The Weight of My Scars

I checked my watch, I had about 30 minutes to get two hours worth of paperwork done before my next call. A call with the gamma-level pack member in charge of our cattle trading side of the business. Trent was older than me, a good guy who was excellent at his job. We had a herd of about 400 head of cattle. But we really made money in the trading of stock.

Sighing, I opened up the first email I needed to respond to. A familial dispute between two families in the pack. I wished, for about the sixth time today, that I had a Luna by my side to handle these type of situations. I read the email and decided to pass it to my Gamma. He was much better at this type of stuff than I was.

My phone rang as I finished writing my Gamma. The caller ID said it was the main gates. My pack was a good 4,000 members strong. We were so large, not everyone lived in the gated community. We had about 500 people who choose to live in the gated community outside of the city. The rest lived in the city and mingled with the human population of about 10,000. The pack owned over 3/4th of the city’s businesses and real estate. The guards at the gates calling meant either an unexpected visitor or shipment.

“Yes?” I said after hitting the speakerphone button.

“Alpha, we have a tracker here, Bert Stewart from the Old Bayou Pack, says you know each other and he has something of importance to discuss with you.” The voice of the guard came across the line. It sounded like Jarred. He was a guard who I trusted.

I remembered Bert. We met at Alpha college. He was a few years younger than me because I went late. He was also the best tracker I had ever met. The Alpha Council often asked him to consult on difficult cases. As far as I had heard, he had never not been able to find who he was looking for. I would always help him out if he needed.

“Send him up.” I said and hung up. I had about ten minutes before he would get to the packhouse. I started to skim through the next email. Guess I wasn’t going to get everything done. I sent a message to Trent letting him know that I would likely be a few minutes late to our meeting.

Not long after, there was a knock at my door. I smelled a wolf that wasn’t from our pack.

“Come in.” I said as I finished an email.

Bert came in, my Beta Cam followed him in. It was our protocol that none of the ranked wolves met with a member of another pack alone. Bert was tall and thin for a shifter. In skin, he reminded me of a fox. His eyes were always alert and borderline shifty. He was wearing a pair of warn, loose jeans and a brown and yellow flannel shirt rolled up to his elbows. He smelled like the south on a warm day. Not a sweltering day luckily.

I stood to shake his hand.

“Bert, I didn’t know you were in the area. How can I help you today?” I asked as I motioned for him to take one of the seats in front of my desk. I closed my laptop and sat back down, giving him my full attention. Cam sat on a couch against my wall, though he didn’t lean back. He was always on alert.

“I’m actually here to help you.” Bert gave me a mischievous smile.

“We don’t have any need for a tracker of your caliber that I know of. Do you know something I don’t?” I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow in confusion.

“I found someone that I think belongs to you.” He leaned forward. He was obviously baiting me.

For a second, I wondered if he had found my mate. But that was silly, I had never met my mate and he would not be able to tell if someone was my mate before I could.

I chuckled, “I’m not missing anyone though.”

“I was passing through a small town in Georgia and came across a waitress in a diner. As soon as I smelled her, I thought of you. She smells like you.”

“I don’t think I know any women in Georgia.” I rubbed my chin. Just what was he getting at? I looked at Cam and he shrugged. A woman would smell like me if she was kin or if I’d slept with her recently. I wasn’t closely related to anyone down there that I knew of. Honestly, I had not really been attracted to many women over the years. I had tried to have relationships after Mia, but they had all been missing something. None of them had been my mate, and neither my wolf or I had ever wanted to make any of them my chosen mate. I wasn’t about to admit it to this shifter, but it had been over a year since I’d been with a woman.

“Not going to lie, this is a part of my job that I love.” He really smiled now, and I felt a bit uncomfortable. “…She smelled like she’s had your pup.”

The words dropped from his mouth and my wolf sat up. I was suddenly aware of my heart beat, it felt strong and fast. My mind reeled. I was always careful when I was with someone. Contraceptives were always used, even though the chance of getting a woman who wasn’t my mate pregnant was small. I thought through the five women I had been with. None of them could have hidden a pup from me. I shifted in my seat.

“Bert, there isn’t a chance that I’ve gotten someone pregnant. You are the best tracker in the United States, but everyone makes mistakes sometimes.” I shrugged with an understanding smile. “You’re welcome to visit the pack for a day or two, but I actually have a call I need to get on in the next few minutes. Perhaps we could meet for dinner in a few hours and catch up?”

Bert smiled and slid his phone across my desk. Cam stood up, stepping closer without looming. I took the phone and looked at the photo on his screen. It was obviously a photo taken in a busy diner without the woman realizing it. Her face was turned as she spoke with a customer and I could only see ⅔ of her face. I zoomed in on the woman who was slightly out of focus. My heart stopped. It couldn’t be. My wolf stilled and I felt the blood in my body drain to my toes. I sucked in my breath and shot my eyes to Bert.

“She’s dead.” I realized I had spoken my thoughts out loud.

Cam stepped to look at the phone. “It’s not possible.” He growled.

Bert chuckled, “I assure you, Emily is not dead. Though I’m now very curious to hear her story.”

“Emily?” I managed to ask. I was looking at the photo again and I couldn’t take my eyes away. This was either the world’s best doppelganger, or somehow, she was alive. Her auburn hair was pulled up into a high ponytail, but it was still curly. I couldn’t make out her eyes perfectly, but they still looked hazel.

“Her name is Nora. She fled her pack fifteen years ago and was killed when she attacked the warriors of another pack.” I said flatly as my heart remembered how to beat and was now pounding.

I swiped up on the photo to read the data about it. “This was taken several months ago.” I found myself growling.

“She didn’t seem like a flight risk. I had two pressing missing people cases I need to solve before I was able to head here.”

“You might have freaked her. She could be anywhere by now!” I growled more.

He raised his hands in a placating manner, “Alpha, she has a light southern accent and knew everyone else in that dinner. A single shifter coming through town was not going to panic her. She’s got roots there.”

“We’ll leave immediately.” Cam said as he moved to the door. I nodded and my panic began to abate.

“She smells like me?” My eyes were suddenly wet. I was flooded with a hope that I hadn’t felt in years.

“Yes alpha. I don’t know her story. She was very evasive. But she goes by Emily now. I didn’t see her kid, but there’s no mistaking that your scent is mingled in hers.”

I heard Cam talking on his phone with our pilot. “...have the plane ready in one hour. Bert, where are we flying?” He asked.

“I don’t know the closest airport, but the town is called Lucowici in eastern Georgia.” Bert said over his shoulder.

Cam nodded and repeated the information. I was so grateful for my quick thinking Beta.

“Ready for a flight Bert?” I asked as I stood up.

“Sure thing Alpha, my suitcase is in my car. Will I be able to get a ride back too?” He asked as he started to walk by me.

“Of course. If you have found Nora, you will have more than one pack in your debt.” I said as I offered my hand to Bert again. He shook it. I’d never seen the man smile so much. “I’ll meet you out front in about thirty minutes.”

I turned to one of the guards down the hall, “Mark, please take Bert here to get something to eat. Then show him where he can park his car overnight. He will be leaving with us in about 30 minutes.” Mark nodded and motioned for Bert to follow him.

“Can you cover for me?” I asked Cam as he hung up his phone. He began to text someone.

“Of course Alpha.” He said without looking up. “I’ll have Jake go with you. Need some more warriors? The city is in human territory.”

“No, I want to get in as quietly as possible.”

“I’m guessing that means I should clear your meetings for the rest of the day?” My assistant, Carrie, a wolf in her 60’s who was indispensable to me, groaned. I turned to see her sitting at her desk.

“Yes, and clear Tomorrow as well just in case.” I turned to head towards the door to quickly pack.

“Where should I say you’re going?” She asked.

“Don’t.” I answered as I left the packhouse and began to sprint to my house down the street.

The flight was a little over four hours. I sat in my seat on our pack’s private plane. It could seat 25 people. Right now there were only the three of us plus the crew. I had brought my laptop and answered emails to distract myself. Still, Kane was pacing in the back of my head. He was trying to not get excited about the prospect of having a pup. But his alpha side was demanding that he find out and claim his possible offspring.

We landed and there was a rental SUV waiting for us. Thank you Carrie I thought as I took the driver’s seat. Bert handed me his phone with the address to the Diner pulled up. It was about an hour drive. We would get there in time for lunch. Bert and Jake managed to talk most of the way there about their different packs. Bert was a southern man through and through. I wasn’t able to add much to the conversation, but I was grateful for the distraction they offered.

We pulled into a dusty town and the diner wasn’t hard to find. Dot’s Diner was likely built in the 50’s. It was taken care of, but retained the 50’s atmosphere. The parking lot was mostly full. I parked the SUV and we all headed inside.

“I smell our mate.” Kane’s voice was deep in my head. He was sniffing the air through my senses. It sharpened my sense of smell. I could smell it, pears and cinnamon. Like an apple pie, but better. Kane wasn’t one to show much emotion, but his voice held a tone of excitement I’d never heard from him before.

Bert took the lead and opened the door to the dinner. My eyes swept across the mostly full room. They landed on a woman I never thought I’d see again. I could only see her profile, but she was unmistakable. She had on a flattering pair of jeans and a white t-shirt. A red 50’s style apron was around her waist. I followed Bert without looking where I was going. I felt Jake’s arm on my shoulder, guiding me to sit on a stool at the counter.

Kane stilled in my mind. We sniffed more. Something was off.

“She’s lost her wolf.” Kane whispered. My head pounded as he howled in pain. I had to close my eyes against the pain. My eyes snapped back open as I smelled her getting closer.

She was on the other side of the counter, handing us menus. She said something. I had no idea what it was. My head was pounding too loud to hear. We made eye contact and I knew instantly, Nora was my goddess-given mate. She looked quickly away, beginning to fill some mugs with coffee from the machine behind the counter.

“Nora.” her name fell from my mouth without me even realizing it. Kane had stopped howling and my hearing started to work again. She seemed to freeze, but she was good. The moment passed and she tapped on a nametag I realized was pinned to her shirt.

“My name is Emily.” She said. Her voice was the same, but more mature. It was melodic. “What can I get started for you?”