9. Visit

Lucien told me to spend time with Lana that evening as Xander had to catch up with some schoolwork before the weekend was over. They had taken a long break off from school – a perk of course, of being associated with the Alpha of the pack. I left Zaina a message with Lucien's approval. But that was three days ago. My security personnel replied the day after I sent them an email.

It only made the dread in my gut feel worse.

Lucien and I went through the logs and the footage together. The man that had kidnapped Lana had visited the apartment three days before the incident occurred. He had gone in and had the required keys, including a mastercard for the lift. The security logs marked the scanned card as one under Zaina's ownership. I had to admit, Zaina made a terrible criminal. But things weren't looking very good for Carmine if she was further revealed to be involved. Hell, she was already going to be in deep shit.

Lucien told me that Umbra would be interrogating the man as well. I made all the phone calls in order to bring him to Vancouver and Lucien filled out the necessary paperwork too.

I had never run into any werewolf council before that. So I vaguely did the procedures according to Lucien's advice. The intruder would be arriving within the next two weeks, escorted by members of the New York City werewolf council before he would be transferred into Umbra's custody.

A week had passed before I even knew it.

Despite the fact that I had a lot of paperwork to do – enough that probably rivaled the amount of paper I ripped up in New York – I was more than happy to assist Lucien. Lana had recovered quickly but she had nightmares about what happened. Lucien and I often tucked her into bed and when she asked, Lucien or I would stay with her for the night.

Whatever happened to that man, I was certain that Lucien wasn't going to go through a human court. We werewolves rarely ever did.

Nothing was swifter than a werewolf's urge for vengeance.

When the paperwork was done, I found myself with far too much free time than I'd liked. And my mate couldn't keep me company either. He was far too busy now that this was all happening. Although he did proceed to inform Carmine that he would be investigating the matter. And that there would be consequences.

"You, my dear Luna, need a break," Katherine said as she stirred her sugar into her cup of coffee. We were sitting in the lounge of the pack house, enjoying the warmth of the fireplace.

"What I need is a job," I replied.

Katherine and I had gotten closer during my stay. Her mate, Desmond, was on a business trip and because she and I lived in the same building, it became natural for us to become close. Katherine often did most of her duties as the Beta from within the pack house. If she wasn't out training the pack in the morning, she made business calls near the living room. She said it was because the pack's personal cell towers had a stronger signal from there than her apartment.

"When's Desmond coming back?" I asked. I had only met the guy through Katherine's frequent video calls with him. He seemed like a nice man. He was attending some kind of conference on medicine – werewolf medicine.

"This week, I believe," she told me as she scrolled through her phone, "Speaking of Desmond, if you really want to work, I can bring you to the veterinary clinic we run in town. Of course we run it alongside human colleagues, but you told me you were used to that."

"Seriously? That would be great," I said, grinning.

"We can head out in fifteen if that works, I'm free this afternoon," Katherine said.

"You sure Lucien doesn't need you in another pack meeting?"

"Lucien can call me if he needs his Beta around for that. I'm busy enough managing the pack's morning training and our supply and demand," Katherine said as she got up from the couch. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go get ready."

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.

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The veterinary clinic was a simple building in the shopping district of the town. The tallest building was probably only five stories high, which made the area look like a nice and cozy place. I saw a few people walking around but it was a quiet day.

The inside of the clinic was nice and warm. Katherine and I hung our coats by the entrance and were greeted warmly by a male receptionist. The waiting area was brightly lit with pale blue walls and plants that were well taken care of. The room smelled of a fresh herbal kind of scent, it was warm and subtle, it had to be for the animals not to get overwhelmed.

"Nice to finally meet the Luna everyone's buzzed about," the receptionist greeted as he extended his hand towards me. I shook it and smiled.

"Auden," I said, and I ignored the Luna thing. I was hardly deserving of that title.

"Erik," he said, he had a kind smile and he didn't seem like a werewolf.

"Erik here is a good friend. Not one of our pack, but he knows and aside from helping things run around here, he also helps out with our pack's medical supplies," Katherine said.

"Katherine told me that you'd like to work with us," he said kindly. Katherine gave me a wide smile.

"She patched Lana right up from some horrible shit that went down in New York. In wolf form. I'm sure she's more than capable," Katherine said and I shifted my weight between my legs. I didn't take compliments very well.

"Well, we don't have a lot of cases here for you, the occasional rescue comes in and we care for them as well. So if you'd like, we can have you come in for special cases. You wouldn't have to be a regular. I don't know much about werewolves, but Luna's probably have a lot on their plate," Erik said.

"That would be great," I replied.

"Let me show you around," he said before gesturing towards a set of double doors.

We walked in and Katherine immediately went up to one of the cages and pet the head of a small puppy that seemed to be waiting for guests. The facilities were nice and admirably clean. The pets did get a little rowdy at the sight of visitors but that was nothing out of the norm. The entire place was nice and organized with spacious cages.

"This one's Gus-Gus, Katherine named him after the Cinderella character, apparently chubby like him," Erik said.

"Is he not just adorable?" Katherine asked as she made kissing noises at the little pup, "Have you found him a home yet Erik?"

"We've got a few interested, but we're doing a few checks to make sure he'll get well taken care of," he said.

Katherine continued to go around and even went off to feed some of the pets. Erik on the other hand continued to show me around. They were well-equipped and he made sure to show me some of the other medical supplies they had which were reserved for the werewolves as some of Umbra did live in town. We were just taking a look around where the tools were in the operating room when we heard a knock on the door. Lucien walked in with a grin.

"Do we have a promising vet on the way?" Lucien asked.

"Alpha Lucien," Erik greeted, bowing his head slightly, "Always a pleasure to see you. Your Luna's quick, accurate, and efficient. I'd say we've got a great one coming – though most of our work are just routine check ups and vaccines, she should fit right in."

"Where's Katherine?" Lucien asked and Desmond chuckled.

"What are you doing in town?" I asked.

"I had a free afternoon," he said with a shrug, "Katherine and I will wait in the car."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Any news?" I asked.

[A few.] He mind-linked.

"We're pretty much done with the tour. I'll be sure to contact you about any further details," Erik said. I nodded and followed Lucien out of the clinic.

"Did you get an answer from my sister?" I asked as we settled in the car. Katherine had taken the back seat while Lucien and I sat up front.

"No, but I got a message from your dad instead."

"Really? What'd he say?"

"He said he'd be here by this afternoon."

"What?" I fished out my phone and sighed in frustration.

"Auden–"

"Lucien… It's four in the afternoon." I was met with silence and I stared into Lucien's eyes.

[Lucien… where is my dad?] Lucien avoided eye contact.

[He's in his hotel room.]