Page 9 of Elusive Mate

“Did you remind her she has no choice in the matter?” Lucian growled, finding it hard not to go over his desk and beat Zaiden to a pulp. “You know, I’m sitting here fighting the urge to beat the shit out of you for failing me.”

“Don’t think I don’t know that,” said Zaiden, the ghost of a smile starting to lift the corners of his mouth. “And don’t think that I don’t appreciate your restraint. I might point out that one, it wouldn’t change anything; two, I’m your best friend and beta—my loyalty to you is unquestioned; and three, beating the crap out of me might make you feel better, but only for a moment. I would never raise my hand to you; so then you would feel like shit for taking out your anger and frustration on me when doing so would do nothing to improve the situation.”

Zaiden was right. Worse than that, Zaiden knew he was right and knew that Lucian knew he was right.

Shaking his head, he turned and opened the small mini-fridge built into the credenza behind him. “Want a beer?”

“I wouldn’t turn one down,” Zaiden admitted.

Lucian took out two bottles of craft beer that they made at Ice Storm. There had been some talk about looking at the logistics of making it on a larger scale and selling it locally. He handed Zaiden a bottle. The two men removed the tops, and both took a long sip of the smooth, spicy, copper-colored liquid with hints of chocolate.

“You need to know that we need to restock the plane. The five of us drank all of the beer on the flight home. I’m not sure it even made it to Alaska,” said Zaiden.

Lucian chuckled. “Seriously, Zaiden, what happened?”

“That’s the hell of it. I have no idea. I knew that the meek and accepting act was just that, an act. But I had her purse with her ID, credit cards, money, and all the rest of it. I sent two men with her to the bathroom, and one went in ahead of her to check for a window or door she could slip out of. There was nothing. Maybe they waited a little longer than they should have, but as soon as they knew anything was wrong, they burst in…”

“Did anyone else go in or out?”

“No. Our guys turned the only person away. In fact, he even checked the men’s room and stood guard while she used it. We headed outside and nothing.”

“Any security cameras?”

“Yes. None in the bathroom and only one pointed at the employees’ entrance at the back. We hacked into the feed for the Embarcadero, and there was nothing. I mean there were people who were coming and going but no one that even vaguely resembled my sister.”

“There’s some software out there that can identify someone by their gait—the way they move. See if we can get hold of that and run what we have. She can’t just have disappeared into thin air. We have to find her.”

Zaiden sat back. “You’re not just pissed. You’re worried about her.”

“Of course I’m worried about her. She’s out there on her own. If she’s bolted, which it would appear she has done, she’s done so in unfamiliar territory with no back up and no one to help her.”

Nodding, Zaiden said, “I don’t know that I believe that. She’s lived in Davis for the past eight years. We know for a fact she’s worked summers and breaks in San Francisco and visited Catalina and San Diego several times. She has to have had help either from the employees at the restaurant, although I don’t see how they could have done that, or the Shadow Sisters. Snatching her out from under your nose is just the kind of caper they excel at and revel in.”

Lucian chuckled. “I have to admire them for their ingenuity and courage, but they are fighting a losing battle, and their efforts would be better spent returning to their origin clans.”

A week had passed by and there had been not so much as a whisper as to where Zenya had disappeared or who had helped her. They had been able to acquire the software they needed to see if they could spot Zenya with an altered appearance by the way she moved. Nothing so far. There was a knock on the door.

“Lucian?” Zaiden greeted him as he joined him in his study.

“Anything?”

“Nothing conclusive. It has to be the Shadow Sisters.”

“Then I say we go after them. Take one captive and make her talk,” snarled Lucian, whose temperament was getting worse by the day.

“That’s not going to work. You may not yet have decided to join the Resistance, but if you take one of the Shadow Sisters, the Resistance will turn on you.”

“We can hold our own.”

“I’m not saying we can’t,” Zaiden said, trying to placate him. “But that will leave the Resistance vulnerable, and I don’t think we want that. I’m also not convinced that the Shadow Sisters wouldn’t be a formidable opponent on their own. In any event, doing so gives the Shadow League room to better their position…”

“Fuck the League, fuck the Resistance, and fuck the damn Shadow Sisters,” Lucian shouted, banging his fist on the desk. “Zenya is out there, and I want her back.”

“I am well aware, my alpha,” said Zaiden, the last two words dripping with disdain. “Everybody here knows that. You growl and snap at everyone. There are whispers among the unmated females that perhaps Zenya was right not to return…”

“How dare you,” Lucian growled, coming to his feet.

Zaiden sprang to his feet as well. “I dare because I am beta to this clan. It is my job to tell you when there are rumblings among our people. Whatever you choose to do with anything regarding my sister, you should have a care as to how it looks to others. I have no doubt that you mean her no real harm, but there are those who are now questioning that.”

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