connection to either Russ or Shane; he’d just tagged along to see the knives because he’d had some free time to kill. “I’d bet my place in the pack that he wasn’t lying,” Revel said. “I got the impression he was more interested in Athena’s art than in the knives.”
Garnet continued to investigate, managed to unearth a couple of packmates who’d seen Eloise and Chase sneak into his room—she’d known the two couldn’t have fooled everyone. Sometimes, though, even wolves could be circumspect. Not often, but now and then.
Walking to the main den entrance after confirming the young couple’s whereabouts, Garnet poked out her head. Her den had been dug out of the side of a mountain, similarly to the main SnowDancer den; it was solid stone and quite safe. It was also naturally soundproof, so it wasn’t until she opened the door a crack and looked outside that she saw the night darkness beyond, mature trees bent over like saplings by a merciless wind.
The rain that hit her face felt like a thousand needles digging into her flesh.
Ice chilled her blood.
Everyone should’ve come in the instant the weather turned from irritating but bearable to deadly—her people weren’t stupid and neither was Kenji. But according to the roster on the opposite wall, no one had made it back. No one.
Chapter 7
About to hit the emergency callback alarm that would blast out a high-pitched noise that was uncomfortable for wolf ears but highly effective in making them pay attention, she spied a couple of wet wolf bodies. Pulling the heavy door fully open, she let in the rain and the wind so her packmates could whip through the opening.
When the two sentries looked back at her, their gray pelts plastered to their bodies, she said, “Did you see Kenji or Pia?” The roster confirmed they were the only ones still out there; she’d have been alerted if anyone unauthorized had headed out, or if someone hadn’t made it home.
Both wolves shook their heads, one of them sneezing midway. Lifting a paw to his muzzle, he rubbed.
“Go,” she said to the bedraggled pair. “Get dry. They must be on their way back in.”
The two went to the door instead and poked out their noses. She tapped them both firmly on those noses, to their yelps and offended looks. “Don’t even think about going back out to look for them. Then I’ll have four people to worry about instead of two. Go get dry. Now.”
Giving in, they padded off down the corridor, their paws leaving muddy prints on the stone and their bodies dripping. It’d be gone soon enough. One of the maternal females’ favorite punishments was to make miscreant kids and juveniles clean anything that could be cleaned. Since this was a wolf den with plenty of mischievous pups, dirt was rarely allowed to linger more than ten or fifteen minutes.
She looked back out into the rain, her pulse in her mouth. Kenji was familiar with this area and he was one hell of a tough wolf, but it wasn’t his own region. It was possible he’d become turned around in the vicious weather. As for Pia, she was a smart, experienced senior soldier. If she wasn’t back, there was a problem.
“Jem, I just saw Josephine and Roan. They only now come in?” Revel stepped up beside her, his eyes on the storm and his slender body humming with barely contained tension. “Something’s wrong with Pia,” he said without waiting for a response from her. “I’ve had this growing bad feeling over the past half hour. Couldn’t stand it anymore, came to check she’d returned.”
Garnet had serious respect for the twin bond—she’d seen it in action with the twins among her own siblings. Steele would probably know the instant Ruby went into labor despite the fact that they were in different dens at the moment.
Not that she’d needed Revel’s statement; her own instincts were screaming at her. “I think we’d better go out, look for her and Kenji.” Unlike the exhausted Roan and Josephine, Garnet and Revel were fresh, would be better able to weather the storm.
Her blood roared in her ears, her mouth dry as she began to tug up her sweater, then thought to hell with it and decided to go straight into the shift. She could always get more clothes; she didn’t want to delay a second. And much as she liked Revel’s fiery twin, it was Kenji at the forefront of her mind. He had to be okay.