“No name,” Ashley agreed, her Russian accent emphasizing the somber quality of her voice as she tapped a link included with the information.
Instantly another picture popped up. “Emma and Sharone caught him again meeting with Dane Vanderale when he was in the area last week. It seems he disappeared with Dane as well. He could be part of the South African contingent that often shadows our luscious Mr. Vanderale. His father worries, you know,” she added drolly, repeating the reason they’d heard for the hard-eyed security force that sometimes shadowed Dane.
Dane Vanderale was the heir to a massive fortune. Known as an international playboy as well as a corporate shark, he was one of the Breeds’ greatest supporters, and his father’s company contributed heavily to the Breeds’ coffers.
“From what I’ve gathered, Dane and his bodyguard, Rhys, are now in Somalia on business for his father, though. If he’s one of the South African Breeds, then he’d be with the heir apparent rather than lurking in our desert.” Ashley input that information into the text file.
Moving more files into several groupings, Chelsea tapped one that held half a dozen other unidentified Breeds along with pictures of those Breeds with several known Wolf Breeds. “These I suspect are part of Lobo Reever’s pack.”
“Reever hasn’t notified us of any new pack members, but all alphas are amazingly reticent when it comes to identifying any Breeds who request anonymity. I’ll mark them for facial rec, though, and we’ll see if we can’t verify it.”
There were few packs or Prides outside the main four. Two Wolf Breed packs in Colorado, as well as the Coyote Breeds. The only feline Breed Pride so far was based in Virginia.
“My alpha, Del Rey, has petitioned Director Breaker and the Navajo Nation to allow an official Coyote presence in the Window Rock area,” Ashley told her. “He’s considering alphas for the pack. I’ve sent him the pictures of the Coyotes we haven’t ID’d yet for verification. Though I haven’t seen them myself at Citad
el.”
Citadel was the Coyote stronghold overlooking the valley where the major Wolf Breed pack was based.
“There are a lot of Breeds in the area who aren’t verified,” Chelsea murmured.
Unverified meant they weren’t registered and no alpha claimed them. The Bureau didn’t request names or designations, only verification that they were part of the packs or Pride and indeed friendlies.
“Too many,” Ashley agreed. “If our information is correct, the Council is using known gathering places of pack and Pride members in the area to gather their own intel.”
There were no new packs, other than Del Rey’s request to begin one, and no new alphas had stepped forward to notify the Bureau of their presence.
“I checked with a friend at the Navajo Council and she has no information of Breeds requesting land to settle on either,” Chelsea said as the door opened and Cassie strolled into the room. “Before they can settle in the Nation, they have to request permission from the Council and submit DNA to prove their ties to the People.”
“Wouldn’t it be so much nicer if the Breeds aligned with the Council would just identify themselves?” Cassie grinned wryly as she stepped to the table. “It would make our job much easier, wouldn’t it?”
It would at that.
“And it would make Chelsea’s job easier if one bad-assed recessed Bengal Breed wasn’t so nosy,” Ashley drawled.
Chelsea covered her face in exasperation. “What is his problem? That man is driving me crazy.”
“Maybe he wants to mate you like all those juicy tabloids are writing about,” Ashley teased with a mock shiver. “Let me know if you become all hysterically horny and start fucking like rabbits. The tabloids pay prime cash for the details, you know.” Lifting one hand, she checked her nails with exaggerated care. “And my nails are due a little work.”
Cassie chuckled at the little Russian’s antics. Ashley was simply her favorite Breed, period. Even a near miss with death hadn’t brought her down from her quirky antics.
“He probably wants to turn me into one of those insipid little secretaries he had before me. I was such a disappointment to him,” Chelsea scoffed. “Those wide-eyed little debutantes made me want to lobby the Nation for stupidity tests before hiring.”
A low laugh spilled from Ashley’s lips. “Yeah, I hear he went through a lot of those before you came around. All vying for a place in the hotshot commander’s bed. They didn’t last long, I heard.”
Working through the pictures, Chelsea frowned at the statement.
“The longest was two months,” she finally sighed, taking a moment to glance up at them. “They all quit, most in tears.”
Ashley began moving pictures again as well, adding some to Chelsea’s piles and using some to make her own.
“Jonas Wyatt had the same problem until Merinus Lyons hired his wife, Rachel, as his assistant,” Cassie told them. “Jonas was a goner the second he laid eyes on her.”
“Maybe Cullen has the same problem with you,” Ashley chimed in, the laughter still filling her voice. “Breed men have such a hard time admitting when they’ve met their match. Would it not be simply fitting if all those protective, alpha instincts toward you were all caused because he is crazy in love with you?”
Chelsea snorted at that one despite the ache she felt that it wasn’t possible. “I rather doubt that’s the problem. Cullen’s still in love with the wife he lost almost ten years ago. He became so distant after her death that I rarely saw him until I went to work for the Agency.”
She met Cassie’s incredibly bright blue eyes as the other woman watched her closely.