“Uh, thanks,” I replied. “What about Miss Emma?” I asked her, desperate to keep her talking rather than eating.
“Well, she said a few things last night that concern me and I think she would be the one most likely to tell me what’s really going on inside the pack.”
“Will she be in danger if they find out she talked?”
Chloe’s expression darkened. “Not if we come down on their asses first. I don’t know what in the hell is going on in this pack, Lachlan, but it needs to stop. Wolves should never be so terrified of their alpha that they bow and scrape to his every whim. He’s doing something to them and has all of them too frightened to talk. I can’t leave them to deal with that alone.”
I nodded. “I agree.”
“We’ll go see Miss Emma today and maybe she can give us a place to start. She’s been a member of this pack since she mated with Tom a hundred and fifty years ago. She makes it her business to know everything about everyone.”
I studied her as she ate.
“What?” she asked. “Do I have syrup on my face?” She ran her thumb along the edge of her lip, checking for any stray drops of the sweet liquid.
I swallowed hard, suddenly aware of my dry mouth. “Uh, no. I was just wondering how you were feeling about all this.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your parents’ death. Darrell. Everything. Is this bringing up painful memories for you?”
She cocked her head to the side. “Maybe a little.” She shoved food around on her plate with her fork. “The pain of their deaths has faded over the past couple of years. I’m angry more so than anything else. I hate that Darrell has had two years to hurt people I once cared about. And I’m also pissed as hell that he’s gotten away with the murder of my parents.”
I wanted to reach out and take her hand, but I held myself back. I hadn’t thought about how she might be feeling until Calder brought it up and now I felt like a heel.
“Maybe we should get going,” I suggested.
“After I finish my breakfast. I meant what I said, Lach. This is damn good and I intend to eat every bit of it. Darrell isn’t going anywhere in the five minutes it’ll take me to eat French toast. Plus I may need the fuel in case I need to kick some ass.”
She had a good point. Though she spoke of anger and grief, Chloe seemed to have accepted the situation for what it was. We ate the rest of the meal in silence and I tried to keep my eyes off her mouth as she savored every bite.
When Chloe finally finished her food and licked her fork clean, I looked down to find my plate empty and my cock as hard as stone. Her obvious enjoyment of the meal had distracted me so thoroughly that I’d eaten every bite of my own breakfast.
“I’m going to go brush my teeth and then I’ll be ready to go,” she announced, shoving back her chair and carrying her plate to the sink.
When the bathroom door closed behind her, I stood, reaching down to adjust myself with a wince.
We needed to resolve the MacArthur pack issues quickly…before I did something I’d regret.
Chapter Thirteen
Chloe
Miss Emma smiledbroadly when she opened the door.
“Chloe! I’m so glad you came by. I was hoping we’d get more time to catch up before you left.”
I returned her grin. “I felt the same way. May we come in?”
Without replying, she stepped back and allowed us inside. As I walked into her cool, bright living room, I found myself instantly transported back to my childhood. My mother often brought me to Miss Emma’s when I was younger. I remembered the two of them talking and drinking iced tea while I played on the living room floor. The house hadn’t changed much. The walls were still painted white and hung with all sorts of landscapes and photographs. The wooden floors gleamed. The couch was of a different style, but still the same dove grey color. I bit back a laugh. Only Miss Emma would buy a new couch in exactly the same color as her old one.
A large multi-colored rug was spread out beneath the couch and chairs that were arranged to face a huge flat screen TV. Now that was different. The last time I was here, Tom was still watching ball games on his behemoth, fifty-inch television that weighed a ton. This one was even larger, but with it anchored to the wall, the living room seemed even bigger and brighter than before.
“You have a lovely home, Miss Emma,” Lachlan murmured behind me.
The she-wolf turned her huge smile toward him. “Thank you, Ian.”
I felt rather than saw his slight flinch. Miss Emma was just as perceptive.
