“What prisoners would that be, Alpha Falan?” Earl grins, turns away and I just smile to myself. A shifter after my own heart.
Arriving at their packhouse, I am taken to Alpha Lyle. As soon as our introductions are done, I ensure that my escort are cateredfor and that Kynan is stationed by Alpha Lyle’s door, should I need him.
Chapter 7
LYLE
As soon as Alpha Falan enters the room, Hunter is on his feet and pacing in my mind. As I greet Falan, Hunter's agitated state begins to affect me, too.
‘What has got into you?’
MATE! I SMELL MATE!
‘WHAT?’
I tell you I can smell mate. It is faint, but it is there.
‘If it’s faint, then she hasn’t traveled with Falan. She could be someone he has met on his journey or a female in his pack. Let’s get comfortable first, and then I’ll broach the subject with him. Okay?’
Don’t leave it too long. Mate is mate! We want to know who she is.
“I hear you had an eventful journey through our lands, Falan? It was wise to have taken the route through Blood Pearl, too. Who knows what force Arric may have used had you gone into no-man’s-land?” Earl had already mind linked the details of the skirmish, so we could warn future border patrols to be extra vigilant.
“Your Beta handled the problem quickly and efficiently, Lyle. You could not have asked more of him.” Falan offers the compliment and I take it in the manner I believe it is intended.
“Perhaps it would have been better if it had not been one of your escort that had provided the warning. It should have been my warriors that were more aware of their surroundings.” I laugh at my own comment but am serious at the same time.
“They had been there some time waiting for us. There was evidence that they had gone to some length to hide their scent. I noticed several dead fragrant flower heads on the ground after the scuffle. If I had been more observant, I would have recognized the signs sooner. My warrior only stumbled across them as he went to relieve himself.” Falan grins as he says this.
Ask him.
“You traveled with a small escort. I thought that you would have had a larger force in the circumstances?” I try to steer the conversation towards the members of his team, but am not sure how to get there.
“I decided to travel light and fast, rather than have a larger force. As you know, you can only travel as fast as your slowest party member. With yourself and Gerry supplying an honor guard, as he so diplomatically put it, we had a force to be reckoned with. My warriors did well to maintain the pace, considering the twohonor guards traveled only half the distance each at that speed.” Falan has a proud look when he finishes that statement.
“I have to agree with that. You certainly made good time. What was so important that you had to speak in person, though. I am at a loss as to what that may be.”
No! You were supposed to ask about females that may be our mate.
‘I will ask when the time is right and not before.’ I swear Hunter would bite me if it was at all possible. He is so frustrated.
“While we were looking into where Arric may have come from, someone threw us a name that we didn’t know. When we dug a little deeper, we think we may have found Arric’s biological father. He was born as an illegitimate. His father had no part in his upbringing, but we believe we’ve traced financial support that has been paid over the years. At the moment it’s all gossip and hearsay, but it makes sense of a few things, too. I have my people tracing the support theory, and they think that they will have hard evidence soon.” Falan pauses and I find myself holding my breath. “We believe his father may be a member of your shifter council.”
My head reels with his statement. How can this be? Mentally, I begin ticking names off. My father? Not a chance. Lykos Greyfoot? I seriously doubt that. He is too old school to be dishonorable. Chet Blueblood? He hasn’t been on the council long enough to even be considered. Flint Sable? I refuse wholeheartedly to believe it could be Flint. Porter Riverrun? He’s been a councilman for as long as anyone can remember. Surely not.
“What name do you have for his father?” I watch Falan’s face closely, and Hunter is giving this his full attention, too.
“We believe it is Porter Riverrun. I am sorry to bring this to your table, Lyle, but I don’t know anyone else that I could trust. I am taking a leap of faith that you are as trustworthy as I believe.”
Picking my phone up from the desk, I place a call. As soon as there is a voice on the other end, I speak.
“Are you at the council?”
“I’m traveling back there now. I’m having a break in a beautiful…”
“How fast can your motorcycle get you to the council safely?”
“What’s happened, Lyle?”
