Her Wolf Is Gone

Chapter 10

***Conlan's POV***

"What about seeing if she is really marked by the Rogue King?" Theo asked from the back seat of the Jeep. His eyes trained on the passing trees. He's been in a sulky mood since we left the clinic.

James was pensive in the passenger seat as I whipped around corners and blazed through the towns on the way back to our safe house. He seemed to grow even more so when Theo had asked the number one question that has been on all of our minds and especially Karr's. When it came to Zara he couldn't control himself very well. He couldn't understand that since she wasn't part of our pack or our mate, as she has pointed out repeatedly, that we didn't have the right to command her. Karr especially loathed the idea that she could bear the mate mark of the Rogue King. That fact alone has been eating away at our sanity. Between what happened to my cousin, Persephone, and the way that Zara affects us is enough to drive us into the deep end.

Some time passed before I spoke. I had to think about what to do next rationally.

"We'll come back to Gainsborough after we visit the address Alpha Bryce gave us." I said thoughtfully. Rationally, I thought it was a good idea, and it gave Zara and Karr time to cool down.

"The location is about four hours away so by the time we get there it will be around seven at night." James piped up for the first time since we saw Zara race away.

"I really don't care. All I want is for this mission to be over." I said as I pulled the Jeep up the dirt driveway to our safe house. "We leave in an hour. And we're not coming back."

"But what about when we come back to Gainsborough? To see Zara again?" Theo asked as we started walking up the front steps to the cabin.

"Theo." I said stopping on the top of the porch. "Pack your stuff up and take the Jeep to the Veiled Moon Pack house." A wave of deadly calm reverberated through my tone. "James and I will take the truck to the address outside of Pineloft, and meet you at the pack house tonight. Then we'll come back tomorrow in the early afternoon. Find Zara. Get our answers. And then leave."

Sometimes I forget how young Theo is. In training he was a top scorer, but I can't teach him tact. I felt a little guilty when he looked down submissively. To lighten the mood a touch I gave him a nice pat on the back before entering the dark interior.

***

It was just before seven when we stopped out front of a two story house at the end of a long winding lane. The small lane naturally flowed alongside a vast lake. It was a quiet evening and we could hear the lapping of the water down by the edge and the smell of mud filled our senses. Such a peaceful and quiet place, I wondered if being here was going to ruin that for whomever opened that door. A gradual slope rose up from the roadside and we followed a stone trail that led to the front entrance way. Lights were on in the house and when we got closer we could smell roasted chicken.

"Do you smell any wolves?" I asked James in our mindlink.

"None." He simply responded.

I knocked. James and I waited awkwardly as we heard, "Who could that be dear?" It was a woman's voice.

"Can I help you two fellows?" A man asked. He looked like he was in his fifties and he had a warm smile underneath his white mustache.

"Does a woman named Ingrid live here?" I asked in the nicest tone I could muster.

"No. Sorry. There's no one here by that name." He said thoughtfully. Then a woman came into view.

"Hello." She said with a smile. This woman did not look like the picture at all that Alpha Bryce had shown me in his office.

"Hun? Do you know if an Ingrid lived here before us?" The man asked.