Page 84 of Protection of the Pack

‘And instead of capitulating to Mark’s demands, they sent Ace and Lauren,’ I interjected.

Elena nodded miserably. ‘I’d do anything to change it,’ she said miserably to Archie. ‘I’m so sorry.’

Archie shook his head. ‘I can’t do this now. My head is splitting and I just – I can’t.’ He walked out of the room. Elena reached out a hand to him as he strode past then let it fall again. She was blinking rapidly, struggling to hold back tears.

I felt bad for Archie and I watched him go with regret. He’d finally come to accept that although I had killed his father, I wasn’t wholly to blame. Now Elena had pulled the rug out from under him. The whole thing had been a set-up from the very start; Lord Samuel really hadn’t stood much of a chance.

I wondered whether he’d known that. He’d been all too happy to throw his lot in with Jess and fight a werewolf pack against monumental odds. I understood now that he’d chosen to go out on his own terms.

‘Come on,’ I said to Greg. ‘Let’s check the cameras and find out the location of our esteemed council guests.’

We left Amber packing up her jars and went to my office. Greg slid behind the desk, logged onto the computer and brought up the security cameras. We checked the communal areas first, then we reviewed the footage from the dormitory corridors. I cursed myself for not including cameras in the rooms. Who needs privacy?

There was no movement in the guest wing, and no way of knowing if Ace and Lauren were in their rooms. ‘We could go back through the guest-wing footage,’ Greg suggested.

‘Or we could just knock,’ I countered.

‘Yeah, that’d work too.’

The computer screen flicked to my living room. Amber had packed up and left without another parting shot about the bill. That wasn’t like her. The screen flickered and changed to the corridor outside of my office. ‘Change it back to the living room,’ I ordered sharply.

Greg obliged and I swore loudly. I pointed to the bottom right of the screen, where we could see a jar open on the floor. There was no chance that Amber would have left that willingly; she never let a potion jar out of her sight.

‘Check the driveway!’ I barked.

Greg flicked to the camera on the drive. Lauren was driving their car and in the back seat next to Ace, eyes filled with fury and fear, was Amber.

‘Fuck!’ I swore. I tore out of the room and pelted down the stairs, throwing off clothes as I ran, and transformed as I burst out of the door. Esme and I felt steady on our four legs, and we were desperate to catch them. They’d grabbed Amber as a hostage, and it was my fault that she’d been there to be grabbed.

Their car was already speeding away. We fixed our sights on it and ran after it. Greg was ahead of the game, and I saw that he was closing the wrought-iron gates as Ace’s car approached. The car didn’t slow. It hit the half-open gates at speed, wrenching one of them clean off its enormous hinges. The car took significant damage but not enough to stop it. It careened out of the driveway and onto the main road.

The car drew away from us effortlessly. We followed, but we knew in our hearts that it was hopeless. The fastest we could go was maybe 30mph.

They’re gone,Esme admitted bitterly.

For now.

Esme turned and trotted us back to the mansion. Time to call in the big guns.

I shifted outside, then slipped into the mansion where Greg and Liam were waiting. Greg held out a robe and my phone. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said tightly. ‘I let you down. When Bastion told us our car was bugged, I should have thought to sweep the mansion for bugs, too. The living room was tapped. I’ve found four so far.’

‘Not your fault.’

‘I’m head of security. There’s no one else to blame.’

‘How about the fuckers that took advantage of our hospitality to kill and attack our packmates?’ I all-but yelled back. ‘We will holdthemaccountable. The blame game helps no one, and I need you focused. We need to get Amber back.’

Greg straightened and nodded. I could see his hand twitching, barely resisting giving me a military salute.

‘Search their rooms. They left in a hurry – see if they left any clues about where they would go.’ I handed Greg the master key and he left with Liam.

I pulled out my phone from the pocket of my robe to call Bastion. As usual, he answered with silence.

‘I need your help,’ I said firmly. ‘Ace and Lauren are the ones who killed Mark and attacked Archie. The wolf council has been involved in the black tourneys, providing lone wolves to slaughter. Mark was trying to blackmail the council. The members killed him and were trying to kill anyone else who might have been involved in his little scheme. Ace and Lauren have kidnapped Amber DeLea. I need you to lean on Ghost and find out where they are.’

‘That’s a tall order,’ Bastion said finally. ‘She’s a griffin.’

She? ‘You’re Bastion.’

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