Page 34 of The Night Calling

Delco, the alpha, met me in one of the short buildings at the base of the mountain, in a room that served as an office.

“Shane, alpha heir of the Nightshade pack,” Delco said. He gestured to the chair across from the wide table in the center of the room. He wasn’t alone in the room. His mate sat beside him, and his beta stood to the left. “Or is it? Last I heard, you had fled after the devil claimed your pack.”

I frowned. “That wasn’t what happened.”

He leaned over the table and steepled his fingers. “Then what happened?”

Without going into much detail, I told them about the witches and I begrudgingly admitted I had no idea my pack was still alive.

“But now I know that’s not the case,” I said.

“No, it’s not.” Delco exhaled. “Things have been complicated around here. Warhide and Wildtail are at war again, Boldridge prefers to live as if the rest of the world doesn't exist, and then there’s the Nightshade. The devil actually contacted me last week. He wanted to meet and talk alliances. I told him to go fuck himself, but from I heard, he met with Whitecrest.”

“Conri's forming alliances? That sounds improbable.”

“I think so, that was why I refused, but if he allies with another one of the packs, we might be in trouble.”

“We need to get rid of Conri before he turns us all against each other,” I said. “I want to challenge him, but I don’t think he’ll stick to wolf rules. I need help.”

Delco narrowed his eyes. “You’re an alpha without a pack, boy.”

I gritted my teeth. I wasn’t a boy, but I knew he had called me that to aggravate me. “Help me and I’ll have my pack back.”

Delco glanced at his beta. Something passed between them, a comment I couldn’t hear, information they both knew and didn’t want to share.

“All right,” Delco said. I sat straighter. I had come here to beg, but deep down, I thought all the packs would turn me away. “Conri is becoming a nuisance, and it would be best if he was gone. But I won’t help you out of the goodness of my heart.” The alpha laughed and even his mate smiled. “I’ll do this for you on two conditions. One, you present me a plan, a real plan, to take down the devil and his demons. And two, you’ll owe me a favor.”

Shit. I had considered that but was hoping the packs wanted to see Conri gone. I didn’t have many choices here, did I?

I extended my hand across the table. “Deal.”

With a sly grin, the alpha shook my hand.

And I knew I was about to save my pack to doom it again.