Page 9 of Ascension of the Pack

‘Daniella, no one with a hint of compassion in their heart would ever blame you for leaving. I certainly don’t. If anything, your absence will have made Rain cautious about harming his own wolves.’

She laughed bitterly. ‘I doubt that very much. He was a man who ruled by fear.’ She stared at me. ‘I can’t tell you how living that way feels, wondering if today is the day he’ll think that you’re looking at him funny and you’ll get punched in the face with no warning. That fear – it’s pervasive and it’s crippling.’

‘I have no doubt that it is, but you found the strength to walk away. I’m so proud of you for that.’

Her eyes filled with tears. ‘I’m so happy he’s dead. Thank you.’

I pulled her into a hug. ‘You’re welcome. Now, see them if you want,’ I murmured. ‘But if you don’t want to, you don’t have to. This is your life. You live it the wayyouneed to.’

She hugged me back tightly before releasing me abruptly. ‘I’ll face them, but if they hate me be prepared with a tonne of ice cream and a really funny movie. Off-the-charts hilarious.’

I smiled. ‘Now that I can do. I’ll even throw in some wine – but somehow, I don’t think you’ll need it.’

She squared her shoulders and walked out to face her past. I couldn’t have been prouder of her if I’d tried.

Chapter 6

I waited for several minutes by the front door in case Daniella came back in with floods of tears, but when she didn’t reappear I ventured into my office. The security desk was unmanned and I guessed it had been abandoned when the Cheshire pack’s wolves’ intrusion had started.

Archie was sitting in one of my guest chairs. ‘Archie?’ I asked in question.

He looked up at me and, to my surprise, there were tears streaking his face. ‘What’s wrong?’ I crossed the distance to him quickly.

‘You killed him,’ he said dully. ‘I wanted to kill him.’

I blinked. ‘You wanted to be alpha?’

‘No! Gods, no. He’s the one… He killed my dad and I wanted to avenge him, you know? And now you’ve done it for me, and I’m thankful and grateful and pissed off. And I’m pissed off that I’m pissed off. Why the hell should I be pissed off at you for killing him? I’m the one thatcalledyou, for fuck’s sake. I wanted you here and I’m glad he’s dead. But I’m also…’

‘Pissed off?’ I offered as he trailed off.

He half-laughed. ‘Yeah.’ He scrubbed at his cheeks. ‘I’m sorry, Alpha.’

‘For what?’

‘For being any percent pissed off. I should be one hundred percent grateful and nothing else.’

‘Archie, you’re human. Rain was responsible for your dad’s death so it’s understandable that you’d want to avenge him. I get it. But in the moment, seeing him trying to hurt Nina like that, I saw red. I’m sorry I took your vengeance away from you, but I’m not sorry the twat is dead.’

‘He’s not a twat. He’s a fucking cunt.’

I gave him a faux-shocked look. ‘We’re British, we’re not supposed to use that word. Goodness me.’

He laughed. ‘It’s a British fucking word.’ He sobered. ‘Thank you for killing him, Lucy. Iamgrateful he’s dead. It was like a splinter in my finger, niggling away all the damned time, getting sore and infected. Maybe now, I can just … live.’

I smiled. ‘That would be good.’

He stood up and took a few steps before whirling back and pulling me into a firm embrace. ‘Thank you,’ herepeated, his words muffled by my hair. He gave me one last squeeze then bolted for the door, sidling past Greg who’d entered the room at some point in our conversation.

Greg shut the door behind him. ‘Do I need to kill him?’ he asked lightly.

I grinned. ‘No—’ I started, but I was interrupted by my phone.Dad calling.My stomach jolted; I hadn’t spoken to him since the day I’d discovered he’d had himself cleared. It still killed me, though I was aware I probably wasn’t being fair.

‘One second. It’s Dad.’ I frowned as I answered the call. ‘Hey, Dad. Are you okay?’

‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘Am I? I feel like I’ve forgotten something, Lucy. Something important. Your mother keeps crying when I ask her. Have I missed something, love?’ His voice was lost, bewildered. ‘This is more than old age, I’m sure of it. I just feel like I’ve forgotten something very important. Do I have dementia?’

My throat was tight. ‘You don’t have dementia, Dad. You’re fine.’

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