Chapter Twelve
Flint
I knocked on Craven’s door a little too hard. Couldn’t be helped. I was eager to meet our mate.
“Yeah?” I heard him call from inside.
“We’re going into town. To see Tawny. Care to…” Before I could get the word join out, Craven opened the door. His hair was disheveled, and he was in his sleep pants. “I’m guessing that’s a yes.”
“Give me ten minutes.”
He only took seven. In that time, he showered and made himself presentable. We tried to be casual, T-shirts and jeans all around.
“Should we walk or drive?” Rork said, stepping out onto the porch. He whispered a good morning to the ferns.
“Drive,” Craven answered.
“The alpha speaks.” Rork bounded down the steps and onto grass still wet from the drizzle earlier that morning.
I’d been preoccupied with the details of Tawny shared by Rork, but I craved so much more.
I hadn’t told my pack brothers, but if Tawny wasn’t the one, my wolf’s heart would be broken.
We didn’t have her scent, hadn’t even heard her voice, but the animal within me was relentless in pushing me to pursue her.
“Let’s go.”
We parked Craven’s truck between the sheriff’s office and the general store. Word of our interest would spread like wildfire soon enough. The gossip train in a small town ran day and night.
“Is she there?” Rork said, opening his door. We could see Pleasant Pages from this spot and from what I could tell, the lights were on.
People passed us and said hello. Marla from the Pleasant Lodge dragged a wheeled cart behind her mumbling something about muffins. I heard the clinking and clanking of the mechanic shop. Darryl stayed in business. People came from all over the county to have him fix things for a reasonable price.
“Lights are on. There’s only one way to find out.” I led the way to the bookstore, my wolf urging me on, along with my curiosity. I didn’t let the others know but I was nervous as hell. This moment could unlock a new life for us. A different life. One we’d dreamed about.
There were eyes on us and not the ones I wanted. Pleasant was just that, but rumors would run wild in minutes.
The windows were dirty and had been for quite some time. I remembered when the bookstore closed, thinking it was such a shame.
“What do we do?” I said, testing the knob. It was locked.
I refrained from pressing my ear to the door to listen better. Rork was on the side, claiming he could see inside from that vantage point, the same one where he saw her twirling.
Goddess, his whole encounter with her made me jealous. Not because of him but because I hadn’t had time with her yet.
I needed to back up, mentally. Tawny could be taken. Mated. Packed up. All of the above.
“We knock.” Craven knocked on the door, a sharp rap that would get anyone’s attention.
A gasp resounded from inside. “You scared her,” I admonished, elbowing him in the ribs.
“Yeah, but now we know she’s in there.”
A scent reached my senses. Saccharine and earthy at the same time. Molasses and mud after a good rain. But beneath it were the sour of regret. The tang of fear. The burn of shame.
“Rork?” I called out. She knew Rork. Maybe she could hear us and come to the door since she knew him.
“I see her…she’s…”
“She’s what?” I whisper-shouted, pissed off that I couldn’t see anything through the dingy, antiquated windows.
“She’s rubbing her eyes. Oh, she’s crying. Tawny is crying.”
“Someone made her sad,” Craven growled. “Someone or something made her upset, and she’s crying.” He knocked again, louder this time. Another gasp. Shuffling of feet.
“Goddess damn it. Alpha?” I addressed Craven by what he was. We needed the alpha of our pack to help us. I rapped on the door with my flat palm. It made an even scarier sound. Shit. Was I scaring our mate?
“I don’t know. Is she hurt? Is something wrong?” Craven dragged his palms down his face. “Tawny!” he called out.
Rork came around the corner. “She went back behind the curtain.”
Well, fuck me.