Forty Seven

After Slade's visit, Daniel had decided to take his father's advice and track down contact information for the Alpha of the Night Stalker pack. He didn't know much about the pack except that they hadn't attended the singles event and were one of just three official packs in Ireland. There was no bad blood with any other pack that Daniel could tell but this wasn't surprising. Given the size of the land, keeping the peace was on most Alphas' agenda even if their personal opinions of each other are less than pleasant. Daniel didn't care for that side of politics and he often made it obvious. Sure peace was good but he didn't fancy playing nice with a bunch of arrogant Alphas just because it looked good.

Daniel was eventually able to get hold of a number for the Night Stalker Alpha. Aisling was about the same age as Daniel's mother but her son (and the heir to the Night Stalker throne) was only seventeen and so too young to step up. That said, Aisling was no push over and her reputation as being a hard-faced, no-nonsense bitch preceded all else.

Daniel wasn't even sure Aisling would pick up the phone let alone entertain his call but it seemed that the first of several surprises was about to happen.

"Hello?" A feminine voice with a light playful accent picked up after the third ring.

"Is this Alpha Aisling?"

"Who's asking?"

"Alpha Daniel of the Hellhound pack."

There was a brief pause on Aisling's side and Daniel felt himself growing increasingly on edge. He could almost imagine Aisling leaning back in her own seat, cogs turning as she tried to work out why an Alpha with very little ties to her own pack would want to speak with her.

"I appreciate my call has come out of the blue." Daniel decided to cut the silence. "However I am hoping you might be able to give me some information about a former pack member of yours. His name is Michael and he was the mate to one of the Alpha's of the Silver Moon pack."

"Oh. Him." Aisling didn't sound particularly impressed but who would be when anything to do with Michael was bad.

“Look, I know the things he did were a long time ago but I need to know where he is.” Daniel carried on. He didn’t have time to beat around the bush and stroke another Alpha’s ego.

“Not here.” Aisling replied simply.

Daniel felt his stomach drop in disappointment. It seemed he had hit yet another dead-end.

“Listen,” Aisling finally started speaking again. The displeasure in her voice for what she was about to reveal was as obvious as her accent. The subject of the Mad Alpha left an unpleasant taste in a lot of people’s mouths. “This all happened before I took over as Alpha. My father made some decisions in his time that he thought were appropriate but perhaps didn’t give us as a pack a very good reputation. One of those was helping Michael when Silver Moon revolted against his reign. He didn’t go parading it around but people here knew who Michael was and what he had done.

“Michael’s uncle was on the elder’s committee and so pulled a few strings to give Michael a place to lay low. I’m not sure if it was meant to be permanent but he was here a good few years.”

“So he didn’t die in the uprising like everyone thought?” Daniel asked.

“No. The slippery bastard got away but goddess knows how.” Aisling grumbled. “By the time he came back to us he was a drunk and losing his marbles more and more each day. Oh Goddess, he was a horrible man. He’d drink all day and then try to start fights with the warriors or guards and if he wasn’t doing that he was trying to grope the young she-wolves. The leaders and my father turned a blind eye though. Not sure why. I made sure to steer clear but my cousin wasn’t so lucky. He got Catherine pregnant when she was just nineteen. My father didn’t think her mate would want after that so he forced Michael to take her as his new mate.

“After that things got really bad. We hardly saw Catherine anymore but saw plenty of him leaving the pubs in town ten sheets to the wind. Where he got the money from, I don’t know because he didn’t have a job, he was far too unreliable to do anything. I do know they had a baby boy and then a little girl about five years later. No-one really saw them but the boy used to have bruises and they were incredibly grubby. I kept thinking to myself he had his father’s eyes more than his mother’s. They were cold and emotionless like he was always plotting something.”

“So what happened to them? Are they still with your pack?” Daniel asked.

“Sadly no. One night Catherine just disappeared.” the sadness in Aisling’s voice was soft and subtle. “Michael told everyone she ran away but none of us believed it. Poor girl couldn’t say boo to a ghost. She would have been far too afraid to leave and to do so without her children? Hardly. Anyway, after a few months Michael packed himself and the kids up and just left. I heard he went to live in a small group a bit further south but I’ve not heard anything since and good riddance. I just hope those kids survived.”

There wasn’t much more that Aisling could offer beyond that. They spoke for a few more minutes before saying their goodbyes. The chat had been interesting but Daniel wasn’t sure if any of it would help him or the pack. Michael had survived the uprising but that didn’t mean he was alive now. Also what happened to his mate and children?

The Alpha was still thinking about it when Eva found him sat outside with a cigarette. The air was warm again but grey clouds still hung around with no signs of moving on. In the distance, people were working to assess the scene of the fire and to start the process of cleaning up. It would take days to make the scorched remains of the building safe before they could start to clear the debris. For now, they have to set up a temporary facility for the vehicles and new weapons but all of that seemed like a walk in the park compared to trying to find the person responsible.

“How has your morning been?” Eva asked as she sat down next to Daniel on the stone steps, letting him sling an arm over her shoulders and pull her into his side.

“I don’t know.” Daniel admitted, wandering the horizon. “Ask me in a few hours.”

They sat in silence for a while, watching the pack moving about and carrying out their daily routines. The presence of more warriors, scouts and guards was obvious as groups of them patrolled around the pack house or made their way to outposts throughout the territory.

“I’m going to speak with Bethan tonight.” Eva finally broke the silence. “I’ll let you know if I find anything out.”

Daniel nodded and flicked his finished cigarette away. “Let’s hope she remembers something important.”

Before either of them could speak, one of the omegas popped her head out the back door. “Sorry Alpha, there is a phone call for you. It’s the Alpha of the Emerald pack.”

“Duty calls.” Daniel sighed, kissing Eva’s cheek before standing up. “I’ll catch you tonight.”

“Okay.” Eva nodded, letting Daniel go.

The walk to the office was quick and as promised, there was a call waiting for him when Daniel got to his desk. His first thought was that the Alpha was going to give him a hard time for getting his pack members killed or perhaps to request his beta return home. It had been a while after all.

“Alpha Anderson, what can I do for you?” Daniel greeted the older wolf.

“Well, I’m just calling because it’s been a few weeks now since the singles event and I’m just wondering how my people are getting on and if any of them will be returning.” Anderson replied, voice jovial but also curious.

Daniel froze, frowning at the comment. “I’m sorry, you’ve lost me.”

“We let five unmated wolves attend the event but none of us have heard from them.” Anderson elaborated.

Alarm bells were starting to ring in Daniel’s head. For someone who had just lost five members of their pack in horrific ways, Anderson was far too cheery. Something wasn’t right and Daniel couldn’t shake the feeling that he was about to learn something truly shocking.

“Sorry, Alpha Anderson but I thought your beta, Ethan, made contact with you.” Daniel finally spoke, hoping Anderson would confirm just that and settle the young Alpha’s racing heart.

“Ethan?” It was Anderson’s turn to sound confused. “I don’t know anyone by that name. My Beta is called Charlotte.”