Chapter 1 - Thea
I woke up to a pounding on my door. My bed was warm, my sheets the softest fabric on earth and I had no will to get up. Maybe if I closed my eyes and ignored it, the noise would disappear. But it didn’t. If anything, it became louder.
“Go away!!!” I cried out in a voice still rough from the best sleep I just had. I didn’t even want to look at the time. If I wasn’t awake yet it meant I needed more sleep. So I’d deal with whatever this was once I had slept.
The knocks of the door turned to blows and I whined. I needed to sleep! It wasn’t like I wasn’t putting the necessary hours at work anyway. I had been up with Poppy, dealing with Mrs Santiago again for most of the evening. Apparently, she still wasn’t used to the new flower arrangement in front of the Pack House. According to her, it didn’t bring up the strength and power of our Pack. Hell, I didn’t know how to say ‘We are badasses’ in lilies and lavender.
Needless to say that, after dealing with pack members all day, as well as making sure everything was in order for the annual Harvest Feast, I deserved a good night’s sleep.
The festival was in three days and organizing it was going to be the end of me. It was as famous as excruciating to prepare. Indeed, being the only public event held within pack territory where outsiders were welcomed, Gray, the Pack Alpha, expected me to enforce security and check-up points, as well as invite the entire continent. Both demands were compatible, to a certain limit. And we were currently reaching it, just like the end of my willpower.
The pounding resumed with greater intensity and I hid my face in my pillow, letting out a frustrated groan my intruder must have heard.
“Go away!” I repeated as I covered myself with the bedsheets.
“Fuck, Thea!” A familiar voice grunted from the corridor. “If I break another door, Gray is going to have my head, you know that!" I heard Dane, the Pack Beta, shout from behind the door.
I laughed at the situation but stayed in bed. Everyone knew about Dane’s habit of breaking doors and the Alpha’s attempts to make him a more responsible person. Unfortunately, the Beta wasn’t someone you could tame into doing anything he didn’t want to or deem necessary. He was stubborn and I wasn’t going to concede any of his craziness outside of working hours. So there was no way was I going to--
Crack !
“Oops,” Dane whispered with a fake guilty look on his face as he held a now broken handle, while my door flew open on its own. Noooo! I started in bed, staring back at the man, shocked that he actually dared to break in. After a second though, as I took in the trouble he just set himself in, I snorted with amusement. However, my chuckle died when my eyes fell on the alarm clock on my bedside table. Oh no, he didn’t dare!
“For Goddess’ sake Dane!!!” I shouted, throwing a pillow at my friend and murdering him with my gaze. “What is so important you had to come annoying me at this hour??”
I knew I should’ve been angrier and ordered him to just get the fuck out of my room but that wasn’t me. I had always been the nice Delta, the one everybody went to to seek help or a piece of advice. Moreover, my weak point was my sense of loyalty. The maddening Beta was my friend, and that unfortunately overhung everything else, including the night disruption.
Dane’s posture, however, instantly changed and morphed into a more predatory one as he dodged the flying pillow. His shoulders became wider while his wolf’s aura spread around him and his gaze flickered, switching from its natural brown color to a more hungry one. I frowned and stared quizzically back at him for a second, trying to understand his sudden change of demeanor.
Slowly, his eyes traveled down my upper body, free from my sheets. Oops! My face instantly became red. I had known the Beta since forever it seemed but, when he licked his lower lip the way he did at that moment, I could swear I felt something ignite within my core; his heated gaze only fueling it. My body shivered, echoing the groan rumbling inside my friend’s chest and, for a brief moment, I honestly considered yielding to his desire. When was the last time someone had looked at me this way? Would it hurt so bad to find some affection in my friend’s arms? Surely we weren’t each other’s mate, but where would be the harm in t–
“Fuck” I finally snapped out of this crazy drive, and covered my naked breasts. “Stop it Dane!” I needed to get laid, yes, but not with this man whore! As much as I loved Dane, for who he really was, deep beneath his smug attitude, I didn’t want to feel like another trophy on one’s shelf. I was too romantic to be fine with a one-night stand. Even more with a good friend I’d see every day.
So I got out of bed and turned my back to him, looking for something comfortable to wear. Would a jumper and sweatsuit be enough? With this heat? I huffed and finally picked up a large t-shirt and flannel shorts long enough to cover most of my thighs. And a bra! Once ready, I spinned and found Dane still looking at me, his hands in fists and his eyes cloudy with lust and… something else. Was it envy? Hurt? For his sake, and mine, I ignored it and stared back at him, ready to hear what was so important for him to say to me at this hour.
I knew he wasn’t getting any younger and he suffered from it. He had seen most of his friends meet their mates, including Gray. Unfortunately, the Beta hadn’t found his, yet. And, as much as he kept repeating he was fine with the potential fact that his mate might’ve died years ago, he didn’t bring that up every too often nowadays either. Was his sleeping around not enough anymore? Could we truly long for someone we never met? Was there a way to get past it at some point?
Dane closed his eyes, sighed heavily and looked at his feet. The poor wolf hadn’t been getting any sleep for quite some time either… My heart sank at the view of my friend’s despair but I knew that wasn’t a battle I could fight. Not without coming out scathed.
“Sorry,” he started, taking a step back as his shoulders fell. I instantly felt bad for my friend, his tone sounded like a genuine cry for help, but we both knew I wasn’t the one he needed. And I wanted to hope Fate would shine on us at some point. I wanted to believe you’d both find our mates and live happily ever after. Looking at the sad wolf in front of me made me wish for more in life than what I currently had. “Gray got a call from the Black Craws Pack, he asked me to fetch you.” My friend added and that unsettled me.
I started and frowned as my worry instantly switched from the Beta to the matter at hand. Black Craws Pack was my cousin’s pack. That immediately got me on edge. Why would Gray get a call from another pack in the middle of the night? Especially my cousin’s? Was everything alright?
I couldn’t focus on one specific question as so many rushed inside my head. Following Dane, we walked fast yet in silence through the empty Pack House to Gray’s office. The corridors seemed longer than before. I didn’t know if it was the way the moon shined through the windows or the apprehension of what had happened at the Black Craws Pack, but our walk was never-ending. At our arrival, the Alpha wasn’t happy at all to be working at this hour, his scowl was all that greeted us. I figured my face might’ve matched his, my anguish eating me from within. Yet, I guessed that being the father of a young pup didn’t make my boss’ life easier. Sleep was too precious to be spent on overhours pack calls.
“What is it?” I rushed in toward Gray’s desk. “Is Belle alright?”
After my parents’ death a couple of years ago, my cousin had been my only sibling staying in this part of the planet. Everyone else had moved back to their home country, leaving us to our settled lives here. Therefore, even though we were living apart and not seeing each other often enough, losing Belle would definitively make my life even lonelier.
My eyes flew to the Beta at my side and I thought again about what had happened. What if… What if we chose to mate? A shiver of awkwardness ran through my body at that perspective but… honestly, Dane wasn’t that bad at all. Of course, he was cocky and a bit patronizing, but he had a really good heart and he was dedicated to his work. And so was I. It’d make everything easier and bring us some of the affection we clearly yearn for.
“Belle’s fine.” Gray grunted, still half asleep, and I left out a relieved sigh. Thank Goddess! However, the Alpha didn’t lose his glower as he turned to Dane. “Alpha Alec called, they found a body on their land.”
I frowned and waited for more but Gray didn’t say anything. I switched my attention to the Beta, who wasn’t reacting either. The two men stared at each other like they shared a secret conversation. Which annoyed me as I had been awakened for this meeting as well! If I wasn’t needed, I might just as well go back to bed.
And why would Alpha Alec call us? I had never met the guy but I knew he had been Alpha for nearly seven years now, taking over his father. It couldn’t be the first murder he had to deal with. And why us? The Lost Wolves Pack was one of the furthest away from them. There was no reason to solicit us. In case of an urgent matter, he should instead ask for the Crown Alpha.
Excruciating seconds passed before Gray finally blinked. He looked straight at us, his nostrils flaring, I could tell something wasn’t right.
“The body was found sucked out of blood.” The Alpha ultimately said, with a cold voice. Dane gasped while I fell hard on the chair next to me. That couldn’t be.. That news felt like a heavy punch coming from above. “It’s the second one on their territory.” Our friend added and I closed my eyes, hiding my face in my hands. I heard the Beta walk around the room, pulling his hair and thinking out loud of the possibilities of the murders being connected to ours but I couldn’t focus. It was a nightmare.
For Goddess’ sake! Not again!
