Page 112 of The Wolves of Forest Grove

“What’s this?” I asked, raising a brow at Clay as he handed me a black sweater.

His eyes flitted to Jared, Layla, and Viv where they were walking ahead of us. His hand clamped around my elbow, bringing me to a stall. “It’s Sam’s.”

I lifted a brow. “What do you want me to do with her sweater?”

“Wear it,” he replied, giving me a strange look. He rolled his eyes.

“For her scent,” he whispered pointedly, gaze darting to Jared and back to me. “To put on when you go in. Make sure you put the hood up and rub your hands in the fabric a bit.”

“Oh.”

Right. I guess I didn’t want to leave my scent all over Ryland’s things.

Why hadn’t I thought of that? I took the sweater, tying it around my waist until I would need to put it on.

Clay was still grouchy that we’d decided I should be the one to sneak into Ry’s cabin and not him.

I could use the excuse of having needed to use the bathroom if I were caught.

He couldn’t. None of the guys in the pack ever went into his cabin unless invited directly by him.

It was a territorial thing. It would be suspicious if Clay were found inside alone.

And there was no way I was going to allow Viv or Layla to do it.

Which left me. With them to cover for me and create a distraction if needed. If anyone were headed toward the cabin, Layla would scream. She had a great scream, and a fear of spiders she could blame it on without anyone suspecting anything other than that she was being a bit overdramatic.

“In and out,” Clay reminded me. “In and out,” I repeated.

It had been Clay’s idea to search Ry’s office.

He and Grey being the only ones ever inside it, it would be the most logical place to look for any clues about the missing wolves or evidence of Adam’s rumors.

Apparently, most of the pack hadn’t ever even seen inside that room, with Charity, Jared, and I being the only three ever to step over the threshold of the door.

Which begged the question...why?

Maybe, hopefully, because he was hiding something inside.

Even I knew it was doubtful, but shy of taking a road trip up north in hopes of finding the other pack Ry ran with all those years ago and hoping that someone remembered—and had evidence of—what he’d done to that shifter woman who supposedly was pregnant with his child. ..well, this was the only other option.

We’d all agreed that whether or not we found anything tonight, we’d tell Jared all that we’d learned. We’d need him for the next part—to go into Ryland’s e- mails at the quarry and open all the ones from the mysterious sender ‘X.’

Whoever it was, they’d sent Ryland password protected files and images labeled with the names of the missing wolves. And that one labeled List, and the other labeled simply: Jared. If anyone were going to be able to figure out the password to open those, it would be his nephew, right?

That was...if Jared actually agreed to help us and didn’t think we’d all lost our minds.

My stomach twisted and I winced, falling into step behind Clay as Jared called back to us, “Hurry up! We’re already late.”

Vivian winked at me as she waved for me to catch up to them. It was her job to see to it that Jared was also distracted. Ry and others may not notice my absence if I weren’t gone too long, but Jared would.

I didn’t fucking like this, not one bit—leaving Jared in the dark.

After the cemetery, I’d resolved to tell him, knowing that was what Dad would’ve told me to do. But I’d been met with resistance from Layla, Viv, and Clay. There wasn’t time. And our entire plan could be ruined if we tried to bring him into it at the last second.

I knew they were right, but I still hated it. The guilt gnawed at me, making my mood sour.

“I’m sorry this had to be tonight,” Jared said, linking his fingers through mine when Clay and I caught back up to them. Clay eyed our clasped hands but said nothing. I had to hand it to them, they were really handling this whole sharing thing pretty well.

Then again, I guess there wasn’t much choice.

I cringed to think how the next conversation between the three of us would go, though.

I didn’t know how Clay would feel about taking the relationships to the next level.

I mean, I was in no rush, but I didn’t want that off the table.

I was ready. Hell, I was more than ready.

But if they needed more time to get used to the idea, I wasn’t going to push them.

“Yeah,” Viv added. “Having to celebrate someone else on your birthday is lame as fuck.”

I shrugged, trying to hide the flush in my cheeks from view.

Get your head in the game, Allie, I scolded myself. I could worry about my relationships with Clay and Jared later. Not the time. Not the place.

“Doesn’t matter,” I said with as much cheer as I could muster. “I had a wicked birthday thanks to you guys. Honestly, I’m kind of relieved to pass off the spotlight. You guys didn’t tell anyone else, right?”

I’d sworn them to secrecy, not wanting Seth or Charity or anyone else to make a big deal out of it tonight when the focus was meant to be on Sam, which was exactly where we needed the focus to be.

Jared squeezed my hand. “No, but I wish you would’ve let us. I bet Charity would want to know, and the others, too. Trey and Todd make amazing cupcakes. Honestly, you’re missing out.”

I chuckled. “Next year, okay?”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Jared said with a wink, giving me a sly look that made my toes curl.

We entered camp together, and I was surprised to see it wasn’t the usual bonfire affair.

Twinkle lights were coiled around tree trunks and draped like hanging moss from their branches.

The pathways and channels between the cabins looked like they’d been swept and picked clean of weeds.

Where we could see the fire smoke curling above the rooftops from the main gathering ring, there was also music, louder than we were ever allowed to have it.

Though natural pack magic acted as a sort of repellent for other supernaturals and mortals, keeping them away, I didn’t think it could entirely conceal loud thumping music and bright flashing lights that could be spied from passing planes or choppers above or heard at a long distance.

Ry was really pulling out all the stops for Sam.

It made what we had to do that much harder.

Clay and I shared a look. I could see my own tension mirrored in the tight line of his jaw and the set of his mouth. Even though I didn’t know Sam, and she made no secret of her distaste for me, I could tell Clay wanted her to be happy. And now she was.

If we discovered anything to implicate Ryland, we could be jeopardizing that happiness.

But...we could also be saving her. If Ryland had already killed one woman—a pregnant woman if you believed the rumors—who was to say he wouldn’t kill his own mate? Just because I couldn’t imagine ever laying so much as a finger on either of my mates didn’t mean he wasn’t deranged enough to do it.

Ryland’s raucous laughter could be heard around the fire as we approached. He was easy to spot once we drew near enough, too. Sitting in a large wooden chair with Sam on his lap, his face reddened. His slippery grin stretching the puckered skin on his scars.

Sam looked equally joyful, her bitter attitude from when she and I had first met the other night gone.

Replaced with an easy smile and a sense of ease about her that wasn’t there before.

She bantered loudly with Harrison and Forrest, who sat to Ryland’s left on low tree stump stools.

All of them holding glass steins of frothy beer instead of the usual red Solo cups we always used for weekend drinks around the fire.

I peered around, trying to spot familiar faces, but I didn’t see Charity anywhere, or Seth for that matter. But after a minute, I found Trey and Todd standing by the beer keg, Kyle and Destiny with them.

“There’s Destiny,” I told Viv, pointing her out.

Not that I needed to, Viv had already zeroed in on her mate, their eyes locking, matching grins splitting their faces.

Viv glanced at me, asking for permission to leave her post distracting Jared for a minute.

I nodded, and she and Layla rushed over with warm hellos.

I needed Ry to see that we were all here, including me, before we put the plan in motion.

“Want a drink?” Jared asked Clay and me, releasing my hand to follow Viv to the others and the keg.

“No,” Clay and I said at the exact same time. I stiffened.

Jared cocked his head at us, giving Clay a particularly inquisitive stare. “Okay,” he said, enunciating the word. “You sure?”

Clay grunted, and I nodded, noticing how Sam’s laughter had faded. I quickly glanced over to find Ryland’s haughty stare locked on me. Good, he’d seen that I was here. And if he was looking, then I was sure he was listening, too.

“I’ll have one in a bit,” I told Jared, making sure to speak a bit louder than I needed to so it wouldn’t be a struggle for Ryland to hear me.

Thinking on my toes, I added, “I’m actually just super thirsty.

” I cleared my throat, the sound rough and forced.

“I think I’m going to go get some water and see if I can find Charity. ”

Jared’s gaze narrowed, and I flinched, quickly checking to see if Ry was still in tune to our conversation. He didn’t seem to be. He was whispering something in Sam’s ear. I watched as his teeth skimmed over her earlobe, making her shiver and me want to barf.

Jared closed the gap between us and lowered his voice. “Why are you so nervous?”

“What?”

He pulled back enough to search my eyes. I dropped them as quickly as I could, my throat thickening with words I wished I could say.

“Come on, Jare,” Clay said, stepping past me to clap him on the shoulder. “I think I will take that beer. Let’s let Allie go get Charity.”

Jared looked like he wanted to say something else, but Clay’s grip on his tightened, and I gave him an imploring look.