Shadow of Doubt - Hailey Edwards Page 0,74
was here, wasn’t he? Sticking his nose where it didn’t belong yet again.
All those years where Lethe chafed under Mom’s rule, he never understood her problem. He was starting to grasp it now. The urge to make Mom see things his way, to let him do things his way, to let him run things his way began to itch beneath his skin. It wasn’t a reflection on her or her ruling style. He had no complaints about how she ran the pack. As it was thriving, no one had cause to question her methods.
Still, he couldn’t help he believed he was wasted as a figurehead, that he ought to be securing the pack’s future in a way that didn’t involve him selecting a mate who wanted the same thing from him that he wanted from her: nothing.
For the first time since he took his place as heir, he felt…good. Right. Like he had taken a step down his own path.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Hadley fisted the back of his shirt, yanking him to a stop with a strength he hadn’t expected from her small frame. “You’re backup, Goldilocks.”
The beast in him bared its teeth, but he didn’t have a leg to stand on. This was her case, and he had been the one to hand it to her.
“Fine,” he growled, and saw the crimson in his eyes reflected in hers.
As though the night itself scabbarded her blade, she drew it from darkness.
Tension thrummed in the tense lines of her body as she tested the doorbell, then knocked on the door.
With neighbors on either side, most of them human, she didn’t risk announcing herself. She took a measured step back and braced. Soft words passed her lips, too faint for even his ears to catch, a prayer to Hecate, maybe? Then she kicked in the door. She flipped on the lights with the tip of her sword, though he knew her night vision was as sharp as her weapon of choice.
“He’s not here,” she said with certainty that made him curious how she could tell so quickly.
Pulling in long breaths, he filtered the scents and decided they were hours old. “I agree.”
A door creaked open in the rear of the house, and Hadley was off like a shot, chasing after danger.
Midas’s heart almost stopped as he followed, but it kicked back into gear when Ford entered the living room.
“You’re not subtle, are you, darlin’?” he teased Hadley. “Do I need to teach you how to pick a lock?”
“Pardon me for not carrying a set of lock picks with me everywhere I go,” she bit back. “Who does that?”
“I believe in emergency preparedness,” he said primly. “You never know what might come in handy.”
“True.” She eyed the silver picks in his hands with avarice. “You’ll have to teach me sometime.”
“It’s a date.” His smile was as big as Midas had ever seen it. “That will put us at two, after our movie night.”
“I will call your momma and tell her you tried taking me out on a lock-picking date,” she threatened, “and you won’t be able to sit for a week.”
Hadley hadn’t said their movie night wasn’t a date, and she hadn’t set Ford straight about them being two for two after he taught her to pick locks.
Ford laughed, delighted, and Midas literally saw red, had to glance away until the glow faded.
“There’s a trail out back.” Ford jerked his chin toward Midas. “Ask him to play bloodhound. God knows you’re not shy when it comes to asking me.”
Hadley turned hazel eyes on him, the dare in them clear. “Well?”
Midas glowered at Ford. “Thanks for throwing me under the bus.”
“Hey, she’s the one driving.” He pointed at her. “You got a problem, take it up with her.”
“Beep, beep.” She mimed honking the horn. “Get on board or get left behind, Goldilocks.”
Thanks to the freshness of the warg’s scent, Midas didn’t have to lower himself to sniffing couch cushions to get a lock on their suspect. Walking past both of them into the backyard, he identified the well-worn path leading into Perkerson Park.
“He went this way.” Midas crouched where the scent would be closer. “Often.”
Hadley was a warm presence at his back. “Did he take it tonight?”
“No.” He shook his head. “The scent in the front yard is stronger than this.”
Her gaze swept the bare dirt and crushed grass. “Is it the same?”
“Warg,” he answered. “Not what I noticed on the first or third scenes.”
“Ford?” She gave him room to join