Page 8 of Knot As It Seems

I meet him where he’s at, taking a similar position. Minus the frantic energy. “Where was she when you last saw her? I’ve only been in this house once. Winslow didn’t like us to come over here, and I really hope I’m wrong about why.”

His eyes scrunch up in confusion. “Winslow?”

He’s already forgotten about her, I see. I nod.

“Oh.” He waves me off, standing once more and walking off to a lower level. Split levels are always so strange to navigate the first few times.

The alpha is looking back every few steps to make sure I’m following, and I can already tell the scent I’m so accustomed to being soaked in is stronger here than it almost ever was when Winslow was at our place.

Which would be impossible if she was dead.

Or, is it possible she did something naughty?

I recognize the room immediately upon entering, can imagine exactly where the woman was lying for the picture Moon took, but she’s long gone now. I start a thorough inspection of the room, knocking on studs, moving pictures around, trying to figure out how somebody could vanishinto thin air.

Then I see it. She’s good, but she’s notthatgood.

So small you’d miss it if you sneezed at the wrong moment, there’s a crack in the wallpaper where a panel was not shut properly. She must have been in a hurry to not cover her tracks like she might have normally. I even find a long strand of her hair sticking out of the seam, and I wrap that delicate treasure around my finger as proof of existence.

“Uh, I’m Anderson. Not sure if that other guy mentioned that.”

I stand up tall and stick out a hand. “Jos.”

He shakes it, and I hold on a beat longer than I usually would because he’s now pack. “What do you know about her?”

“You’re not going to take her away, are you? You can’t take her away from me, she’s mine.”

“Packs usually share omegas. So no, I’m not going to take her from you. We need to find her first, though. From the picture Moon sent, she needs some medical care.”

He nods quickly. “I fed her and she ate most of a protein bar, but it’s not enough. She’s so small. She’s been hungry for a very long time, I think.”

And my parents told me becoming a doctor was going to waste my potential. Yes, they’re that pretentious.

I put my phone on flashlight and aim it down the hallways hidden within the very walls, immediately getting that there’s no way in hell any of us are fitting down them. I pull back and stand, hands on hips as I brainstorm options.

“Technically, my pack now owns the house. Legally. We could…tear up the walls, I suppose.”

He opens his mouth and shuts it, then goes to look inside the walls himself. I give him my phone so he can see the problem, and even though he’s clearly on edge, he’s able to stand here and think rationally. Definitely not feral. I keep a close eye on him though, just in case.

“I know some guys that could help before we go with the nuclear option,” he says somewhat casually.

“You know guys…small enough to get through those tiny ass hallways?”

He smirks. “My best friends. They’re bee shifters.”

I hear the words, but I don’t understand the words.

Before I can protest or think of legitimate questions he could answer, he’s punching a number into my phone and talking to someone that apparently can in fact shift into a damn bee.

He hangs up the phone and hands it back to me, much calmer now. “They said they could be here in twenty. They live in town.”

“You trust them? I don’t want them here, in our business, if you can’t swear to me on that omega in there that they’re not going to be a risk to her or the pack.”

He weighs this and starts heading back up the stairs. “Well, I’ve known them almost my entire life and they’re married to my sister, so I’m good with vouching for them.”

∞∞∞

Twenty minutes later on the dot and the so-called bee shifters are rumbling down the house’s driveway with a woman between them, and her eyes are so hopeful as she stares down her brother. I’m guessing that maybe they haven’t spent much time together since he was turned.