened it was enough to take down Tamika and Simon. He may be young, but he's skilled."
"I agree. And Tamika is nearly as deadly as you are. She is likely to take this as a personal failing. Where were they? What happened?” Aldric asked.
"I can tell you that," Leo piped up. Faith had honestly forgotten that he was still there, connected to the video call.
"I want to know all the details you can give me," Marc rounded the desk to stand behind Aldric's other shoulder.
"I can show you part of it. The Bank's ATM camera caught the edge of the fight. Hang on I'll put it on Aldric's screen," Leo tapped a few keys and the video popped up and started to play.
In the grey-toned video, they saw the four of them: Tamika, the man named Simon that Faith had only just met, and the two kids were walking past the camera's field of view. The kids were bouncing, and Tamika had her head thrown back in a laugh that was clearly inspired by something that Simon had said. They were across the street from the camera, and just as they passed out of the range of the camera, a car zipped through the frame and hopped up onto the curb. Simon's body rolled up onto the hood and slid off, out of the frame again.
Two men jumped out of the car and went running toward the front of the car and out of the frame. The soundless video gave them no indication of what was happening until one of the men dragged the two kids, both fighting and clearly shouting for help. The other man came back into the frame and pulled something out of his pocket and showed the kids, but it wasn't caught by the camera.
Whatever it was, the kids stopped struggling. Faith reached over and gripped Marc's arm when Jake tried to step in front of Kaylee, but they were both shoved into the back of the car. The two men then jumped into the front and the car took off.
The silence in the room when the video stopped was thick.
"I'll fucking destroy them," Marc growled in garbled speech. Aldric hissed in what Faith assumed was agreement.
"Yes!" Leo crowed, oblivious to the tension in Aldric's office.
"You are pleased that our clan was attacked, in broad daylight, in our own damn town?" Marc growled.
Leo's wide eyes flashed up to the screen. “What? No, Alpha. I'm sorry. I was excited because I managed to get the license plate of that car. That's all. Aldric, my offer stands. If you need more people, I'm more than happy to help make a mess of these guys. Is... is Tamika going to be okay?" He finished up by chewing on his lower lip and looking back down at his keyboard.
"You will have to call your sister for confirmation, but it sounded like Tamika was not as badly wounded as Simon. He will be in the clinic for at least two days, she said, for monitoring," Marc growled.
"They put the children at risk by driving so recklessly," Aldric said. He pulled up another window and started typing. "I am calling in all my enforcers. There will be people posted at the clinic and here at the house as well, but the rest of us are going hunting."
The snarl from Marc, who returned to his pacing, and the nod from Leo made Faith feel a little better, but she had to ask.
"Are we going to call that detective? Not that I think he can do anything really, but..."
Marc stopped pacing and closed his eyes in thought. After a moment, he shook his head slowly. "No. I think that at this point, we take care of this problem ourselves."
"Marc," Aldric sounded like he was choosing his words carefully. "You realize that this might spark a conflict with the Goldfang Stalker pack. Shall I prepare for that possibility."
"Absolutely. Anyone that feels that they can stroll into our territory and commit acts of violence has already proven that they have little respect for rules or civilized behavior," Marc said. "We will prepare for war if necessary, but once we have everyone back safely, I will try diplomacy first.”
A knock on the front door interrupted the little meetin
g, and they all stared at each other.
"Clan members would just come in," Marc growled.
"I'll get it," Faith said, heading to the hallway. She felt more than heard Marc follow her.
"I'm not taking any damn chances with your safety," he said.
She pulled the front door open and almost took a step back into Marc when Detective Lincoln turned and gave her a slightly relieved look.
"Well, thank goodness at least you're okay," he said. "May I come in?"
"Maybe you should explain what you mean by that first?" she asked.
The detective glanced at Marc and took a step back. "I guess you've heard about the attack in town?"
Marc's growl sounded less than human to Faith's ears, but hopefully that was just because she knew about his wolf, and not because it actually sounded lupine.
"Madeline called, yes," Marc answered.
"There were several witnesses to the incident, and we think part of it may have been caught on the security cameras on the bank across the street. We're hoping to get some clues when we can get our hands on that footage. May I come in?" Detective Lincoln eyed Marc and didn't actually look like he thought coming in was a good idea, but was determined to do his job.
There was another growl from Marc and Faith sensed more than heard Aldric hissing in the office. Detective Lincoln shivered slightly.
"Now is really not a good time, detective," Faith said, just a little desperately. Please let this nice, totally human police officer go away so that nobody gets accidentally mauled.
"I understand that your emotions are very understandably stressed. We are doing everything we can to find out who assaulted your friends and took the children. I'm here to help, Mr. Keller. Are you reluctant to speak to me due to a ransom demand?"
Marc's growling was becoming more constant and less human, and Faith was beginning to worry that he was losing his control again. She held up a hand to the detective and turned to Marc.
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