I rolled my eyes. “Her forehead wasn’t freakishly wide or anything.”
While Cole searched on his end, Lucas told him about the awry footage of the inn. Considering Lucas didn’t break into song and dance, I imagined Matt’s brother hadn’t yet fixed the problem.
“Okay… I’ll show her. Thanks, dude.”
Two minutes later, Lucas’s phone chirped. He tapped on the screen before passing it over to me. I scrolled through the email Cole had sent full of screenshots of Megans spelled five different ways.
I handed the phone back over, shaking my head. None of them were Everest’s Megan.
Lucas scanned the screenshots. “Becca was an escort. Maybe Megan is too?”
“Everest said she wasn’t.”
“He also said you murdered Heath.”
The fine blonde hairs on my arms stood up straight. “You’re right.” Then under my breath, I added, “Never thought I’d say that.”
Lucas’s lips quirked into a lopsided grin. “Hot men are always underestimated.”
I snorted. “Oh my God. Shut. Up.”
He chuckled. “What’s the name of the website?”
“RedCreekEscorts. com.”
“Hate the name creek,” he said as he typed.
“Got something against small bodies of water?”
“I got something against large bodies of fur.” He flicked his gaze up to me. “Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of the Creek Pack?”
I frowned.
He kneaded his chin that was in dire need of a shave. “You haven’t, have you? The smallest pack that became the largest… Ring a bell?”
I shook my head.
He leaned back in the armchair. “I’ll tell you the sob story after we finish up with the escort agency.” His fingers flew over his phone’s screen. Without looking up, he said, “Their website’s down. Do you still have a contact there?”
My skin crawled at the mere idea of calling Sandra, the pimp-or whatever running an escort service made her-Everest had introduced me to. Even though she’d always been pleasant and chirpy over the phone, I’d hoped never to speak with her after my “date” with Aidan Michaels. I shuddered from the memory.
“Give me the number.”
So I did. And Lucas called the agency over loudspeaker.
An automated message for Red Creek Escorts came on, prompting us to leave a message. When the beep sounded, I shook my head so vehemently that the tendrils of hair that had escaped my bun during my earlier make-out session fluttered around my face.
“Hiya, Red Creek Escorts, I was looking for some female company for a buddy’s party this weekend. I’d appreciate if you could tell me about the available girls.” Lucas left his phone number before ending the call, jaw a smoky red.
“You’re blushing,” I said, mostly to annoy him.
He flipped me the finger, which just made me smile.
“So, tell me about the Creeks now.”
He tapped his phone against the padded arm of his seat. “Four years ago, a pack we all thought was off the map seized the largest pack of the Rockies.”
“That’s why I didn’t hear about them. Four years ago, I was in LA.”
“Ever heard of the Aspens?”
“Of course. They were a pacific pack. Dad used to call them hippies.”
He twirled his phone between his fingers. “Sort of. They lived in a compound-more of a small town than a compound-and barely interacted with humans. Anyway ’bout ten years back, there was a pack summit, the first in almost a century. Boulders, Pines, Aspens, and a few of the Eastern packs signed a truce of non-invasion. No Creeks came. The Aspens who were geographically closest to the Creeks reported they hadn’t heard from their neighbors in years, thus we marked them as extinct.”
Boulders didn’t go around sticking daisies into each other’s hair. And although Pines were on the civilized side, some-Justin’s face flashed through my mind-were brutish and egotistical.
“How do packs become extinct?” I inquired.
“Too many of the young renege on our way of life. They move to big cities and lose touch with their true nature, and then they die sooner, because not shifting is unnatural for our bodies.”
I wondered how many years of life I’d lost by being away from Boulder.
He scratched his chin. “The worst part, though, is when those who leave reproduce.”
“Why is that the worst part?”
“Because, if their offspring isn’t born close to the pack, the gene becomes defective and results in kids who can’t fully shift. We call them halfwolves.” His expression turned so bleak that it made me wonder if he’d ever witnessed a shifting halfwolf. “Creatures of nightmares.” Lucas flexed his knuckles. “Anyway, turns out the Creeks weren’t extinct… just in hiding. One winter night, the Creek Alpha walked right onto the Aspen compound with her handful of wolves and challenged the Aspen Alpha to a duel. The fight was gory as hell apparently, and the Aspens-Creeks now-mentioned foul-play, although no one was able to prove-”
“Her? The Creek Alpha is female?”
Lucas snorted. “Of course that’s the part that sticks with you.”
I crossed my arms. “Just because she won a fight doesn’t mean there was foul-play, Lucas. Why would anyone jump to that conclusion? Because she was female, and females are supposed to be inferior to males?”
Lucas sandwiched his lips together. I’d obviously hit a sore nerve. “How do you explain that each high-ranking Aspen, who challenged her after the duel, lost their lives too, huh?”
I shrugged. “She’s exceptionally strong.”
Lucas shot me a withering look. He didn’t even think this was a possibility! Sexist pig.
I squeezed my arms harder. “Have you met her?”
“No. And I never intend to meet the crazy bitch.”
“You are so sexist.”
“Sexist? I’d keep the judginess in check. You know nothing about me.”