STORY EXCERPT

As soon as they were dressed, they headed downstairs and Cody could almost sense it in the air as Morrow went back to being all business.

“I have yet to see the place where the married couple lived,” Morrow told him as they headed into the kitchen.

“It’s not far,” Cody informed him. “I’ll show the way after we get something to eat.”

“Good.”

Their meal was quickly consumed as Morrow wanted to make up for the hours that had been wasted on sleep.

 Cody managed somehow to not take it personally. After all, they all wanted their missing pack members returned, and the moment they stopped searching for clues was the moment they declared defeat.

They let Bailey and Harley know where they were headed before they left and got in the car. Cody filled his mate in about what had gone down the day of Lawrence and Jenny’s disappearance.

Jeremy’s crazy-ass stepdad had broken Lawrence’s nose after Lawrence had stopped him from verbally abusing Jeremy at the diner. When the deputy had gone to get a statement from Lawrence later on, he discovered they were missing. There was some blood, but they were unsure if it stemmed from the attack at the diner or if it meant they’d put up a fight when they were taken.

“So you couldn’t even track him when he was wounded like that?” Morrow said with a frown.

“Nope.” Cody shook his head. “Usually the smell of blood burns your senses, and we did smell it at the house, but we couldn’t trace it off the property.”

“This just isn’t human,” Morrow said with a sigh.

“Granted, it’s weird and infuriating as hell, but until we find out what’s actually causing the fading of our wolves’ scents, we won’t know who’s behind it,” Cody told him as they got out of the car. “And considering what Malachi told us, we shouldn’t discount what he said about funding people. I’m thinking maybe we’re dealing with some psycho scientists with large bank accounts. He seemed to indicate the shifters weren’t much of a secret anymore. He certainly knew about Matthew.”

“I guess I just find it strange a bunch of humans could get the drop on so many shifters without help.” Morrow sighed.

“We should shift,” Cody told him.

“Excuse me?” Morrow turned to him.

“Go canine,” Cody clarified. “We’re better equipped to search the place like that. I doubt we’ll find anything new after all this time, but at the very least, our sense of smell will be stronger, and I think some running would do us both good.”

Morrow considered that for a moment before he nodded. “You’re right. It’ll be quicker, and I haven’t shifted in a while.”

Cody swore he was in business mode as they removed their clothing before they shifted, but he couldn’t help himself from stalling just a little bit as he watched Morrow transform into his wolf.

Morrow was beautiful and quite large in his shifted form. Cody knew most enforcers had larger forms, but it was different seeing it with his own two eyes. His mate wasn’t freakishly big. He just looked like he’d eaten his spinach, and then some, growing up. Morrow was easily the biggest wolf Cody had ever seen though.

Cody had a strange urge to pet him, but he shook it off and let his own wolf take form. On all fours, he sauntered over to his mate, brushing against his side. Morrow leaned into him as he walked past, but just a second later, they were running.

He followed his mate as Morrow sniffed out any remaining scents. He easily found the spot where Lawrence’s blood had been found, despite several nights’ rainfall since his disappearance. It could be traced down to the road, but no further.

Morrow still went over every inch of the property though, paying extra attention to the road and the edge of the forest surrounding the house.

Cody had already gone over the property several times over since Lawrence and Jenny were taken, so he was surprised when he suddenly bumped into Morrow, who’d stopped and was sniffing intently at the ground.

If he could frown in his wolf form, it would have shown on his face. He moved around his mate and put his nose to the ground near where Morrow was sniffing.

He couldn’t tell what had caught his mate’s attention. He could smell dirt, moss, and twigs. Maybe even a faint trace of a rodent who’d recently crossed the patch of land.

Morrow raised his head and looked at him expectantly, moving back slightly to let Cody have better access.

Moving closer, Cody’s nose was working overtime, and that’s when he sensed it. Just the faintest trace of something sweet, something vaguely floral.

Jenny’s perfume?

Cody started to follow the scent, and Morrow followed alongside him. It was difficult with the trace being so weak, and he had to stop several times to try to pick up the scent again. He was starting to develop a headache with how hard he was concentrating.

They moved through the woods for what seemed like hours. It led them up to the main road, and then it was gone. Like with Samantha, they appeared to have gone the rest of the way by car.

ADULT EXCERPT

Morrow leaned in and kissed him, letting his tongue tease just inside Cody’s mouth. If he hadn’t pulled back when Cody started pushing up against him, Cody would have taken him down.

He groaned in disappointment when his mate left the room, and Cody half-grudgingly followed him up to the attic.

He’d hoped it would be an easy job finding his mate’s grandmother’s belongings, but unfortunately the attic had been very spacious, once upon a time. Now it was stacked with boxes and old furniture. Still, he was surprised by how clean it was. He’d expected there to be more dust.

“Skylar is a bit of a neat freak when he first comes up here,” Morrow explained. “Even if he’s just up here to put something away, he just has to clean it if it’s dirty. Only happens once or twice a year though.”

“No complaints here.” Cody chuckled. “Now, those boxes?”

“I have no idea which ones contain the journals.” Morrow sighed and ran his hand through his hair as he looked over the probably hundred boxes that were stacked around the room. “The only thing I do know is that the boxes marked Christmas decorations actually contains Christmas decorations.”

“Great,” Cody groaned. “And that excludes how much?”

“About three boxes,” his mate replied with an uncertain shrug.

“Then we definitely better get started,” Cody said and went over to the first pile and picked up a box.

One box at the time, they began going through the stuff, but it wasn’t as easy as just lifting the lids and looking inside. Quite a few of them contained books, and since his mate’s grandmother didn’t really care what her journals looked like as long as she had something to write in, it increased the workload tenfold to check every book.

They also had limited space to place the boxes they’d already checked out of their way, so it took a while before they saw any progress.

Cody started getting bored after the first hour, and he made it worse by continuously looking at his watch. Time just seemed to be on a break, and there was just so much stuff stored up in that attic. Cody even found a bird’s nest stored in a drawer. Why anyone would ever want to keep an empty bird’s nest in a drawer was beyond him. He’d asked Morrow about it, but he hadn’t had a clue either.

 “You know, we’ve gone through almost thirty boxes already,” Cody mentioned nonchalantly after they started closing in on hour number two. “I think we might be due for a break.”

Morrow looked like he was suppressing a smile. “You know we won’t make any progress if you keep wanting timeouts.”

“You’re right.” Cody mock sighed. “I guess rummaging through boxes of old family heirlooms and Christmas ornaments is more important than me worshipping your cock, especially under a time crunch. After all, with such limited time, I would have had to suck your cock that much harder, faster, and deeper than usual to make you come faster.”

Cody almost thought he’d taken it a bit too far when Morrow dropped a light-bulb he’d been holding. He didn’t mind the heated look that made Morrow's eyes sparkle though.

Taking the opportunity as his mate was rumbling hungrily, Cody stepped up to his mate and kissed him.

Morrow’s arm circled around his waist, and as he pulled him closer, Cody could definitely feel his mate’s hard desire twitching inside those jeans.

Growling appreciatively into the kiss, Cody reached down for Morrow’s belt and started unbuckling it. Reaching into his mate’s pants, Morrow moaned as Cody palmed the hard dick through his boxers.

Just as Cody was about to pull down Morrow’s pants, they were interrupted.

“Please, don’t,” Skylar’s voice sounded from somewhere under the floorboards.

Cody reluctantly pulled back with a disgruntled growl. Clearly, they weren’t as alone as he’d thought, stuck up in the cramped attic.

“The walls in this place are really thin, and the pieces of wood separating my study from the attic is even thinner. I still have a lot of papers to go through today, so, please, for the love of God, wait till you’re back in your room.”

“Always a spoil-sport, little brother.” Morrow cleared his throat as he straightened his pants and went back to rummaging through the boxes. “I kept my mouth shut when you snuck Amy along for the last family camping trip and got it on with her in the next tent over.”

Cody chuckled.

“That’s completely different,” Skylar insisted. “I’ve always had an avid sexual life. You, on the other hand, haven’t.”

 Even in the attic’s dim light, Cody could see Morrow rolling his eyes.

“But he sure does learn quickly,” Cody said and grinned to himself as he recalled the previous night.

“Yeah…no, I don’t wanna know that,” Skylar said, sounding uncomfortable.

Cody could just imagine seeing the other alpha squirm in his seat as he tried to scrub any notion of his older brother getting down and dirty from his mind.

“Got it,” Morrow said.

“Thank you,” Skylar sighed relieved.

“Not that.” Morrow shook his head. “I found Elanna’s notebooks.”

“Good,” Cody said, giving his mate a playful look. “Let’s take them downstairs…to your room.”

He chuckled when he heard Skylar groan.

“Can’t wait till I find my own mate, then I can be just as obnoxious as you two.”

“No need to worry about that,” Morrow sniped.

They laughed as they heard muffled curses from below and grabbed the box containing the journals and headed downstairs.