Page 5 of Anders
She shook off the thought and headed for the front door, her key ring clutched tightly in her hand.Whatever was going on in this town, whatever strange undercurrents she was picking up on, she’d figure it out.
That was what journalists did, after all.
Besides, she had a newspaper to run.Everything else—the weird welcome, the strange scents, the feeling that she was missing something huge and obvious—could wait until tomorrow.
But as she unlocked the door, she heard something that made her freeze: a long, mournful howl, echoing off the hills.It was answered by another, then another, until the night was full of howling.
And deep in her chest, something howled back.
CHAPTER 2
THEOLDPACKHOUSE’S RETROFITTEDstorage room hummed with the sound of cooling fans and processing units, finally resembling something like the command center Anders had envisioned.
Anders tapped methodically at his keyboard, watching lines of code scroll across the screen.
Five monitors lined the wall before him, each displaying a different feed from around the Sunburst Pack territory.
If you stare at those screens any harder, you’ll burn holes through them,Malcolm said from his perch on the edge of the desk.The coalpha had wandered in twenty minutes ago, ostensibly tocheck on progress,but Anders knew better.
That would defeat the purpose of installing them,Anders replied without looking up.His fingers continued their steady rhythm across the keyboard.Surveillance systems aren’t particularly effective with holes.
He sensed rather than saw Malcolm’s eye roll.The larger shifter moved around the small room, examining the new equipment with casual interest that didn’t fool Anders for a second.Malcolm had purpose to his movements, always.
So this is where you’ve been hiding the past three weeks,Malcolm said, picking up a coil of cable and setting it down again.
Not hiding.Working.Anders finished the sequence he was typing and hit Enter.The third monitor blinked, cycling through a series of camera views from the eastern boundary.Setting up proper security protocols takes time.
Doesn’t take twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
Anders finally looked up, raising an eyebrow.I sleep.
Occasionally.Malcolm leaned against the wall, crossing his arms over his broad chest.You missed the pack run two nights ago.And the bonfire last week.And the—
I’m aware of the social calendar,Anders cut in, returning his attention to the screen.The new motion sensors along the ridge were finally registering properly in the system.I’ve been busy.
Malcolm made a noise somewhere between a snort and a grunt.The point of installing all this security is to protect the pack, right?Hard to do that if you never actually interact with them.
Anders suppressed a sigh.He’d anticipated this conversation, of course.Had calculated an 87 percent probability of Malcolm bringing it up within the next three days.The coalpha was nothing if not predictable in his concern for pack welfare.
My interactions with the pack are precisely as frequent as my job requires,Anders said, typing in the final command sequence for the eastern boundary sensors.I was at the strategy meeting on Tuesday.I trained the younger wolves in basic evasion tactics yesterday morning.
And then you came straight back here to your cave.
Command center,Anders corrected.Caves lack proper electrical infrastructure.
Malcolm chuckled, the sound warm and genuine.There’s that famous Anders humor.I was beginning to think you’d locked it away with the rest of your personality.
Anders swiveled his chair to face the coalpha directly.Is there a point to this visit, Malcolm?Or did you just come to critique my work schedule?
The pack misses you,Malcolm said simply.
Anders hadn’t expected that.
He’d anticipated a lecture on responsibility, perhaps even an order to attend the next gathering.Not this straight acknowledgment of…what?His absence?His value to the pack?
They see me,he countered, but his tone lacked conviction.
They see the new head guardian.They don’t see Anders.Malcolm pushed off from the wall and approached the desk again.Look, I get it.You’re taking this job seriously.AfterPercy’s betrayal, you want to rebuild trust in the guardian position.But isolating yourself isn’t the way to do it.
