aerie to make the call to the lynx alpha. Kiya Teague was around Lucas’s age but had become alpha far more recently; the pack’s previous alpha remained strong and healthy and respected though he was in his seventh decade of life.
He’d had the support to keep on being alpha, but had decided to pass the baton to Kiya rather than see her move away from IceRock to establish her own pack. He remained available to her should she need his advice, the transition apparently seamless from what Lucas had heard. It was exactly how a healthy pack was supposed to function, how the switch had happened in DarkRiver until Lachlan died unexpectedly two years after stepping down; the loss had left Lucas without guidance when he’d been a bare twenty-five years old.
He’d never have been able to do it without his sentinels, particularly Nathan. The current most senior sentinel had been Lachlan’s youngest sentinel at the time; he’d provided a crucial link between Lucas and Lachlan’s older sentinels, men and women who were now all retired but who’d always been there for the young panther who’d had to rebuild a heartbroken pack.
“Lucas,” Kiya said with a smile that lit up her pixyish face, her skin a tawny shade of brown and her eyes shaded by lashes that reminded Lucas of a doll’s.
Petite Kiya Teague was the most cheerful alpha Lucas knew. It was mildly disconcerting. Lucas’s panther kept wanting to pat her on the head, but the human side of him knew never to try the condescending gesture. She’d probably rip off his arm because, bouncy personality aside, Kiya was a true alpha. Nowhere near as powerful as Lucas, but powerful enough to nurture a healthy pack and to hold his gaze.
“What can I do yer for?” she asked, her hazel-brown eyes sparkling. “This about our Kirby?”
Lips curving at the possessive emphasis on Kirby, Lucas shook his head. “Got a question for you from the neighbors on your eastern edge.”
“The human settlement?” Kiya’s smile faded into a frown. “Why’re they going to you instead of coming to me?”
Interesting that she didn’t seem to know her neighbors were Forgotten . . . but then the Forgotten didn’t exactly advertise their presence. Lucas sometimes forgot that he had far more information about them than the average alpha. “We have a mutual acquaintance,” he said, then grinned. “And they’re scared of you.”
She drew up the entire five feet and one inch of her body. “You making fun of me, Lucas Hunter?”
He held up his hands. “Wouldn’t dare. They really are worried—it’s to do with the late-night SUV movements in and out of your territory.”
Kiya’s scowl faded at once. “Well, damn, I could’ve put their minds to rest in a heartbeat. I’ll do that today unless you have objections?”
“No, I think they’d probably appreciate a personal response.” Lucas was guessing at the Forgotten’s reaction, but in the back of his mind he was also always thinking about Trinity; the accord would only work if friendships and relationships developed across racial lines. “So, what’re you doing so late at night?”
“It’s not us,” the IceRock alpha replied. “We were worried about those SUVs, too. They didn’t quite come onto our territory, but they were passing right by and, well, we’re not a big pack like DarkRiver, don’t have a sprawl of land. We wanted to make sure no one was setting up to steal some from us.”
Lucas knew cats, knew exactly what the lynx pack would’ve done. “What did you see when you followed their trail?” He couldn’t have asked the question so directly had he and Kiya not already developed a good working relationship built on the fact that they were now family.
Eyes gleaming, the lynx alpha said, “The SUVs are going into the massive old estate on the other side of our territory. It used to be owned by a human CEO who went bankrupt back when I was a cub. Been left to crumble into a ruin ever since—our cubs used to sneak over to play on the property until we built a fence they couldn’t climb.”
“Why?” If the place had been deserted, most alphas wouldn’t have minded cubs playing there so long as they didn’t cause any damage.
Kiya’s expression turned dark. “The CEO built a big-ass pool and even though it was emptied out, it was still a large concrete hole in the ground—and when it rained, the water gathered. Wasn’t safe and we couldn’t get the owners on record to fence