He got ready for work and was soon on his way to the office. As he walked by David’s desk, he greeted his assistant good morning. As usual, his wolf went on full alert, clawing at him, trying to get to the human. It seems the good mood it had been in was now gone. Damn animal. He took a deep breath, trying to find good memories to ground him. Of course, the first thing that popped into his mind was this morning, of Sofia on his bed. Instantly, the wolf calmed down.
“Good morning, Mr. Anderson,” David greeted. “Your calendar has been updated. Your first appointment is with Mrs. Vrost.”
“Thank you, David.” His wolf growled, but he pulled it back, then headed into his office. What was wrong with his wolf today? He honestly thought that now that Adrianna was safe, it would at least mellow down. She had Darius to protect her, and Lucas knew he would do anything for her.
He settled down into his chair, going through his emails and messages. But he could only half concentrate on them because his mind was still on Sofia and their incredible night, wishing he didn’t have to wait so long to see her. He was glad they were able to make up this morning, but it didn’t change the fact that she would always be in danger.
His wolf’s hackles raised, thinking about her old partner and that mob boss. Bianchi. He didn’t know the man personally, but if he was the head of a successful organized crime family, he didn’t grow his empire by letting police detectives testify against them. A dread came over him. Surely Sofia or her boss had thought about Bianchi retaliating or possibly doing what he could to stop her from testifying. Lucas wanted to make sure she was safe, but short of locking her up and putting armed guards on her, he didn’t know how. If only there was a way he could get close to Bianchi and find out if he had plans for her.
“Lucas?”
Astrid’s voice cut through his thoughts and he immediately straightened his posture. “Hello, Astrid.”
“Are you … all right?”
As a Lycan, she could probably feel his wolf getting worked up. “Yes, I’m fine. Shall we begin?” They had briefings at least once a week, since his own ascension ceremony would be coming up as well. He wanted Adrianna to have hers first though, and he was going to decide on a date after tomorrow night.
She sat on the chair opposite him. “We have a couple of things to discuss. First.…”
The meeting with Astrid distracted him from most of his thoughts. Being Alpha was still important to him after all, and there was so much they needed to do.
“Anything else?” They had spoken for the good part of an hour at this point.
“That’s about it.” She closed her tablet PC. “I should get going, Nick wants me at the security office. Oh, wait!” She snapped her fingers. “Yes, one more thing. Reyes needs some time off.”
“Of course.” His bodyguard had been working long hours and extra shifts for the past weeks.
“We’re still looking for someone to cover him tonight. If we can’t find anyone, do you think you can stay at The Enclave? Just until he comes back.”
“Sure.” Maybe it was a good thing Sofia was working. There was no way she’d be allowed to visit him at the clan’s super secure private compound. In fact, it had magical protections just to make sure humans ignored the mini-city hiding under their very noses.
“Great! That’ll save me a lot of work. I’ll leave word with David either way.” Astrid got to her feet. “I’ll see you around. When you see her tomorrow, tell Adrianna I said congratulations.” With a final wave, she headed toward the door.
“Wait, Astrid.” An idea popped in his head. Of one way he could find out about Bianchi.
Astrid spun around. “Yes?”
“Your uncle Quinn, he still works for Lone Wolf, right?”
She quirked an eyebrow. “Yeah?”
“Do you think I could have his contact?”
“Sure, but you can call the office.” She frowned. “What do you need him for?”
Hesitation made him pause. However, he chose Astrid as his Beta, which meant he had to learn to trust her. “He’s a hacker, right?”
“Yeah.”
“I have something I need to ask him. Not related to Fenrir or the clan. But it has to be discreet, and I need the best.” As future Alpha, he knew about Quinn Martin, of course. He was the Lone Wolves’ resident hacker and information specialist. He hoped he wouldn’t ask too many questions.
“Yeah, Uncle Quinn’s good. But if you want the best, then you gotta talk to his kid. My cousin. Let me find that number …” She took her phone from her pocket and tapped on the screen. A beep from his own phone told him she had sent him a message. “There, I sent it to you.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. And Lucas?”
“Yes?”
She put her hand on her hip. “You will tell me if I need to know anything with the clan, right? So I can do my job properly?”
Technically, Sofia and Bianchi weren’t clan-related. “I promise.”
She nodded her head and then left without another word.
Lucas grabbed his phone from his desk and opened the contact Astrid had sent him. “Huh.” He didn’t expect that. Was this person really the best? Astrid wouldn’t lie to him about this. His finger hovered over the screen. He thought back to their conversation this morning, about him being macho. This might be an invasion of Sofia’s privacy. His wolf growled at him, and for once he understood. This was about her safety. He tapped on the contact.
After two rings, the caller on the end other picked up.
“Good morning, this is Acme Crematory Services. You bring ’em, we bake ’em.”
Raucous music played in the background so Lucas raised his voice a decibel. “Uh …
