“From me?” She shrieks dramatically, the twinkle in her brown eyes confirming it is in fact her bad attempt at humour again.
I triple check I heard right before shaking my head, trying to stay on track. Also, trying to not run over and hold her for the rest of eternity. “I think I was running from you and the situation. I knew I had to put some distance between us. I could feel my control slipping, and I knew my Alpha was out for blood. If I went back to where he was I would have painted the walls red.”
“Anything else?”
“Is that not enough?” I rasp.
“Yes and no,” she answers back as she takes a slow steady step towards me, making me feel overly wary. Before I have a chance to take a step away, to keep an even distance, she crumples.
I leap and close the distance and stop her hitting the ground. I catch her. Of course, I fucking do. But before I can start asking her if she’s okay, she smiles. And then I see she’s got a look of triumph dancing in her brown eyes. “I knew you wouldn’t let me sniff you, so instead I had to get you to rescue me.”
Her laughter is right up in my ear too, because she’s like a baby octopus, her arms and legs binding around me, her head on my shoulder, her breath blowing on my throat. “Hmmm, I guess you also explain my infatuation with oranges.”
ChapterTwenty-Two
HEIDI
As quick as I fly into his arms, I jump out of them. But he was a scratch that needed scratching, or I guess the more accurate thing he was an Alpha I needed scenting.
Now though, I need time to ingest all that he shared. Because the answers he gave me, including my grandmother’s watch, I needed but he also is the answer I’ve always needed. It makes sense to me.
“I’m going to have a shower to freshen up, but then I think we all need to talk,” I offer before moving away and not waiting for an answer. His orange scent is so freaking soothing, but is it what I need right now?
And a shower is definitely on the books but first there’s a couple of things I need to verify, because while there’s a whole lot of honesty and sharing going on, trust is a journey not a destination.
Sitting with my back against the bathroom door, the first thing I do is wrap up my grandmother’s priceless watch. It’s an heirloom, but it is also so representative of that night, and I’m overwhelmed having it back. Later, I’ll look at it closer, but right now I need to lock down any sentimentality and focus on Pack Alastor. I log on to my computer, remembering Kai’s offhanded comment about not getting a signal. I use my fancy satellite data-roaming network to log on.
I’m not sure what’s bothering me the most or if anything really is, but I do some fancy finger work and use a weakness in the Alpha Council’s computer system to access the auction results. Because if you gauge Pack Alastor’s wealth based on this house being one of their main assets, you’d have to wonder where they got the money.
Finding my auction, I make a quick mental note of the other packs also bidding on the chance of a weekend away—and much like it was on the night, the only serious bids came from Pack Lowly. Until the end bid like everyone knows, but I’m interested in how Alastor paid and when they did.
Within four minutes of Pack Alastor winning, the Council received a cash transaction with the reference being my lot number. No other details like you’d usually see—bank id numbers, account names.
Being online brings a rush of emails into my inbox and one of them from Douglas catches my eye. And the auction result gets lost under a couple of words—call me.
Using the call app on my laptop, I’m ringing Douglas’s mobile even before I can start to contemplate what the issue is. But generally, him calling me is a worry.
“I tried your mobile,” he states.
“Yeah, I’m out of range, what’s happening?”
“The Board reached out to let me know that Allan has received an indirect threat that needs to be taken seriously. They called first before they emailed a report.”
I hum an understanding at him. “Which means they’re taking it seriously.”
“Correct.”
“What are we looking at?” I ask.
Douglas remains calm and steady in his manner, which is more telling than him speaking. “It’s more advisory of caution at this stage, but the threat has supposedly been verified. I wanted you to be aware.”
“I appreciate that. Who verified the threat?”
“Ayden. He prepared the report and provided it to the Executive Team about an hour ago. The report lists and details two separate sources confirming there’s chatter on the streets an unnamed person is looking to hire someone to send a message to Allan,” Douglas says, and from his tone I can also deduce he is rereading the document. “I’ll send it over. Look, at this stage, yes it is somewhat substantiated, but until there’s further information even Ayden is suggesting no action other than everyone being aware. He’s not suggesting either Allan or you are called in.”
“Of course, though I’m sure they’ll use the latest warning as a reason to beef up my personal security again.”
“We can both agree it is their usual tactic,” Douglas replies as he also clicks on his mouse.
