CJ finished scrubbing the pan and rinsed it. “Possibly someone else in the pack would know who the initials belonged to. Maybe he made furniture for some others.”

“I’ll have one of my sisters take a picture of it and send it to Darien, Peter, and you.”

CJ smiled a little at her.

She knew what he was thinking. This was the first time she was asking the pack to search for clues. She had finally accepted that she was part of the pack. Though she thought that had been obvious when she had mated CJ. Still, contacting Darien and not doing everything on her own definitely signaled a change.

CJ set the pan on a board to dry, then poured some chips onto their plates.

She sighed, wrapped her arms around him, and kissed him. “Okay, let me get this done, then we can eat.” As soon as she texted her sisters, Meghan sent back a picture of the cabinet that Laurel then forwarded to Darien, Peter, and CJ.

Before CJ could pull out his phone and look, Darien called her.“Thanks, Laurel. I believe that belongs to Elroy Summers.”

“Is he related to Jacob Summers, the electrician?” She was about ready to tell Darien how Jacob had already looked over the furniture and hadn’t located anything.

“His father, yes. That’s why Jacob knows how to create furniture, but he really didn’t care to do it and instead went into the electrical business, to his father’s dismay.”

“Okay, so can we speak with Elroy?”

“He’s deceased, I’m afraid.”

Figured. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. If you come up with any other ideas, feel free to run them past me.”

She ended the call and she down to eat with CJ.

“No luck?” CJ asked.

“Darien said it was Jacob’s father’s work. But that he’s deceased.”

CJ rose from his chair, surprising her, then pulled her from her chair and hugged her tight, and she loved him for it. “We’ll learn the truth sooner or later.”

* * *

For hours, Laurel, CJ, and his brothers combed through all their dad’s stuff in the boxes—piles of clothes and knickknacks, books, kitchen stuff—all sitting around the basement, each sorting carefully through everything.

Laurel so appreciated them for it, for taking the time and caring when they could very well find something that implicated their father in her aunt’s disappearance.

Eric was sifting through every article of clothing, checking all the pockets and folding the clothes neatly in another stack in one corner of the basement after he’d finished with them. “If no one objects, I’m donating all his clothing to charity once we’re through with it.”

“Agreed,” Sarandon said.

Brett and CJ concurred.

Brett was sorting through kitchen items and stacking them in another pile. “I suggest we dispose of all this stuff in the same way.”

Everyone agreed.

“I wonder if Dad’s old furniture had any secret compartments,” Brett added.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at him.

“Probably not. Just a thought,” Brett said.

“We sold all of Dad’s furniture at auction because none of us had room for it or any interest in hanging on to it,” Eric said. “Besides, it was new stuff. I doubt any of it would have had secret compartments.”

“Except for that old chest with all the drawers that belonged to our grandfather. I kept that,” CJ said. “I’ll check it out tonight.”

Laurel found a picture of what looked like the boys with their mother and father. They were all smiling, and that made her smile. She set it aside and had begun sifting through men’s jewelry—tie tacks, an old pocket watch, and cuff links—when she came across a locket. At once, a chill raced up her spine.

What were the odds that Sheridan’s mother, or maybe his wife, had owned a locket just like the ones her mother and aunt owned, with a tree of life etched into the metal? Though most wolves didn’t wear jewelry because they didn’t want to lose it if they had to shift and leave their clothes behind, her mother and aunt had always kept the pictures of each other close to their hearts. She realized then that CJ had never talked about his mother. Nor had she discussed hers with him.

Barely breathing, her fingers trembling, she prayed it wasn’t her aunt’s locket as she opened it. And saw what she feared she’d see—her mother and aunt’s pictures when they were sixteen. Suddenly Laurel felt light-headed. She gasped. The room had been quiet, so the brothers must have heard her. CJ was on his feet in an instant and headed for her. Tears filling her eyes, she stared at the picture of her mother and aunt. Though they were twins, they looked so different. She couldn’t believe Sheridan would have her aunt’s locket, and she felt sick to her stomach.

“Laurel.” CJ rubbed her back as he saw the color completely drain from her face and knew she’d found something that belonged to her aunt. But when he looked down at the pictures in the locket, Laurel’s hand trembling, he was confused. “Ellie?” The one woman was the spitting image of her.

“Clarinda and my mother, her twin sister, Sadie,” she whispered. “Ellie looked just like Mom when she was that age.” She looked up at CJ with tears in her eyes, and his heart went out to her. She was worried how they would feel about going through their father’s things. And now this. “Why would your father have this? My aunt always wore it. My mother had a matching one, and when she died, she was wearing it when we buried her.”

CJ swore under his breath. If his dad had anything to do with Laurel’s aunt’s disappearance, he’d have wanted to kill the bastard himself, if he’d still been alive.

His brothers had stopped sorting through their father’s effects, red-faced and looking as angry as he felt.

“I want to go for a run.” Laurel stood.

“We’ll keep looking through his stuff,” Eric assured her.

“Yeah,” Brett said.

Sarandon nodded.

“I’ll go with you.” CJ knew where she wanted to run. And he suspected she had to get away from anything to do with his father for the moment. Did she believe the white wolf might come to them? He didn’t think it would.

They grabbed their coats, and he walked her out to his truck. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be. It…it was just a shock to find it there. That’s all. I don’t want to speculate on why. I…I don’t want to think about it.”

CJ couldn’t imagine one good reason why his father would have had her aunt’s treasured possession. “I’m sure we won’t find anything in the area of the pit, if you’re thinking we’ll locate any clues. We’ve had tons of men out there searching for any evidence.”

“I just want to see it.”

“All right.” He didn’t want to get her hopes up. And he wanted to talk to her about how she was feeling about things—the necklace, his father, him. He didn’t want anything to come between them over this.

She zipped the necklace into a pocket of her coat, and then they drove as close to the pit as they could and parked. Then they stripped, leaving the clothes in the truck, locked it, and shifted.

CJ had planned to lead the way because he thought he could find the pit again.

But she suddenly veered off in a different direction. A couple of years back, some of their teens had survived a fall from the cliffs that were located in this direction, and he sure as hell didn’t want her getting anywhere near them.

He chased after her to head her off, until he saw what she must have seen—wolf tracks in the crystallized snow. He smelled the air—crisp, clean, fresh, pine-scented air. A rabbit, deer, no other wolves except for the pack members’ scents. How many had come after him? Dozens.

The tracks could have been from any of the wolves searching for clues. Except for one thing. These were fresher tracks. Still, anyone could have come back and began snooping around.

Then Laurel stopped and was staring at something in the woods. He looked to see what she saw. A wolf. White. And female, he thought, because of her smaller stature. She was a long ways from where they were.