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“Life’s too short to be anything but.” She winks and sits.

“Hi, everyone.” I wave lightly.

“Morning,” Penny greets, stepping close. “I tried to stop them. I couldn't, so I thought I should just come.” She shrugs.

I wish I would have been more comfortable that first day and gotten to know Penny better. We talked some but my nerves were shot and I was so worried about Elijah. I hope we can get to know each other in the future after this mess is cleaned up.

“We came for the doughnuts we smelled,” Lucus says. “We were running in the woods nearby.”

Logan elbows him. “We also wanted to check on you.”

“That’s sweet.” I smile at him.

“Not sweet,” Elijah glares at him. “Don’t be sweet.”

“Shit,” Bash says.

Elijah walks over and wraps me in his arms, his front pressed to my side.

“I like it here.” Sally looks around at everyone. “I think I’m going to stay.”

“Sally, we would love to have you around.” I get glares and groans from most of the men.

“They love me,” she smirks.

“As entertaining as the morning is so far,” Bash starts. He pulls something from his pocket. “I came because I found a note on the door of the office.”

Elijah stiffens. “To me?” I ask.

“No, to me. Or to your friends.”

I frown and he hands me the paper.“Your friends don’t scare me.”

“Motherfucker,” Elijah hisses. “He knows about you. How does he know about all of us?”

I was concerned he would have the same reaction he did last night, but I’m grateful he didn’t. “I don’t know,” I whisper, still staring at it.

“Has anyone come across anything suspicious? Any new smells in the area?” Elijah asks.

“No, but we haven’t been here long,” Las says.

“We haven’t either, but we haven’t left the house as much lately,” Laken says.

“When I came to help last night, I didn’t smell anything, but I did sense something…off,” Bash offers.

“Can we maybe get fingerprints off this?” Elijah takes the note from my hand.

“No. There was nothing traceable on it.” Bash takes it from Elijah and puts it back in his pocket. “Jax is going to have Stephan put Grant’s picture in his system and see if he can get any hits from the cameras in the area.”

“Who’s Jax?” I ask.

“He is a panther Alpha. His brothers and he own a club. They're mated with a child. He has many friends, but his manager of the club, Stephan, has massive computer skills,” Bash explains.

“What about Quinn?” Elijah asks. “He could do a search.”

“He has been. But he’s been doing it remotely; remember, he went to see family.”

“He’s getting close,” Sally suddenly says. We all turn to her. “I can feel his rage and determination.” She ignores our shocked stares. “I went for a run late last night. I went miles around the area in rabbit form, I can smell better that way. I caught his scent, but not recent enough to track him.” She locks eyes with Elijah. “Cheetahs have superior tracking skills.”