Cara was up unusually early, before her personal maid Rani had even started her duties. Most of the packhouse was still fast asleep and she wished she was too.
She made her way down to the ground floor and entered the kitchen. According to the research she’d done, it should be completely empty for at least the next hour. She wandered around using the flashlight on her phone, and made mental notes on the entry and exit points, the large walk-in storage room, where the food was prepared, and where it sat before it was taken to the table.
The final door appeared to be a bathroom that connected with the dining room. She’d never paid attention to it before, but it looked like a quick way for the kitchen and wait staff to take a bathroom break without having to walk all the way down the hallway when they were working.
The men rose from their chairs as Cara entered the dining room on Lucas’ arm. The entire leadership team was in attendance and they all bowed their heads as their Alpha and Luna took their places.Awkward was the only word running through Cara’s mind. Her mate at the head of the table, and her ex sitting across from her.It was Dane’s first engagement since he’d received the Delta rank, and while Joseph had already begun talking his ear off, the sour look on Thomas’ face showed he wasn’t quite as welcoming.“I hear you’re quite the businessman, Joe,” said Dane. “What have you got planned now you’ve returned?”Cara glanced at her watch.The wait staf
Dane opened the package he’d just taken from the letterbox and looked inquisitively at the small glass vial in his hands. He was sure it looked familiar but couldn’t place where he’d seen it. The sticky residue that remained indicated there had once been a label that had recently been removed.He wondered where the hell Cara had gotten it from, as he pulled out his phone and dialled.“Henrik, I’ve got a job for you.”He explained the tricky situation he was in and knew he could trust Henrik to help get him out of it. Ending the call, he made a beeline for the hidden safe in his study. He turned the dial and pulled the handle, reaching in to take out the cloaking potion he’d found with little Lyanna’s remains.He held
Dane sat at his desk, trying to get some work done. Whilst Henrik had taken over as Head Warrior, Dane was still responsible for the overall management of the army. Lucas had made the deal to keep Thomas happy, but Dane didn’t mind one bit. It was a job he’d been trained for all his life as Beta and he’d always enjoyed it.If he was going to be doing warrior work, Dane figured he could still keep his office at the training ground. As Delta, he had an office assigned to him at the packhouse, but he needed somewhere he could go to escape and give him time to focus.Somewhere he wouldn’t be tempted by Cara’s scent.His wolf had other ideas, though.“She’s playing you,” grumbled Stig.
Dane stood on the front lawn of the packhouse, feeling much older than his twenty-four years. There was a buzz of excitement in the air that made his lip curl with distaste as the hive of activity around him reached fever pitch. He didn’t want to be here.“Last but not least, Delta Dane, Jack and Lucy, you’re in the final car,” announced Cara, reading from a clipboard.Dane groaned inwardly as a lanky teenager with an all too eager grin made his way over. Jack was one of his newest warriors, and like most of the people on their way to the Moonlight Ball, he had just turned eighteen this year.“Delta, would you like me to drive?” asked Jack.“No,” replied Dane emp
The convoy turned off the highway just before lunch the next day, and followed the twists and turns of the road, mirroring the river and rapids the host pack was named for. Cara watched eagerly through the car window. It was the first time she’d traveled so far from home and she was enjoying the change of scenery.Cara thought her own packhouse was large and lavish, but this one made hers seem like a doll’s house. It was a goliath of a mansion, built in a folksy, farmhouse style that seemed to conflict with the scale of it all.They pulled up in the circular driveway, and Lucas opened her door and helped her exit the car. It was her first event outside the pack as Luna, and her palms were sweating in anticipation. She’d be expected to interact and converse with the other Lunas, and she just hoped she didn’t em
Cara spent the following day in a whirlwind of activity before finally returning to prepare for the ball. The trip so far had been nothing short of exhausting really, but the thought of getting to wear the dress she’d been dreaming of gave her a much-needed boost of energy.She unzipped the dress bag and squealed once again with delight. Lucas secretly had the dress custom made for her, and it was nothing short of perfection in her eyes.It had a fitted bodice with thin spaghetti straps and flared from the waist in a sea of navy blue satin and tulle. It was fit for a princess, and she certainly felt like one in it.“You look stunning,” complimented Lucas as they lined up to enter the ball. “Like a perfect Luna.”
Dane had managed to avoid Jack, only to bump into Lucas and Alpha Roland, who gave him a hearty thump on the back. “My boy, don’t tell me you still haven’t found that mate of yours yet?” Roland questioned. “Not yet,” Dane replied with a sigh. “She’s here, but as soon as I catch her scent, it’s gone again.” “Well, don’t just stand there. Off you go.” A shrill scream reverberated through the room, stopping people in their tracks. “She’s dead!” “Oh my Goddess, someone’s been murdered.” “There’s a body outside!” &n
It took one and a half days to get to the Moonlight Ball, but Lucas and Dane were speeding their way through the night, determined to get home in half that time. They knew it would be quicker if they drove solo, so they put Jack in charge of bringing the rest of their group home in the morning.Dane had pulled him aside to remind him to protect his Luna at all times, and it gave him a petty sense of satisfaction to wonder whether she’d still be a fan of his ‘harmless admiration’ when it was directed at her.The engine in Lucas’ finely tuned Aston Martin sports car was getting a workout. They estimated they would arrive at the pack around lunchtime, but what they would arrive home to wasn’t clear just yet.Dane impatiently dialled Hen
Cara broke free from Dane’s grip and stood in front of the pack. She ran through everything in her mind one last time. She wanted to be able to forgive Dane, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t live her life knowing what he’d done. She knew she was no better. She’d taken his mate’s life and he’d returned the favour. But she’d changed, she’d moved on, she wanted to be a better person. She couldn’t forgive him for trying to drag her back into the life she’d made a conscious choice to leave behind. “Thank you for the outpouring of love I’ve received from each and every one of you since Lucas’ passing. I appreciate the way you’ve kept me in your thoughts. Lucas isn’t gone, though. He lives on, through his pup – our pup – that is growing each day.” Murmurs spread through the cro
“Bring them to the packhouse. My office,” ordered Dane.“Yes, Alpha,” replied Wei.Dane stood and clenched his fists nervously. He wondered who the captive was and how much he knew. Cara rolled over, woken by his sudden movement, and saw the look on his face. He masked it quickly, but she knew something was amiss.“What is it?” she asked.“Nothing, it’s fine. I’ll handle it. Go back to sleep.”“Dane, I know when you’re hiding things.”He let out a sigh.“Ka
Dane stood on the front lawn of the packhouse, his bereaved packmates assembling to listen to his address as the acting Alpha of the Green Cape Pack. This should be an auspicious moment for him, but all he could think of was Cara’s distress. He’d done that to her.He quickly pushed it from his mind. This was how it had to happen. It would be painful for Cara in the short term, but long term, she would have the life she’d always dreamed of. With him.She would keep her place as Luna, and their child would still be the future Alpha. In his mind, he knew that he would treat them better than Lucas ever would have.“Green Cape Pack, it is with tremendous sadness that I confirm the passing of Alpha Lucas. Early this morning, a small group of for
Dane received Lucas’ SOS mind-link and waited patiently, biding his time. He wanted to give Matt and his men enough time to get the job done.When he was happy he’d given them a sufficient head start, he mind-linked Kasper and a group of his own warriors, and led them out to the running track where Lucas had said he was.They picked up his scent quickly when they reached the track and followed it, gaining speed.“I can’t scent anything or anyone other than the Alpha,” Kasper mind-linked to the group. “Anyone else getting anything?”“No,” came a chorus of replies.They kept running, Lucas’ sce
After shifting back and getting dressed in the forest, Dane didn’t want to waste a minute and jogged back to the packhouse with purpose. He found the contact details of the other packs and sent a message to Alpha Aiden, explaining that he had something important he needed to discuss with him and wanted to do it over video call. They arranged a time later that evening, and Dane and Stig spent the rest of the day on edge. Dane rapped his knuckles impatiently on the table as he joined the video chat. The wait seemed endless before the blank square finally came to life and Alpha Aiden’s face filled it. His backdrop was nondescript except for the ornate chair he was sitting on, which looked hard carved, and the top was intertwined with thorns from a rosebush.
Today was the day. Dane had a spring in his step, and not an ounce of nervousness over what was to take place.The price he had agreed with Ivan was expensive, but worth it in Dane’s eyes. Ivan had to be good, because he couldn’t have survived as a hitman for as long as he had if he wasn’t good at what he did.He’d paid a deposit out of his own funds, but would need to take out his share of the profits being held in the business account to pay for the rest once the job was done. It was a lot of money, but when he thought about what he was buying, it seemed like the best deal he’d ever made.Lucas would be gone, he would become Alpha and reign with Cara and their pup. Money well spent, indeed.
Lando hit the floor, covered in blood. He scrambled to his feet, panting and in pain, ready to take his last stand. Turning, he was shocked to see the wolf that attacked him lying in a pool of its own blood, with its head almost removed from its neck.Stig still had his paws gripped around the wolf, and his face was covered in the blood of Jannik’s wolf.“We’re fucking idiots,” Stig said to Dane. “That could have been it! We want Lucas dead, he could have been taken out without us needing to do anything… and we stopped it.”“Fuck! You didn’t even hesitate in going to save him, and neither did I.”“Instinct. It’s how we’re wired.&rdq
Dane tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for Lucas inside the warrior training hall. He yawned, thinking it was way too early on a Sunday morning to be doing this. Lucas had sent him a message the previous night saying he needed to meet with him. The hall would be undergoing renovations soon, but surely it didn’t warrant having to meet at this hour. With no training scheduled for the day, the place was deserted and the eerie silence in the hall was adding to the boredom. The loud click of the door echoed around the building as Lucas entered and made his way over. “About time,” grumbled Dane. “I didn’t know I had to be here right on the exact second,” snapped Lucas, glancing at his watch. Like Dane, he w
Cara knew it was going to be the hardest phone call that she’d ever had to make, but she thought it would be easier than telling him in person and having to look at those pleading eyes while doing it.“Dane, I’ve made my mind up. Regardless of who the father is, I’m going to raise it with Lucas.”She had known this from the moment she’d found out she was pregnant, but Dane had asked her to take her time and think about it. She hadn’t given it any more thought, but she took some time to make it appear that way.“But you can’t, that could be my kid, Cara!”“Lucas is good to me and he loves me–”