Page 12 of Midnight Hunt
“Yes, Mrs. Bailey, I was sad to have missed it,” I replied to the pack gossip—aka my childhood nanny. Still groggy from barely getting any sleep last night, I picked up my mug of coffee from the study desk and took a sip. “Is Desirae settling in well?”
“Indeed, she is! I still can’t believe I have ahybridstaying in my home. Brings back so many fond memories of nannying you and your brother. It was the biggest challenge of my life, you know, keeping your secret from the rest of the pack. Good thing everyone knows about hybrids now, because Desiraelovesto shift. She takes off into the woods every night in wolf form and usually doesn’t come back until dawn. Independent, that one is. Makes sense, since she’s been living on her own for the past decade.”
She finally paused but only to take a quick breath and plow on.
“Still, it’s dangerous for an unclaimed female wolf to be alone. I was hoping that Jagger or Griff could accompany her on her nightly runs, seeing as they are both hybrids. It’s why I called, since she hasn’t come home yet, and I’m a bit worried. And, who knows? Maybe a love match will come of it. It’s time those two bachelors found their mates and settled down.”
I blinked, trying to process the whirlwind of words. My brain got stuck far too long on the fact that she was trying to matchmake Griff and Jagger with Midnight Pack’s newest female wolf. Sure, she was young and pretty, but we still didn’t know much about her. Besides Nora, we’d never initiated a hybrid into the pack before. Desirae had also grown up as a pack outcast because of her abnormal abilities, but she was an omega. I doubted Jagger or Griff would be interested in a non-dominant female.
Right?
Uncertainty squirmed in my gut, but I quickly shoved the feeling aside. No way would my boys be interested in an omega. They needed achallenge. A submissive, docile female wouldn’t give them that. As I opened my mouth to set Mrs. Bailey straight, the rest of her words finally sank in. “Wait, are you saying that Desirae is missing?”
“Well, I don’t want to cause undue alarm, but she’s never stayed out this long before. She doesn’t bring her phone, and I tried looking for her, but I can’t get very far in my human form. I thought maybe Alpha Rivers, Jagger, or Griff could come out since they can shift at will and cover a lot more ground. It would mean so much to me. Desirae is still new to pack land and might have wandered off too far. Any number of things could have happened to her.”
“It’s okay, Mrs. Bailey. We’ll head out right away and look for her,” I reassured the distraught-sounding woman and pushed to my feet. After she thanked me profusely, I ended the call and strode across my brother’s office to the door.
So much for catching up on the emails and paperwork that had piled up during my absence. Normally, I’d tell Kolton about the incident and trust him to take care of it, but the thought of a female wolf going missing so soon after my near-abduction had me on edge. Work would have to wait.
I found my brother and the rest of the family in the dining room, just finishing up with breakfast. My mother caught my eye first. She was bustling around the long table, busily collecting plates that had been picked clean. Now that she was back, we had no more use for our human staff and had let them go. From dawn until dusk, she kept herself busy with never-ending housework and feeding our growing family. Apparently, being strapped to a bed for seven years had given her boundless energy, and she hardly ever sat down for more than a few minutes.
Nora’s parents were no longer staying with us, but there were still ten people living here full time. Plus, the current Rivers’ nanny, Miss Gabby, was coming back to homeschool Melanie for another year. The house was always in motion, and I absolutely loved it.
A squeal drew my gaze across the table to Griff who’d just lifted Luca from his highchair and was in the process of tickling him. The dark-haired boy threw back his head and belly laughed.
“Griff, he just ate. If he spits up, it’s on you.Literally,” Nora said in exasperation, even as her aqua blue eyes twinkled with faint amusement. The curly-haired ginger sat on the other side of her son’s highchair with a flower-printed cover draped over her. Even after living with us for over a year, she still wasn’t comfortable with nudity and preferred to cover herself while nursing her children.
One of Lillian’s adorable little fists poked out from beneath the cover, and I had to stop myself from hurrying around the table to nibble on her tiny baby fingers. Since I’d woken up before everyone else, I hadn’t been able to properly snuggle with my niece and nephew yet. I’d decided to take a quick shower and jump right back into work, needing to distract my mind from everything that had happened yesterday.
Sleep had eluded me last night as I’d replayed the attack over and over again, fruitlessly trying to figure out what the two males had wanted with me. The only thing that made sense was that they could use me as leverage against Kolton. Challenging the most powerful alpha in America was practically impossible, and ever since the werewolf community had learned of his hybrid nature, challenges had pretty much been nonexistent. But we’d known it was only a matter of time before they started up again.
Kidnapping a member of his family would definitely throw Kolton off his game.
“Vi, you’re back!” a little voice excitedly squealed, dragging me from my thoughts.
Everyone stopped what they were doing to focus on the newcomer. As all eyes went to me, I paused to bask in the attention. When I felt the love in each gaze, a lump formed in my throat.
I’d missed this. I’d missed thisterribly.
Before I could respond, little arms wrapped around my waist and squeezed. “What did you get me? What did you get me?” that same excited voice chirped.
“Melanie,” Kolton softly chastised the dark-haired girl clinging to me like an octopus. “That’s not the proper way to welcome your sister home.”
Mellie tilted her head back to look at me, her dark amber eyes rounding innocently. “Sorry, Vi. I can be patient. Do you want to see my new loose tooth?”
Several of the adults around the table chuckled as the seven-year-old opened her mouth and excitedly pointed inside it.
“Oh,” I replied in mock seriousness, peering intently at the somewhat crooked baby tooth. “Looks like I came home just in time. That sucker needs to be pulled.”
As my hand beelined toward her mouth, she jumped back with a petrified shriek. “No! It hurts when you do it.”
“Ah c’mon, Mellie. If you want the souvenir I got you, that tooth is the price,” I cajoled, crab-walking toward her with pincer hands.
“Kol!” she wailed, whirling to seek the protection of her brother.
At the mildly scolding look my mother threw my way, I shrugged and said, “What? That’ll make her think twice about treating me like a gift shop.”
Griff barked a laugh, clearly the only one amused by my twisted sense of humor. He tickled Luca again, who had no choice but to join in on the laughter.
