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“Is your father dead?” My question is cold and direct and has her flinching back.
“No. Why would you think that?” she replies, face paling.
My hand gestures toward her. “You’re not my alpha.”
Her shoulders drop ever so slightly. “Well, not officially, but I am in charge as I said before. We’re waiting on the next new moon before the transfer of power goes from Roman to me.”
“Then I think I do need to speak with Cait and Roman,” I say. Dawsyn won’t be able to release me from the pack. Not yet and I’m not waiting another two weeks.
She folds her hands over her desk and leans forward. “Listen, Sophie—”
I shake my head. “I came here because I respect your family. I didn’t come here for permission to do what I want.”
“You can’t go back to South Carolina,” she says pointedly.
“And who says that’s where I’m headed?” I counter, not having the slightest interest in revealing the truth.
Her lips thin and she stares intently at me, but I don’t break. “Fine. Keep your secrets, but you need to listen to me and know I’m not just saying this because you’re here. You were on my list of people to call today.”
She slides a piece of paper across her desk toward me. Sure enough, it’s a to-do list and my name is second on the list.
“Why?” is all I ask.
She shifts back in her seat and swallows. “Your old pack. The alpha is missing and the beta has been killed.”
“Your uncle—”
Dawsyn shakes her head. “He moved on just over a year ago. He and Kelly decided to retire on a beach, minimizing their responsibilities.”
“Then, who?” I ask, fingers curling around the navy-blue, suede material of the chair beneath me.
“York Graves took over for him,” she says. “Now, he’s been named interim alpha, but things are tense there. Your pack isn’t the same place you might remember, Sophie. I need you to stay away from there. At least until things have been… Settled.”
She could just be referring to the new alpha placement. With bigger packs, a change in leader can sometimes to lead to a death challenge. Something Dawsyn is hopefully prepared for, but I’m more concerned with knowing more about what’s happening in my old pack at the moment.
Yet, the way she said “Settled” makes me believe something else is going on.
“Who was the alpha before he went missing?” I ask next because if it’s Thane’s father, Astor, then the alpha isn’t missing. He’s strategically fucking with my pack.
“A man named Joseph Lane,” she replies coolly. “Do you know him?”
I shake my head, but I knewofhim. He was friends with my father, but not close enough that he came around the house. I’d just heard the name in passing conversations between my parents.
“So, why would you need to call me about this?” I ask. “My pack has been East Texas for over a decade now.”
There’s no way Dawsyn could have known the decision I made less than twenty-four hours ago, but I want to know what she thinks I have to do with this before I say anything more.
“Because I’ve been specifically told to keep you safe.” Her words are like a bucket of ice being thrown over my head.
I blink twice. “No.”
“No, what?” Her lips purse, as if she’s more than intrigued by my response.
“You’re not keeping me prisoner here, Dawsyn,” I say with a growl. “I will fight until my death before I allow that to happen.”
She holds her hands up innocently. “Calm down. That isn’t and wasn’t my plan. I was going to call you back here, tell you what I just have, and advise you to stay with the pack, but you’re a grown-ass woman. You’re going to do what you want.”
This feels like some screwed-up reverse psychology and I’m not going to fall for it.
