Page 37 of Protection of the Pack

Less deadly,Esme muttered mutinously. She wanted to deal with them head on.

We must observe pack law,I reminded her.

Yes,she agreed grumpily.For now.

Lauren greeted us with a nod; there was no hint of warmth in her. Brian gratefully made his escape as attention turned to me. ‘The hunt has been conducted. Now let’s discuss business,’ I said to Ace.

‘You know why we’re here,’ he said. ‘The council want us to investigate two matters. The first is the circumstances of your ... unusual turning. Unfortunately, with Lord Samuel’s untimely demise, there is no evidence beyond what he placed in his report. You’ve already said you have nothing to add. We’ve questioned most of the pack and no one else was present. The council therefore considers this matter closed.’

I tried to keep the relief from my face. ‘And the second matter?’

‘The second matter bears further investigation: it is the death of Lord Samuel and your ascension to the role of alpha.’

‘You have my report,’ I said calmly.

‘Yes, but there’s plenty missing from it,’ Lauren bitched.

Ace glared, his eyes flashing in warning. ‘Why was Lord Samuel sent to Liverpool in the first place?’ he asked.

I shrugged. ‘You’ll have to ask the council. All I know is that it sent him.’

‘Why did Lord Samuel fight with the alpha of the Cheshire pack?’

I needed to tread carefully. The real reason was that Lord Samuel had been helping Jess by trying to stop a bunch of daemons from entering our realm, but that wasn’t common knowledge for a good reason. There was no need to advertise that there was a daemon realm, and that a portal could be created to it. The bad guys already had enough weapons in this realm; they didn’t need anything else in their arsenal.

‘I understand there was a lot of animosity between Lord Samuel and Rain,’ I said finally.

‘The conflict was personal?’

I shrugged. ‘Apparently their mutual dislike was well known.’

‘And why did Lord Samuel take you, an unseasoned werewolf, as his second if he was going to challenge Rain?’

I widened my eyes innocently. ‘I have no idea. You’d have to ask him,’ I said unhelpfully.

I’d kept Jess out of all of my reports to keep her safe and off the radar, but I really couldn’t explain without bringing her into it. Lord Samuel and I had travelled together; I’d gone because Jess was in trouble, and Lord Samuel had come along for the ride. He’d been sent by the council to investigate Rain in a cloak-and-dagger operation. I didn’t know how far the secrecy went, or if Ace knew who’d sent him.

‘Talk me through the battle.’

I did, omitting the witches and the daemons. I included the fact that Bastion and the elves had been involved.

‘Why were the elves involved in pack matters?’ Ace questioned.

I shrugged again. They’d been there to seal the daemons into containment charms. ‘Maybe they just didn’t like Rain,’ I said finally. ‘I’m told he’s a bit of a brute.’

Ace was watching me like a hawk. There were so many holes in my story you could have limboed through them. It was time to call it a night. I yawned. ‘If you’ll excuse me, as the alpha I should duck out soon so that the pack can let their hair down.’

No one ever gets their party on properly when the boss is there, and I’d seen frequent glances my way. Dammit, Ilikeparties. I really wished Jess was there so we could crank up some music and dance on the tables. Maybe I’d arrange a night out with some local friends soon – I needed to let my hair down, too, alpha or not.

‘Of course,’ Ace said with a friendly smile which had been missing during our chat. ‘I’ll continue to speak to other members of the pack.’

‘No one else was there,’ I pointed out with a warm but unhelpful smile. ‘I’m afraid you may be wasting your time.’

He smiled back, just as warmly. We were both so full of shit. ‘No doubt the council members questioning Rain’s pack will get more answers.’

Shit. ‘We can hope,’ I said brightly.

Ace gestured for Lauren to drop back and give us some privacy. As she did so, a sour expression crossed her fine features. ‘You look ravishing tonight,’ he complimented me. The shift in gears was enough to give me whiplash. And who says ‘ravishing’ these days?

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