Page 10 of Found (Mate Rejected #8)

10

MACK

M y phone rings as we’re approaching Karson, Michigan.

We’ve been in contact with the others as much as we can, but between the heavy traffic on the highway, and an accident that added hours to our journey, the others have not only got to Karson before me and Dad, they’ve found a house available for short-term rental a few miles away from our old home.

I’m concentrating on navigating more traffic up ahead so I can get off the highway, so I point my chin at my ringing phone. “Can you answer that?”

My dad plucks the phone from my center console and glances at the caller I.D. before answering it. “Sweetheart.”

I raise my eyebrow at him before I return to focusing on the road when I nearly ram a Toyota in front of me.

“Don’t look at me like that,” he grumbles. “What is it, Ivy?”

“We’re going to pick up some groceries and take it as an opportunity to see if anyone knows about any new arrivals,” Ivy says.

I nod. “Good idea.”

After pulling off the highway, I glance at my fuel gauge, then, when I spot a gas station just up ahead, I decide to make a quick stop. “We can pick up some gas and ask questions as well.”

I’m not in desperate need of gas since I filled up a few miles back, but topping up now means I won’t have to when we have Aerin and can go home.

“Have you spotted anything suspicious so far?” my dad asks Ivy.

“Nothing. We passed through too quickly to pick up any shifter scents, so that means they’re not here, or…”

“They like to stay out of town,” I say as I pull into the gas station forecourt.

After checking I have my credit card, I get out of the car, slamming the door shut when my dad lowers his voice to continue his conversation with Ivy.

Whatever sweet nothings they want to whisper in each other's ears can stay between them. He’s my dad. I don’t want to hear it.

As I stick my card in the slot and top up my gas, a grizzled man briefly pops his head out of a partially open window in the tiny shop attached to the gas station.

Filling up doesn’t take long, mostly because we don’t need much gas. This stop is for information gathering purposes only.

I’m tucking my credit card into my pocket when my dad opens his door and gets out.

“Anything you want me to know?” I ask him as he slams the door shut.

“Not a thing,” he says.

I give him a long look, but his expression remains neutral.

Shaking my head, I walk toward the shop. “I could do with some candy. How about you?”

He makes a sound of assent.

A bell jingles as we enter the store, and a quick sweep of the interior reveals we’re the only customers inside. Perfect. Just the same grizzled man who peered out at me from the window, and a tiny shop jam packed with snacks, sodas, and candy.

I head to the front of the store as my dad wanders toward the refrigerator cabinet near the back, smiling at the man behind the counter. “Afternoon.”

He nods, and I feel him watching me as I take my time picking out a candy bar I neither need nor want.

When I place a bar on the counter, he’s still eyeing me curiously from behind the counter. “So, you’re here to join that little community they’re building outside town?”

I blink. “Community?”

He makes a sound at the back of his throat that could mean anything.

But the little community just outside of town sounds an awful lot like it could be a pack of shifters. Living on the outskirts and trying not to attract too much attention from the locals is exactly the sort of thing we like to do.

Given this might be the very information we’re here to discover, I grab a couple more candy bars and toss them on the counter. “I’m just passing through. What kind of community?”

The man shrugs as he rings up my candy bars. “Who knows? But they pay their way and they keep to themselves, so at least there’s that. And they seem to be hard workers.”

“Why would you think that?” my dad asks, placing a four pack of beer on the counter.

I raise my eyebrow at him.

Beer?

When we’re here on a rescue mission to save Aerin and he thinks now is the time to pick up a four pack?

His lip quirks in a half smile as he shrugs.

“They built a house a few months back and they’re busy with a couple more. Not sure how many plan to live there,” the man says.

“Just outside town?” I press.

The last time I was here, I was leaving my pack behind. It took hours to get to town, and I walked fast, half-afraid someone would come after me and try to stop me. Not that anyone seemed to care when I left, but I didn’t want to risk anyone dragging me back for any reason.

The man points his chin west. “That direction.”

So someone is here rebuilding on the old Raleigh property. Which means Aerin and the other kidnapped omegas are here.

Relief makes my shoulders slump to know we didn’t just spend hours on the road, only to get to the wrong place and have to turn around and go back.

“Was there anything else?” the man asks.

Smiling, I shake my head as I hand over my credit card. “Just this. Thanks.”

He bags everything up and Dad takes the bag before I can.

We’re both silent as we leave the store, waiting until we’re back in the car to talk.

“So, we were right. The Raleighs are back. It has to be them rebuilding,” I say.

Dad snaps his seatbelt on. “It could be anyone.”

“Yes, it could, but my gut says it’s them.” I say as Dad’s phone rings.

He answers without looking. “Yeah?”

“They’re here,” Douglas Boone says.

After double checking the address for the rental on my map, I start up the engine. Ivy texted the directions to me. It should be relatively easy to find the house in a town this small.

“And you know this how?” my dad asks.

“Picked up some food at the diner. People here are friendly. Apparently there’s a little community?—”

“And they wanted to know if we were joining them since we’re out of towners?” I interrupt.

Douglas chuckles. “Something like that.”

“Is there any way to approach for a closer look?” I ask as I pull out of the gas station.

“Not without someone seeing us,” Douglas says. “I asked a local if this little community was friendly and they said yes. Anytime they’ve gone up to see if they need a hand with their construction, someone is always there to greet them and say they have everything covered.”

I glance at my dad.

So someone is always watching. There’s always a back way, but it’s been over ten years since I’ve been here. The forests that I remember running through and playing in when I was a kid won’t be the same. Maybe they’d have cut some of the trees back, or maybe things are exactly the same. But we can’t risk just driving up and giving ourselves away so soon.

“Fine. We’ll talk it over,” my dad says and hangs up.

“How much do you think is still the same?” I ask him as I make the drive to the rental.

As expected, it doesn’t take long to find the quiet suburban side road. The sky is darkening as night sets in. It’s nearly 7 now and I’m ready to get out of the car, not just to stretch my legs, but to just get out.

He shrugs. “Hard to know for sure unless we check it out. Probably a lot. They want you though and they have Aerin. They know we’re coming, and they’ll be prepared for us. I don’t think there’s going to be an easy way of getting her back.”

“I thought you’d say something like that.” I muffle a yawn as I park in front of an ordinary family style home.

There are familiar cars parked already in the driveway and on the road. Looks like we’re the last to arrive.

We all packed a small bag each, not intending to be here for long, so we grab our bags from the trunk of the car and head inside the house.

Ivy and the others are in the dining room. They have bags of snacks and sodas laid out, and they already have a map of Karson spread over the table.

After greeting everyone and dumping our bags beside the front door, we join them in the dining room.

“There aren’t enough rooms for everyone, so a couple of us are going to have to crash on the two couches,” Ivy says.

“This house was all we could find that wasn’t too close to the Raleighs,” Douglas explains.

I shrug. “We won’t be here for long. I don’t mind taking the couch.”

“You need to stop being so amenable,” my dad says on his way to sit beside Ivy.

“Because I should be more like you?” I ask.

He stops and looks at me.

I’m not sure why I said it. It wasn’t intended as an accusation or an insult, but I think that must be how he takes it.

He walked out on me and the rest of the pack without a word. And to this day, I still don’t know why. He has never said why. Maybe Ivy knows. I sure don’t.

I just know it was selfish.

“No,” he eventually says, as everyone else quietly observes us. “You’re better than I ever could be. Don’t stop being you.”