Page 13 of The Alpha's Daughter
EPILOGUE
GUNNAR
Islammed my hand down on the boardroom table and silence fell over the room. “Has Titus been found or not? It’s been almost six months and he has eluded us at every turn. Tell me what you know.”
Andrew, one of my best hunters, gave me a rundown of their last bit of intel. It wasn’t much to go on, and my frustrations were at an all-time high. Ever since his attack on our convoy failed, Titus had been MIA. No appearances, no sightings. His Beta was running the Bravemaw pack now, acting as the honorary alpha while Titus remained hidden.
I wasn’t the only one who was unhappy with his actions, either. Other packs had aligned themselves with us over the incident, including the Whiteclaw pack. We were all growing weary from the lack of progress.
Falling back into my chair again, I checked my phone for the twentieth time in ten minutes. I had specifically requested that Declan come in for this meeting, but he was late. My Beta was never late, and I was beginning to get nervous.
“I have some additional Whiteclaw resources I may be able to put toward the search efforts, but my hunters are stretched thin as it is.” Archer Donovan leaned forward, propping his elbows up on the table. “My sources say he may be hiding out with Dry Gulch. Alpha Ryan isn’t exactly being cooperative.”
“Fucking Ryan. It figures he would be involved. He’s a snake and his son is no better. Who are they allied with?”
“Sablecrest is the only one I know of for sure,” he said.
I rubbed my temple and checked my phone again. “Well, that doesn’t help us. Sablecrest is—“
The conference doors flew open and I stopped short. Declan marched in with a grunt, but it wasn’t his entrance that caused my eyes to widen as much as his cargo. Alongside him was a petite woman, her long brown hair swept over into a side braid and hands bound behind her back.
“Alpha, two of our perimeter guards were found dead,” he looked over at her, narrowing his eyes, “and then this witch was caught not far from our walls. She became hostile when we attempted to interrogate her, so I brought her in for further questioning. She could be connected with Titus.”
She twisted against the firm grasp he had on her arm. I was certain that if she could set him on fire with her mind, she would do so without a moment’s hesitation. “I didn’t do anything! Ugh! Please tell yourdogthat this is entirely unnecessary.”
I held up my hands. She stopped fighting but the scowl never left her face. “So you’re a sorceress? What is your name?”
“Taylor,” she yanked again then gave an exasperated sigh. “My name is Taylor Huntley.”
“If that’s even her real name,” Declan mumbled tightly.
Taylor rolled her eyes. “Here we go again. If you’re going to keep me here can you please get me a more competent guard?”
Declan smirked, “I was competent enough to catch you, now wasn’t I?”
I studied them for a moment while the entire room broke out into discussion over how to handle our new prisoner. I was still considering when a familiar face popped through the door and my face broke out into a grin. I couldn’t help myself. Not when it came to my mate.
She grimaced slightly and slipped through the door, careful not to bump it with her rounded belly. She walked over to me and frowned. “You didn’t wake me up.”
“Sorry, Shortcake. You just looked so peaceful and I know this baby has been taking a lot out of you.” I placed my hand on her belly for a moment before turning back to the rest of the room.
“Declan, take Taylor downstairs and make her comfortable in one of the cells, please. Taylor, until we can get to the bottom of this you’ll have to forgive our abundance of caution.” The duo argued and bickered their way out of the room and shortly after I dismissed the meeting, leaving me alone with Lou at last.
She stood up and walked to my chair, placing her hand on my neck and rubbing me gently. In the six months since we had been mated, I couldn’t have asked for her to love me any better. My chest swelled and I pulled her down into my lap. I pressed my forehead to hers, sighing deeply. “There were two guards found dead. I’m going to put an extra security detail on you to keep you safe.”
“I can handle myself, you know.” She frowned, pulling away to look at my face.
“I know. But…” I placed my hand firmly on her belly and spread my fingers wide. “Just humor me, okay?”
She nodded, biting her lip. “It’s an awful lot of trouble we’ve had in the last few months, isn’t it? Do you think we’ll ever have a normal life without Titus’s shadow?”
I pulled her head down and popped a kiss straight on her lips. “Damn straight. We’ll find Titus and whoever is hiding him, and then we’ll say hello to this cute little pup and live happily ever after.”
She smiled. “You have pretty good plans sometimes.”
“Oh yeah?” I smirked. “I think maybe you’re right.”
I reached around and grab a handful of her backside, pulling her in close. If someone had told me six months ago that Lou and I would be here, I would have thought they were insane. Loving this woman was easier than breathing and I would never stop being thankful she took a chance on me. Now I just needed to focus on keeping her and our baby safe, and interrogating this new prisoner seemed like a good place to start.
