I lifted it up and tried to smooth out the creases to read what it said. The missing words didn’t actually hamper my understanding. As I scanned through what was left, it was clear that this was a notice regarding the upcoming development. Legalese proclaimed that all the right channels had been utilised and the demolition and the building would be going ahead as planned. I frowned grimly. Not if I had anything to do about it.

At the bottom of the paper, there was a website link and a small logo that appeared to be some kind of circle, with five straight lines drawn inside it, three reaching upwards and two down, all in heavy black ink. The website proclaimed itself as a company called Endorium, who appeared to be behind the so-called holiday homes development. I’d never heard of it before, but at the very least it was another lead to use. Satisfied that my efforts hadn’t been fruitless, I carefully folded the paper and shoved it into my back pocket.

I was just about to start clambering back down when I heard a twig snap below me. Peering down through the leafy branches, I could just make out the top of Corrigan’s head. It would have been nice to have hoped that from this vantage point I’d have been able to make out a bald patch to prove that he wasn’t quite as perfect as he appeared, but sadly his black as night hair curled silkily around his entire head. I opened my mouth to call down to him when there was another shout from somewhere to my left.

“My Lord Alpha!”

It was Lucy. My eyes narrowed as I watched her jog up. She was supposed to be with Max, making sure that there was a suitable camping ground for the campaigners, well away from any potential danger spots.

Corrigan turned to her. “What is it? Aren’t you supposed to be with the mage sorting out the area for the tents?”

I smiled smugly.

“I just wanted to let you know that we’ve found the perfect spot. It’s a bit secluded and difficult to find, but it’s well away from here. There’s a stream nearby and there’s plenty of flat ground to pitch tents on so we shouldn’t have any trouble persuading the humans to set up there.”

“Good.”

“Are the Welsh pack coming?”

Corrigan grunted. “They’re going to wait in Shrewsbury so they can get here quickly if we need them.”

I scowled down at him. We weren’t going to need them though.

“And Mack? Where is she?”

“Off somewhere checking the area. I’m looking for her now. She shouldn’t be hard to spot with that red hair of hers.”

That’s what you think. I resisted the urge to call down ‘cooeee’.

Lucy jerked her head in acknowledgment. There was a moment of silence before she spoke again. “Uh, my Lord?”

“Yes?”

“I don’t want to speak out of turn…”

“But?”

“But, well, I wondered why you bother about her so much.”

I immediately froze. Uh oh. I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear this. And what the bloody hell was Lucy doing talking to her lord and master in that prying manner anyway? He was definitely going to castigate her for being so incredibly presumptuous as to question him.

Corrigan gave a short laugh. “You mean why am I so determined to follow her around the countryside even though she seems to hate me?”

I blinked. Was that what he thought? I didn’t hate him. Far from it, unfortunately. He just annoyed the arse off me sometimes.

Lucy nodded. “I know it’s got nothing to do with the mages and the faeries. Why do we care what they do?”

His voice was a deep rumble. “She’s got a lot of strength, Lucy. We don’t want her to side with them against us.”

My heart sank. I’d been right. His interest in me was all just about a power play between the lot of them. A painful lump rose in my throat. As much as I’d secretly been hoping otherwise, it was clear that the only thing he was concerned about was a game of Otherworld one-upmanship.

“Yeah, but we don’t really care about them, do we?” she persisted. “I like Mack, I do, but she’s so…aggressive sometimes. And when she gets angry she’s bloody scary. She’s also not very nice to you.”

I frowned. Didn’t she know that I wasn’t actually very nice to anyone?

“I didn’t realise quite how inquisitive honey badgers were.”

Lucy was immediately apologetic. “I’m sorry, my Lord, I don’t mean to step out of line.”

“That’s okay. You’re potentially risking your life to be here, Lucy, you have the right to ask.”

I was stunned. Why wasn’t he biting her head off for daring to question his authority?

“My Lord, I’m here because whoever did that to the dryad deserves to be brought down. I know you wouldn’t put me in danger needlessly.”

Oh, here we go, I thought sardonically, back to blind devotion.

“But you’re here in the first place because I asked you to watch Mack and you want to know why,” commented Corrrigan.

Lucy didn’t answer. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “You should talk to Staines. He and I had a very similar conversation recently as well, because he seems to think that I should leave her well alone. It’s just that Mack has a habit of getting herself into dangerous situations and I needed to know that she wasn’t going to do anything stupid like get killed. I couldn’t be here at the time because Leah needed me.”

Who the fuck was Leah? My eyes narrowed. Was that the dark haired shifter I’d seen him with at Alcazon?

“The first time I saw her – Mack, I mean – she was on the beach with Tom, teaching him how to improve his fighting skills. I’d never seen anything like it before. She’s got a grace and poise that’s extraordinary.”

I swallowed hard. The adulatory words and his tone of voice were almost overwhelming.

“I couldn’t understand afterwards when I got to know her why she was so prickly. But I do now.”

“Because she was pretending to be a shifter when she’s actually not?”

“That’s part of it,” Corrigan answered. “She was with them, but she wasn’t really a part of them. She was still on the outside. That alpha that’s in place now?”

“Anton?”

“That’s the one. He really hates her. Not only that, but she was a kid when her mother dumped her with that pack in the first place. She’s been abandoned by people her entire life. It’s no wonder that she pushes them away now. It’s a self-preservation thing.”

“I’d not thought about it like that before.”

Neither had I.

“She’s got a lot of strength. Not just physically. You saw how she managed to bring everyone in line out there. She’s got shifters, faeries, mages, and even a vampire, all working in harmony towards the same goal. I couldn’t do that. People gravitate towards her. All sorts of people. Then she gets under their skin until all they can do is think about her virtually every moment of the day. Where they can’t sleep because she’s in their dreams, where they can’t concentrate because she might do something stupid like snap at the wrong person and end up getting hurt. Where even though she might growl and hiss and bite like an angry kitten, the only time they feel any peace is when they’re near her.”

My mouth dropped open. My heart was thudding deep within my chest and my bloodfire was swirling around inside me in warm scared confusion.

Corrigan laughed humourlessly. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have told you all that.”

“No, I, er, no, it’s fine,” stuttered Lucy. “I won’t tell anyone else.”

“I know you won’t.” Corrigan’s voice was back to normal now, the calm measured tones of the absolutely-in-charge-no-matter-what Lord Alpha.

“Just…?”

“Yes?”

“Why don’t you tell her all that?”

“Because she’s not ready to hear it. She’s still fighting for her independence and for her own identity. Sooner or later, however, Mack will come around.”

There was a moment of silence.

“You think like Staines,” commented Corrigan expressionlessly. “You don’t think she’ll ever come around.”

Again, Lucy didn’t answer. My throat felt clogged up and my breath was coming in short gasps. I screwed my eyes shut tightly, trying to calm myself down. I couldn’t let them know that I’d overheard such a personal soul-bearing conversation so I had to stay quiet. My fingers were digging painfully into the bark of the tree trunk, but I barely noticed. All my thoughts and feelings were in a messy whirl of confusion and agony. How had I not seen this before? How I had not noticed that I was like that? Or that Corrigan felt that way?

He cocked his head to one side, as if listening, and I thought for one heart-stopping moment that he’d heard some tiny movement I’d made up above in the branches. Instead, however, he gestured off into the distance.

“The humans are here. You should get back, Lucy.”

“Yes, my Lord.” She reached out and touched him gently on the arm, just for a moment, and then jogged off.

Corrigan remained there standing, his head bowed, then he let out one deep sigh and walked off himself, leaving me completely alone.

Chapter Eighteen

What I wanted to do, what I really, really wanted to do, was to stay up in the trees and never ever come back down. I had absolutely no idea how to deal with what I’d just heard. They say that eavesdroppers never hear anything good about themselves. Well, they were fucking wrong. What they should say is that eavesdroppers never know how to cope with what they hear about themselves. What the fuck was I going to say to Corrigan when I saw him again? My cheeks felt hot and feverish, and there was a curious burning sensation along the tips of my ears. The environmentalists were here and I had to get back in case the dryad’s murderer was also showing his face, but my thoughts were completely consumed by Corrigan’s revelations.

My bloodfire skipped through my system, zinging its way along with happy little twists and flips. He wasn’t just interested in me because I was a Draco Wyr and I might prove useful to him. He wasn’t pretending to like me because he didn’t want me to sidle up to either the Faes or the mages and get cosy with them instead. Neither was he just after a quick roll in the hay and another notch on his bedpost. It was me he liked. Really me. Mackenzie Smith me.