Page 61 of Roguefinder

“Very.” And he had no idea, of course, because he was new to being a werewolf. I took one more sweep, focusing on Rome by itself.

Not a single scent signature tripped my senses. A city of three million, and Caleb and I were the only werewolves.

A shuffling sound made us both turn. The beam of a flashlight bounced over the ground, accompanied by the squawk of a radio.

“Let’s go,” I told Caleb. “We’ll talk at home.”

Neither of us spoke on the walk back. I swept my senses out again and again, searching for other wolves, and each time returned the same answer.

Rome was completely devoid of werewolves. How could I have missed it?

The answer was simple: I hadn’t been looking. I hadn’t even thought to try. I’d been focused on Ulfrik and the hunt. Distracted by the absence and then sudden resurgence of Caleb’s gift.

Distracted by Caleb—which was probably permanent.

But there was more to it than distraction. In any major city, wolves passed through without announcing themselves—traveling, working, avoiding trouble. I never had to actively search for them because they inevitably crossed my path. A scent here, a signature there. Background noise I took for granted the way a human absorbed the sound of traffic without really thinking about it.

The thought of deliberately checking for an utter absence had never once occurred to me because an utter absence had never once existed.

Twenty minutes later, Caleb and I entered the rental’s kitchen. Without a word, he filled two glasses of water, pulled protein bars from the cabinet, and set everything in front of me at the island.

Some of the tension in my chest loosened. “You’re doing my job.”

He unwrapped his bar and leaned against the counter. “If we’re going to be married, you have to let me take care of you, too.”

Every part of me liked the sound of that. “All right.”

He took a bite and swallowed. “What happened out there?”

“The same thing as before. I had Ulfrik’s scent and then it was gone.”

He chewed slowly. “And you didn’t sense any other werewolves.”

“Not one. In all of Italy.” I crossed my arms. “It could be a coincidence, but I don’t think so. Someone or something is interfering with scent trails.”

Caleb swallowed. “Could whoever is hiding Ulfrik’s scent also be hiding the wolves?”

I stilled. It was a good question. “Yes,” I said. “That’s exactly what it could mean.”

“Carlo?”

“Possibly. Or a witch. They can suppress magic. You saw it in France.”

Caleb’s expression darkened. “Could it be Sterling?”

“Sterling is an ally, and he has no motive. But he only rules the Moray Coven. There are four others. They fear Sterling, but they don’t answer to him.” I ran through the facts in my head. “The covens probably aren’t involved in this. They’re corporations, and they’re conservative by default. Masking a rogue would be bad enough, but scrambling the scent signatures of every werewolf in Italy could start an interspecies war. It would destroy their business.”

“What about Valentin?” Caleb asked. “The witch who broke through your ward in France. He’s just one guy, right? He could be a loose cannon. Stefanos said he used to work for Sterling.”

“He did. But I’m not familiar with Valentin beyond what happened in France, and whatever his arrangement with Sterling was, it clearly ended. If he was a threat, Sterling would have handled him.”

“What about the Council?” Caleb asked. “Could they be running something behind your back?”

“No. I wouldn’t stake my life on it, but I’m as certain as I can be.” I rounded the island and leaned against the counter beside him. “I know how you feel about Stefanos and Nin. But their entire purpose is keeping our existence a secret from the humans. A rogue loose in a major city is their worst nightmare. They didn’t hide Ulfrik. They want him found, and they’re willing to put a wolfseeker and a seer on the line to do it.”

Caleb lowered his eyes, his attention falling on his half-eaten protein bar sitting in its wrapper. After a second, he looked up. “What about the Fae?”

“I won’t rule anything out,” I said, “but it’s so unlikely it’s almost not worth considering. The modern world is full of iron, and iron is poison to them. They have Undersomm, where they’re safe and comfortable. There’s no reason for any Fae to involve themselves in werewolf matters.”