I swallowed the growl tickling the back of my throat and instead looked straight at Alistair. “Bran was strong and smart, he was an amazing fighter, but going up alone against cadracs, now that would pose a challenge even for him. Of course, cadracs don’t just attack on their own, they need a Master to control them. But there aren’t many people that can do that around these parts. Ah, but you already know all that. I bet you know exactly who is responsible for this and that’s why no one is actually looking for Bran’s killer. What I don’t understand is why that person isn’t dead yet?” All that I realized when I was walking back to the pack house with Yuri. It made the most sense, especially when it came to my Father’s hesitation towards hunting the killer down.

Everyone was quiet for a while, no one was surprised, except for Yuri and Marc. They were obviously just warriors in training and weren’t privy to everything that was happening. But Colwyn wasn’t surprised… Interesting. “For a few weeks we have been finding evidence of Mercenaries staying around the town,” Alistair admitted after a while.

“Someone ordered a hit on Bran?” I raised my eyebrows. Mercenaries were something like hunters, but they only killed supernatural creatures when someone paid them to. Cadracs were their favorite weapons.

“That’s what we thought, but now Jack…” Nikolai sighed. “It makes sense to attack the beta of the pack if you want to shake it, but Jack? He’s not that high ranking.”

“And who would want to shake the pack?” I asked. “What enemies have you guys made?”

“None that I know of.” Alistair sighed. “Not much has changed since you left,” he said looking at his desk.

“I can’t say the same,” I said and he looked up at me and for a second he looked puzzled, confused, sad… But just as quickly as it appeared it was gone.

“Of course. You’re not a child anymore… I don’t think I can actually remember a time when you were…” he said, looking surprised. This time everyone caught it, looking just as stunned as me. This was not his usual behavior.

“I didn’t get to be.” I don’t know why I said that. It was stupid. I wasn’t mad, not about that at least. None of us got to be kids, well, except for Lowell. The rest of us were the Ghealach heirs. We had to grow up quickly, we had to be the perfect children.

He just looked at me. Nodded. Then said: “Nikolai, take the warriors and check the territory for any leads. Trystan you take the warrior apprentices and guard the house. Tell the pack no one is to go out alone. No one.” For some reason, he looked at me.

“What?” I asked, feeling a bit offended. “And where am I in this plan of yours?”

Alistair stared at me for a moment, a stone-cold expression on his face. I was pretty sure he was going to tell me to leave again. How dare I even think they needed or wanted my help? “You’re on Trystan’s team,” he said in the end.

Well then… I wasn’t sure if I was happy about that. While Alistair did allow me to stay and join the investigation, sending me with Trystan would surely result in me sitting on the sidelines as far from the action as was possible. Hell if Trystan could he would’ve probably sent me on my merry way, judging by the surprised then angry look that flashed in his eyes before he controlled himself. And yet if I complained it would only be this morning's conversation all over again. Damn it.

There was nothing I could’ve done other than leave the office and trudge sulkily behind Trystan. To no surprise, he stopped me in the living room. “Stay here, guard the house from the inside, that’s an order, Reid,” he said as arrogant as ever and left the house, Yuri gave me an apologetic expression before he followed him out, Marc, Colwyn, and Akira right on his heels.

Great, so I was stuck in the house. Well, I was sure Alistair wouldn’t leave me on Trystan’s team forever, so for now I decided to play nice to assure I could stay on Father’s good side.

There weren’t too many people actually here, I guess Trystan’s earlier speech calmed the pack down enough for them to go home. There were, however, few people in the kitchen and I was hungry. The second I walked into the kitchen though I almost collided with Hiro. The unexpected close proximity made us both jump away from each other as if the other one had caught on fire.

“Oh, Reid! Perfect timing!” Holly called from somewhere behind Hiro who was still staring at me as if he expected me to attack him. “Help Hiro, carry some supplies from the basement.”

His eyes went wide and I could see the protests forming on his tongue as he parted his lips. Oh… An evil thought popped up in my brain and I couldn’t help but smile wickedly at him. “Sure thing Holly. Come on bud, lead the way!” I said before he could voice his opinion and threw my arm around his shoulders, which made him wince and his heart race with fear. Now, who wouldn’t enjoy a bit of tormenting of their ex?

I pushed him towards the stairs into the basement. He gave a resigned sigh and slowly went down. His shoulders were tense, obviously expecting me to shove him down the stairs or something.

As we passed by the Infirmary I heard two voices talking quietly inside. Nadia and Jack. I told myself I would have to pay Jack a visit later. I followed Hiro, who was concentrating way too much on the piece of paper with the supplies Holly wanted.

Living in a house full of werewolves meant you always had to have tons of food on hand. And while there was a double fridge in the kitchen, most of the pack’s food was hidden down here in the storage room. Boxes of canned food, fruits and vegetables, meats, and some dairy products, all of course in a huge freezer. If I remembered correctly a big van came with supplies every two to three weeks. Werewolves had big appetites…

As the storage door closed behind us, Hiro stopped and faced me with a rather serious expression, his lips pursed into a thin line, his hands fisted, crumpling the paper.

“Do it,” he said.