Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 116909 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 585(@200wpm)___ 468(@250wpm)___ 390(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116909 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 585(@200wpm)___ 468(@250wpm)___ 390(@300wpm)
Blair ground her teeth, her eyelid twitching.
Deke rubbed at his nape. “Shame you didn’t get a glimpse of the driver.”
“The sun was reflecting off the front window,” said Luke. “I noticed a blue cap, but that’s all.” And since River discovered that the license plate not only didn’t belong to the car that hit Luke but came from a stolen vehicle, they couldn’t trace the culprit that way.
“Were there any symbols or logos or anything on the cap?” asked Tate.
“Not that I noticed,” replied Luke. “But it all happened very fast, so I can’t be sure.”
Havana looked at Blair. “I know the driver probably recently bought the cap to help shield their face, but on the off-chance that it was something they dug out of their wardrobe I figure it’s worth asking: Do you know of anyone who owns a blue cap?”
She only shook her head.
“What about the vehicle?” asked Tate. “It was a black Mercedes.”
“I can’t think of anyone who owns one,” replied Blair, her voice somewhat flat.
River leaned forward in his seat, his gaze darting from Tate to Luke. “You may remember that I asked if we could all meet at some point today.”
Both Luke and his brother nodded.
“I received some information that I think you should know,” River added.
Luke cocked his head. “What is it?”
“As we all agreed that it was highly likely Blair was being targeted by someone from her old pack,” began River. “I ran very thorough checks on every single, adult member—male and female, because we can’t discount the possibility that it could be a woman. It took me a while to unearth all the information. Shifter groups are very private and exceptionally good at burying anything they don’t want outsiders to know.”
Havana crossed her arms over her chest. “What did you find out?”
River’s eyes slid to Blair. “Did you know that the Head Enforcer, Antoine, is dating a human?”
Her brows dipped. “No, I didn’t. But I never paid attention to his love life or anyone else’s, and he never volunteered the information—he’s kind of private when it comes to that stuff.”
“He’s dated many human females,” River told her. “Two of whom contacted Embry at different times, asking him to insist that Antoine leave them alone.”
The hairs on the back of Blair’s neck lifted. “Leave them alone?” she echoed. Her inner female went very still, just as uneasy about where the conversation was heading.
“He apparently hadn’t taken too kindly to them ending the relationship,” River explained. “He bombed them with calls, gifts, and text messages. He often hung outside their homes in his vehicle. One claimed that he turned up at her place of work so often demanding to see her that she got fired.”
Felled by shock, Blair gaped, her thoughts grinding to a halt. It took a few moments before she could speak. “Are you sure?”
“Positive,” replied River.
Her arms slipped to her sides. “I had no idea.” She would never have suspected Antoine of something like that. Although she didn’t believe that River would lie or claim to be certain unless he absolutely was, she still found it hard to believe it was true. Surely Embry wouldn’t have Antoine as Head Enforcer if it were. Then again, her uncle didn’t much care for humans. He might not have considered it a big deal merely because the women weren’t shifters.
Luke pushed to his feet and began to fluidly pace, tension bunching his muscles. “Given all that, how the hell can Embry claim that he has no reason to believe that anyone in the pack could be the person harassing Blair? Antoine is an obvious suspect.”
“We don’t know that Embry doesn’t suspect him,” said Tate. “In his position, we wouldn’t easily admit to an outsider that we believed one of our own could be stalking someone. We’d want to handle the matter internally.”
“At least a few others must know what Antoine did to the humans,” said Aspen. “Embry probably swore them to silence.”
“My brother can’t possibly know or he’d have mentioned it for sure, regardless of if Embry forbid it or not,” said Blair.
Even as he continued to pace, Luke fired her a reassuring look. “I would never think otherwise—Mitch adores you too much.”
Her gut unknotted. He meant that, she sensed. He hadn’t thrown out the words simply to calm her. Which was a huge freaking relief, because she wouldn’t have to worry that he would try to secretly interrogate her brother.
River looked at Blair. “Are you aware that the pack’s Beta, Donal, almost imprinted on someone when he was your age?”
Nodding, Blair licked her lips. “I heard about it. She’s a bush dog from his old pack. He transferred to Sylvan territory shortly after he failed to fully imprint on her. That’s all I know.”
“Her name is Alayna.” River tapped his thumbs on his cell a few times and then held it up to Blair. “This is a photograph of her.”