“I love you, angel.”
She didn’t hear his whispered words, but he didn’t care. He needed to say them to her. One day soon, he hoped she’d say the words back. Until then, he’d relish every second he had with her.
“He’s damned good at covering his tracks.” Raze sniffed the air.
Lorent nodded in agreement. “We’ve barely caught a trace of his scent the past six months. By the time we do, he’s long gone.”
“If what Terrance says is true, we need to get him soon,” Knox said quietly.
Brent cast a quick glance in Terrance’s direction to make sure he was out of earshot.
“I’m not sure how much I believe what comes out of his mouth. At first, he was more convincing with his story. Now?” Brent shrugged. “I don’t know. Seems like a lot of the little details have changed over the months of retelling.”
“I’m with you on that,” Raze agreed. “I spent many years with rogues, and something about Terrance rubs me wrong. He has that restless shiftiness about him. Like he’s hiding something.”
“I can see that as well, but we have to get Galen and find out once and for all who’s telling the truth,” Knox said.
“I agree we need to hear his side of it. I’m just not sure at this point how amiable he’s going to be to telling us. We have been chasing him, and he obviously doesn’t want to be caught. He’s no pup. I haven’t come across many ancients that have turned rogue in my life. If we keep pushing, sooner or later he’s going to push back. We can’t afford to lose any more of our kind.” Brent clenched his fists.
“No. We can’t. But we have to clear this situation up,” Lorent said.
“I agree. I hope we can do it without bloodshed. When we get Galen’s scent again, we need to make a plan to capture him without anyone getting hurt. We can’t kill him and ask questions later simply on Terrance’s word,” Brent said.
“Still no paper trails?” Raze asked.
Brent shook his head. “Nope. We’re watching, but who are we kidding? He’s like us. Any one of us could survive the rest of our lives without money. It might not be a pretty life, but it’s doable.”
“You guys find something?” Terrance jogged up, then stopped beside the men.
“No. Not yet,” Knox answered.
“You need to kill that bastard as soon as we find him. He’s dangerous,” Terrance said.
Terrance had been gung ho on Galen’s death from the start, which in itself didn’t sit right with Brent. There was more to Terrance’s story, and he was going to find out what that was.
“He’ll be dealt with appropriately,” Brent murmured after a quick glance to Knox, Raze, and Lorent.
They nodded, in tune with exactly what Brent’s words meant. Terrance took them to mean they would be killing Galen on the spot. Little did the pup know that he would be scrutinized right along with Galen. And if they found out Terrance was a traitor? Brent was sure Terrance had no idea they were doubting his story. If he had, he would have made a run for it by now.
Brent hated the situation they were in. Why couldn’t all of his kind realize the importance of banding together? Of following the simple ancient rules in place to protect all females with the main scent? The lycan species was dying out thanks to the rogues killing off potential mates. If things didn’t turn around soon, there would be no saving the lycans.
He gritted his teeth. He hadn’t wanted to take Terrance with them on the hunt for Galen, but the idea of leaving him at Sanctuary was even more unappealing. All of their mates, and a few potential mates, lived there, and while the women were always heavily guarded, he couldn’t stand the thought of any threat near Rindy while he wasn’t there. The others felt the same way about their mates.
Brent thought about Rindy. She’d been chased by rogues for most of her life. Fortunately, he’d found her before it had been too late. That was the driving force that kept him going after rogues and maintaining Sanctuary. Many other lycans, including Knox, Raze, and Lorent, now helped at Sanctuary and with the reformation program for rogues. It had saved many rogues from being killed, including Lorent, who Brent trusted with his own life. If Lorent hadn’t been reformed, he would have never met his mate, Melony.
Now other Sanctuaries were popping up across the country. Brent hoped like hell it would be enough to save his kind.
Galen drove the old truck along the bumpy road. Patrick sat in the middle between him and Myka.
“It’s only about ten more minutes,” Myka said.
“Do I have to go see Doc Wheeler? I feel fine now,” Patrick scoffed.
“Yes. It won’t hurt to get checked over.”
Myka glanced over at Galen, who had barely said a word the whole ride to town. That morning, she’d awakened to find him still by Patrick’s side, as he’d promised. After she’d thanked him again, he’d left. By the time she’d gotten Patrick up and breakfast ready, Galen had fed the horses, turned them out for the day, picked the stalls, and was working on getting the rest of the garden harvested.
While Patrick had been getting dressed, she brought Galen some orange juice and an egg sandwich. He’d eaten all of it in a few big bites. He did seem to like her cooking. By the time she’d taken the dirty plate back inside and made sure Patrick was ready, Galen had all of the veggies from the garden lying in a neat row on the tailgate of the pickup and had found the small chicken coop beside the house.
They talked about building a bigger one, and he agreed that it would be a good idea. However, she didn’t miss that he didn’t come right out and say he’d build it for her. Was he planning on leaving soon? Her stomach flittered. She hoped not. She was starting to get used to having Galen around. More than that, she liked having him around. If only he’d stay for the long haul. She could easily see herself settling down with him. He was a good, caring man, and Patrick liked him as well. As far as she was concerned, if the animals and kid both liked him, he couldn’t be that bad.
After she’d gathered the rest of the eggs from the fridge, she’d taken them to the truck. She then took out the vegetables she planned to keep and washed the others and packed them in plastic containers. After loading the truck, they’d all started for town.
“If there is anything you need to do in town, Galen, please feel free.”
“I could use a couple pairs of jeans and some T-shirts. But I’ll unload the truck for you and get you and Patrick to Doc Wheeler’s before picking them up.”
They pulled into town before she could answer, and she pointed to Mr. Lee’s grocery store. Galen parked out front, then turned off the engine.
“I can take care of this, Galen. You’ve already done more than enough this morning. You should take some time for yourself.”
“I’m going to unload the truck for you. I don’t mind, and it’ll only take me a couple minutes.”
“You are a stubborn man, aren’t you?” She grinned because she couldn’t help it. Besides, how could she get upset with him because he wanted to help her?
“Sometimes.” He winked at her before getting out of the truck.
She talked to Mr. Lee after Galen unloaded the produce for her, and was pleasantly surprised at the price he paid for it.
“It’s getting close to most things being out of season around here. The demand is higher for the fresh stuff right now. After this, I’m going to have to order out,” Mr. Lee said while pushing his thick glasses further up his nose.
She’d always liked Mr. Lee. He wasn’t much taller than she was, but was several years older and had a sprinkling of gray throughout his dark hair.