Chapter 72 - Working on a Plan

**Cassie** -

Tara looks relieved when we don’t push her for more information about her reaction to us mentioning her mate, I will be digging into that later, but for now, while Daisy is here I want to go through everything we know and see what we can think of for how to catch Ace.

I know he isn’t done with me, he won’t want to let my escape go unpunished. I could hope that Maddie would convince him that I am not worth the effort, but with the way she has treated me in the past I imagine she wouldn’t mind getting another chance to torment me. Maybe her father can convince them both, maybe he will get them far enough away from all of us that they can make a new life for themselves and leave our packs alone. I know Ace was looking forward to the power of being an Alpha, maybe he can create his own pack, make himself Alpha and gather members over time. If he does decide to take that route, I really really hope he does it far from here. But knowing that that is wishful thinking I decide to be honest with myself and admit that until he is caught or killed, I am not safe.

So pushing aside my concerns about Tara and Jason, I turn to my friends seriously and ask them both what they know.

Tara is quick to assure me that I know anything that she knows, so we both look to Daisy to see what she can add.

“Well,” she clears her throat, “we think they have stayed close, we, well, we think they are planning to come and reclaim twin lakes pack. It is difficult for us to be sure as we are still learning about our members, who they are, what they are like, but we have noticed 1 in particular who disappears every couple of days for around 8 hours, missing the training sessions we set up. Dave is going to meet with him when we return to question him. Most of the pack seems grateful they are gone, which isn't surprising to me really in light of all we know.”

“What makes you think they want to reclaim the pack?” I'm curious, I agree, but I'm wondering how they came to that conclusion.

‘One guy, told us that this bloke, Frank is his name, he told us that Frank is loyal to Ace and wouldn't be here if something wasn't being planned. We asked him how he knew this and he said they ran together, that he and Frank were friends and that Frank likes to talk a big game.” She pauses here, then carries on.

**Jack** -

“We have tried to have him followed, but somehow he manages to lose his trail every time, 3 fucking times we have followed him and so far the furthest we have got is here,” Dave points to a cluster of caves on the map. The caves are to the north of our packlands, in the mountains that sit and feed the river.

“That is about 15 miles from our borders, what happens when your guys get there?” I ask, curious, there don’t seem to be many places he can go from there, but these maps may be out of date, we may need to send scouts to reassess the layout of those mountains.

“He slips into one of the caves and then he just vanishes, they all seem to inter-connect but damned if we can track him through them, they come out in various locations about the mountains and so far none of them seem to be the way he goes. As far as I can tell we have tried them all, but maybe we missed one” Dave lets out a frustrated growl running his hands through his hair, “I just wish I could be the one to track him, but the pack is a mess and I am needed there at the moment.”

“Dave, seriously man, of course you need to be there, you need to be there for when he makes his attack, and you know he will, you need to make sure you are there as much as possible until this is resolved,” I reassure him he is doing the right thing though I can imagine his frustration, I have my own with regards to this situation, I wish I was out there looking for him as well, but if I go, I leave Cassie, I know Jason would protect her with his if, that is the role of the Gamma, but I would still feel I had failed her if something were to happen to her.

“What about Brian?” Dave perks up and asks hopefully.

“What about him?” I ask, distracted thinking of the scouts I want to send, I would need to send warriors with them to protect them if Ace is hiding in those mountains.

“Brian could go check out the caves, maybe? He could go with Mark, they could make it look like they are going on a small holiday, like they just met and want to get to know each other, type of thing?”

“That could work,” I think of the logistics, and whether Brian would be willing to go, “I think that would work, let’s call them in here to see what they think.”

I send Brian a message and his reply is instant, In the kitchen, need anything brought up?

We’re good thanks, just want to run something by the two of you.

On way.

“They are on their way,” I say, then Dave and I spend the time waiting, looking at the map laid out before us. There isn’t much around the mountains, from what we can see, nothing that seems to stand out, maybe, if Brian and Mark agree to this they can photograph the area and explore some of the caves, that way we can update the map and maybe get an idea of where Ace is.

“Alpha,” the door opens without any warning and Brian and Mark stroll in as though they own the place.

“Great, thanks for coming so quickly, we have an idea we wanted to run by you, you are free to say no if you want, we can think of something else,” I am not offended by them walking in the way they did, I knew they were coming, if they had been unannounced I know they would have knocked.

“A plan for what?” Brian asks, pulling Mark with him to the open seats placed about my desk.

“We need to find Ace, trackers are losing the trail at these mountain caves here, I think these maps are out of date, but I need someone I can trust to go have a look around, I’m not asking you to find Ace, I am only asking that you get us the intel we need to have these maps updated. If you do find Ace or a sign of his whereabouts, I expect you to contact me immediately and we can send warriors to assist you.” I am firm on this last part, I don’t want them risking themselves when we are not too far from them and can offer help within an hour.

“Why us?” Brian asks at the same moment Mark says “we would be happy to.”

“I have a leak, we've been trying to follow him but he keeps slipping away, we thought you two could go as new mates, a honeymoon, if you will, I can ensure I am heard talking about your plans which should keep them away from you while you check out the area,” Dave says with a defeated air about him.

“We'll go, we'll get as much info as we can, you can count on that, we will also have a sniff around see if we can tell where they vanish,” Mark speaks confidently, “we can leave day after tomorrow, that should give you time to get home and spread the word Alpha Dave.”

“Dave is fine, no need for formalities here Mark,” Dave replied grinning now that we have a tentative plan in place, we may not find them this time, but we will have a better idea of where they are hiding and this is a good start.

“Right, so now that that is settled lets go over some specifics of what we need from this trip, then you two are free to carry on with your day.” I slap my hands together and rub them eagerly, sure that we are on the right path to catch this prick and we can all finally settle into ‘normalcy’.