Page 7 of Tempting the Tiger
Ayo laughs as Ethan slides our plates over. “I’ll come over and adjust your ward to block out the music.”
“You’re my favourite person.” I straighten and neatly wrap my first burrito. “By the way, did you get a chance to look over your architect’s latest plans?”
Ethan makes a frantic slashing gesture across his throat. Oops?
Ayo recently inherited his family’s eighteenth-century manor and more money than any one person could spend. He decided to use it as a pack house for all of us, but after years of neglect he insisted on having renovations done first. Then he got talking to one of his vampire uncles, who recommended an architect, and six months later we’re still all living in rented flats in the neutral zone. I’m not convinced we’re actually any closer to moving in, although some essential repair work is underway, but it’s Ayo’s home and we’re trying to be respectful and not push.
It’s Ayo’s turn to slump against me. “I swear the woman’s been watching too many reality TV shows. She keeps sending me designs that will turn the place into some sort of LA style mega-mansion. Hang on, I’ll show you.”
He heads over to the coffee table and opens his laptop. A few clicks later and he brings it back over, setting it on the other side of our plates. “Look, she even did a video this time ‘to convince me of her vision.’”
Even though the video is impressive, there are so many problems I don’t even know where to start. The whole back wall of the ground floor has been removed to put in a wall of glass, the internal configuration of the ground floor is almost entirely open plan and completely wrong for our needs as a pack, and most of the stunning period features are gone. Perhaps worst of all, the library has been fully removed.
“How… What even… I thought you said she’d done a walkthrough?” I ask, wide-eyed.
Ayo snorts. “Oh, she did. The biggest problem seems to be that because I’m young, I should just bow down to her extensive experience. I even got desperate enough to try telling her to think modernised Bridgerton, but she didn’t get it at all.”
“Ayo… you know we don’t need any of this, right? We’re honestly happy to just move in and figure it out as we go.” This isn’t the first time I’ve said this to him, and Ethan’s broached the topic with his mate multiple times as well.
Ayo’s shoulders sag and his voice goes quiet. “I know. I just want to make it perfect for the pack. You’re my family.”
Ethan abandons his breakfast to tug Ayo off the stool and into his arms. “Sweet thing, we understand that.”
“We really do,” I say quickly. My tiger hates it when Ayo’s sad. He smells all wrong. “How about I search for a new architect? Someone with a passion for period homes?”
Ayo’s scent lightens, and he turns cautious eyes on me. “Aren’t you too busy?”
“I’ll make time. Leave it with me.” It shouldn’t be too hard to find an architect who’ll actually respect Ayo. This’ll be sorted in no time.
Kit and I are alone in our small, open-plan office when the buzzer goes for the main door. Kit, who’s our IT specialist, taps a few keys with their long pink nails, gives a little “huh,” and gets up to answer the door.
I return to staring at the three missing persons profiles on my screen, hoping for some kind of breakthrough idea that will help me find them. Although their disappearances were only reported to us within the past ten days, the actual dates they were last seen are spread across a two-month period. I’ve almost run out of people to question and locations to check, and so far there’s only one common thread linking them.
All three have a criminal record and were working at Far Out Freight on the mandatory work programme, yet each of them disappeared before their six-month contract was up.
Well, whether they’ve actually gone missing is still in question. In every case, they’ve left behind nothing more than an email to a few contacts saying they’ve moved away. Despite finding social media updates, new tenancy agreements, and other digital proof of life, no one close to them knew about their move in advance or has actually seen them in person since. The most concerning evidence so far is the lack of financial transactions for any of them beyond the usual direct debits and standing orders—no supermarkets or takeaways, fuel for their cars, public transport tickets, or any of the other basic necessary spending that occurs during everyday life—and with their families worried, we’re taking this seriously.
The scent of a somewhat familiar wolf reaches me a moment before Kit speaks. “Dante, this is a surprise. What can we do for you?”
Dante is the alpha of the Connor Wolf Pack, whose territory is on the west side of Birchester, and our pack consider him a friend of sorts. He and his pack helped with the search last year when Ayo was kidnapped, and since Ayo’s only ever had good things to say about the alpha it came as no surprise to any of us when Ayo hired Dante’s construction company to carry out the renovation work on the manor. Dante is a busy man, so him showing up here unannounced makes me suspect this isn’t a social call.
His voice is gruff. “It might be nothing, but I think I’ve got a missing pack member.”
My blood immediately runs cold. This might not be connected to the case that’s been keeping me awake at night, but that uncertainty about whether his pack member is actually missing makes me think it could be. I don’t stop to put my suitjacket on as I get up and head out into the hallway where Dante and Kit are standing just inside the door.
“Let’s grab a coffee and discuss this in the conference room,” I say as I approach.
“I’ll leave you in Raj’s capable hands,” Kit says, then sashays back to the office, their tight black leather skirt making a shushing sound as they pass.
A few minutes later, Dante and I are seated in the conference room with coffee and my tablet for taking notes. He’s a big man, as alpha wolves invariably are, with fair skin covered in stubble and a polo shirt with the Connor Construction logo on it. His biceps strain the sleeves when he folds his arms across his broad chest.
“Let’s start with some key details,” I say. “Who is it that you think could be missing, and when did you last see them?”
“Valerie Lunaire. She’s always been a bit of a loner, but even more so since she got out of Wargate a few months ago. I saw her three weeks ago at a pack run.”
Another former inmate? Bollocks.
“So what’s happened to make you think she’s missing?”
