Chapter 118
0118 (James POV) It was now the end of the third week since leaving Hawaii. I have traveled to five different states in the United States, and I have met with all five of the wolves that Dr. Hyder suggested I talk to. Unfortunately, after that much traveling, Luke and I were exhausted. But, more than that, we were feeling. incredibly frustrated. Although the meetings with the five wolves confirmed for us that there are, or were, serious problems at West Mountain Pack, we felt only somewhat closer to figuring out exactly what those problems were. Interestingly, each wolf on Dr. Hyder’s list had very different circumstances: -Brandon was 33 years old and now lives in Florida with his mate and two young pups. He left West Mountain Pack eight years ago. Kelly was 27 years old, single, and lives in Texas. She left West Mountain Pack shortly after her 20th birthday. -Lynda was 60 years old, divorced, and now lives in Kansas. She left the pack four years ago. -Eric was 40 years old, married, has one young daughter, and now lives in New York. He left West Mountain Pack shortly before Stephanie died. -Dorothy was 92 years old, widowed, and now lived in Oregon. She left the pack almost eight years ago. For the life of me, I could not figure out what these five wolves could possibly have in common. At first glance, the only potential link that I could see was that four of the five left the pack in roughly the same two-year period. Despite the lack of similarities, however, each conversation ended up having similar key elements: the wolves were frustrated with my parents; they felt strong anger and bitterness towards Stephanie, Margie, and/or Sheila; they had a lot of sympathy and gratitude for Lily; and they strongly wanted to avoid being reminded of whatever it was that had happened to them in the past. For example, take the conversation that I had with Brandon: ***FLASHBACK*** “Why are you here?” Brandon asked me bitterly. “I would like to find out why you left West Mountain Pack.” “My family and I are never going back there. If that is why you are here, you can leave,” he said adamantly. “I do not want you to come back. I just want to understand why you left.” “As if you care.” I was shocked by how hostile he was. “I do care. I would not be here if I didn’t.” “You expect me to believe that? Your parents did not care what was happening eight years ago, so you can hardly expect me to believe their son cares now.” I looked at Brandon in confusion. “You told my parents why you left?” “No. I TRIED to talk to your parents. As soon as I started explaining what happened, they cut me off and told me that I needed to talk to Margie.” “Why would you need to talk to Margie?” “Your guess is as good as mine.” “But… what did they tell you was the reason?” Brandon ignored the question. “Why are you really here, James? What is it that want from me?” “I already told you. I just want to understand what happened and why you left.” “Bullsh&t. You probably just want to make sure that I am not disparaging your precious mate. Well, if so, do not worry. It has taken my mate and I a long time to work through what happened, but we did. We have healed. The last thing I want to do is talk about that horrible incident again. You can sleep easy; your mate’s reputation is safe.” “What does Lily have to do any of this?” “I am referring to Stephanie.” I was taken aback. “Lily is my mate, not Stephanie. And… Stephanie was killed by rogues over six years ago.” “Oh. I did not hear about that. We cut off most news from the pack when we left. Our families give us updates on how they are doing, but they know better than to talk to us about anyone in pack leadership. Rogues you say?” I nodded. “I wish I could tell you that I am sorry, but I am not. It could not have happened to a better she-wolf,” Brandon added sarcastically.
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