I’d kissed Dillon and taken our relationship firmly out of the friend zone, because if I hadn’t, I knew I’d regret it.
Life was too short. Too precious for regrets, and we were now about to enter Raventhorn Pack land. It was a gated community, high security with all the bells and whistles, because as high alpha, Henrik could afford it.
Lycans only visited on an invitation or as unwilling guests. I’d heard conflicting tales about the High Pack. Some claimed Henrik to be a benevolent ruler, some a tyrant, others claimed he was absent most of the time, and then there was the most outlandish rumor yet that he was searching for his mate. The mate who’d died decades ago. Some say he believed she would return.
That last rumor was my favorite. It humanized Henrik, showed him to be a man capable of deep love and commitment, but I doubted it was true.
My stomach tightened as we approached the gates to Henrik’s domain.
“It will be fine,” Dillon said. “Trust me.”
“Yeah. We pay and we leave with my dad. Easy.”
Then why was my gut instinct screaming at me to turn the car around and leave?
We pulled up outside the tall wooden gates.
“What now?” Dillon said.
“We wait.”
Long seconds passed before a door opened in the gates and two Lycan males strode out. They approached the vehicle, one either side.
I wound down my window. “I’m here to see Alpha Henrik.”
The dark-haired Lycan arched a brow. “The alpha is expecting no visitors today.”
“I know. I wasn’t expecting to be here either, but he has my father, Patrick Darkmore, beta of Swiftwood Pack. I’m here to pay his debt.”
The Lycan’s expression smoothed out. He straightened and nodded at his companion, who strode back through the door in the gate. A moment later the gates swung open.
“Go through,” the Lycan said. “Peter will take you to see Henrik.”
“I want to see my father.”
“That will be for Henrik to decide.”
He stepped away from the car and I bit back an angry retort.
“Stay calm,” Dillon said. “This will all be over soon.”
We rolled through the gate onto Raventhorn Pack land and came to a halt. Forestland surrounded us, interrupted by a wide road that wound its way from the gate into the distance. There were hundreds of acres of land here, all belonging to Henrik.
Peter, the other Lycan, climbed onto a motorbike parked on the edge of the forest. The engine roared to life, and he shot off down the road.
We followed him down the main road that soon branched off into smaller roads and then narrow tracks not built for cars. The forestland ruled here, vibrant and fragrant, and my Lycan ached to break free of its human skin and run.
Not here.
Not now.
Soon.
She retreated, compliant for now.
We finally broke free of the dirt tracks and back onto a proper road that rose on an incline. We were going up a mountain, and to my right, beyond Dillon, lay a lake. Houses were visible beyond that. The pack residences, no doubt. The road curved and Peter shot through a set of metal gates onto a gravel drive that seemed to go on forever before a mansion came into view. I’d been wrong to think Ronuld’s pack house was opulent. His half-a-million home had nothing on this one.
Henrik’s mansion was a castle with turrets—actual fucking princess towers.
Two Lycans burst out of the doors to meet Peter. They conferred for a moment before the largest of the trio, a Lycan with a buzz cut and an angry snarl for a mouth, ate up the distance toward us.
I tensed up, but Dillon merely smiled, all relaxed as he wound down the window.
“Get out,” the Lycan said to him.
Dillon’s smile didn’t falter, but when he spoke, his tone was decidedly frosty. “Excuse me?”
The Lycan sneered. “Get out of the car. Now.”
Dillon popped the doors and climbed out. The Lycan might have been bigger and bulkier than Dillon, but the Atlantean radiated power that promised repercussions to any who challenged it.
I climbed out of the car and joined Dillon.
“You’re not a Lycan,” the Lycan said to Dillon.
“Observant,” Dillon replied dryly.
He raked him up and down and sniffed the air. “What are you?”
“Bored now,” Dillon said. “I have a fat bank account just waiting to lose some weight, so if you don’t mind, we’d like to see Henrik now.”
“Henrik will see her.” The Lycan jerked his chin toward me. “You stay out here.”
“Not happening,” Dillon said.
Peter and the other Lycan moved to flank us, but Dillon was unfazed.
“Back up,” they ordered.
“Or what?” Dillon’s eyes flashed and his jaw tensed. “What will you do. Exactly?”
The Lycans bared their teeth and my pulse began to race. This was Lycan territory and Lycan rules applied. Dillon needed to back down.
“Dillon, it’s fine.”
He frowned down at me. “No. It’s not. I didn’t come all this way to let you walk into potential danger alone.”
“If Henrik wanted to hurt me, he would have done so already.”
The last thing we needed was a fight. That wasn’t going to help me get my dad back.
Dillon pressed his lips together, eyes flashing with annoyance. “I don’t like this, Quinn.” He kept his eyes on the Lycan.
“I’ll be fine.” I smiled up at the angry Lycan. “Isn’t that right?”
He snorted. “Henrik has expressed no negative intentions toward you.”
Dillon made a sound of exasperation before squaring up to the Lycan. “I’m a trusting soul, a nice guy, so I’m gonna stand back and take your word that she’ll be safe in there, but if that changes, I’ll be holding you personally responsible.”
The Lycan’s eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared as he inhaled. “You’re more than you seem.”
“Damn right I am, and trust me, you don’t want to find out what that more is.”
The Lycan slow-blinked, then transferred his attention to me. “Henrik doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”
I squeezed Dillon’s arm, drawing his attention. “I’ll be back soon.”
Dillon stepped back to lean against the hood of the car as I followed the Lycan up the stone steps and through the impressive castle doors.
The inside was refurbished to look modern and sleek, a far cry from the exterior, which gave the impression of medieval décor.
Henrik had kitted the place out with hardwood floors and plaster walls hung with what I could only assume were priceless works of art. There were arches in place of doors and plenty of natural light, which was hardly what I expected from such a structure.
“Henrik is in assembly right now,” the Lycan said. “But he has agreed to speak with you between appointments.”
I had no idea what the Lycan was talking about, and it hit me that none of the Lycans had gone inside to tell Henrik of my arrival, unless…Unless the one at the gates had called it in.
Yes, that must be it.
We entered a corridor lined with more paintings in fancy frames and a queue of Lycans lined up against the wall. I got a few annoyed glances as my escort led me past them, through a set of double doors, and into a room bathed in the dying rays of the sun streaming in through a skylight. Floor-to-ceiling windows broke up the walls, several of them open to let in a cool breeze.