Page 41 of Dawn of the Pack

Now, I’m not under any delusion that the staff at Harridan House starts their days at a leisurely hour. In fact, I know they rise pretty early just for the sake of food prep, maintenance, and other household activities. Given that it’s not quite eight in the morning, I expected people to be up but for things to just beginning to move.

Instead, I walk into a scene of organized chaos. Mrs. Dowling is directing a pair of the security team to carry some sort of picnic basket out to the garage, seeing as they’re on their way to pull an SUV around. Three of the Montrose members are scattered around the open area, chatting with Roxanne, Dom, and a few other pack members. Even Amber is here for whatever reason, bouncing on the toes of her pink sneakers and listening with rapt attention to Lily.

And then, as if she feels my eyes on her, Lily turns, a wide smile spreading across her face and her eyes alight. My heart throbs in response, and she walks swiftly toward me, launching herself in my arms and claiming my mouth in a powerfully hungry kiss.

My body responds instinctually, arms snaking around her body and squeezing her tightly. The room full of people around us fades away. Sounds are muted, and all I am aware of in this moment is Lily and the deafening pounding of my heart.

I could stay here forever, but she eventually breaks off the kiss, leaving me breathless.

“Hey.” She grins up at me, her arms still wrapped around my waist. “Missed you last night.”

“You did, huh?” I am indescribably pleased to hear that. “Well, I’m sorry to hear my brothers weren’t up for meeting your needs, but I’m sure I won’t let that happen again.”

Her head tips back and she laughs, swatting me on the chest. “Not what I meant. We had a… thoroughly excellent night. I just know it would have been even better with you there, too.”

Some of my pride withers at her correction, but I understand what she means. I lift a hand to toy with a dark, bouncy curl near her face. “I’ll always be here if you want me, Lily. Just say the word.”

“Look who finally made it, the legend himself.” Jared’s voice is practically booming, and he’s grinning from ear to ear as he approaches us, Landon at his side.

The sarcastic grin spreads easily across my face. “Hey guys, you have a good night?”

Landon’s cheeks immediately color pink, but Jared has no shame. “You know it. Hey, what did the tree say when spring finally arrived?”

The three of us groan in unison, but Jared continues grinning as if he doesn’t hear. “It said, ‘what a relief’! Like re-leaf! Get it?” And goddess love him, he chuckles at his own lame joke, every time. The rest of us make a collective ‘ah’ sound and search for a change in topic.

“Alright that’s enough fun and games.” Lily’s voice is devoid of the playfulness of a few moments ago. “Milo, I’m going to catch you up to speed. The Montrose guys are far more helpful now that I’ve proven I’m not some useless little girl. One had to leave because he’s on shift for—get this—guard duty over Derrek! We’ve literally got a man inside, and he gave us a lot of good intel. We know exactly where Derrek is, how many guards there are at any given time, and how the schedule works.

“However, that’s the end of the good news. Billy confirmed Derrek is being… that he…” distress washes over her face, and as if her throat was closing up she seems to choke on the words she can’t get out.

Landon wraps an arm around her shoulders and pulls her tightly to his side. “They’re torturing him.”

Indignation burns in my gut. Not necessarily for Derrek, but I’m not a huge fan of hurting other people, regardless. And that it’s making Lily this upset makes me want to rip that alpha’s throat out. “Why the hell are they doing that?”

Jared takes over somberly. “According to Billy, Pack Montrose has difficulty with their people actually manifesting the shift. So they have a whole ‘program’ to ‘encourage’ the shift to take place.” He lifts his hands and makes air quotes along with the heavily sarcastic tone. “Since Derrek is his son, Nielsen needs him to shift before he can claim Derrek as his heir.”

“But what if he can’t shift? I don’t know about you, but I’ve never heard of a half-breed before. We don’t know what they can or can’t do.”

“That doesn’t seem to matter to Nielsen,” Landon answers gravely, hand still sliding up and down Lily’s arm in comfort. “According to Billy, he’s intent on forcing him to shift, no matter what it takes.”

“So why doesn’t he do some magic mumbo-jumbo and get himself out of there?”

“That’s where Azalea comes in,” Lily answers in a tremulous voice. Clearing her throat, she explains, “Azalea made some sort of magical collar that she put on Derrek. It can’t come off. And any time he tries to speak, or even makes a sound, it does some sort of magical shock to him.”

“A collar?” Heat rises in my chest, creeping up my neck. “Like a dog collar?”

“Yeah, exactly,” Lily answers in disgust. “Exactly like a dog collar. It even has a leash.”

My stomach churns. “That’s sick. I don’t care who you are. That can’t have been Nielsen’s idea; he wants Derrek to be his heir. You can’t expect a pack to follow someone you’ve dragged around like an abused pet in front of them.”

“According to Billy, Nielsen didn’t specify. He just wanted something that would keep Derrek from accessing magic to use against him. But he doesn’t care, either. The pack is used to this sort of torture tactics to force the shift, and he’s keeping the circle of people in the know small, too. Probably for that reason.”

My lips twist in disgust. “They’re fucking animals, doing that to other people.”

“Yeah,” Landon agrees.

“Fucking right,” Jared snorts.

“It’s terrible. That’s why we have to help them.” Lily’s voice is low, but powerful.

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