Page 58 of Ascension of the Pack

Noah fired off a mock salute. ‘You can count on me.’

Finley gave him a smile. ‘Yeah, I can.’ It was Noah’s turn to blush.

‘Anyone know where Daniella ended up last night?’ Greg asked, turning to business.

‘She crashed with Rissa and Seren,’ Noah said. ‘She was feeling pretty shitty and she didn’t want to be alone.’

‘Understandable.’ Greg nodded. ‘What time do Marissa and Seren usually roll in for breakfast?’

Finley checked the clock. ‘Any minute now.’

‘We’ll go and find them.’ I slid off my chair. ‘Thanks for the croissants, Finley. Perfection, as always.’

‘Thanks, Alpha. I try.’

Greg and I made our way through the pack common room, a tricky manoeuvre because it was full. It looked like there’d been a small camp out. Some were sleeping in a pile, snuggled together in wolf form. I recognised Archie and Thea’s wolves in the mix – Fred and Sophie – but I didn’t recognise many others. I was betting they were Devon wolves.

A few feet away, Max, Toby and Harry were slumped together in human form. Max sat up and I knelt next to him. ‘How are you doing?’ I whispered. ‘I heard things were pretty touch and go there for a while for you andToby.’

Max nodded solemnly. ‘Yeah. It’s a mind fuck. We nearly died, man,’ he blinked. ‘Erm … woman.’

‘Alpha,’ I supplied helpfully.

‘Right, yeah, my Alpha Queen.’ He winced as the words tumbled out of his mouth.

I patted his hand. ‘Take it easy today, yeah? You may be out of the woods but you’re still near the trees.’

‘I haven’t heard that saying before.’

I winked. ‘I made it up but it totally works, right?’

He grinned. ‘Yeah. It works.’

To the side of us, Fred lifted his head and watched us from the pile of wolves. I inclined my head towards him and he lay back down. He was protecting them like an alpha would, and I wondered if he knew it.

I smiled inside and crept away.

Chapter 37

Marissa and Seren were dressed but Daniella was still in her jammies, looking lost. ‘Sorry to interrupt your morning, especially so early.’ I looked at Daniella. ‘But we need to talk about David.’

She blanched. ‘I know, but…’ She shook her head. ‘I still can’t believe it. I honestly thought he was the sweetest man, yet he led Isaacs’ wolves right into Nina and almost handed them the orb. It’s hard to reconcile the man I thought he was with the man he clearly is.’

He was a liar and a scoundrel,Esme hissed.

That wasn’t what Daniella needed to hear right now. ‘He pulled the wool over all of our eyes,’ I soothed. ‘You’re not alone in feeling betrayed.’

‘No, I don’t suppose I am.’ She folded her hands on her lap, looked up at me and made a visible effort to collect herself. ‘What do you need to know?’

‘We have to find him,’ Greg said. ‘We need to know his favourite haunts, anywhere he’d go and stay. Does he have any family locally?’

‘His parents,’ she said slowly. ‘But I honestly don’t think he’d go there. He wouldn’t put them in danger.’

‘You would have said that about his pack a few hours ago,’ Greg pointed out.

She winced. ‘I guess I would have.’ She shrugged. ‘Either way, I can’t help you. I don’t know their address.’

‘We can find it.’ Greg retrieved his phone, no doubt to text Fritz, his tech whiz-kid friend. ‘What else?’

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