Five
Two weeks later
To say Daniel was angry was an understatement.
Never had he been disrespected in such a manner. It was only made worse by the fact that it was his own mate that had caused such a scene and then had the audacity to disappear, to run from him without a word.
If it weren't for the fact Silver Moon was an ally of the Hellhounds, he would have torn the pack apart just as retaliation. But he didn't. Instead, he kept his rage bottled up as he calmly sent men out to look for the girl. It was infuriating but Daniel had to remind himself that the primary purpose being here wasn't because of his runaway mate but because of business.
What had meant to be a three day trip had now stretched into two weeks. Slade had returned to the Hellhound territory for a few days but had returned since business with the Ouma still hadn't been sorted. In fact, since the whole disaster of the first night, Daniel had barely seen the woman which only led Daniel to believe that this whole trip had been a waste of time.
Then, that morning (and completely out of the blue) the Ouma had requested Daniel and Slade join her in her office that afternoon.
Finally they were getting down to business.
Pulling his phone out, he hit dial on Kade's number, waiting for the other man to pick up.
"What?"
"Any news?" Daniel grumbled.
"Not yet." Kade replied. "I'll let you know if I hear different from the others."
Daniel clenched his jaw, counting silently to avoid taking his anger out on the wall of his room.
"I'm about to go into a meeting. If there are no clues by tonight I'm thinking of heading back."
"Alright."
Like that the call ended and Daniel was left no less frustrated. Grabbing his jacket, he left his room, pulling the denim jacket on as he jogged down the stairs to meet his father in the lobby.
"Did you find her?" Slade asked.
"Nope."
"Fuck." Slade grunted as they walked towards Eshe's office. "She's definitely her father's daughter."
"How do you know Axl anyway?" Daniel frowned.
"You're too young to remember but he was a Hellhound until he met Nora. He decided to move here because the place appealed to him and they needed someone not scared to do what had to be done." Slade shrugged and stopped when they reached the door. "If he had stayed he would have been my beta."
That surprised Daniel, his eyes widening a little. If Axl and Nora had moved to Hellhound instead of Silver Moon then Eva would have been next in line to be the beta. It would also have meant they would have found each other a lot sooner. Daniel wondered what Eve would have been like had she grown up as a Hellhound. Would she come out just like Daniel? Cold, calculated, willing to do anything to come out on top?
He didn't have a chance to ask more questions though as the door to the office opened and Eshe looked out at them with a welcoming smile.
"Come in, come in." She ushered them in. "I have been looking forward to speaking with you both. This is Inga, my Beta and head of security."
Eshe introduced the tall woman dressed in the black uniform the warriors here seemed to wear. Inga looked to be around the same age as Daniel's own mother with light golden blonde hair pulled into a tight ponytail and serious grey eyes. She watched every movement with the intensity of a seasoned soldier. Her face gave away nothing.
"It's been a long time since we last spoke." Slade started once everyone was seated. "I didn't think we would ever hear from you again."
"Everything happens for a reason." Eshe smiled, looking at the two men from her seat behind a large black desk with gold detail. "If the Goddess willed it, we would have stayed as we were forever."
"But she didn't." Daniel tilted his head a little, his eyes never leaving Eshe as he tried to gauge her intentions. "What happened?"
"You happened." The elder replied, her obsidian eyes twinkling as she regarded Daniel with a soft smile. "A few months ago the Goddess sent me a message. She told me about you and her gift for you, Eva. She showed me that this was the future of our packs."
Daniel frowned. He wasn't following. Eshe wasn't saying anything new to what she had already disclosed the previous Evening. It frustrated him. He didn't like riddles or mind games. Just say it how it was and move on.
"Okay but why now? Why not when I was eighteen or twenty-one?"
"Because you weren't ready and neither was Eva." Eshe replied simply.
"I am almost 50 years old." Eshe carried on. "My husband lives in Ghana with our children. They have their own families to oversee. I gave up seeing them grow because the Goddess told me that I needed to be here, leading Silver Moon. My family never complained, they never regretted it but we sacrificed so much to ensure the prosperity of not just Silver Moon but all packs across the world.
"But now my time here is coming to an end. It's time for me to step down as Alpha of this pack and go home to my family. Ordinarily I would pick a replacement. That is how it works with other packs but we aren't other packs. The Goddess guides us. The Goddess shows us the way like she has done for packs across the world for thousands of years.
"Daniel, the Goddess sent me a message telling me about you and Eva but she also told me something much more important than all of that. Something that will ensure the existence of our kind for years to come.
"We asked you here because we would like to ask you, the Hellhounds, to merge with Silver Moon and take over as Alpha for both packs."
Stepping off the bus, Eva sighed tiredly as she followed the crowds to the terminal. It had been two weeks since she had left Silver Moon territory. She hadn't been in touch with anyone despite desperately missing her family, Maria and Duncan. The guilt of leaving without a word still hung heavy on her shoulders but was not heavy enough to quash the dread of accepting Daniel Wolfe as her mate.
She was acutely aware that she had no way of knowing if the Hellhound Alpha had left Silver Moon and thus making it safe to return but her gut told her that he wouldn't just leave, not after Eva had embarrassed him by practically rejecting him.
Inverness wasn't Eva's original destination of choice but she feared crossing the border would draw attention especially since she wasn't sure which towns and cities were run by Hellhounds. She hadn't exactly made it her life mission to learn about the Hellhounds pack's territory. Also she wanted to stay as close as she could to home even if it meant remaining in her Pack's territory and being spotted.
So she had decided to head only a little further south and stay in a bed and breakfast in a nearby town. Her heat was coming and being out in the wilderness was dangerous.
Now she just needed to find a place to hide out and a way of getting there. It seemed simple enough really.
Except Eva had been too busy looking at the departure boards to notice the man with a familiar patch on his jacket watching her every move as he pulled a phone from his pocket and took a photo of her.