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“Makes sense.” He nods.
“But at night, things change.” My jaw clenches. “I’ve had my suspicions, but last night, it was unmistakable.”
“Change? In what way? Have you seen-?”
A server moves up to our table, and Edirn stops speaking,
“Get you something to eat?” the kid asks.
Edirn doesn’t look tempted. I can’t say I blame him. I’m pretty sure the meal of the day is most likely smoked salmonella.
“Just a beer,” Edirn responds, waiting as the greasy blond teen strolls away. He turns back to me. “Have you seen anything specific?” he asks me.
“I sure have. The regular wolves disappear. Last night, I started seeing shifter activity. Shifter wolves, heavily guarded. From a distance, it’s hard to tell what they really are – and the place is locked down to visitors by then, so anyone passing wouldn’t know any better.”
“Not to mention that they’d hardly believe it,” he says.
“There’s that,” I agree. “And I’m guessing that’s how these fuckers have been able to operate for so long. No one thinks twice about keeping a wolf in captivity.”
Edirn’s expression turns sour, and I suspect that he finds the notion as offensive as I do.
“One thing’s for certain,” I say. “Those shifters are not there by choice.” His jaw clenches.
“And last night was the first time you had actual sight of them? You haven’t been able to get closer?” Edirn asks.
“That’s all I’ve got for you so far.” I keep my face neutral as I consider what I need to tell him. If I say too much, I might let slip that there’s a wolf loose near the sanctuary. What if they immediately assume she’s a threat?
“So the reason I’m back so soon,” he gets to the crux of the matter, “is that Jagger wants to know if it’s time to go in.”
“I think the timing couldn’t be better, actually,” I tell him. “I overheard some of the guards talking.” I lower my voice further, resisting the urge to steal a look around us. “They mentioned setting a trap for a wolf they’d spotted earlier this today.”
“A wolf? Here?” Edirn’s brows pull together. “You mean they’re not just hitting packs like Wildview?”
“No idea.” I shrug. “Until we know what their plans are, who knows how they source their stock.”
“Maybe they’re happy to take what they can get wherever they find it.”
“In which case, none of us is safe either. They could be scoping out Steel Lakes as we speak.” The thought chills me.
“They wouldn’t dare!” Edirn’s face grows thunderous. “Besides, we’re too well-defended for that. They’d never get past the perimeter.”
“Yeah…but anyone who ventures outside is fair game.” It’s a thought that’s been percolating in the past few hours. We’ve been assuming that the Wildview wolves have been the only victims. But from what I overheard, it seems to me that this thing runs a lot deeper than that.
“Fuck.” He runs a hand through his hair. “We have to stop them.”
“Yeah. And I’d say we need to start by figuring out what we’re dealing with. How many? Who’s in charge? Where they’re taking them.”
Edirn purses his lips. “No good going in and disrupting things before we’ve got more answers. We might never find the rest of them.”
“We should get back to the sanctuary as soon as possible,” I say, tapping my fingers on the scarred table. “Get a closer look at what’s happening there.”
Edirn nods. “Agreed. I can shift into my wolf form once we’re close. I’ll be able to get nearer to the facility without being spotted as easily.”
“Good idea. I’ll stick to my human form, see if I can pass as a hiker who wandered off the trail or something. Maybe I can chat up any guards or workers I run across.”
“Just be careful,” Edirn warns. “We don’t want to tip our hand too soon.”
The corners of my mouth twitch up. “Don’t worry, I know how to play dumb tourist.”
