Page 69 of Claimed

Jared knew who the late John Meadows was, confirmed that he used to run fights with his betas against dogs. Jared said no one he knows who has dealt with Meadows thinks much of him. He said he heard John used to put his son Wyatt into the ring until Wyatt got beaten pretty badly by another shifter who was also on the dog fight circuit. And I wonder if that was Ty.

When I pulled Stacy’s suitcase from my sister’s car Jase and I checked it out. I, too, caught the scents of three shifters beyond Stacy and one of them strikes me as alpha. It’s faint, the case’s scent is tainted by the catnip clippings, but I suspect by the nuances in the scent that it belongs to her brother. It dawns I should get Jared to take in the scents before he heads to Silver Hills, so I shift my mate to the side just enough to lift my phone from my pocket.

I message Jared.

Hey buddy. Wanna pop by my house before you head to Silver Hills? Give my mate’s suitcase contents a whiff so you’ll recognize some of those scents?

While waiting for him to reply, I check the message that came in a few minutes ago.

Jase: Your drunk off her ass sister fuckin ralphed all over me. You’re alone for 30 mins while I run home to shower.

My body shakes with silent laughter.

As my mate burrows deeper into me, my phone sounds off.

Jared: Have it brought over? I leave at 5:am.

He and Linc met in Linc’s bounty hunting travels a few years back and was living on the other side of Drowsy Hollow. Linccame to us not long ago, asking if we’d give Jared some space on the edge of our land.

Linc told us Jared’s scent issues are a birth defect, that he’s got some issues that mean he wants to live the lone wolf life and while we were uncertain about this based on our inability to comprehend life like that, after working with him on a few projects we all agreed to try it out.

I know he’s tight with Linc and leveled with him about the reasons why he feels the need to live alone so since Linc asked us to trust his judgement on the issue, we’ve done that without pressing.

Even still, whenever we do deal with the guy it gets me curious. He’s an alpha, though refers to himself as being sigma male. Strong fucker. He’s smart. Skilled. He’d fit into our pack, brings solid skills to the table, but he insists on living alone on the fringe of the village in his RV, though appreciates living in close proximity to us – told Linc it helps him and his wolf with some of his issues. He won’t go for runs with us and I’ve never even seen his wolf. But Linc vouching for him is good enough for me.

We’ve been called to intervene in situations where an alpha malfunctions because he’s trying to live as a lone wolf. We all know how much an alpha needs his pack. Not just alphas, most just have an innate need for a pack. There are times when a shifter will choose to be a lone wolf and we intervene because he presents a danger to his pack or the general public. But some rare shifters function well enough on their own with minimal dealings with other packs and seem to get by just fine.

I send Jared athumbs upand message the council group chat to ask if anyone has time to swing by, grab the suitcase, run it to Jared’s and then bring it back later.

Linc offers almost immediately.

17

Stacy

I open my eyes.Ugh. It feels like my head weighs ten times more than it should.

“Ow,” I mutter and roll off the bed to go to the bathroom so I can put my mouth under the tap. I turn it on and drink. And drink and drink and drink.Yes. Yum.

I feel something warm press against my hip. Greyson’s hand. He taps two pills out of a headache pill bottle onto the counter beside me. I scoop them up and eat them, guzzling more delicious water.

After turning the tap off, still holding my head, I stagger back to the bed and collapse on it.

I feel the warm, fluffy cloud of a bed that smells like the pine and caramel scent of Greyson depress as he sits beside me.

“What time is it?” I ask.

“Eight.”

“But it’s so dark.”

“PM, Blossom. You passed out well before dinner time.”

“It’s still the same day?”

His low laughter is my answer.

“I think there’s an army of little men with hammers inside my brain, Grey.”

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