Lib Novel Page 162
“We’ll deal with him quietly,” I decide. “But let’s wait a day or so. The pack security will be keeping an eye on him. We don’t want to get caught.”
“I heard back from one of our spies,” Patrick interjects. “We’ve looked into both the owner of the bar and the woman in the cottage. Can’t find much about Elsa. Everything he managed to dig up just confirms that she moved here from a human city, settled down, and opened the Dancing Bear. She used to be an herbalist and was a human assistant to the pack nurse in her former location. Her bank records are clean. There’s nothing going on there. She does have a daughter, but they’re not in contact with each other. They cut ties a couple of years ago.”
“What about Rita?” I ask him.
“She was part of the pack security team in the town the main pack resides in. She was mated to a man named Elmer for four decades. The story is that he died in an attack, and Rita lost her leg. Then, she retired and moved here.”
I study my lieutenant. “‘The story?’ What actually happened?”
Patrick replies hesitantly, “I don’t know whether this information is true or not, but the informant believes Elmer was seeing another woman, who was his fated mate. The separation process was initiated between Rita and Elmer. Rita seemed very compliant with the whole thing, but a few weeks later, they were both assigned a mission, and Elmer was killed.”
“You think Rita murdered him?” I consider this new tidbit of information. If that’s the case, the message Sophia and I saw on Rita’s phone would make a lot of sense. Whoever was blackmailing Rita knew the truth.
“One thing is for sure,” Patrick says. “She was no longer working for the pack security. And she had no contact with the Alpha. Whoever gave her that burner phone, it was not Alpha Robert Black.”
“But it has to be someone higher up,” I murmur. “That black cell phone and those slips…Only senior officials use them. Unless they do things differently here in the South Alliance.”
“No, they don’t.” Patrick shakes his head. “I checked.”
I turn my attention to Nathan. “What did you find in the diary?”
“I haven’t had time to look at it yet because of the whole situation with Julia,” he confesses.
I frown. After Sophia gave Nathan the diary yesterday, Julia exchanged a few harsh words with Nathan and went on a rampage, destroying his motel room. We were all busy dealing with her. That’s why I couldn’t stay with Sophia once I brought her back to Elsa’s office after her collapse in the forest.
Thinking of that moment, my chest tightens. I had been close to Rita’s cottage, trying to pick up the scent of the killer, when I felt a strange surge of power coming from the bond between Sophia and me. Instinct and my wolf drove me to her location just in time to see her collapse in Elsa’s arms. I could sense her wolf’s agitation and discomfort.
“There’s some sort of spell on her,” Elsa told me back at the bar. “There’s something blocking her wolf. I don’t believe Sophia’s wolf is latent. I think it has been forced into dormancy.”
But what does that mean? Does Elsa think Sophia’s wolf was subdued by a witch? Shifters have a different sort of magic compared to witches. It is unheard of for a witch to be able to suppress a shifter’s wolf. The magic within us is too different. If witches could do that, they would be far superior to shifters. But is there something blocking Sophia’s wolf? Will she be able to shift if it is unblocked? My presence managed to calm her wolf down, but then I received the news of Julia’s rampage, and I had to hurry back to the motel before I could talk more to Elsa about her theory.
Unfortunately, there’s no point in even considering finding a witch to remove whatever blockage has been put on Sophia. Witches cannot interfere in each other’s spells. But Sophia has never been able to shift, even as a child. Who would curse an infant like that?
I don’t know what to make of this new twist. But it doesn’t matter. Even without a physical wolf, Sophia will always be safe with me. She doesn’t have to be able to shift.
I haven’t told my companions about what happened to her. I don’t think it’s their business. And I haven’t had a chance to discuss it with Sophia. Although, Elsa did warn me not to say anything to her yet.
Refocusing on the present, I ask Nathan, “Did you hide the diary?”
“It’s safe. I’ll take a look at it today.”
“See what you can find out. In the meantime, I’ll deal with Mathew. Patrick, Jared, and Derek, I want you to keep an eye on that waitress, Eve. See what she’s up to, where she lives, who she talks to, and whether she goes into the forest or not. The three of you can switch off so she doesn’t get suspicious about being followed.”
“You just said we don’t have much time. How do we convince her to help us?”
Jared has a valid point. “See if one of you can charm her. And if you can’t, see if she can be bribed. Those are the only two options we have.”
Jared smirks. “Charm her? I can charm the pants off any female.”
Derek has been quiet the whole time, but this makes him laugh. “Yeah, sure. We’ve all seen how that goes.”
“What about the Alpha Successor?” Patrick glances at me. “Wasn’t he courting Sophia?”
The mention of Noah Black makes me burn with anger. Sophia doesn’t seem to understand how dangerous that man is. But now that she’s with me, she has no reason to accept his advances. How will he take being rejected? If not well, I may have to step in. And if it turns into a full-blown fight, I could end up revealing my identity as the black wolf Noah fought once before.
“For now, we avoid him. I’m not going to put Sophia in any sort of danger. I have a feeling he’s the kind of man who doesn’t take rejection well at all.”
“He’s been pursuing her quite aggressively,” Nathan points out. “I don’t know if you heard, but he killed one of the pack security members because the man insulted Sophia. She witnessed it.”