“I can’t wait to meet them,” Laurel said cheerfully, then handed the keys to the Wernicke brothers. “Your rooms are the first three on the right as you reach the top of the stairs.”

The brothers left then and headed to the stairs.

Lelandi whispered to her, “CJ was supposed to be back already, but he saw the white wolf you thought you had seen—only this time it was on the other side of the river.”

Laurel’s heart skipped a beat. “You’re kidding.”

“No. So he and some others are trying to reach that side of the river and track the wolf down. Trevor’s coming here to keep an eye on things for you until CJ returns. I’ll stick around until he arrives.”

“You don’t really have to.” Laurel knew Lelandi had little ones to take care of.

“Someone needs to stay here with you in case you have trouble, given the circumstances. CJ would, but he had the notion to check out the white wolf and just happened to see it.”

“It’s not one of yours?”

“No.”

“A full-blooded wolf?”

“Maybe, or one of our kind. Just not one of our pack. Anyway, we need to know the truth, and if it’s one of our kind, we’ll see. Oh, and about the hotel bookings,” Lelandi said softly, for Laurel’s hearing only, “we’ll ensure your place stays booked.”

“They’ll just stay at Bertha’s.”

“It’s also booked, guaranteed.”

Laurel smiled. She loved this wolf pack.

* * *

CJ got ahold of Darien, then contemplated how to get to the other side of the river. A bridge crossed to the other side ten miles down the road, but he didn’t want to lose the opportunity.

“I’m shifting,” he said over his phone to Darien.

“Are you sure you don’t want to wait until you have backup?” Darien asked. “I’ve had the alert roster called. Your brothers are at the top of the list, and Peter’s coming.”

“What about Laurel and the hotel?” He was supposed to be there, keeping an eye on the Wernicke brothers.

“Lelandi is there with her.”

CJ didn’t like it. Two women were no match for three aggressive male wolves.

“Trevor’s joining them as soon as he can get there.”

“All right.”

“But about this wolf—”

“It’s just one wolf. And because it’s white, it could be old or injured.”

“Or an Arctic wolf, healthy and strong. Could you tell?”

“No. The wind was whipping the fresh snow around and pushing the snow from the pine branches, making for a screen of white.”

“Are you sure it’s not a gray wolf and the snow was making it appear white?”

“I don’t think so. I’ve stripped. Got to shift and go.”

“Take care, CJ. Howl if you find anything. I’m on my way.”

“Will do.”

They ended the call, and CJ buried his clothes and phone underneath a pile of snow. Using his enhanced sense of smell as a wolf, he would easily locate his belongings when he returned.

He shifted, his muscles and skin heating as the welcome change came over him, the chill of the wind instantly blocked as his double coat of fur protected him from the elements—both cold and heat. Then he raced to the rocky riverbank, slipped down the rocks until he was no longer standing on the smooth stone river bottom, and swam against the strong flow of the current.

He hoped that if the wolf was older, he could reach him before long. But if this was the same wolf others had said they had witnessed—the ghost wolf that had never been located—he might be so good at evasion that even CJ wouldn’t be able to locate him.

CJ struggled against the pull of the cold, black water. If the wolf had not driven off in the truck like they had previously surmised, had he managed to swim across the river that night, evading them that way? CJ wasn’t sure when the first sightings of the wolf had been reported, though he’d never heard anyone say it was a white wolf. And he’d never known anyone personally who had witnessed the wolf. Or at least who had let on.

When he finally reached the other side of the river and found purchase on the slippery stones, he made his way up the bank and ran into the piney woods. He was here, ready for the chase and whatever he found, but he wished he could be in three places at once: here looking for the white wolf, watching over the hotel to ensure the Wernicke brothers didn’t give the sisters any further grief, and at the sisters’ home, learning if Laurel and her sisters had found anything hidden in their aunt’s furniture when it arrived. He hadn’t told Darien or anyone, because she hadn’t wanted to divulge the furniture’s secret compartments. If she found anything, she would tell him. And Darien and Lelandi if it was beneficial to the case.

But he was here for now. He wanted in the worst way to learn who the wolf was—to at least solve one of the mysteries they had run across.

He concentrated hard on looking for a wolf blending with the snow-covered trees. He was smelling for it and listening for any sign that it was moving through the woods. With the wind whipping about and the snow making popping sounds as it fell off the trees in clumps, he didn’t sense the wolf anywhere.

Worse, he had just climbed on top of a snow-covered, tangled mass of fallen trees and branches, and as soon as he stepped on it, he felt it move. The timber suddenly cracked and snapped. His heart went into his throat, and before he could leap off it, the deadfall broke beneath his weight and he fell.

* * *

Laurel’s sisters arrived nearly at midnight. As soon as the men off-loaded the furniture into the house and left, Laurel gave both her sisters hugs in greeting. Then Ellie said, “Okay, spill the beans.”

Laurel couldn’t stop worrying about CJ. No one had heard from him in hours, and Lelandi had updated her every hour on the hour. He’d taken off after the white wolf and then vanished. All Laurel could think of was the way in which their aunt and the Wernicke brother and sister had disappeared. At one point, she thought of alien abductions, which was nuts, sure, but she couldn’t quit thinking about CJ and wanting to go in search of him. Lelandi had told her that they had at least forty men out looking for him now. They would find him and he’d be fine, Laurel kept telling herself.

She swallowed hard and tried not to let her sisters see her eyes again fill with tears. If she hadn’t seen the white wolf, CJ wouldn’t be missing now. She was certain he wouldn’t have vanished without a trace unless something bad had happened.

She tried to concentrate on searching one of the highboy’s drawers for hidden compartments while her sisters worked on others. Worrying about CJ wouldn’t help anyone.

“Spill the beans about what?” Laurel asked, certain that Ellie and Meghan wanted to know all about her and CJ. But if that wasn’t the topic her sister had in mind, Laurel had no intention of bringing it up.

Both her sisters had stopped looking at the drawers and were waiting for her to answer Ellie.

“What do you mean, about what? About CJ, of course. Here you are telling us not to get too friendly with anyone in the pack, and what do you do? Get really friendly with one of them. And he’s not just a member, but the pack leader’s close cousin.” Ellie teased.

Laurel hadn’t thought they’d be upset about it, but hopeful that she’d want to stay. She hadn’t been sure until now.

“Really friendly,” Meghan said, nodding.

“I have some bad news.” Laurel hated that she had to tell them now. She didn’t want to mention what had happened with regard to CJ, unless that turned out to be really bad news.

“Don’t tell me you’ve already broken up with CJ. Ahhh, how could you go and do that?” Ellie asked. “Here I thought after you and he were caught in that scandalous photo—”

Immediately, Laurel defended herself. “He just kissed my nose.”

“And the one where you were sitting on his lap? Then he stayed overnight.” Ellie looked up from the drawer she’d pulled out and had been inspecting. “And more?”