a P

ingle backpack slung over my shoulder. It contained my old clothes, my lap

corridors and gardeners' paths that I had learned over four years of trying to b

ck SUVs, sat a dusty, ten-year-old Honda. It had been Eleanor's, a car she'd kep

my ribs as I guided the car down the long, winding driveway. Ever

e Blake estate slid open for the unassuming little

stale coffee I bought

of the city. The smell of toner and warm paper was strangely

table before me. My hand trembled as I picked up a pen. For

Of Jossie's triumphant smile. O

ton, on the designated line. The script was

truction in French, a language Eleanor had insisted I learn: Pour l'Alpha Duke B

t in a secure building downtown. It was tiny compared to my room at the estate, but the key

w home, there was one l

just outside the gates. I tried calling Duke's personal line

s immediate

peaking." Her voice was sickeningly swe

yla. I need to

yla! I'm so sorry, but he's in the middle of a critical international co

but it was there. The gatekeeper, enjoying

ine. I have something to leave for h

lfred Peterson. The old butler had been at the estate since before Duke was bo

the second ring

you do me a great favor? Could you meet me at

knew. He must have known I was gone. "Of cou

ure appeared, walking slowly down the driveway

se, Alfred. Make sure he gets th

o the backpack visible on the passenger seat of the Honda. He under

It was all

, and pulled away, merging into the anon

rat

ling far heavier than a few sheets of paper. He turned to head back to the

r him in the main foyer, as if she

nd polished. "What's that? A delivery?

s Dalton," Alfred replied, his tone formal. He m

ing extremely sensitive pack business right now. All correspondence must be scre

authority as the Alpha's

t she was the Alpha's second-in-command. Her orders, in the Alpha

saccharine sweetness. She glanced at the French script on the front,

nd walked towards her own office, pulling

voice was a masterpi

usy, but... it's Kyla." She paused for dramatic effect.

mal, legal document became a 'note'. A decisive act

dripping with false sympathy. "Perhaps the stress of the funer

miles away. And she knew that by the time he returned,

e P

n a car and gone. According to Jossie, she'd been emotional a

ett

al, and prone to quiet theatrics. I was out of state, clo

old Jossie. "She'll be ba

unwelcome spike of unease through me. But I pushed it do