Again, the question surprised her. Was he really that desperate for conversation? Of course he was. Isolation wore down anyone. “I will if they’ll let me.” She started to leave then looked back at him. “You’re not what I expected.”
His gaze bore into hers for a moment, but the wolf said nothing more.
CHAPTER 7
Isaac closed his eyes and let the images wash over him. He stood beside Kyle in the security booth. They were both too anxious to sit. An energy barrier separated Tara from Elias, but the wolf was a vicious murderer. Isaac hated having his mate close to someone with that much blood on their hands.
Tara engaged the wolf’s conscious mind with friendly banter and casual questions. They’d tried distractions before, but her lovely face and vulnerability were surprisingly effective. The wolf leader was usually gruff and argumentative. With Tara, Elias flirted and teased.
Isaac scanned ever deeper, reaching areas that he’d not had access to before. There was no resistance, so he caused no damage. At least, no damage yet. Images scrolled through his mind, dizzying flickers of countless scenes. Tear-streaked faces, women huddled together for warmth and comfort. Isaac tried to slow down the transfer, to absorb more than a frustrating glimpse. Stone walls and echoing footfalls, endless twisting tunnels, and light reflected off water. The women were still in those cursed caves. Pouring energy into his psychic receptors, heattempted to expand the image, to trace one of the tunnels back to its entrance.
Suddenly, Elias’ mind shifted, his energy intensifying and changing. Kyle surrounded Isaac, shielding his presence while allowing him to maintain his link with the wolf. No one had indicated that Elias was telepathic, but he was clearly attempting to contact someone, likely his beta.
Isaac felt the connection activate, but he couldn’t hear the exchange.
Can you tag the beta?Isaac pushed the thought into Kyle’s mind. Kyle frequently left a small psychic signal inside a person’s mind. It allowed him to locate the target later. It was a tracker skill and Kyle was the best tracker on Rydaria.
I’ll try.
Isaac poured energy into Kyle’s shields while he shifted his focus.
Got it, Kyle informed with a surge of excitement.Let’s disengage. The rest has been a waste of time.
Isaac agreed, so they both eased out of the wolf’s mind.
Pausing to roll his shoulders and clear his mind, Isaac turned and looked at Kyle. “This could be the break we’ve needed. I’m so glad our mate got bored.”
“Claire is unharmed, as are the others,” Elias was saying to Tara.
Isaac hadn’t been able to hear the conversation, so he had no idea if the statement was true or if Elias was simply telling Tara what she wanted to hear.
“My beta is not giving anyone access to the women while the situation is so volatile. Despite what the cats love to claim, we do not abuse women.”
Isaac and Kyle scoffed at the same time.
“What utter bullshit,” Kyle muttered. “What about Akari, or the woman he fucked to death?”
A memory of the human’s continual shifting barged back into Isaac’s mind. He shuddered then said, “Technically Babcock murdered the human, but Elias is still full of shit.”
“Get Tara out of there.” Kyle motioned toward the surveillance display.
Isaac nodded then sent a telepathic message to Tara directing her to end the session.
Tara stepped into the security booth a few moments later looking pensive and unsure. “Do you believe what he said? Is Juan keeping the others away from the captive females?”
Her emotions poured across their empathic link, tearing at Isaac’s heart. “I don’t know, love.” He didn’t want to give her false hope, yet the need to comfort his mate was impossible to ignore. He pulled her into his arms as he continued, “He was trying to impress you, but the interaction seemed honest.”
She lingered in his embrace for a moment, her arms wrapped around his back. Then she eased away just far enough to look at his face. “What did you see? Why did you want me to leave?”
“I didn’t see much more than we knew already,” Isaac admitted. “But we used the telepathic connection to tag Juan’s mind. It’s one of Kyle’s tracker tricks.”
She turned her head sharply and looked at Kyle. “You tagged him? Does that mean you can locate him?”
There was that hope again. Isaac sighed. She clearly wanted her friends to escape unscathed, but the longer the wolves had them, the slimmer the chances became that they would.
“Psychic abilities are unpredictable,” Kyle told her. “This increases the chances that we can locate Juan, but all sorts of things can interfere with the connection.”
Isaac stroked the back of her hair, encouraging her to relax. Instead, she eased out of his arms and moved so she could see both Kyle and him.
