The air was a kind of spring-fragranced air that grows wings on angel kind as I jogged toward the packhouse gates. I had told Luis Miguel to wait there, hoping he would be patient enough to not cause any trouble.
The irony of the situation wasn’t lost on ... I, Axel, son of the Alpha, rushed around like a commoner, and hoped this boy would be a good guest. I wasn’t sure what to expect. But then again, I had to play nice if I wanted to keep my reputation intact.
As I approached the gates, I could already see him standing there, looking far too out of place for my liking. He was standing near the edge of the property, feet planted firmly on the dirt path, and glancing back every few monts as if he expected soone to jump out from behind a tree and whisk him away.
As soon as he spotted , though, the expression on his face shifted from wary uncertainty to pure relief.
"Beta Axel!" He rushed over to , his movents quick but almost too conscious, as though he had been rehearsing this mont in his head.
"You almost left, didn’t you?" I asked, trying not to laugh at the earnestness in his voice.
Luis Miguel stopped just short of , a sheepish grin spreading across his face. "I... I thought maybe you weren’t coming after all," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
"Why didn’t you go inside?" I asked, trying to keep my voice neutral, though I couldn’t help but feel a certain amusent growing in my chest.
His face turned a little more serious, though his eyes still glead with curiosity. "The guards wouldn’t let in," he said, glancing back toward the imposing gates. "And I didn’t want to stand there like so lost fool."
I raised an eyebrow, considering his words. It wasn’t entirely surprising that the guards hadn’t allowed him inside. They were trained to be cautious, and Luis Miguel... well, he didn’t exactly fit the profile of soone who belonged at the packhouse.
But the fact that he’d chosen to wait out there, isolated, rather than just going to the front entrance like a normal guest was amusing in its own right.
"That’s fair enough," I said, giving him a quick nod. "But you’re with now. Co on."
I turned toward the guards, who were now watching us with interest. I nodded toward them, ensuring the usual authority was in my voice as I spoke. "Make sure he has easy access from now on. Always grant him entry without question."
The guards stood a little straighter, offering sharp nods of respect. "Of course, Beta Axel," one of them said, eyes still focused on .
I led Luis Miguel through the gates, noting how his eyes widened with awe as he took in the sight of the packhouse. I couldn’t bla him; it was hard not to marvel at the beauty of the place.
The sprawling grounds, the tall, majestic windows, and the arches of the architecture—it was the kind of house that seed to be designed to both impress and intimidate.
I caught his grin, the mischievous spark in his eyes that he couldn’t quite suppress. It almost made laugh. There was sothing innocent about his wonder, though I couldn’t tell if he was trying to hide it behind a mask of arrogance or if he genuinely was fascinated.
"This place is... incredible," he said, his voice full of admiration as we walked.
"Glad you like it," I muttered. "You’ll have plenty of ti to get used to it."
He gave a look; one that I could only describe as half-pity and half-amusent. "It’s nice, sure, but I can’t help thinking it would’ve been a lot more fun if my friends had been here to see all this too."
Right, the other boys.
I glanced at him, raising an eyebrow. "It’s so surprising that they are nowhere to be found, frankly. You must miss them already."
Luis Miguel’s face sobered slightly, though the glint of mischief remained in his eyes. "I don’t know about ’miss.’ I an, they were my crew, you know? But they’ve gone and gotten themselves lost... or worse."
He turned to face more fully as we walked, his facial expression changing from amusent to somber. "I’ve got a lot of mories with them, and I guess I wish they were here to see all this. To see I’ve been able to get in like we all planned. We were so looking forward to getting in the packhouse."
There was sothing in the way he spoke—like he was trying to convince himself as much as . I couldn’t help but wonder what had really happened to his friends. What did he an by ’lost’ or ’worse’?
There was still a chance that the boys were still busy being mischievous, so I didn’t want to jump to conclusions.
I didn’t ask him yet, though. I wasn’t going to push. Not yet. I had my own reasons for wanting to know the details, but I’d let us locate them before deciding if they had been taken by these ’witches’ Don Diego wanted to be kept a secret or not.
"Tell where you’ve been to search for them and where you haven’t." I began, already pulling out my phone to summon the pack guards on my side.
Luis Miguel shifted beside like his shoes were suddenly filled with thorns. I watched him out of the corner of my eye as I typed a ssage on my phone to summon the guards.
His gaze kept flicking to the walls around the packhouse; restless, jittery, and like he expected the bricks to talk. Sothing was off. Or maybe it was just him.
"You said you’ve searched everywhere, right?" I asked just to be sure.
If the pack was in danger, it ant María José coils be in danger too. A pretty little beauty all alone.
She needed .
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