Azalea

I paced the floor waiting for Liam to link, or call, or anything. The boys were curled up in blankets, sleeping on the couch. Leo had not woken up making Felix have to lift him from his bed to bring him in here. Junior had followed me after some convincing and pulling but he fell quickly back asleep when we got to our room. Felix stood by the door, arms crossed, with his normal serious expression. Even if Liam linked him about whatever was happening at the prison, I knew he wasn’t going to tell me without permission from Liam. Felix’s loyalty to Liam was admirable but also frustrating.

The guard had said something was happening at the prison and that worried me. I had denied every request from Gwen and her therapist to release her. The conversations I had with her therapist had not set my mind at ease for her recovery. Although she had long since been forgiven, I still did not trust that my children were safe with her roaming around freely. She was so adamant that I did not deserve to be Liam’s mate, I feared her retaliation against my children more than anything. I had asked them to make her lodgings a little more comfortable as time passed but I was not ready for her to be released.

A little pain ignited in my side, but I ignored it as I chewed my fingernail and paced the floor. “Luna, sit,” Felix’s gruff voice said from the door.NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.

“No,” I told him. “Not until I am told what is going on.” I didn’t leave room for his argument although I knew he wasn’t going to. Felix didn’t move, just continued to watch me pace.

My phone rang from its place on the table, and I launched myself at it. I answered without looking at the caller ID. “Liam?” I answered quickly.

“No, Lea, it’s me. What is going on?” Lily asked. Her voice was worried. “Damien just left here quickly telling me to stay. What is going on? Austin said he got orders to lock the pack house down!”

“I don’t know. I was with Liam in his office when one of the guards at the prison barged in saying he needed to come immediately. He didn’t really explain what was happening before Liam made me get the kids and go to our room,” I quickly explained.

“Liam and Damien both have their blocks up. Damien said Liam needed to see him,” she said worried. It wasn’t like them to just leave us both out of things. Liam has a tendency to make sure the situation is under control before allowing me near it, but I cannot blame him. His worry for my safety can be a distraction when he is in dangerous situations. I try not to push the issue with him too often, but I do not like not knowing what is going on and I like Lily being in the dark even less.

“Lily, I’m worried,” I confessed.

“Lea, are you pacing? You need to sit down; this isn’t good for the baby,” she fussed.

“Lily, I left Liam almost an hour ago. He should have said something by now. He hasn’t linked or called. Not even a message. And Felix doesn’t know anything, or he isn’t telling me,” I said eyeing my forever bodyguard. His face stayed its normal stoic expression not indicating if my mate had linked him without telling me anything.

“I am coming up there. Delilah and Lucas are in their rooms and there are patrol wolves on every floor. Tell your brute I will be there in a minute and to let me in,” she said. I nodded my head not thinking about her being on the phone. The line went dead, and I set my phone back down, wrapping my arms around myself.

“Felix, Lily will be up here any moment,” I said softly. He gave me the slightest nod. I carried on my pacing, rubbing my arms. The longer I didn’t hear from Liam, the more anxious I was growing. If someone was hurt, I wanted to know. If he was hurt, I needed to know. Missy also wasn’t back yet and it worried me not knowing where she was. I knew it was fruitless to call her while she was on a run and I silently cursed the Moon Goddess for not allowing me to link anyone but Liam.

Sure enough, there was a firm knock at the door. Felix turned, pausing before opening the door. I was sure he was linking Lily to make sure it was her. When he turned the lock on the door, she pushed it open quickly, almost knocking him over. She rushed to me, pulling me into her arms. “Oh, Lea. They will tell us soon. If Liam didn’t immediately call Damien, then it couldn’t have been that dangerous,” she tried to comfort me. I wrapped my arms around my best friend.

“Lily, Damien didn’t say anything? He didn’t say why Liam was calling for him?” I asked her.

“No, he didn’t. He just said stay put. Austin is the one who told me the pack house is on lock down,” she said. I knew she had to be worried too. They don’t leave us out of the loop often. “Let’s sit down.” She pulled me over to our bed. When she let go of me, she frowned. “You’re shaking. Let me get you a sweater. Where’s that hoodie?” she trailed off moving to the closet.

Liam

I couldn’t believe my eyes. Gwen lay on the floor in the middle of her cell with her neck broken. I actually cringed at how painful it looked. No one had touched the body yet. “When did this happen?” I asked.

“The guard stays at the end of the hall. Since she is the only one in this section, we check on her once an hour. She was fine an hour ago when she was checked last. We switched guards during the hour. At the next check, the new guard found her like this,” the wolf that had come to get me explained.

“I want the previous and current guard in front of me now,” I said.

“They are waiting in interrogation cells below, Alpha,” he said. “We immediately had them sequestered so you could speak to them.”

“Good,” I said my anger rising. Someone had orchestrated this. This had to be internal.

“This was either one of the guards or they let someone in to do it,” Gavin surmised in my head.

“I agree,” I said. “But what is the motive?”

“She tried to kill their Luna. Any pack member aware of the events that is loyal to Little Mate would want to rip her head off,” he reasoned.

“Just because you want to rip her head off does not mean everyone does. Plus, the only people that know are the Hales, us, and the guards that have been here,” I shot back. As much as I understood his thinking, I had to be calm and logical about this. My gut was telling me that this was not simple revenge for Gwen’s attempt on Azalea’s life years ago. Why would they wait so long?

“You are a fool if you think no one in this pack has wondered about her,” Gavin sneered.

“I want this cell and the surrounding area gone over with a fine-tooth comb. Any evidence of someone else being here needs to be reported to me immediately. I also want the log of who has been here to visit her for the past 6 months,” I ordered. The guards around me nodded and started getting to work. The one who had come to retrieve me paused.

“Alpha, the only visitors Miss Hale has had are Beta Damien, Mrs. Hale, and her therapist,” he said. “No one else. Beta Declan has never come.”

“I still want the record. Get the therapist down here immediately. I need to speak to him,” I directed. He nodded his head and set to work.

“Damien,” I linked as I turned to go to the interrogation cells.

“Yea,” he linked back lazily. He sounded like he was falling asleep.

“Something has happened,” I told him.

“Where are you?” he asked, more alert immediately.

“I’m at the prison. Do not bring Lily. Just come quickly,” I said.

“Understood. I’ll be there in 5 minutes,” he said.

“Interrogation rooms first,” I instructed. I put my block up, not wanting Lily to try and get answers for the moment. Damien needed to be told first so he could tell his family.

I could feel Azalea’s anxiety grow the longer I was here. “We need to tell Little Mate,” Gavin said.

“Not yet,” I said. “I need answers. And I should tell her this in person.”

“She is worried. It is bad for the pup,” Gavin growled. Although I agreed with him, I needed to get more information before I told her this. I didn’t know how she would react but I was sure this would be jarring. I needed to get control of the situation and then tell her when I could be there to keep her calm.

“Lily will go find her. She is going to call her when Damien doesn’t tell her anything and she can’t link us. She is with Felix so if this is some outside person, she will be safe,” I said. Lily and Azalea were incredibly close. When Damien and I refused to tell Lily something, she went right to Azalea and vice versa.

“Little Mate doesn’t want Lily. She wants us,” he said. He was right but first, my best friend needed me. I tried to prepare myself for his reaction to the news as I waited for his arrival.