Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-One
Graham sat in the back of the security room while Theo and Toma analyzed the airport security footage. They’d arrived at the airport closest to Moonstone a few hours earlier. It had been thirty hours since Catherine disappeared. Every passing hour coiled his nerves further. He glared over Toma and Theo’s shoulders as they bickered about the missing gap in footage. Having felt like he waited long enough, Graham stepped forward, grabbed the back of the men’s chairs and flung them away.
“Wooaahh,” Theo cheered as he spun several feet.
Graham took the keyboard and started working his way through the camera feeds. He ignored the cameras on the runway knowing full well Dominic would have erased them all. He turned to the ones furthest from the airport, facing the highway, and started going through them. He worked for several minutes in silence while Theo and Toma waited. Finally he stopped, paused the video and zoomed in. He splayed his hands wide apart and glared at the screen.
“It’s her,” Toma whispered.
“You know her?” Theo asked, baffled.
Toma nodded. “She killed my father. She took everything from us.”
Graham stared at the screen, at the image of Julia who looked directly at the camera as if she knew exactly where it was, as if she knew Graham would find it. He hit play and watched until the car left the viewing radius. He shoved Theo on the shoulder until he got up from the chair. He stole the chair and slid closer to the keyboard. He pulled up a second program and started hacking into the city’s transportation camera hub.
His fingers flew over the keyboard as he entered code and dissected firewalls until his screen showed nine different cameras at a time. He entered a few keywords and started tracking the car Julia was in through the different cameras located around the city. He managed to follow her car to the closest camera to the Moonstone gate where it disappeared. He clicked through the rest of the cameras and fast-forwarded through the one closest to MoonStone but there was nothing left to find. Graham placed his elbows on the table and gripped his hair between his fingers.
“Hey, it’s nearly two. Maybe we should call it, meet with everyone in the morning and start fresh,” Theo suggested.
Graham scrubbed his hands through his hair and went back to work on the computer. “I’m good. Go.”
Graham felt more than saw Theo and Toma’s silent argument. Finally Theo sighed. “We’ll just post up here then, just in case you need something.”
“Tell everyone we’ll meet in the hotel’s conference room at eight,” Graham told him.
“Yeah, okay,” Theo sighed.
Graham continued working through the night tracking phones, identifying MoonStone citizens of interest, and putting out APBS on Dominic’s cars. All of it led nowhere. By eight o’clock, Graham felt no closer to finding Catherine, and a lot closer to killing the next person who suggested he get some sleep.
When he walked into the hotel conference room, everyone in attendance quieted. He nodded at Lucas, Jensen and Muriel as he went to take a seat near the alpha. Jensen waited until Graham was seated before he turned to Lucas.
“What did you find?” Jensen asked.
Lucas tapped his knuckles against the table. “Just as Graham suspected, the trail led nowhere. The scent we found was lacking in any real substance. Best guess is they took some of her hair and blood to…” Lucas and everyone else looked down at the pen Graham had snapped in his clenched fist.
“Keep. Going,” Graham ordered.
“Riiight, it’s an obvious ruse to throw us off their tracks. I have a meeting with my MoonStone contact in an hour.”
“Good. Henry?” Jensen asked, turning to the other side of the table.
“Workers at the airport all seem to have the same amnesia from the day the plane supposedly landed,” Henry started.
“Blood magic,” Muriel growled, knowing it had to have been his daughter to do the casting.
Henry shrugged knowing he couldn’t prove it. “If nothing else, it tells us they were here. We have a few men calling passengers who went through the airport that day hoping someone saw something. Until then, we are canvassing neighborhoods within an hour of Moonstone, hoping something comes up.”
1/4
“Theo
“We’ve gone through security cameras throughout the city. We spotted Julia but believe she may have been alone. It’s possible she was the one who created the false scent trail,” Theo updated.
“That’s all?” Jensen asked.
“Well, we were working on getting farther when…”
“I took over,” Graham interjected. “Let’s face it, Dominic covered his tracks. We could sit here spinning our wheels trying to figure out which direction he went, or we could take a moment to think of something better.”
“And what would that be?” Jensen asked, chuffed that Graham didn’t like his approach.
“He plans to make Catherine his mate and Luna. To do that, he needs approval from at least one council member.”
“You really think Dominic cares that much about the rules?” Toma asked.
“For this, he does. If he wants MoonStone to go with him into battle and other packs to follow suit, he needs to play by the rules of wolf hierarchy. They have laws about a chosen mate as Luna. She must be strong, able and, most importantly, willing. He’ll want to wait until after he’s…” Graham shut his eyes and inhaled deeply. “He’ll want to wait until he’s marked her. Then immediately get approval from one of the council, whoever he has in his pocket.” Graham threw a stack of paper onto the table. “There are five council members. I want teams of two tailing each. Dominic will wait until the night before the full moon to tell the council member his hideout location. As soon as one of these men makes a move, we follow.”
The men around the table went through the stack of papers and drew out a council member to follow. The men filed out until it was just Jensen, Muriel, Lucas and Graham.
“We should call in reinforcements,” Lucas said.
Jensen sighed. “I’ve been on the phone all day. The wolves in the area won’t touch Dominic.”
“And the lycans? What about Dane or Gerald? They’re both on this coast,” Lucas offered.
Jensen chuckled and scrubbed his face. “Gerald’s MIA. Apparently he still hasn’t returned home since the incident in Sterling.”
“That’s… suspicious,” Lucas observed, jotting down some notes in his phone.
“Yeah, we’re looking into it,” Jensen confirmed. “As for Dane…”
“Let me guess, he wants something in return?” Lucas asked.
Jensen nodded. “He won’t help unless we make a blood pact to hand over you or Catherine.”
Muriel chuckled. “Why does a blood pact matter? You’ve already gone against the first one.”
“He thinks I’m desperate enough to care about my own life over others,” Jensen explained.
Graham barked out a laugh, startling everyone at the table. “I wonder why he thinks that,” he said with a pointed glare. The room fell silent. He shook his head. “I don’t have time for this. Call Elliot. He can have men here in six hours. I’m going out to see if I can track my mate.”
Graham shoved up from the table and started to walk out of the room. A hand landed on his shoulder and he glanced back at Lucas.
“Come on, Man. You won’t do us any good running aimlessly through the forest. You can meet my informant with me,” Lucas suggested.
Graham nodded and followed him out of the hotel. They got into the rented suv and started heading toward MoonStone. As they drove Graham looked out the window at the landscape Catherine had grown up in.
“Have you slept?” Lucas asked, snapping Graham out of his thoughts.
“Why the fuck does everyone care if I’ve slept. Is my performance lacking?” Graham asked.
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Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-One
Lucas scoffed. “No, but…”
“Then shut the fuck up about it,” Graham growled.
“Try to keep the growling to a minimum when we meet my informant. She can be jumpy.”
“She?”
“Yeah, mated, it’s not like that.”
“I wasn’t worried. It’s just rare to have a female informant. What does she have against Dominic?”
“She was a tribute.”
No further explanation was needed. While he knew there were a few girls who volunteered to vie for the Luna position, he would bet money nine out of ten were there by force. Lucas continued to drive past the entrance of MoonStone.
He took a few winding loops down country back roads. He finally pulled the car just off the road beside a thicket of trees and shut off the engine. He tapped his steering wheel and whistled while he waited with the windows rolled down. A few minutes passed before they both heard a shrill whistle belonging to a tropical bird. Lucas perked up and waited for the call again. He answered the call with a made-up whistle of his own. He turned the engine back on and unlocked the doors.
Graham kept his eyes trained forward as the backdoor opened and the scent of cinnamon and sugar entered his senses. Lucas glanced at the side mirror and drove off.
“Thanks for meeting on such short notice, Miranda,” Lucas said casually.
“Happy to help,” came a high, melodic voice from the back.
“This is my buddy, Graham,” Lucas introduced.
Graham looked in the rear-view mirror. The girl wore a baggy hoodie that obscured most of her face apart from her striking gold-green eyes. He nodded and she waved.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Miranda,” the woman said, sticking her hand up between the front seats. Graham looked out the window, ignoring her extended hand.
“You’ll have to excuse him,” Lucas apologized. “We’re all a bit on edge. We’ve lost our friend.”
“What is it you need from me?”
“Dominic took her and we aren’t sure where he’s hiding out. I was hoping you may have some idea. Have you heard any chatter about a secret residence or plans to bring a new luna home soon?”
“Well you know about Dominic’s ‘chosen’ mate Catherine Bennings, right?” Miranda asked. Graham’s fists clenched and Lucas gave him a steadying look.
“Yeah, we’ve heard of her,” Lucas answered.
“Dominic’s been talking about her more often to pack members. Like he has big plans with her. He seemed to be getting more and more excited, as if he expected her to come home any day. They’ve started decorating the packhouse and the grounds for a ceremony.” Miranda scoffed. “I know she would never. She got away. She’s free.”
Graham closed his eyes and inhaled carefully.
“So you haven’t heard anything other than that?” Lucas pressed.
Miranda thought for a minute as they continued to cruise around, avoiding any areas where there might be cameras. “There have been a lot of men coming into the pack over the last few weeks. Soldiers. A lot of them are rogues. Simon has done some digging. All of their packs were dissolved over the last decade or so through mysterious circumstances. The luna would die, then a new luna would be selected and within a year the pack would be drained of funds, the alpha would be killed, and the pack disbanded.”
“How many so far?” Lucas asked.
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-One
“Hundreds over the last few weeks. They’ve all been getting trained day and night. Dominic won’t reveal what their purpose is, even to council members. The rumors in the pack are that he plans to use them to start expanding packlands. Citizens are getting nervous.”
“So wherever they are, they’re prepared for the war to start immediately,” Graham sighed. “We still need Muriel then and we may need Dane too.”
Lucas pulled up to the same spot as before and unlocked the car again. “Thanks again, Miranda. I think you’ve helped more than anyone else in this dump,” Lucas commended.
Miranda remained silent for a moment. Then a card materialized beside Graham’s head. He turned and narrowed his eyes at it and then looked back at the girl who was leaning forward in her seat with a smile.
“Catherine’s scent always made me crave orange sherbert,” she whispered. She held the card up higher until Graham took it. It had Miranda’s full name, phone number and email. “When you get her back, tell her to call me. I owe her everything.”
Miranda sat back and started to shuffle out of the car. Graham rolled his window down and called out to her. She turned and raised a brow in question. “You
knew her?” he asked.
Miranda smiled and nodded. “She’s the Luna we don’t deserve.”
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Surrendering to Destiny
