Royce cursed and Shade did too, a partial shift was never a good condition to be in, for either human or beast. “Did she knock him out with something? And I suppose I should call their Alpha and fill him in on what’s happening. I think I’ll let him know Trixie’s involvement too, she needs to be held accountable for this. She fired them boys up and pointed them in my direction because I told her I had no intention of mating with her. Yeah, I was an ass, and I apologized for that, but this is just wrong. She must’ve known they wouldn’t have stood a chance against me? They’re not even Betas, for fuck sake.”
Royce fished through Shade’s tattered clothing, found his phone, and threw it to him. “Here you go. After you’ve dealt with that we need to return to our other business.”
“Yeah, I know,” Shade replied, resigned to discussing what had been found earlier. For now, he had a difficult call to make. “I’ll be back as soon as I’ve dealt with this shitload of trouble.”
He decided to talk to the brothers’ Alpha from his office, in private. At least that way if things got heated his Betas didn’t need to hear, or get hot under the collar as they were sure to do. They were his friends, but they were also his seconds and that meant when he had a problem they took it to heart. He didn’t need their support for this. Shade could deal with this standing on his head blind drunk, but both Ash and Royce were already hyped up. A private call was the way to go.
Less than two minutes later it was over and done with and with a better result than Shade had expected. He couldn’t wait to share with his boys. Shade whistled a tune as he joined them in his living room, their heads spinning to stare. “Hey,” he shrugged. “It went better than I’d hoped. Those brothers are in trouble with their own Alpha for taking it upon themselves to come here as they did. Plus, little tricky Trixie is also in hot water for firing them up with lies. He knew I was telling the truth, even though I didn’t even get to that part. His words were along the lines of, ‘That little slut puts it about and then when she doesn’t get what she wants she sends her brothers in after telling them a tall tale. Stupid girl thinks we don’t know, but we do. This is the last straw. She and her brothers are outta here.’ Okay that’s kinda word for word, but he did say he’d allow them to recover first.”
Royce nodded his head, a grim look on his face. “Harsh, but if she, and in turn, they have done this before then he’s well within his rights to banish them. They’ll have a hard time finding a Pack to take them in now.”
Ash agreed. “Yeah, but it’s of their own doing so I, for one, have no sympathy for any of them. Especially Trixie. She’s a real troublemaker that one.”
“She’ll be gone soon enough,” Shade replied. “As far as I’m concerned it’s over and done with.”
“Right.” Ash crossed his arms, staring hard at Shade. “Have you and your beast had a talk?”
Shade opened his mouth to answer and his Wolf picked that precise moment to howl in his mind. The same phrase over and over, so loud Shade’s hands flew to either side of his head, pain lancing through him. “Shut up!” he roared, bending forward as his beast continued.
“Find her. Find her. Find her.”
His Betas raced over, grabbing hold of him as he fought with his Wolf. Royce’s worried voice whispering. “Alpha, what’s wrong. Ash, what the fuck’s wrong with him?”
“I don’t fucking know! I didn’t read anything that mentioned anything like this. Maybe we need Lana.”
Shade managed to raise a hand, gasping. “No, nobody else. Just give me a minute.”
He focused on his beast, attempting to calm his Wolf. “I can’t do anything if you don’t stop this.”
One last pitiful word tore through his head, “Please.” Followed by silence. “Thank fuck.”
“What just happened?” Ash asked as Shade stood, shaking off their hands.
“My fucking Wolf just happened.” Shade inhaled, filling his lungs to capacity before blowing it out slowly. “I think we’ve got a job on our hands.”
“Yeah?” Royce bounced away, his face lighting up. “Are we going on a mate hunt? Cool.”
Ash stayed close to Shade, his eyes searching his face. “Your beast is in agreement? That’s very clear in what I read, that you both have to decide to do this.”
“I’ve not got a choice, Ash,” Shade admitted. “My Wolf is definitely on board with this insane idea. I’m coming along for the ride to see what happens. Do I believe in old legends and soulmates that need rescuing? No. But I can’t deny what’s going on with me lately, and my beast is pleading with me to do this. So, you two lug-heads, we better get going before I change my mind and decide to just go and get drunk instead.”
Ash didn’t respond, merely started to undress and leave his clothes on the nearest chair, Royce joining him. “Oh hell,” Shade mumbled as he tore off his own. “How do I do this? Just let this crazy animal take the lead, or what?”
“Yes,” Ash answered simply before walking outside.
“Wonderful,” Shade bit out as he followed, wondering why he felt as if he were walking to his
