“You might consider putting a guard on her tonight in case this was personal,” Connor said.
Loren smiled, but there was a tightness to it he didn’t quite manage to hide. “This isn’t Chicago, and we take care of each other here. Issues are resolved quickly; we don’t let them fester.”
“What about the Beast of Owatonna?” I asked.
Loren’s laughter was booming and broad. “Thank you for that,” he said when he’d calmed again. “A fairy tale created by humans who don’t realize they have no need for cryptozoology. The Supernatural realm is more than sufficient to fill their nightmares.”
“You think the Beast is a shifter?” Alexei asked.
“Of course,” Loren asked. “Humans don’t know that we live here, so when they see a shifter in wolf form—larger than theaverage wolf—they draw their own conclusions. It’s the nature of humans to exaggerate.”
Loren struck me as the type happy to exaggerate if it enhanced his own position.
“There are, of course, always believers, regardless of the silliness of the idea. You must be tired,” Loren said. “I’ll handle this, let you get some rest.”
“Appreciate it,” Connor said, but his smile wasn’t reflected in his gaze, which kept its suspicious edge.
“A tidy dismissal,” I whispered when Loren walked over to the girls and we turned back toward the cabin. “Did we find the monster Marian mentioned?”
“We found something,” Connor said. “But I don’t smell anything other than Pack, and apparently neither did they. They also didn’t detect any unusual magic, and Beth’s injuries are consistent with a wolf attack.”
“From a shifter,” Alexei said, “but not one they recognized?”
“That’s an issue,” Connor admitted. “We don’t know Beth, don’t know how skilled she is in fighting. Maybe someone just got the best of her, was too fast for her to make a positive ID. Maybe someone didn’t like Beth, saw their opportunity.”
“And ran off without doing her much harm?” I wondered. “Or telling her how she’d pissed them off?”
“Also good questions,” Connor said. “She didn’t go to this woodpile regularly, so the attack couldn’t have been planned to match her schedule. And, again, they ran off when they were confronted. That’s not very dedicated if they were trying to make a hit.”
“Put like that,” Alexei said, “it seems random.”
“We could look around,” I said. “There could be fur, footprints. Maybe even a trace of magic or scent in case there was something they missed.”
Connor smiled. “You just earned your room and board.”
“I haven’t had any room or board,” I pointed out. “But I’m glad to hear they’re on the agenda.”
“I’ll take a look,” Alexei said.
“I’d appreciate it,” Connor said.
“Did you see Beth and Jae didn’t seem thrilled to see Loren?”
“I did,” Alexei said. “They looked wary. Suspicious.” His gaze fell onto a pile of lumber and debris that might once have been a cabin. “I think there’s some rot in the resort.”
“Yeah,” Connor said. “I think you’re right.”
“Are the black armbands because they’re mourning Paisley?” I asked.
“That would be my guess,” he said.
“Armbands?” Alexei asked, frowning back toward the woodpile. “I didn’t catch that.”
“Only the young ones wore them.” Connor sighed. “We’ll have to dig into this more, but tomorrow, since the sun will be rising soon.” He looked at me. “How long do we have?”
I looked toward the eastern horizon. Dawn was creeping closer, her rosy fingers grasping at the edges of the horizon. “About thirty minutes,” I said.
“Do you feel it in your bones?” Alexei asked.