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“Turn north,” he ordered. “There are five cabins on the slope. Thermal tracking picked up smoke from two of them.”
“Heading north,” Blazon acknowledged as Del-Rey propped his elbow on the side of the door and ran his hand wearily over his jaw.
God, where was she? Was she as cold as he was?
He stared at the thick, heavy blanket of snow that covered the mountains around them, and for a moment he was back in time. He was ten, staring out the bars over his windows as he watched the soldiers chain Brim by a collar around his neck, in the middle of a snowstorm.
There had been a doghouse to huddle in. There had been no warmth. The five-year-old Brim had been naked and depending on Del-Rey to save him. Because Del-Rey had sworn he wouldn’t let the boy die.
Brim was blue by the time the soldiers dragged him into the warmth of the cells. He had shaken and shivered for hours as Del-Rey coordinated the Coyotes in the cell so there were two to warm him and the others to hide it.
It had taken him nearly six hours to manipulate the guards and the scientists into deciding to bring him in. There had been so many others he hadn’t been able to save.
What if he couldn’t save his mate now? After the years he had trained to protect his people, would fate laugh in his face and let him fail with his mate?
God, where was she?
“Team six,” he spoke into the comm link. “Any sign?”
“Negative,” the team leader reported. “We have four and five working a grid through town, but nothing’s shown. City council seems to be meeting today. Strange for a Sunday, don’t you think?” the leader mused.
“Keep your eyes open, cover the back roads out of town as well. I want her found.”
“We’ll find her, Alpha,” the team leader swore. “We won’t let our coya go unprotected.”
But they had, and it had been his fault. He should have thought. The animal genetics were too close to the surface. He’d thought the Coyotes that knew him, trusted him, would see what he didn’t tell them. That he was protecting his coya as he protected his brothers. By denying her. Instead, they had seen suspicion and distrust. She was a human, not a Coyote, and he’d rejected her despite the fact that she was his mate.
“Alpha Delgado, this is Base.” The communications supervisor came on. “Switch to private.”
Del-Rey flipped the link to a private channel, including Brim in the transmission.
“Delgado here.”
“Alpha, we found a transmission, erased. I was able to track it from the coya’s computer.”
“And?”
“Alpha, the transmission originated from her private computer to a public forum and bounced to France. Transmission was to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Separate identities. Another transmission tracked from Austria to the coya’s line in private chat arranging a meeting and then confirming said meeting for today. I ran the identities myself. Doctors Chernov and Sobolova from the Russian facility. She’s contacted Council scientists. Were you aware of this?”
God love her. He closed his eyes, battling his fears for her. Her drive to protect the Coyotes was going to get her killed.
He thought fast. “You didn’t get that memo?” Protecting her was his prime importance.
“No, Alpha, pack leaders did not receive their memos in regards to this,” the team leader stated soberly. “But there was that communications blackout and shutdown.”
“That explains it.” Del-Rey’s throat felt tight with emotion. “Your coya was contacting doctors she thought would aid our unique genetics.”
“So why meet them alone?” the pack leader asked.
“I don’t know, because she was fucking attacked in her own home?” Del-Rey snarled. “Stop asking me damned questions and find her. I want the location of that meeting.”
“There was reference to a secondary contact, Alpha,” he was told. “The only person she speaks to by phone or link is her family.”
Del-Rey’s eyes narrowed. “Track down her father and those three useless cousins of hers. Find out if they’re where they’re supposed to be, and if not, find out where they went.”
“On it.” The link disconnected as Del-Rey cursed viciously.
“Head to town,” he ordered Brim. “She’s in town or close. She wouldn’t risk a cabin to meet those doctors in. It wouldn’t be secure enough.”
