Chapter 927 Chapter 927
Webb stepped out of the little office beside the entrance and paused to watch Jo and Julie run down the other hall. Right on their heels was Daigo. He debated putting a stop to it, and then realized it was just running and not Daigo chasing them down. When those girls shifted, they’d be the only caracals with a wolf brother to keep an eye on them. He looked forward to seeing that in a few years.
His phone buzzed in his pocket. Pulling it out, he smiled when he saw the number and answered it. “Asher.”
“Webb. Journee is in the shower, so I said I’d check on how Daigo’s trip was. I can’t reach Pasha.”
Webb looked around and then stepped back into the office and closed the door. “Things are a bit stirred up here right now.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. Daigo’s fine, though; he’s taken a liking to Jo and Julia.”
“I don’t…”
“The two girls from the island. Fallan’s clan.”
“Right. He was getting to be too much for my Nan to keep him.”
“How’s Journee’s niece doing?” He couldn’t remember her name.
“My Nan is spoiling her, " he said, sounding happy about it. “It's good she has company again.”
Webb nodded.
“So what’s going on there?”
Setting the pile of supply requests down, Webb leaned against the edge of the desk. “Have you talked to Amari or Gia in the last few days?”
“No. We’ve been on the road. I just got a room so we could wash some of the grime off and sleep in a real bed for a night. Searching for clans down here isn’t easy.”
“Any luck?”
“We found a fox clan, decent size, they just lived off the grid to stay hidden. That was in Oregon. Uh, two more clans, wolverine and Bobcat.”
“Where are they?”
“Idaho. We’re heading to Montana after this. That’s going to be a lot of driving. We’ll probably be there for a week. The lists we’re going off of are pre-internet and technology, so it’s rough.”
“But you found some. I’ll have to check the map Fallan has in the communications room.”
“Gia’s brother is working with rogue groups, so there will be more to pin to that map.”
Webb grinned. It was an electronic map, but he didn’t see the sense in correcting that.
“So, what is going on?”
“Well—” Where did he start? “A guy Deacon grew up with has voluntarily turned himself over to the Alliance. I guess that’s the best way to put it. He’s with a few rogues that Deacon hates and I mean hates, as in if they die, he might dance.”
“Really? They must be pretty bad.”
“They are. They encountered Cassius’ people before he brought them here. A few got hurt and now they’re here looking in the area, searching for them.” Webb paused. “Except the guy Deacon knows, he wasn’t there when all this went down.”
“Are they taking them into custody?”
“They have to find them first. They’re big and scary from what the others have said.”
“I guess rogues are good at hiding.”
“Yeah.” Webb glanced at the door. He really missed their weekly team calls. “There's more.” He wasn’t usually the one to spread the news, but right now he needed to talk and get out of his head. “Grifter, that’s the guy's name, told Devin that the rogues have their way of communicating. A no-tech kind of way.”
“How does that work?”
“I don’t know yet. I’m going to see if Fallan knows.”
“I’m curious to know how they do it. I mean, newspapers are what they use in the movies, but those are few and far between now. Most are online.”
“Yeah.” Webb nodded. “Grifter also said the guys that Deacon hates have been surviving by doing jobs for some hitman-for-hire group.”
“Like hitman, hitman?”
“I guess. He told Devin that there’s a price on Rayne’s head.”
“Oh shit.”
“Right. I don’t know what he’s going to do about that. It has nothing to do with our kind.”
“I’m sure he’ll do something about it.”
“Webb grinned. “Like break Aiden Tomas’ hands if he doesn’t rescind it.”
“He’s behind it?”
“Who else would want to take out Rayne?”
“True. Wow. A lot is going on there right now. I’m glad I’m down here.”
Webb sighed. “Yeah, it’s a full house here. Blaise moved Cassius’ people here so the women and kids were safe.”
“That’s good.”
Webb heard voices and moved over so he could look out the window. Calder and Keaton stood inside the entrance. “Backup just arrived.”
“Who?”
Calder and Keaton.”
“Ah, that’s good backup.”
“Yeah. We have Wynter, Blair, Noah, Pasha, Tripp, and Amari too. Oh, and Calum.”
“Amari can just set fire to them.” He chuckled
“Tripp warned her only to wound, not kill.” Calder was from a brown bear clan, so he was as big as Webb himself, with dark hair and eyes.
“Yeah, but even some shifters deserve to stop breathing. Like Blair’s brother.”
“True.” Keaton had similar coloring but with reddish streaks in his hair. He was small compared to Calder. It took a second to realize his hair was the same as York’s. He must be from the Wolverine clan.
“Are you all right? You’re not as happy as you usually sound.”
Webb watched Blaise talking to the two men. “I just have a lot on my mind right now.” He frowned. “Listen, I have an odd question for you.”
“Okay.” Asher sounded suspicious.
“How did you know Journee was your mate?”
“Uh, my cat did first, but I knew by her scent. Why are you asking?”
Webb rubbed his hand over his face. He had to tell someone. “One of the women from Cassius’ group–my animal is all weird. My brain won’t function right…”
Asher laughed. “Sorry. I just know the feeling is all.”
Webb nodded. “Yeah, but there’s something else.”
“Like what?”
“She’s marked, but as far as I can tell, there’s no man to go with it.” He frowned at his own words. Why did she try to hide the mark?
“Did he die? The life expectancy of rogues isn’t very good.”
“I don’t know. If he did, can she have another mate?”
Asher blew into the phone. Webb knew this kind of talk wasn’t something Ash did with ease. “I-I don’t know. I barely grasp the concept of one mate. I’ve never heard of a second chance mating, not in an official way. I know some who lost their mates can have a relationship—” He snorted. “You are asking the wrong guy, Webb.”
“That’s the problem. Who do I ask?” He heard a voice in the background.
“You should talk to her. Find out all the facts.”
Webb nodded. “Talking to her is hard. I can’t focus when I’m near her.”
Asher laughed again. He was definitely more jovial with Journee than he used to be. “Definitely talk to her. We’re going to go grab something hot to eat.”
Webb watched Blaise point to him. “Yeah. I guess I’ll talk to her.”
“Let me know how it goes.”
“I will. Be safe. Check in from time to time.”
“Yeah. Will do that.” The line went quiet.
Webb looked at the phone, locked the screen, and shoved it into his pocket.
Calder opened the door and grinned at him. “You’re the man to see about a room, I’m told.”
Webb nodded. “I guess I am.” He looked at Keaton. “Do you mind sharing one? We’re getting close to full.” They weren’t, really. With the stacks of cots in the store room, the place was renovated to house up to one hundred and fifty, but Webb allowed the mated couples to take rooms that could potentially sleep six.
Keaton looked Calder up and down. “Just to be safe, I’ll take the top bunk.”
Webb smiled and flipped through the binder of listed rooms.
Calder chuckled. “Afraid I’ll fall through the top bunk.”
Keaton nodded. “Yes.”
Webb looked at Calder and shrugged. “I don’t think we’re built for top bunks.”
“Or short couches. The last safe house, I drew the short straw, and it was basically like sleeping in a wide chair.” He looked out that window at Pasha and Tripp going by. “Pretty tense around here.”
Webb found the keys to the right room and held them out. “You guys are here to settle things.”
They exchanged a look and grinned at the same time.
“If Tripp and Amari are here, she’s good at settling things.” Keaton laughed.
“With fire.” Calder saluted Webb. “Looking forward to seeing what kind of crazy goes on this time.”
Usually, Webb would have enjoyed the jokes and funny one-liners, but he wasn’t feeling it today. He watched them leave. He hadn’t been feeling it for a while now, and he didn’t like it. He was going to have to do something about it.