Page 15 of Coyote Underground (Monsters of New York #9)

The Search Continues

A na Sofia

After Agent Scott’s announcement, I drop the phone. Diego catches it, passing the device to Lorenzo as he pulls me into his arms. Once the call is disconnected, the three of them turn to stare at me.

“What does this mean?” I ask, numbness spreading through my chest. I spent nearly a week mourning for the little girl I thought I’d lost, only to find out it wasn’t her. I don’t know how to process this. “She’s alive?”

“It means we start our search again. And we find her,” Diego announces.

“I’m so sorry, buttercup. I really thought it was her,” Lorenzo offers.

“I did too. I saw what you saw. And it nearly destroyed me. But we have to find her,” I agree. We can’t abandon her now. She’s already been gone for too long.

“We’ll do everything we can to bring her home,” Isaac says.

Then it hits me. This pack has claimed me. “We have other things we need to discuss, too. Val being alive changes everything.”

Six eyes bore into me at my words. I know they’re scared I’m rejecting them, but that’s not it. “If you’re rethinking things, we understand,” Diego begins, but I put up a hand to stop him.

“I don’t regret asking you to claim me. I hope you don’t regret it, either. But my sister being alive does affect all of us. She’s gonna need a room of her own, probably away from the four of us. Unless the nest is soundproofed?” I say, hoping my explanation is enough.

When Isaac breathes a sigh of relief, Lorenzo chuckles.

But Diego just stares at me. I know what shock looks like, so I try to help him through it.

“I’m not rejecting you. It’s easy to see that the age difference bothers you, at least a little, but I don’t care about that.

You guys took care of me. You’ve been there every time I’ve needed you.

Do you drive me crazy? Absolutely. Is that going to push me away? Not even a little.”

When his expression softens, I know he’s heard exactly what I’m saying. “I thought for sure you were going to ask about breaking the claim,” he whispers. Tears fill my eyes at his admission.

Pressing my hands to the sides of his face, I pull him close.

When his lips are almost touching mine, I whisper back, “Never. I’m yours.

” Then I kiss him, pouring every bit of emotion I can into it.

All the anxiety about my sister, the hurt of thinking she was dead, the joy of being claimed by the pack I wanted—I let him have it all.

When I finally break the kiss and pull back from him, I pretend not to see the tears in his eyes. Drying my face with my hand, I turn my attention to Isaac and Lorenzo, giving Diego a minute to compose himself.

“So, do we have a room Val can have? I want her to have privacy but still feel like she’s part of the family,” I insist.

The smile that spreads across Lorenzo’s face is contagious. He looks at Isaac and they both nod. “Basement suite or third floor? Basement would be more convenient for her with classes and all, but if you think she’d rather be up higher, we can do that.”

“Can I see both before I decide?” I ask.

“Come on, I’ll show you. These two can get started on the search,” Issac insists, threading his fingers through mine.

He takes me to see both options while Diego and Lorenzo make some calls about finding Val. As much as I want to help them, I don’t think I can go through that again—thinking I’ve found her only to discover she’s dead. I can’t imagine how I’ll react if we don’t find her, or if she is dead.

I push those thoughts away as Isaac and I inspect the third-floor space. It would make a lovely nursery, but it’s too small for Val to be comfortable. It’s barely bigger than her room at our apartment, and if I’m going to ask her to move here, I want to give her more.

I walk through the upstairs space, trying to imagine my sister here. When I can’t, I know this isn’t the right space for her.

“Oh, shit,” I say, realizing something I’d totally forgotten.

“What’s wrong?” Isaac asks, checking to make sure I haven’t hurt myself.

I shake my head. “Sorry. I just realized I’ll have to take care of the apartment. It’ll have to be packed up and the lease handled. I know it’s not an emergency, but I don’t want to leave it too long.”

He smiles at me, but doesn’t respond until I smile back. “Would you be upset if I told you I’ve already had someone take care of it?”

“Seriously?” I ask, floored that these guys would think of everything I need and handle it for me. He nods, and I wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him down for a kiss. “Thank you. I’m just—I don’t even know how I’m feeling right now.”

Heading downstairs, Isaac threads his fingers through mine again, and I let myself lean against him. “We’ll find her,” he assures me. I know he wants to believe it as much as I do. “And here’s the basement suite,” he says, pushing the door open.

The entire bottom floor is an open floor plan apartment. It has a bedroom, en-suite bathroom, living area, and kitchen. I can easily picture Val hanging out down here, doing homework or even having friends over. My heart aches at her absence, and I hope we find her alive.

My jaw drops and I can’t stop the laugh that bubbles out of me. “It’s perfect. She’ll love it.” Isaac drops my hand, wrapping his arms around me as I fight against the tears I didn’t realize were falling. “Sorry, I’m an emotional mess.”

“That’s completely understandable. You just found out your sister is alive after thinking she’d been killed for nearly a week. You’re allowed to be emotional,” he insists, kissing the top of my head and rubbing my back.

I still don’t understand what draws me to these men, but I’m glad it’s happening. I don’t think I could make it through this on my own. I already depend on them more than I should.

“You’re thinking too hard, kitten. I know it’s all an adjustment, but please don’t fight it.

We’re here for you and we want to take care of you.

Part of that is taking care of your sister.

We’ll find her, and she’ll move in here with us.

It’s all gonna work out, you’ll see,” Isaac says, hugging me tightly.

****

L orenzo

With my earlier screw-up behind me, I’m fully focused on finding Valerie for Ana Sofia. “What if we can’t find her?” I ask, knowing it’s not what we want.

“So far, my sources aren’t talking about any more dead shifters.

They are talking about a shipment going out tomorrow, with some questionable cargo.

I think that’s our best chance of finding Valerie.

But we’re gonna need some backup. I’ll call Scott and see what he can do for us,” Diego says, walking back toward his room to make the call.

Guilt eats at me for getting Ana Sofia fired, and for Diego’s room being destroyed. There has to be something I can do to make this right. I just have to figure out what that is. I drop to the couch to brainstorm while Diego makes more calls.

Ideas race through my mind, but since I’m not sure how Ana Sofia felt about her job in the first place, I don’t know what I can do.

At this point, I think my only options are to ask her, or talk to the other guys about it.

Since I’d rather surprise her, I decide to talk to Diego and Isaac after we find Valerie.

She has to be our sole focus right now, for Ana Sofia. When Diego returns, I set my regrets aside and listen to his plan.

“Scott isn’t sure he can back us up or not. There’s not enough evidence yet for the SRA to move on this. It’s most likely going to be up to us. If we don’t take them out before that cargo moves, we may lose our chance,” he explains.

“Let’s do it,” I agree. “We have a couple of crews we can use as backup. Do you think we can pull it off?”

“We’ll have to. And even though I’d rather not have her involved, I think we’ll have to ask Ana Sofia for help.” I can tell what he’s thinking before he even says it.

I shake my head, refusing to agree. “We can’t do that. It’s too risky.”

“There’s no other way. We need a distraction. I won’t force her to do it, but I am going to ask. If we had enough backup, I’d lock her away and make sure she stayed safe. As it stands, this may be the only way to save her sister,” he reasons.

I don’t agree, but I can’t make this decision for her.