Feral Northern Shifters 2

yet awake. His brain was definitely slow to pick up the right cues.
It wasn’t till he entered the kitchen that he realized Robert was not alone. Ethan pivoted to see a large man standing very still, arms crossed. As Ethan looked into his blue eyes that were alarmingly like those of Gabriel’s and Doug’s, Ethan breathed in through his mouth and smelled wolf.
He jerked his gaze back to Robert, hurt by his ex’s betrayal.
“Don’t look at me like that,” snapped Robert. “You told me you weren’t in trouble.”
“He’s not in trouble.” That was Trey’s voice. Somehow he had managed to reach through the phone lines after all. His voice, though, was flat, calm, neutral. Not really like Doug’s or Gabriel’s voices. The wolf spread his arms. “I’ve no weapons. I’ve come alone. It’s pretty hard for me to take you in, Ethan.”
Meaning it was hard for a wolf to bring in a cat by himself. At least in theory. Though Trey was a larger, bigger man than Ethan.
Ethan blinked. “But how did you find me?”
“I phoned him,” said Robert.
Again Ethan pivoted, a sense of betrayal returning. “ Why? Why would you do that? And how—?”
Robert gave a helpless shrug, as if Ethan should already know the answers to his questions. “Ethan, you disappeared on me. I didn’t know what to think.”
“Ethan.” Trey waited for Ethan to focus back on him. “Eight years ago, I convinced Robert that you were in trouble and if you ever came to him, I could help you.”
He looked back and forth between Robert and Trey. He didn’t feel like trusting either of them. Worse was his sense that Robert shouldn’t have trusted Ethan, who had brought a wolf to his door. Ethan had no idea of the quality of this wolf’s character.
“Ethan,” urged Robert. “You show up on my doorstep in the middle of the night looking half-starved and indigent. You didn’t even have boots.” This clearly bothered Robert. “You need help and you never wanted mine. So I called Trey.”
He frowned, wondering what story Trey could possibly have told Robert.
“I’m going to work,” Robert continued. “If you disappear off the face of the earth again, do me the courtesy of leaving me a note this time.” An expression, something that resembled an old painful hurt, entered his eyes. “I worried about you, you know.”
Ethan looked away. Saying sorry seemed inadequate. Saying “I know”, even worse. “It’s hard to explain, Robert.”
“It always was,” Robert said wryly.
“I wanted to.” It came out more fervently than Ethan expected.
“You always did.” Robert sighed, collected his things and left for work.
“I’ll leave you a note,” Ethan called.
Robert just nodded, then was gone.
Ethan turned to Trey, who gazed back expectantly, and Ethan found himself wanting to trust him. His reasons for doing so were weak. It was seductive to have a human-shifter, who was not, at least yet, his jailer, in a room with him. Unlike Robert, Trey was someone who could understand him. Unlike Robert, Trey knew Ethan was a cougar. He had also professed to care about Bram’s fate. Ethan clenched his jaw.
“I haven’t slept for three days, since you phoned me, but I’m glad you’ve caught up on some of your sleep.” Trey pushed away from the wall.
“It’s touching that you’re so concerned about my health.”
“I’m concerned about all shifters’ health. That’s my job.”
Ethan expected a deadpan expression, but Trey looked back at him and Ethan read sincerity on his face. “Right.”
“It is right. Bram’s gone. I followed his trail till yesterday, then lost it. However, I think with some help, I might be able find him again. The area where he disappeared has limited terrain before it goes urban or at least suburban.”
“Oh, so you’re going to get his loving pack to hunt Bram.” Ethan felt his anger rising.
“Nope. I have a number of other contacts, singleton wolves, who’ll help me. Despite my new job, I don’t particularly like dealing with pack dynamics.” Trey paused. “You might help me too.”
It was getting too weird and Ethan didn’t understand the half of it. He backed up, waving his hands in the air. “Why the hell would Robert phone you? He’s not stupid. He doesn’t trust that easily.”
“I convinced him I wanted to help you. He was extremely distressed by your disappearance years ago.”
“You convinced him. How? Did werewolves develop powers of mind control while I was gone?”
The corner of