Wanted Wolf Book 2: Delta
Автор
Elise Ann
Прочтений
204K
Глав
42
The hunt for a ruthless killer pushes Thea beyond familiar ground and into a rival pack where danger hums beneath every glance. Undercover and on edge, she walks a fine line between trust and survival, especially when an unmated Alpha keeps crossing her path with charm, tension, and far too many secrets. Each step closer to the truth opens new questions, and the stakes rise with every charged encounter. Loyalties blur, instincts clash, and desire threatens to complicate everything. In a pack that guards its secrets fiercely, Thea must decide how much of herself she can risk while chasing answers that refuse to stay buried. What happens when the investigation starts feeling personal?
Chapter 1
THEA
3:20 a.m.
A loud knock on my door woke me up.
“Go away!” I cried out in a rough voice.
The knocks on the door turned to blows, and I whined. It wasn’t like I wasn’t putting in the necessary hours at work anyway. I needed to sleep!
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 him but stayed in bed. I was going to ignore my friend and resume slee—
Crack!
“Oops,” Dane whispered with a fake guilty look while my door squeaked open on its own.
I instantly started in bed, staring back at the man holding a lonely handle in his right hand.
“For Goddess’ sake, Dane!” I shouted, throwing a pillow at my friend. “What is so important you had to come annoying me at this hour?”
Why did I have to be the nice delta? The one everybody went to for help or a piece of advice.
“Gray got a call from the Black Craws Pack. He asked me to fetch you,” my friend added, and that immediately got me on edge.
Black Craws Pack was my cousin’s pack. Was Belle all right?
I instantly sat straight on my bed and tucked a strand behind my ear. I was suddenly panicked.
Dane’s posture, however, changed and morphed into a more predatory one as he picked up the murdering 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 hungrier one.
Slowly, his eyes traveled down my upper body, free from my sheets. Oops!
My face instantly became bright red. I had known the beta for years, 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 fueled it.
My body shivered, echoing the groan rumbling inside my friend’s chest, and for a brief moment, I honestly considered the beta.
Dane.
Seriously?
“Fuck.” I thankfully snapped out of this crazy drive and covered my naked breasts. “Stop it, Dane!” I shook my head and turned my back to him, looking for something to put on.
I needed to get laid, yes, but not with this man whore!
Once ready, I spun 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.
“Sorry,” the beta started, taking a step back as his shoulders fell.
I let out a small sigh but stayed silent.
The poor man was almost ten years older than me and still looking for his mate. I was already feeling the emptiness within me, so I couldn’t imagine what he felt, even though he continuously repeated that he was fine. I wanted to hope Fate would shine on us both at some point.
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 shone through the windows or the apprehension of what had happened at the Black Craws Pack, but our walk was never-ending.
I had been up most of the evening to deal with the pack members’ complaints again. Mrs. Santiago and her multiple complaints about the new flower arrangement in front of the pack house got the last of my energy last night.
We had always prided ourselves on being a listening pack, open to its members’ wishes, to a certain limit. And we were currently reaching it. Just like the end of my willpower…
At our arrival, the alpha’s scowl was all that greeted us. I figured my face might’ve matched his anyway, my anguish eating me from within.
“What is it?” I rushed in toward Gray’s desk. “Is Belle all right?”
After my parents’ death a couple of years ago, my cousin had been my only family staying in this part of the globe. Even though we were living apart and not seeing each other often enough, losing Belle would definitely make my life even lonelier.
“Belle’s fine,” Gray grunted, still half asleep. I let 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, yet Gray didn’t say anything. I thus 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!
I couldn’t imagine why Alpha Alec would call us. I had never met the guy, but I knew he had been alpha for nearly seven years now, taking over from his father. It couldn’t be the first murder he had to deal with. And 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.
“The body was found sucked dry of blood,” the alpha ultimately said, his voice cold.
Dane gasped while I fell hard onto the chair next to me. That couldn’t be.
“It’s the second one on their territory,” Gray added. I closed my eyes, hiding my face in my hands.
I heard Dane walk around the room, pulling his hair and thinking out loud about the possibilities of the murders being connected to ours. It was a nightmare.
“How can this be?” I finally asked the two worried men.
Now I understood Gray’s frown. It had nothing to do with his newborn pup and the lack of sleep. Unfortunately, the sleepless nights were yet to come.
“We need to go there,” Dane stated while Gray yawned.
Gray and Poppy’s daughter, Jade, was only a few weeks old, and she still wasn’t sleeping correctly. Seeing the alpha and luna’s state didn’t make me eager to have kids. Erk…
“Why did you ask for me?” I wondered.
The security of the pack fell under the beta’s prerogative, not mine. Dane would be the one to deal with this, and he knew the case by heart. The only thing I’d be asked to do was deal with the aftermath if the situation impacted our pack territory. Sadly, meaning I could’ve been soundly sleeping by now.
“I need you to go to the Black Craws Pack and quietly investigate for us,” Gray told me, taking me by surprise.
“I’m sorry, what?” I blurted out, stunned.
“You can’t be serious!” Dane exclaimed at the same time, throwing his arms to the sky and pacing around the alpha’s office.
Gray grimaced with a hiss and growled back at us, scolding us like kids for the noise we were making at this early hour. I crossed my arms in front of me and waited for an explanation.
I knew we could all agree the beta was fitter for the job than I was. I was going to freak out, miss important pieces of information, and make our pack look like rookies. Moreover, if you wanted my advice, Dane could use a little fresh air to tame his hormones.
I stared at my boss and seriously considered, for a second, what Gray had just said.
Maybe taking a few days away from the pack wouldn’t be a bad idea after all. The alpha was starting to be on edge with both his parenting and pack duties to deal with.
Dane was definitely not doing well these days, with his time spent between looking for a hookup or a fight. Even Poppy, the luna and my closest friend, with the lack of sleep due to caring for her newborn, was becoming easily bad-tempered. Honestly, all the people I cared about were at their own stages of life. While I remained there, lonely.
So maybe that was my call. A way to get away from my everyday life and the fuss of being the delta. I could spend time with my cousin, get to know her friends and her pack.
I heard the forests over there were beautiful this time of year. Could I turn this duty into work and vacation?
“Why me?” I inquired gently.
“Yeah, why her? I’m supposed to be your chief of security!” Dane remarked with anger, earning a frown from his alpha.
“Because I need it to be discreet,” Gray said through gritted teeth, his dark gaze sending lasers at his beta. “Alpha Alec cannot officially ask for help without bringing it up with his elders, and we don’t want people knowing there might be a vampire killing wolves on the run. Especially when we failed to stop him! And I don’t want to inform the Crown Alpha yet either, so this must remain a low-profile investigation.”
Our boss stood up, ending the argument.
“Alpha Alec needs help, and at this moment we’re the only one able to bring it, so we’ll do it. But under the radar. Thea, you’ll be visiting Belle for an indefinite time. We’ll need to come up with a believable explanation if your stay expands too long, but that’s the plan.”
Dane sat down heavily on one of the chairs facing the desk and pouted.
The poor beta had been following up leads for the last few months, and he was now put on the bench. I could understand his reluctance.
But that was my cue! The guilty feeling of letting Poppy get kidnapped at the mall a few months ago was still bugging me from time to time.
Now, taking part in the investigation at Black Craws Pack would be a way to make it better.
“I’m in!” I exclaimed proudly, clapping my hands and making a little jolt of joy. I made a mental note to ask Dane for the beginner investigator’s kit, but apart from that, I should be good to go.
Gray smiled a tired smile.
“Do you think my door will be repaired when I come back?” I then teased my sulking friend.
Dane immediately squinted at me, and I suppressed a smirk.
“Wait a minute… You broke another door?” Gray yelled loudly.
“That’s what happens when you keep hundred-year-old furniture in a house full of wolves,” Dane stated, deadly serious. He even pushed it further as he shrugged and stared back at the alpha with an impassive expression.
“There’re doors!” Gray exclaimed as he gestured his hands in front of his face, exasperation clearly showing. At least, this conversation would have pushed away his tiredness for some time.
“Even more so, we use them every day,” Dane deadpanned, which only fueled the alpha’s anger. I discreetly took a step back and waited for the reaction.
“WE use them every day, YOU break them on a regular basis for fuck’s sake!” Gray growled as he turned around to slam his palms on his desk and yawned once again. “That’s it.” The alpha suddenly straightened his back and turned on his heels. “I need to sleep. This conversation isn’t going anywhere anymore.”
Gray crossed the room in a few strides and opened the door, indicating the meeting was officially over. He stood and pointed at me.
“Thea, pack your bags, you’re leaving in the morning,” he ordered. I whimpered.
I could tell from the little sunlight piercing the window curtains that the morning was only a couple hours away. I could kiss my sleep goodbye right now. I had to hope the journey would be more merciful, as I couldn’t show up at the Black Craws Pack without any sleep.
“And you.” Gray turned to Dane with murder written on his forehead. “Break another piece of furniture before Jade’s fifth birthday, and I’m exiling you for a decade,” the alpha spat before exiting his own office first and leaving us there, already gone to find his bed and mate.
Dane huffed and winked at me. However, as he walked by me, I swore I heard him whisper, “Tattletale.” I swallowed a smile, rolled my eyes at my friend, and followed him back to our quarter’s floor.
Black Craws, here I come!
