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‘Thanks. I rock jeans and a T-shirt,’ I said jokingly.
‘You rock anything,’ he agreed. ‘You’re not what I was expecting, Luciana.’
‘Oh, it’s just Lucy. Nothing so exotic for me.’
‘There’s nothingjustabout you. You’re not what I was expecting for the first female alpha in decades.’
‘What were you expecting?’
‘A raging, bra-burning-feminist.’
‘I’m that, too, minus the bra-burning bit. I like bras too much.’
‘I’m a fan of them too,’ he smarmed. Yuck.
‘I bet you’d look great in one.’ I winked cheekily and his eyes tightened in anger. His flirtation was only skin deep. ‘Anyway, goodnight. I’d best go so the party can get started.’ I nodded farewell to Lauren. She watched me leave without a change of expression.
I looked around as I excused myself. Manners was talking to Liam, so I left him to it. I joined Mrs Dawes, who was on her third glass of wine and looked pretty happy. She was talking with Marissa, who gave me a reserved smile as I approached.
‘Thank you for all of your hard work,’ I said to Mrs Dawes. ‘And the rest of the team. You’ve done us proud.’
She blushed. ‘Aren’t you kind, my alpha? It is my honour to serve you.’ She said it formulaically, like it should mean something to me.
You need to reply ‘It is my honour to protect you’,Esme prompted.
‘It is my honour to protect you,’ I parroted. How the heck did Esme know all this stuff? Surely wolf packs didn’t have the same rigmarole as werewolf packs?
Mrs Dawes beamed at my response and directed a pointed look at Marissa. I didn’t want to pressure Marissa into saying some sort of magical oath that she didn’t mean, so instead I said, ‘Can I have a quick word?’
Marissa followed me off to one side of the room, leaving Mrs Dawes frowning after us. ‘Mark took Boost,’ I started. ‘Tell me about it.’
‘I really don’t know much,’ she said with a simpering smile.
‘Bullshit. It’s late and I’m tired. Just tell me.’ I’d used up the last of my patience with Ace.
‘There’s really nothing to say. He took Boost. I think a couple of the others might have done, too.’
‘Who?’
‘Archie and Noah, maybe.’
Jess had told me that Archie hadn’t touched Boost, and since she’s a truth seeker her information is golden. But Noah? That surprised me. He seemed like a good kid, and I was pretty sure his dad was fairly high up in the pack hierarchy.
I questioned Marissa some more but she only gave me innocent wide eyes, which frankly pissed me off. I knew what she was doing because Iinventedvacuous; she was a smart girl playing dumb. Sooner or later I’d trip her up and rip off that façade.
After I let her go, our council guests withdrew from the party and the atmosphere lightened, but looks were still being cast my way. With an inaudible sigh, I left the room. I was only a little bit grumpy. It was for the best, and I was pleased the pack was having some fun under my rule – even if I was excluded from it.
Chapter 16
Iwentintomyoffice and checked the time. It was nearly 10pm which was a little late for calling my mum, but I decided Steve would probably be awake. He answered on the second ring. ‘Hey Lucy. How is it going?’
I considered. I’d managed to repair some of the damage to the relationship with the dryads, and the hunt had gone well, but Mark’s killer was still on the loose. You win some, you lose some. I settled on, ‘Not too bad. You?’
‘Busy day here. I got called to a suspected arson. Someone thought it was an elemental flaming up, but there was enough lighter fluid present to set fire to a small country.’
‘So just your garden-variety arsonist then?’
‘Looks like it,’ Steve agreed. ‘And there was a bit of a stir amongst the vampyrs, but I haven’t got to the bottom of that yet.’
