“Eureka!”

  Amari bolted upright. Papers flew across the table and floor. Blinking against the light, Amari removed the sticky note from her top. A barely discernable small scrawl, she looked at the table. Her own web of miniature sticky notes. She placed it into the opening, smoothing down the sticky edge. Last she remembered she had been reading about the veil. With a soft, dull thump, she shut the book acting as her pillow. Curling back over her hands pressed into her back Amari hissed as pain sparked in her lower back. “What time is it?”

  “Mid-morning.”

  Sleep flew from her mind. “Where’s Nova?”

  “I think Diana is trying to recruit a new forest ranger while also doing a bit of control training. We all know what teen moods can do to our control.” Elias waved his hand, excitedly pointing to the wall. “But look!”

  Amari relaxed. Her eyes gravitated to the green strings crisscrossed with the others in a web of color. Pictures and pages organized around the map. Without a starting point, her eyes unfocused. Amari looked toward Elias, his hair sticking up in random directions. By the crazy disheveled look he had been up all night.

  “I think I found a pattern.” His eyes bright, he turned back to the wall.

  “What do you have?” Amari circled the table.

  “How about you get the rest of the gang and I will tell all of you all at the same time.” Elias smiled.

  “Sounds good. Can I grab you anything while I am downstairs?” Amari, hand on the knob, half turned.

  Elias toasted a tall brightly colored can and shook his hand.

  Amari chuckled. One day, his energy drink habit would make his heart explode. Hard soled slippers rhythmically clicked against the steps as she flitted down to the kitchen. Hushed tones stopped her hand against the dual hung door. Gently she pressed her ear against the door.

  "He's not his father." Rema’s voice came from the far corner.

  "Can he be that different? All these years in that environment? Amari's lucky she left when she did." Orion’s voice sounded closer, like he leaned against the counter.

  Amari closed her eyes, picturing the scene beyond the door. Her heart thumped in her chest.

  "You're worried." Rema stated matter-of-factly.

  "Of course! He's a sheep in wolf's clothing." Orion hissed, the words slightly covered by the screech of a chair.

  Amari could picture the cross look pulling at his brows as he restrained himself from slamming a hand on the table as he sat heavily. Swallowing hard, she licked her lips, willing her heart to slow and not fill her ears. Suspicion tore at her heart, they were talking about Benjamin and consequently her as well.

  "We don't have proof he's like his father." Rema’s even tone ushered calm.

  "We don't have evidence he's not." Orion countered. "But either way do you really think he would stray from his father's will?"

  "You know what he was like growing up. He could find his way back." The wood of Rema’s chair squeaked. "Besides, Amari isn't the same girl."

  "What if he asks again?" Orion dropped his voice to a harsh whisper.

  "Asks what?" Amari burst through the door. The older pair abruptly stood, chairs knocking into walls and counters. She looked both in the eye. Guilt twisted Orion’s features. Pity softened Rema’s. Amari braced for bad news. "Asks what Orion?"

  "To marry you." Orion’s shoulder fell with his eyes.

  "Marry me? He wanted to marry me?" Amari lost her air. Thoughts of that last week before she left to study flooded her mind. Benjamin had grown a little cold and distant. Conversation after conversation, a never ending circle of conflicting desires and fears. She blamed the change on her admitting she wanted to remain an Absintere and travel to study. "When?"

  "Just before you left." Orion straightened and looked her in the eye.

  "You rejected him for me and didn't tell me. Why didn't you tell me?" Amari looked between them as the silence lingered. Sharp, hard vehemence rushed out. "Tell me."

  Orion’s cheek flinched. “Watch your tone. I know you are upset but this is not how we handle it.”

  Amari breathed deeply, squeezed her nails into her palms. He was right, he may be her brother but he was the only father figure she had, not to mention her Alpha.

  Orion nodded, his face neutralized. "You had already chosen to break up with him. We didn't think it would make a difference knowing."

  "That he was serious about the relationship? Yeah Orion that would have made a difference. You withheld because you didn't think I could stick to my guns. Neither of you thought I was strong enough." Amari failed to keep her voice even. An acute ball of stinging wrapped around the back of her throat.

  "Amari." Rema opened her arms.

  Amari raised her palm. Any touch would snap the tenuous control she had. "Why haven't you said anything since?"

  "You were doing so well. There never seemed to be the right time." Orion

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  Amari bitterly chuckled. She needed out. Shoving the sliding door open, in one graceful leap she shifted landing on all fours. The subtle sting of the transformation focused her mind. Swift gallops, she cleared the wall. The slap of twigs and leaves drew her mind from the torrent of thoughts. Shouted apologies and her name faded, covered by the cadence of her paws.

  Amari inhaled the crisp mountain air. Frustrated chuffs hung hollow beneath the trees. Back and forth, she wore a light path into the soft earth. Her feelings were at war with the truth. Orion and Rema loved her and would never purposefully hurt her. Their issues with the Morningstars certainly played a part in their decision to withhold information. She trusted them but anger covered fear sizzled within her chest.

  She sniffed deep, wishing the sweet pine and loam to calm her. Her head whipped up, nose rapidly following the scent. Sap tangled dirt and twigs into the fur of her belly. Gently she crawled forward. Peeking out from beneath a bush, she watched a woman balance on her toes, cinching a strap at the crux of a branch and the trunk.

  Amari sniffed again. Grumbling to herself, she debated leaving it alone, especially when a glint reelected off the lens as the angle was adjusted to cover the cross trails. She sighed, she couldn’t ignore the scent she associated with arrhythmias. Clenching her teeth, she inched backwards to an outcrop of rocks. Carefully, she scanned each tree and crevice for sight or smell of tech. Slowly shifting she stood. Backtracking, Amari called hoping to not startle the woman as she approached. “Hello.”

  “Oh.” Long golden curls bounced as she placed a hand on her chest. “I didn’t think that anyone would be up here.”

  “Are you alright?” Amari stepped slowly a little further down the path.

  “A little tired but the air is a bit thinner up here than in the city.” The woman shrugged as she stepped down from the rock she was using as a step stool.

  “Yeah if you aren’t used to it, it can cause some issues.” Amari sniffed deeply. The aroma sent her mind into diagnosis mode. “But you aren’t lost or sick?”

  “No.” Lips pursed in a frown, she shook her head. “I am up here to start an investigation into the images of the massive wolves.”

  “Oh, a researcher?” Amari half stepped back. Leaning to the side, she looked down the trail. “You don’t have a lot of gear.”

  “Yeah, my partner and our interns will be up at the end of the week. But I wanted to get a better look. Not all paths and tracks off the trail don’t show up on satellite or aerial views.”

  “True.” Amari bit the inside of her cheek.

  “You don’t seem to have any gear at all.” The woman looked Amari up and down. A subtle shift in her posture. “Are those slippers?”

  “Fuzzy off brand crocks.” Of course, she didn’t need to know these were used as slippers. Amari tugged at her loose buffalo check flannel. The baggy sweats now covered in burrs and jaggers. “But I grew up in these woods. I sometimes forget that I should have better footwear.”

  “Right. What are you doing up this far?”

  Amari felt her face scrunch, it wasn’t that far up the mountain but she was a few miles away from the house. “My sister is one of the rangers and has a house not too far from here. I got a bit upset and just rushed into the trees.”

  “Ah.” A look of pity brought a shine to her sapphire eyes. “And your sister is?”

  “Diana Spesy, you might end up working with her, she is the best. I am Amari.” Amari confidently stepped forward hand outstretched.

  “Gail.” Gripping it, Gail’s eyes tighten.

  Amari forced herself to breathe. Even winded and tired, she bet Gail’s rarely missed anything. The coolness of the hand in her hand pushed Amari forward. “Are you sure you are feeling alright?”

  “Just short of breath.” Gail raised a brow.

  “I am a Nurse Practitioner and you seem to have a pallor about your skin. It could be nothing but do you have a history of arrhythmias or anything?”

  “No.”

  “Are you pregnant?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Sorry for being forward but my instincts are screaming at me that something is wrong.” Amari swept her arm to the side to encourage Gail to sit on the rock. “May I check your pulse?”

  “Okay?” Gail slowly sat, eyes never leaving Amari.

  “May I?” Amari knelt and pressed her fingers into the offered wrist. Silently she counted as she watched the second hand on her watch. Some quick mental math, she kept her face neutral. “Your pulse is irregular. Do you have a radio or someone to call for help?”

  “The Forest Supervisor gave me something.” Gail pulled the bag off her shoulders. Clipped to the side, a black brick radio solid antenna sticking straight up. With a snap, she pulled it off the strap and held it out.

  “Thank you.” Amari accepted the offered radio. “Frank, Amari Spesy, can you hear me?”

  The radio crackled. “Amari, Frank. What are you doing on this channel? Is the doc okay?”

  “Frank, send a side by side.” Amari stopped to look at Gail. “Do you have a map?”

  Gail pulls out a map. Her breath was more labored.

  “Amari, Location?”

  Amari slid her finger along the marked trail. “Frank, about a thousand yards south of the Echo creek trail head.”

  “Amari, copy on the way. ETA 10 minutes.”

  “Frank, Doc will need a doc.” Amari released the button and handed it back to Gail. “Do you have some water?”

  Gail pulled out a purple Nalgene wrapped in paracord. Gail’s throat bobbed. “How did you know something was wrong?”

  “Probably the same way you know when a result is not within parameters.” Amari took a guess at some common ground. “I have seen thousands of patients. You had the pallor and subtle breathing changes that are associated with an arrhythmia. That will make you feel faint.” Amari stood brushing off the needles and crumpled leaves from her knees.

  Gail crossed her arms. An astute level gaze pierced. “But I wasn’t feeling faint.”

  “You mentioned the air feeling thinner.” Amari mirrored the action with what she hoped was an open expression. Professional demeanor in full effect, treating her as any other patient.

  “But isn’t that normal? For people to feel the change in the air density?” Gail’s eyes warred between suspicion and curiosity.

  “Not for another fourteen hundred feet or so.” Amari purposefully looked at the map. Not that she needed to know how high they were.

  “So you assumed another cause.” Gail’s face broke into open understanding.

  “I figured better safe than sorry.” Amari shrugged, then lifted her chin. “Keep drinking.”

  “Thanks.” With a half smile and huffed laugh, Gail shook her head. “I don’t know what would have happened if I passed out in the middle of mega wolf territory.”

  “What do you think about all that?” Amari checked a trunk for sappy spots before leaning against it.

  “I am not sure. There are many theories.” Gail’s tone slipped to that of an excited explorer. “That is why we want to catch them with these higher quality research cameras and not the government issue trail cams.”

  “Ah you got all the fancy toys.” Amari swallowed. Mentally repeating the location to herself. Orion would want them to add a patrol to check where all these cameras were mounted.

  “Private funding can do that.” Gail cheekily smiled.