Hunted (Pack of Dawn and Destiny, #1)(68)

I squinted at him. “Don’t you and Chase both live in the mansion? That means you live with a werewolf.”

Lord Linus rolled his eyes. “That doesn’t count. Chase is just one werewolf. I will admit I’m curious what life with a Pack of them is like. Are they all as regimented as Chase? Do they near constantly train and condition themselves? Or are wolves more casual than one would believe based on the same sample size I’ve encountered?”

Lady Chrysanthe paused her picture taking. “Lord Linus—they have a gift shop!”

“Really?” Lord Linus swiveled around so he could peer at it, and he watched as Lady Chrysanthe disappeared past the outer racks of keychains and other Timber Ridge memorabilia. “We should get some souvenirs.”

He pushed his elbows off the desk and looked ready to float away, but he had information I wanted.

“Lord Linus? Can you tell me what Chase found?” I asked.

“Hm?” Lord Linus yanked his gaze back to me. “I suppose so. Chase said Greyson asked for the information in front of you.” He glanced at the three old ladies.

The trio—bearing canes and a walker—clacked their way into the gift shop, undoubtedly following Lady Chrysanthe.

Shania bustled after them. “I can ring you up if you find anything,” she said. “And we might have more merchandise in the back if you want more than one of something.”

Somehow, Lord Linus managed to casually stand by my computer and appear relaxed, but lowered his voice so softly I think even a wolf would have had a hard time hearing him from the gift shop. “A cache of wolfsbane was discovered in Europe about two years ago. The Committee of Magic for that region thought they’d recovered all vials, and a few bottles were sent to the Dominant here in the USA for testing. He actually sent one to Pre-Dominant Harka initially for a few specific supernaturals in Magiford to look into, though she sent it back to him months ago.”

“Lord Linus, they have coffee mugs!” Lady Chrysanthe shouted from the innards of the gift shop.

“Any with wolves?” Lord Linus hollered back to her.

“They all do. There’s one that says, ‘I growl before coffee’.”

“Oh, get that one!”

“Got it!”

Though Lord Linus’s voice was bright when he called to Lady Chrysanthe, the pinch of concern hadn’t left the corners of his eyes.

I heard the older ladies chortle to themselves when they found the baby onesies.

“Oh, look at this one—it’s a wolf print!”

“I prefer this deer print—it’s so darling.”

I waited long enough to make sure they were occupied before I started up the conversation again. “Do you think someone could have stolen the samples the Dominant was given?”

“Unlikely.” Lord Linus ran his thumb along the edge of my desk, which was smoothed and faded from age. “The Dominant received too few for any kind of dealer to be interested, and it seems like the Low Marsh Pack would have guzzled several bottles of the stuff by themselves. Moreover, all bottles are accounted for. It seems more likely that vials were either taken before the cache was discovered, or that there are more, additional caches across the world that less benevolent supernaturals have found.”

I chewed on my lip. “Someone could be manufacturing it.”

“It’s been deemed unlikely,” Lord Linus said. “As there doesn’t seem to be any widespread use of wolfsbane. There have been a few very isolated incidents across the USA of wolves inexplicably going feral. Pre-Dominant Harka will be speaking to the Dominant about the Low Marsh Pack, so I think it would be safe to expect that there will be a new investigation into those isolated incidents. But if this was turning into a drug epidemic, we would see a lot more wolves—or shifters—going feral by now.”

“If that’s the case it seems particularly odd that multiple members of the Low Marsh Pack were taking it as a group,” I said.

“Yes. That’s why it’s been deemed a priority to uncover the Low Marsh Pack’s supplier—though rumor has it they haven’t gotten anything useful out of Alpha Dolph.”

“They have spray scents!” Lady Chrysanthe’s bright voice poked through the direness of our conversation again.

Again, Lord Linus shouted back to her. “What do they smell like?”

“Wolf musk?”

“Don’t get that one,” I told Linus before shouting, “Don’t get that one! That’s a joke—it smells like wet dog! Shania, can you show her the hair care products?”

“Oop, yeah, you don’t want that,” Shania said. “Come on, the hair care products are over here—they smell really good, because the wolves use them, too.”

“What do you mean?” Lady Chrysanthe asked.

“Werewolves have stronger noses than we do, and they find some scents and chemicals overwhelming,” Shania explained.

“Really?” Lady Chrysanthe sounded near tears.

“Don’t worry. These shampoos, conditioners, and soaps are more soothing to their senses. I use them, and my boyfriend—who is a werewolf—loves it,” Shania said.

“Better get a box of them, Lady Chrysanthe,” Lord Linus shouted. “It might help your attempt to seduce Chase!”