Chapter 120

"My two best are experienced enough to know what to do if things go wrong. I trusted them to watch over Beth."

"The ones you said you assigned to follow the Gold Nation contingent assigned to Beth? The same ones who were caught by Noah and Anna after they arrived at Tahoe?" William countered. "Face it. With how depleted Silver Nation forces are, especially the Heether pack, you're better off traveling with two of mine instead. They're less likely to be recognized."

"You need to keep your men around you. With this, Andrew Troy must be gearing up to do something permanent about this incident. If you accuse him and take this to Union Court--"

"That won't happen because he knows I would never endanger Beth by threatening him. Not only that, but the Troy pack always had the upper hand in Union Court. If anything, this might only convince the minor packs to side with the Troy pack when they find out the edge he has over me. Over all of us."

William was right. Daniel leaned against the window sill, bracing himself with both hands clenched tight around the jutting wood. "I should be going alone. I can do it undetected."

"Up until a certain point. But Andrew will have everyone on the highest alert, and he knows you prefer to work alone. Going in a small group will make you stick out less, as counterintuitive as that seems. Don't forget that the Troy pack is a business hub, most of the people coming and going every day are in groups with partners, packs, never alone. Believe me, I've done this enough to know how to make it convincing."

Again, William's counters were too strong. Daniel had gone with his father Mal on business trips only on occasion, and knew too little to rely on his own knowledge. Warren had been responsible for most of that, and more than ever, he wished his brothers were here.

He had been thinking about his family far more often lately ever since falling sick. He closed his eyes, wondering if he could feel their strength from the other side of the veil if he reached hard enough.

"Daniel." William came to stand by him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I've thought of you and your brothers as sons ever since your brother and Elizabeth were first engaged. Let me help. Take my advice, and my men. They'll lead you in the places where diplomacy will serve better than force. We need you back alive, don't forget that."

Thought of him as a son, did he? Daniel wondered what the man would say if he confessed he was in love with Beth, not merely a devoted brother-in-law.

"If I were healthy enough to go with you myself and not get us discovered," William continued, "you know I would do it in a heartbeat. But I have to entrust this to you. My daughters are all I have. My sons... they're gone. And your brothers..." He signed again. "Let me help. Let all of us help. We'll need to, if we want to get Beth back safely."

***

He didn't know these men, Ludlow and Gerard, but Alpha William had promised they were werewolves who served directly under him in the Rokley pack and were strong and smart enough to keep up. Whatever happened, they would never abandon the mission, and they were just as committed to making sure Beth was safe as William and Daniel were.

He had caved in the end, after William had told him he had made a promise with Alpha Mal more than a year ago, back when they arranged their son and daughter to marry and bind their packs together. If something happened -- like this, with Gold Nation's Troy pack making their move -- either man would give his life to defend the other's pack, being the father and protector the fallen one could no longer be.

And although Mal was alive, he was only barely hanging on. He had long ago lost the capacity to help his pack, his sons. And now William's duty was to do what the other man couldn't, which was to help Daniel, Mal's only remaining child.

For the sake of his father and the promise the men had made to each other, Daniel had no choice but to accept.

They arrived at an upscale hotel just outside the Troy pack territory some days later, careful to keep up their appearance as businessmen going about their important matters while they investigated. All the while, they followed rumors and kept an ear out for any news of the Troy pack affairs.

What they found out confirmed Daniel's worst fears. Andrew had made it back with all of his soldiers and warriors parading through the streets, taking credit for both the victory at Tahoe and another village, pretending that he had taken all his forces away to combat the rogues.

The truth was that he had been lying in wait in the Blalock region to ambush Beth, but the civilians here had no idea. They praised him, his business acumen and his military sense, all while Daniel was forced to listen with clenched fists under the table.

But spying on conversations in restaurants and hotels was nothing compared to the reassurance he would feel if he could just see Beth with his own eyes even once. He had to get into the Troy pack estate somehow. He had to find her. He had to get her back.

He was still pondering various strategies when he checked into their new hotel, the second one they had made a reservation at since arriving since they didn't want to stick around too long in the first one and become easy to recognize.

And then he saw him. Right next to him at the long counter... Matthew Catii.

They stared at each other in silence. Both of them were well-covered, hoods up to keep others from seeing their faces, but both men recognized each other in a flash. A few minutes later, they lingered by the small hallway leading to the attached restaurant next door, glancing to their left and right to make sure they wouldn't be interrupted.

"What are you here for?" Daniel asked when he was sure they were alone.

"To save Beth. She's been taken."

"I know. That's why I'm here." Daniel had to swallow the combative aggression creeping into his tone. They weren't here to argue. But damn if it didn't get on his nerves that Matt had said it that way, as if Daniel didn't know a thing. He knew. He knew all about it. "How did you know she's been captured?"

"I have sources everywhere. There's nothing of that magnitude that can happen without my knowledge. The information got to me quickly, but I would have been even quicker if it weren't for the weather slowing down my contacts."

That was right. Matt had spies everywhere, as proven by the allies planted even in the outlands... like Marten, who had saved Daniel's life.

He shifted his weight between his feet, tongue heavy. He knew he ought to say it. Knew he would. But that didn't make it any easier to set aside his long-lived distrust of Matthew Catii or his intentions.

"... Thank you, for what you did."

The man's face remained neutral, cool as ever. But he must have known what Daniel was talking about even without an explanation. "I did it for Beth. She went with you, so I had to make sure she was taken care of."

"I appreciate the help anyway."

"All right. Now, about you. Every Gold Nation soldier on duty is on the lookout for you. It was a risk to come here. You're not even fully recovered yet, are you? The half-life of that poison is supposed to be--"

"I'm not abandoning her. I came to save her." Daniel's eyes flashed as his gaze hardened into a glower. "I love her."

Matt didn't look surprised. Good. If he'd missed it all this time, Daniel would have had to seriously doubt his intelligence. In fact, he hoped Matthew believed Beth and Daniel had been together since the beginning and that all of Matthew's hopes for having her to himself had always been futile.

But the man's face betrayed no disappointment, only annoyance.

"I've met many women in my life, Daniel Heether. Even after all of that, I can say I'm in love with one woman, and one woman only for the rest of my life. Can you say the same? Love isn't simple, you're too young to know if what you feel for her is real. Beth will give everything for the ones she loves. Everything. If you want to love her and leave her like it's nothing, it would hurt her. Badly. And I'd make you pay for it."

"I'm too young?" Daniel repeated, voice curling with incredulous anger. "We're almost the same age."

"... Doesn't matter. I said what I said. And that's how it is."