* * * * *
It took Lowell nearly three weeks to get out of the hospital and get to the village in which shifter sanctuary was situated. Throughout it all Harry, the man who helped him conceal his true identity was very helpful. Lowell thought he could never repay the man for his kindness.
After being released from hospital, with much help from Harry, they went to the old gardener’s house. Lowell was lost. He had no money, no way to access his accounts, nowhere to stay. Hell, he didn’t even have any clothes! Harry was a life saviour. He clothed Lowell and took him in to his small apartment. Apparently the old man lived alone, having been divorced for decades and his children all grown up and having families of their own. With the gruff old man’s help Lowell managed to access his PayPal account and withdraw some of his savings by sending them to Harry’s bank account. The old gardener then took it out of his account and gave to Lowell, who now had a nice sum in cash.
Harry was also helpful in locating the village where Purr had been placed. With his help Lowell managed to buy an used motorbike and embark on a journey to find his lover. Lowell was forever grateful to whatever force was looking after him, that the investigation which resulted in Purr’s rescue had been kept quiet by the police. It made it that much easier to assume his new identity.
Lowell finally reached the small village where the sanctuary for abused shifters was supposed to be located. He hoped that the information they managed to gather was right. It wasn’t like the shifter pack advertised themselves. Protecting victims of abuse meant keeping their location quiet and Lowell and Harry had to go to a lot of effort to find out where Purr was being kept.
Lowell got of his bike, removed his helmet and looked around. He was in a parking lot of a pub in a middle of small village. Running a hand through his hair to give them some semblance of control Lowell took a deep breath. He didn’t really think it through, how he was going to find his lover and what would happen next. The only thing he knew was that he needed Purr, he needed to be close to his tiger. That need drove him here, but it also made him rush without a real plan.
Lowell sighed, shook his head and decided to go in for a pint. He hoped he’d be able to find out more about the local pack and its leader. Hopefully the man would be reasonable and Lowell would be able to convince him that he meant Purr no harm. With that in mind Lowell pushed the heavy wooden door and went into the pub.
* * * * *
“Alpha, can I have a moment?” Robert’s voice interrupted Marek’s concentration on the pack financials.
“Yes, what is it?” Marek looked up pinching the bridge of his nose. He could feel a headache forming. Dealing with financial matters was the least favourite of his Alpha obligations. Robert walked in closing the door behind him. Marek thought his friend and beta looked as haggard and tired as he felt. After their mistake with Patrick they both blamed themselves. It didn’t help that the tiger shifter was still in his animal form and as feral as ever. He had to be sedated and then moved to a hastily built enclosure on pack grounds. Then they had to give him small doses of sedatives with his meals so that he didn’t hurt himself trying to escape.
“I wondered if you had any news from Anna?” Robert asked, and Marek wasn’t surprised that they had the same thing on their minds. Robert was doing all he could to find Lowell Hayes, their only chance at restoring Patrick’s sanity. Unfortunately, he had no luck in his search. It seemed that the politician’s son disappeared into thin air. Now their only hope was Anna. Marek knew if anyone could find a cure for Patrick it was his genius friend. Still, she was yet to find something useful. Marek knew, logically that medical research took time but he felt they didn’t have much time to spare. With every day the trapped tiger grew more and more restless, and the last few days he even refused to eat some of his meals. Marek was growing more concerned with every passing day.
“Unfortunately, no. And the last time I called her, she told me in no uncertain terms that I was to stop badgering her. She had to work if she was to help Patrick and if I kept calling her, she couldn’t do that.”
“I see.” Was Robert’s only answer.
“And how is your search going? Any leads?” Marek asked even though he knew, if his friend found something he’d have told him already. He wasn’t surprised when the Beta shook his head.
“Nothing. It seems that the fire damage was more extensive than we thought. It spread throughout all of the living wing of that mansion and it took fire brigade hours to put it down. Apparently they are still sorting through the mess looking for Hayes’s body.” That was more or less what Marek expected, still he grimaced, displeased.
“Did you try questioning the staff? Is it possible that the kid wasn’t there when the fire broke out? That he run away having seen the assault team, fearing consequences?” Marek knew he was grasping at straws but one had to have hope right? After all, hope dies last. But Marek knew, in his country there was another proverb about hope and he felt it might be more accurate in this situation: Hope is the mother of fools.
“Do you really think that, if what we guessed is true and Lowell was Patrick’s fated mate, that the kid would run away instead of coming after the tiger? I mean, I don’t know much about the bond and how it affects a human in a mating, but surely he would feel things similar to a shifter, right? He wouldn’t be able to just leave?” Marek sighed at Robert’s questions. The mother of fools indeed.
“I know, but I just had to ask. We need to check every possible lead, you know? There isn’t much else we can do for Patrick,” Marek explained. Robert’s sigh mirrored Marek’s own and the man looked away.
“I know, Marek. I thought the same thing. I questioned everyone who was at the scene when the fire broke out. They all said the same thing. They hadn’t seen Lowell since he closed himself in his room to write. He would spend hours upon hours in his room and everyone knew not to disturb him. Someone from the staff tried pounding on his door when the assault team arrived, but the man wouldn’t answer, and then that person got ushered away. Unfortunately, nobody on the team listened to them when they claimed Lowell was still inside.”
“Well, it’s not like they knew there was about to be fire. The only danger they could suspect was of the man escaping and he wouldn’t be able to do that closed in his room like that.” Marek had to give the men on the assault team justice. It hadn’t been the first operation they led, and Patrick the first abused shifter they rescued.
“You’re right of course,” his beta said. “But the point is, there isn’t much of a chance that Hayes survived. We need to acknowledge that and prepare for the worst.” Marek knew his friend wasn’t any happier about it than he was. He opened his mouth to say something, but a knock on his office door interrupted him.
“Come in,” he said and frowned as Fabian walked into the room uncertainly.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, Alpha, but there is a stranger in town asking all sorts of questions about the pack. Muriel called, she thought you should be aware of it.”
“She was right. The last thing we need is some stupid reporter trying to pry into our business. We don’t need publicity, we need to be left alone to do our job!” Marek said seething. It wasn’t the first time someone from the press tried sniffing around. The pack members and human friends in the village knew not to tell them anything.
“What do you want us to do about him, Alpha?” Fabian asked, nodding in agreement.
“Nothing, I’ll deal with him myself.” It would do him good, too. Maybe getting into a fight with some sensation hungry reporter would help relieve some of the tension and get rid of upcoming headache. “Where is he?” Marek asked striding out of the room and passing Fabian.
“Still in the pub, from what Muriel said. He’s been nursing his pint of lager for the last hour asking all kinds of questions.”
“Not very good at his job then,” Marek stated and Fabian snorted in response.
“Clearly!”
“Very well,” Marek said as he left the house, clapping Fabian’s shoulder. “Thanks for telling me. You don’t need to follow me. I’ll take my bike.” Not waiting for response Marek went in direction of the garage. He felt anticipation of a fight. It was quite some time since he got into a nice old-fashioned alteration. Ever since he became Alpha nobody was willing to go against him in any way. It was pretty sad that even a prospect of having words with a reporter was getting his blood pumping. Pretty sad indeed.
