"Council Yard!?" Ivar and Bear exclaim at the same time, exchanging secret looks with each other before looking toward my dad with a pleading expression.
"Yes, Council Yard! Is there a problem with me going there?" I ask with a raised brow. First my dad, now them. What the fuck is the matter with all of them? What are they hiding from me? I wonder
"No General, there's no problem at all. How about you allow us to pick them instead? You've had a long day, we just thought maybe you should go home with the old Alpha and relax."
"You want me to go home and relax with the old Alpha!?... Really!?" I ask, wondering when Ivar started talking and thinking like an idiot. Where's the problem with me going to Council Yard? Something is definitely going on that they're not telling me about
"Uhmm, wrong choice of words, General. What I'm saying is..." He wants to explain further but I don't want to hear any more.
"Take my dad home, Ivar, while I go to Council Yard with Bear. I hope I've made myself clear enough?" I say firmly
"Yes, General!" He replies, immediately directing his gaze to my dad. "This way Alpha, the car is over there." He says and they both walk away.
"First my dad, now you both..." I say as Bear and I walk to my car.
"I don't understand what you're talking about, General." He replies innocently like he truly didn't understand what I was talking about
"Yeah, right! You wanna tell me why you all are acting strange? Why don't you want me to get Carol and Victoria out of prison? Did the mother and daughter do something bad that you guys covered up and don't want me to know about?"
~**~
Eric's POV
We watch Alpha Elias's private jet taxi to a stop from where we're parked at the private jet terminal. We're already waiting by the entrance of the plane the moment the door opens to let its passengers out.
His twin bodyguards, Zach and Zeke, are the first to come out of the plane. Zach and Zeke don't look much like bodyguards. They look like normal muscular 6 ft 2 kind of guys, but to those who know them, they're horror extraordinaire. They can do more damage than five of me put together. After they look around and are sure everywhere is safe, one of them ducks back into the plane to get the Alpha.
Alpha Elias and his seer, Thor's second Uncle, Leif, walk out of the plane. The moment he sees Henrik and me where we stand waiting, his usually stern face softens to form a huge smile.
"Eric..." He rumbles out my name as he walks down the airstair
I laugh
"Why Uncle, It's not even a month since we left, did you miss us that much?" I say as he arrives in front of us
Within a blink of an eye, the smile on his face disappears to be replaced with his usual stern look
"Miss you? What do you mean by that? I threw a party when you both left my pack, asshole! I was glad to get rid of you rebels." he says with a deep frown but opens his arms to give me a bone-crushing hug.
Of course, he missed us. Even if his face is now devoid of emotion, the strength in his hug tells me otherwise.
He and his mate didn't have any kids of their own before he lost her in a freak accident a year before Thor and I arrived in Denmark to live with him.
Uncle Elias is a mean-looking, big burly man who surprisingly acts nothing like what he looks like. Of course, no one knows that except for the people closest to him. What will become of his reputation if people know that the big baddie is actually a softie at heart?
"Yeah, I missed you too," I say and chuckle when he eventually pulls away from our hug.
He doesn't respond to me but turns his piercing gaze to Henrik.
"Alpha..." Henrik says, bowing deeply to him with respect
"How have those two Americans been treating you all?" He asks and we laugh
'Americans!' he would always exclaim with rolled eyes every time either I or Thor messed up
"Very well Alpha, thank you, sir..." Henrik replies.
While he's speaking with Henrik, I use the opportunity to say hello and exchange pleasantries with the twins. When I'm done with them, I turn to the seer with a questioning look but he just smiles. The summit he said they were attending was supposed to last for a month yet here they are in California without prior notice. Alpha Elias just called the previous night to inform us they would be landing in America.
"Your mother sends her greeting." I hear him finally say to Henrik before turning his gaze back to me. As we walk towards our car he says...
"Yesterday, Leif suddenly woke up to tell me, this is the perfect time for us to visit America. "We are killing two birds with one stone," he said with no other explanation and here we are... My seer is getting crazier and crazier by the day, Eric, I tell you." He says with a chuckle
I also laugh and turn to the seer but before I can say anything my phone starts to ring. I bring it out to see the caller ID...
"It's Uncle Knox, maybe he wants to speak with you," I tell Alpha Elias before swiping the call button to answer it.
"Uncle Knox, Uncle Elias is..."
"What the hell happened to your phones!? We've been calling you and Henrik for the past five minutes!" He shouts. He sounds panicky and I wonder why.
"Thor has gone to Council Yard Penitentiary to get Carol and Victoria." He says before I can ask what the problem is. "I can't dissuade him from going. You and I know how stubborn he can be!"
"Oh..." I say with relief. "Okay, but you don't have to worry about that. Council Yard is a big place and Thor will stay in the office area. He has no business visiting where the prisoners are kept."
"Oh! Is that so?" He sighs with relief. I panicked unnecessarily then, I'm sorry. What about Elias?"
"We're on our way home. We'll see you at home"
They're all seated in the car by the time I'm done speaking with Uncle Knox. I join them and we head back to the pack.
~**~
Ash's POV
One moment I was studying on my bed, sucking on Victoria's yogurt popsicles. The next thing I know, Victoria is gently shaking me awake.
"Ash, wake up. You need to get up and have some food. It's afternoon already and you've not even had breakfast."
I hear the concern in her voice and open my eyes to see her smiling down brightly at me.
"And she's back," I say and smile back at her as I sit up in bed.
"Yeah. I know I owed you an explanation about earlier this morning but first, go have your bath, brunch will be ready by the time you're done" She said brightly
"You're a god sent. Thank you for taking good care of me." I reply as I walk to the closet. I pick out clean panties and a simple summer dress for the day. The weather is warm and I see she's also dressed the same way.
I enter the bathroom with my clothing items. I didn't have a friend before so I'm not yet comfortable going all naked in her presence as she does in mine. I quickly brush my teeth, shower, and get dressed. I don't want to keep her waiting since we always eat together.
I suddenly freeze from toweling my hair when a familiar intoxicating smell hits me.
'Where's that coming from?' I wonder as I look around the bathroom for the source.
"No! It can't be him!" I whisper to myself in disbelief