Page 55 of Her Shifter Pack

“I want to go look for Markus. Did you find out anything?”

I shook my head and slid my cell into my back pocket. “No. No one has seen him, and since he left his keys and phone in his truck, I think he’s most likely shifted and gone running.”

Lexie inhaled sharply. “Okay. Where would he go?”

“The forest. Up into the mountains, probably. There’s a cave we used to visit when we were younger. He could be there.”

She nodded and zipped up her jacket. “Let’s go, then.”

I grabbed my keys. “I texted the wolf council and called an emergency meeting. Everyone is meeting at my parents’ place within the hour.”

Lexie’s annoyance was obvious in the twist of her lips. “Why did you do that?”

“Safety in numbers,” I said, locking the house and following Lexie to the truck. “We’ll be able to cover a lot more ground and track Markus down a lot faster if we put together a search party.”

Despite the logical move to involve the wolf council, I was definitely in agreement with Lexie. Something was wrong with my brother. I’d been feeling odd ever since late yesterday, but had put it down to the fact that he was gone, and he was upset.

But even though he was beyond upset at us, I didn’t believe he’d leave us hanging like this, with no way to contact him.

I started the truck and Lexie put out a hand. “Can we stop by the drugstore?”

I reversed down our driveway and took off toward town. “Sure, we have time. What do you need?”

“It’s not for me,” she said, her voice tight, firm. “Markus could be hurt. I want to get anything we might need. Painkillers, Tylenol for a fever. Bandages, first aid tape, bottles of water. Not that I know anything about wolf physiology. Any pointers?”

She was expecting him to be injured too, so I tried not to address our mutual fear, worried it would multiply and consume us both.

Instead, I answered her question as calmly as I could. “We’re basically the same as humans. We have a similar life span, but we run a few degrees hotter, and have advanced healing capabilities.”

“So, if Markus is hurt... like, he broke a leg or something, he’d heal really fast.”

I nodded. “As long as the bone was set right, then, yeah.”

She inhaled sharply and nodded, her lips set into a determined, thin line.

When we arrived at the pharmacy, I handed her my credit card and she took it. “I won’t be long.”

I let her go, because I needed a moment to think. I wanted to shift immediately and head up toward the cave to check it out, but Lexie wouldn’t be able to follow in that rough terrain. I needed to clear my head, ready for the council meeting.

When we got to Mom and Dad’s house, I wasn’t sure how everyone was going to vote or what decisions would be made. But no matter what, I was going after my brother.

***

LEXIE

I had no idea what state we were going to find Markus in, but I could already sense he wasn’t going to be healthy. I was practically jumping out of my skin with nerves. I felt... anxious. If I was wrong and he was fine and I’d spent hundreds of dollars on supplies for nothing, then oh, well. We’d have a stocked up first aid kit, which was never a bad thing.

With my pharmacy purchases clutched in my hands, I ran out of the store and jumped into the truck.

“Looks like you got a few things,” Ollie said, helping me arrange the bags on the floor so I could actually get in.

“Yeah, well I figured it was better to be safe than sorry.”

I’d even bought a fanny pack and a larger bag, in case I needed to travel, though I wasn’t sure that would be the case.

“Tell me more about this mountain you think Markus might have run to. Is it far away?”

I was chattering away, and I could hear the nervous tone in my voice, but I couldn’t help it. Every time I thought about Markus, I imagined him lying at the bottom of a hill, broken and bleeding, calling my name.

---