I was back at the pack house by nine.
Someone had sent me a threatening text and I'd started pulling at the edges of a thirty-one-year-old land filing, and my options were to slow down or speed up. Slowing down had never really been in my nature, so here I was, folder in hand, with a new printout clipped to the back of it.
I'd found it late last night after Rhys left, when I couldn't sleep and went back to the county database. A secondary filing, older than my family's title by at least two decades, same parcel, different name. I didn't recognize it. I couldn't place it anywhere in what I already knew about the land, which meant it was either irrelevant or it was the most important thing in the folder.
I didn't think it was irrelevant.
The same guard waved me through the checkpoint. The same gravel crunched under my tires. I parked in the same spot, got out, and this time I let myself actually look at the grounds properly.
It was a lot of house. I'd registered that yesterday, but standing here in the morning light, it landed differently.
The main building alone was the size of something that should have a name and a historical plaque. The grounds behind it stretched further than I could see from the front, with two additional structures visible and the suggestion of more beyond the tree line.
Everyone seemed busy, moving from one building to another like it was just part of their routine.
The front door opened before I could knock.
A man stepped out. Not Rhys. Almost the same height, broad through the shoulders. He didn't look surprised to see me. If anything, it felt like he'd been expecting this.
"Callum," he said, holding out his hand. "I handle things around here."
I looked at his hand for a second before taking it. His grip was firm.
"Elise Winters."
He smiled. "I know who you are."
I huffed out a small breath. "Yeah," I said. "I figured you'd say that. I mean, of course, I was here yesterday. Rhys, I mean, Mr. Gray must have told you. "
He didn't argue. Just kept that polite smile, like he wasn't planning on giving me anything more than that.
"The Alpha is in a meeting," he said.
"I'll wait."
Something in his expression said he'd expected exactly that. He stepped back and held the door. "Please come in."
He led me through the main hall, and I paid attention this time. The house was busy. Not chaotic, but full, people moving through corridors, carrying things, speaking in low voices, and disappearing through doors.
I caught a glimpse of what looked like a large kitchen through one doorway and an actual map room through another.
I walked past a half-open door and heard Rhys's voice from somewhere inside. Low and taut, saying something I couldn't catch. Whatever the meeting was, it wasn't a relaxed one.
Some of the people moving around gave me looks as we passed. Not unfriendly. More like the kind of look you give someone new when you're curious but too polite to stare. A few of them smiled. One woman carrying a stack of folders gave me a small wave like we'd met before, which we hadn't.
"This place runs like its own town," I said to Callum.
"More or less."
"Do you manage all of it?"
He glanced at me sideways, something a little amused in it. "I'm the pack's Beta."
"Second in command," I said before I could stop myself and then felt slightly ridiculous about how pleased I was to know that. "I've handled lycan territorial cases before. I know how the hierarchy works."
"Do you?" Not a question. More like he was enjoying something privately.
"Alpha, Beta, then the ranking members below. You're second in command."
"I am," he said. "Though I'd argue it's a bit more than that."
We turned down a side corridor, and I don't know why that question came out when it did. It just slipped past whatever filter I usually had.
"Does Alpha Gray have a Luna?"
Callum's steps slowed just enough for me to notice. Not a full stop, just a slight pause. He looked at me, and his expression had shifted into something that was definitely more amused.
"He wouldn't be driving to your motel at two in the morning," he said lightly, "if he had a Luna waiting in his bed."
The heat hit my face before I could do anything about it. Great. Fantastic.
"That's not why I asked."
"Mm." His mouth twitched. "Of course not."
I exhaled, already annoyed with myself for asking in the first place. "I meant—if he had one, maybe I could ask her a few things. Maybe she has answers." I gestured vaguely, because I didn't actually have a better word for it.
Callum pushed open a door at the end of the corridor, holding it there for me.
"For what it's worth," he said, sounding as casual as ever, "Rhys has never had a Luna." Never been with anyone, actually," he added, still in that same pleasant tone. "Thirty-two and still a virgin. Try not to look too shocked when you see him."
I stopped just inside the doorway, staring at him. He looked back, completely unbothered.
"…I'm sorry," I said slowly, "why are you telling me that?"
Callum's smile sharpened just a little. "Thought you'd want context."
"Context," I repeated. "For what, exactly?"
"For whatever it is you think is happening," he said, then stepped past me. "Helps to know you're not competing with anyone."
I frowned, following after him. "I'm not competing with anyone. And I don't even assume—"
"Right," he said easily.
I narrowed my eyes at his back. "You're enjoying this way too much."
He glanced over his shoulder, not even pretending to deny it. "A little."
I had nothing left to say to that. My face was doing things I had no control over and Callum was very kindly pretending not to notice, which made it worse.
We arrived at the waiting room and it was exactly what it was designed to be. Comfortable enough to not feel like a holding cell, empty enough to give nothing away. A couch, two chairs, a low table, and neutral walls. Nothing on them. No reading material, no personal items, nothing to indicate who used this room or why.
Callum left me there with a smile that I was choosing not to analyze.
I sat down and looked around. I got up and looked more carefully. Checked the light fixture, the window latch, and the quality of the wood on the door frame, mostly because it gave my brain something to do that wasn't replaying what Callum had just told me.
Thirty-two and still a virgin. Why does that information feel like it's sitting somewhere it's not supposed to sit?
The door opened and a young woman came in carrying a tray. And omega, for sure. Fresh lemonade, a slice of what looked like lemon cake, a small folded napkin and she set them on the table with a warm smile and left without saying anything.
I sat back down. I ate some of the cake, which was genuinely excellent, and I felt slightly disarmed by that.
Twenty minutes passed.
I was finishing the lemonade and reviewing the secondary filing again when movement caught my eye. Someone passing the open doorway. An older woman, white-haired.
She stopped and looked at me. She didn't look surprised to see me. She looked relieved. Like she'd been waiting for me to show up for a very long time.
But why?