Page 145 of Conner's Luna

I gasp, "youtook my notebooks, didn't you?!"

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Conner

Still laughing, I pick Bailey up and boost her into her seat in the truck. Jogging around to the driver's side, I settle in and pull away from the heat cabin. Ideas are swirling in my head. I'd like to have a place for Bailey and me to retreat to. I have a small suite in the packhouse, but most of my time here in ClearHowl is still spent at my parents' house. I don't have anywhere that's truly private and a heat cabin isn't ideal. I could tell Bailey wasn't entirely comfortable. Hell, she made jokes about me offing her.

Our fingers entwine and I toss her a smile that she returns. All the way back to her new place I hold her hand. I know as soon as we return, her dad'll be pissed I took her.

"So, what's the story?" she murmurs as we pull up to the house.

"I wanted to show you some of the territory," I say blandly.

Her eyes dart to my crouch and she smiles as she hops out of the truck. I would help her down, I would, but her dad is there, glaring at me, and I can't move right now without causing ripping my pants at the seams.

Bailey wraps her arm around her dad's waist and tugs "Let's go unpack, Dad. Conner was showing me some of the territory."

"For four hours?" her dad scowls as they walk away.

"I'll see you later, sweetie!" Bailey calls out to me.

"Bye, honeygirl," I rasp out, grinning as she winks at me behind her dad's back.

I take a deep breath and blow it out. The wolves are done unpacking the moving truck, so there's not much else to do. Velia's car is parked in the driveway, so I'll give my girl some time to make friends.

My phone beeps with an incoming call. The ringtone belongs to Dad. "Yo," I say absently, watching Bailey's ass sway as she walks up the wraparound porch into the house.

"Son, we have another body,"Dad barely manages to choke out the words through his barely-suppressed rage. I can hear his phone crack in his hand. Or is that my phone?

"Who and where?"I shoot out, mentally cataloging every female in the pack, starting with Bailey, who I still have eyes on, then Velia, then working down the list.

"ID unknown. Not ours, we know that much. Apparently, there were some stragglers left on campus. This female was taken, killed, and fucking dismembered within ten hours."

"From State? Are they RedMoon?"

"Possibly. Alpha Mini-prick wants a meeting. Xander says he wants you to go with Lyall."

I hesitate, reading between the lines of the unspoken words. Sending me in for a face-to-face with another alpha is basically telling Alpha Wilkinson that I'm now the undisputed, unshaken future alpha of ClearHowl. It also says we're not afraid of him and Uncle Alex trusts my ability to deal with any Challenge that Trey or Alpha Wilkinson issues.

"Did Trey accept my Challenge for Bailey?" I ask him.

"Haven't had a chance to issue it," Dad admits."Conner... they left the body in Bailey's old house."

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37 - You’re Lucky

Bailey

"This is yours, right?" Velia hands me a box. When I open it, right on top isBisabuelaCharlotte's diary.

"Thank goodness," I breathe out, relief literally sending me sagging to my newly-made bed. The comforter is made of fleece and silk. It's a beautiful, dark purple and feels more luxurious than any blanket I've ever owned before. It's new, like most of the furniture in my new bedroom.

"What?" Velia asks me as she unpacks another Nordstrom's bag of new clothes.

"Nothing," I murmur, opening the diary with reverence. "What were you saying about pack law?"

"Oh, right. So, like, everyone thinks the alpha is in charge, and technically he is, but a shitty alpha will be Challenged most of the time and now there are more and more powerful alphas popping up everywhere. Of course, Con was going to be one, but then the bitch happened. Then you came and holy shit has he grown. Mom was saying he grew again and only, like, alphas and really strong males do that." She pauses, either for air or to collect her next thoughts, "females don't do that. Huh. That's unfair..."

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