Chapter 753 Chapter 753
The one that wrote them looked at the other. “Should we go back? Tell everyone what’s going on?”
Eaton shook her head. “You can’t tell anyone.” She glanced at the napkin. “If they’ve been found. They’re safe, but they can’t go home right now.” She tapped her hand on the table. “I don’t even know if we should send you home yet.” She closed her eyes for a second before looking at each of them. “Do either of you communicate with anyone from home?”
They exchanged a look. The one nodded. The other one looked at Eaton. “My sister and I send messages to each other as pictures on an app, so they’re not on our phones.”
Eaton nodded. “Okay.”
Zain’s phone buzzed. Everyone looked at it. He opened Illias’ message and then smiled. “All of them are safe.” He looked over at them.
“I want to go where they are.” the one said.
The one who communicated with his sister nodded. “I’ll go back.”
Eaton nodded and looked at her phone again. “You can’t tell anyone. Not even your sister. Just say you wanted to be home for the holidays.”
He nodded.
“My only family is two of those you found.” The other one said.
Eaton typed in her phone. “When Gideon is finished with dropping Lakin off to his transport, we’ll get you on your way to them.” She smiled briefly. “Demir will be here shortly to get you home.” She looked at them. “I’ll wait here with you.” She looked at Zain. “You need to get back to the hotel.”
Zain exchanged a look with Oaklyn. She was nibbling on her bottom lip. He looked away. “What about tomorrow?”
Eaton inhaled slowly and then exhaled. “I’ll let you know. We may need you to check out those three. Once Luka and Jett are here, we’ll come up with a plan.”
Zain nodded and stood up. “Okay.”
Bear reached into his pocket and pulled out some bills and dropped them on the table. “I wanted to try the hot buns.”
Eaton smiled. “I’ll bring some back for you.”
Bear smiled. “That works.”
“Go.” Eaton jerked her head toward the door. “Let me know if there are any problems.”
Zain scoffed. “I think we have enough of those for now.” He nodded to the men and started for the door. he needed air. His wolf felt like he was prowling inside him, and he understood exactly why. Despite his fears and paranoia, he had to help them bring Aiden Tomas to his knees so there were no more families torn apart.
~
The drive back to the hotel was filled with somber expressions and silence. When he parked a block from it, they got out and started walking.
“I feel so bad for them,” Oaklyn said softly.
“I’ve been there for months,” Bear said. “Seeing the state of those we rescued.” He shook his head. “We could rescue them all, and it will never be enough.”
Zain jammed his hands in his pocket. “Once Aiden is in a cage, the Alliance needs to get to the clans on this side of the border and clean up years of neglect.”
“I don’t know if that’s possible.” Oaklyn sighed.
“We’ll make it possible.” Zain glanced at her. “I’m going to call Devin when we get back. There has to be an old list somewhere in some dusty book that has all the clans.” He’d never looked in the volumes lined up on Shepard’s shelf, but he knew somewhere they had to have records. “We need to set up something on this side as a home base and send teams out.”
“I’d like to help with that.” Oaklyn held his look. “I can navigate in the southern states better than someone with a Canadian accent.”
“We don’t have accents.” Zain frowned.
“Oh yes, you do.” She grinned. “Where I’m from, the way I talk is normal and doesn’t draw attention.”
“I get her point,” Bear said.
Zain could only nod. His wolf was right beneath the surface. He couldn’t think about Oaklyn going down south right now. There was no way his animal would accept that she was that far away from him. He looked down at her, and her eyes bore into him. Looking away, he clamped his jaw shut tight so he wouldn’t say something stupid that could get him stabbed.
“We need to talk to someone about how we can hide our scents if we go to that luncheon tomorrow,” Bear said in a low tone.
“As long as we can identify those three, we won’t need to be sniffin’ anyone,” Oaklyn said. “Brock will have to share his secret with us.”
Zain sneered at the ground. He hated having his sense of smell impeded in any way. “I’m hoping Luka and Jett had a solid plan, and those three will be removed before we have to go.”
“In the daylight?” Bear whistled. “that’s a risky thing.”
Oaklyn scoffed. “Everything we do is risky, Timothy.” She laughed. “Just think of the kids in every clan being safe.”
He growled. “I can’t think of the kids, or I’ll start ripping limbs off people.”
Zain gave him a wide-eyed look. “I don’t wish to see that.”
Bear shrugged. “Close your eyes then because if we run into trouble, I have no problems doing whatever is necessary.”
Zain sighed. “I know. All of us are willing to, but if we can avoid bloody spectacles, that would be better.”
“I have to agree with that,” Oaklyn said. “Here isn’t like we’re out in the bush, there are so many people everywhere.”
They reached the back of the hotel and stopped.
“I’ll go get the door.” Bear pulled off his bright hat and tucked it in his pocket.
They stood there in the quiet, waiting. Zain was trying to focus on one thing at a time. They had to get through so much before the future could even be spoken of. He glanced at her. She had a faraway look in her eyes, making him wonder what she was thinking of. His wolf stirred inside him.
“I wish we could go for a run.” She said quietly. “Just to clear our heads.”
He grinned. “Yeah. If there’s time tomorrow, we’ll go out and look around the area.”
She snorted. “Finding somewhere without pavement and cement is going to be hard.”
He nodded. “There are ways, trust me.” He’d lived in the city since he’d finished school. There was always a way to go for a run. “It might be a midnight run, but we’ll be going for a run.” He looked down to see her eyes sparkling again. His wolf approved.
The door opened and Bear stuck his head out. “Let’s go. I need sleep.”