Elizabeth wished they could spread out a bit, but he wouldn’t leave her for a second, and she knew he still worried someone might attack her.
“Lelandi is the psychologist in the family. What has she said about any of this?” Elizabeth examined a cluster of spruce branches, noticing some of the snow had been brushed off as if someone had walked into them recently. It could have been a searcher, but then again, Bjornolf and Anna were farther away, and the other search teams even more spread out. This was really recent, new snowflakes not having had time to cover the blue-green needles again.
Her heart sped up a little.
“Lelandi says it’s possible they’re acting out. Or maybe seeking revenge for their dad. Or they might not even be involved in any of this, like CJ said.”
“Or, they just want attention.”
“It’s one damn stupid way of getting it,” he said, glancing in her direction.
Elizabeth understood his anger, the betrayal, only too deeply. She turned away from him and studied a footprint in the snow, situated among the branches of the spruce. “Haven’t you ever done anything to get someone’s attention and afterward you regretted it? Some will do anything to get some notice, negative or otherwise. Since they’re angry that your brother put their father down, maybe they’ve been fuming about this and lashed out.”
“It’s dangerous for the pack. We can’t have our farmers reaching for their guns every time they see a wolf in a wolf-run town. We might have welcomed them back before, but now I don’t know if we want to have pack members whose decisions place all of us in danger,” Tom said, joining her as she measured her boot size with the one left in the snow.
“Man’s, recent,” she said. “He stood here, hiding among the branches of this spruce tree.”
Tom pulled his rifle off his shoulder and searched around the trees.
Someone was hiding nearby, listening, watching. If it was one of Tom’s cousins, she desperately wanted to talk him into giving himself up.
“They had a pack. They can’t let go of it. They want to be part of it again, but they don’t know how to come back and still save face,” she said.
Tom moved off into the trees, but Elizabeth didn’t follow him. He quickly came back for her. “Aren’t you coming?”
“They deserve a second chance, Tom. Maybe some intervention sessions with Lelandi. I never had a pack to grow up with. I only had my mother and father to learn from. I can only guess what it would be like for them to play and fight and be part of a pack growing up—and then lose their father, you and your brothers, and the rest of the pack all at once. Let them return to the pack. Show them what you’ve all shown me—tolerance, acceptance, and unconditional love.”
Tom looked around at the ground, searching for more footprints. “It’s up to Darien to make a decision like that.”
His expression tight, Tom stalked across the snow, shouldering his rifle. He took Elizabeth into his arms and hugged her tight. He whispered into her ear, “They’re here, aren’t they? Listening.”
She nodded, tears misting her eyes. She never cried if she could help it, and she’d been more misty-eyed around Tom and his pack than she wanted to admit. “You wanted to protect them, Tom. They knew if anyone would listen to them, it would be you. What they did was stupid. It all needs to end now.”
Tom gazed into her eyes. He shook his head. “You’re beautiful, you know? Inside and out. Despite all you’ve been through.”
“CJ turned himself in.”
“That was only because he stepped into the trap and couldn’t run any farther.”
“I think my charging after him, growling and snapping, spooked him. I think he came to see you when you were gathering kindling like he said, trying to find a way to get your attention and show you he didn’t mean you any harm. Only… I sort of ruined it by suddenly coming on the scene.”
Tom heaved a deep breath but didn’t say anything. He wasn’t convinced yet.
“Let them come in on their own and square things with Darien and Lelandi. Get back to being a pack. I like CJ. I want to have the biggest family I can have.”
Tom smiled at her, holding her still, looking down at her with wonder and admiration. “It won’t be easy. For any of us.”
“Time will heal.”
“But not in your uncle’s case,” Tom said vehemently. “That bastard will pay for attempting to kill you.”
“I also want to know if he murdered my parents. I want the proof, and Hrothgar can deal with him. As harshly as he sees fit.” Quinton didn’t deserve anything better.
Movement by one of the trees made Tom raise his rifle as Elizabeth turned to see who it was.
“Brett,” Tom said, sounding surprised, despite having assumed that one of his cousins was nearby.
Brett was wearing a white parka and ski pants that made him blend in with the snow, with only a hint of dark bangs showing beneath the hood of his coat and dark brown eyes. He studied Tom, waiting to see his response. He had Tom’s stern jaw, and she wondered if when he smiled, his expression would be similar to Tom’s.
Bjornolf and Anna came behind Brett, weapons pointed at the ground.
“We were watching him,” Bjornolf said, “while he listened to the two of you talk. I didn’t know what was going on until I realized you knew he was there.”
“Thanks, Bjornolf, Anna,” Tom said, then turned his attention on his cousin. “Where are your brothers?”
“They’re not here. We spread out so that we won’t get caught in a cluster. We knew you were searching for us, so we split up. We’ve been trying to find the damned wolves scaring the livestock. It wasn’t us. But we knew you’d suspect us first. We’ve tried damned hard to find the bastards and turn them over to Darien.”
“Why did you keep CJ out of this?” Tom asked, sounding suspicious.
“Hell, Tom. You know him. The minute he left the pack, he regretted it. He had his own ideas about how to get back in with the pack. Took us a lot longer to come to terms with everything. We know Darien had no other choice, but still…” Brett took a settling breath. “You’re still family, our pack. We knew the farmers would hunt any wolf, and one of our people could be killed. We had to hunt the rogue wolves down ourselves. Prove that we weren’t anything like our dad.”