Page 9 of New Blood (Werewolf Alliance #1)

O utside the alpha’s master bedroom, Danielle felt her heart thunder into her throat, robbing her of her remaining breath.

She had nearly made the biggest mistake of her life: kissing the alpha of her pack.

If her brain hadn’t switched back on at the last moment before their lips could meet, she would have done more than just embarrass herself.

She would have jeopardized her future with the pack.

Jude would have been in the right exiling her, sending her away to fend for herself without protection from the pack.

It would turn her into a lone wolf and make her vulnerable and lonelier than she’d ever been.

No werewolf in their right mind wanted this.

They needed the pack. She could only hope that Jude would overlook her transgression.

The cleaning bucket with the dirty towels still in her hand, she headed for the stairs.

As she came around the corner, she saw one of the newcomers, Austin, standing in front of the door to Cameron’s room.

He nodded at her, looking her up and down.

Did he know that she’d been in his brother’s room?

Was it written on her face that she’d almost kissed him?

Were her cheeks still flushed? They certainly felt like it.

“Evening, I’m Austin,” he said with an easy smile, extending his hand toward her.

Danielle shifted the bucket into her left hand and shook his. “I’m Danielle.”

She felt instantly at ease with him. There was nothing threatening about him, nothing imposing.

Although she could see the family resemblance with Jude, he was nothing like his brother, maybe because he wasn’t the new alpha.

Austin was simply a new member of the pack, even though as the alpha’s brother, he occupied a high rank.

“It’s nice to meet you, Danielle.”

“Likewise,” she replied, feeling herself relax and smile back at him. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

“No, no,” he said with a motion to the open door. “Priscilla is getting the room ready for me.”

Danielle looked into the room, just as Priscilla emerged from the walk-in closet, a large box in her arms. Their eyes met.

“Oh, Danielle, could you please give me a hand and bring this box down to the storage room? I’ve got another one, which is just as full.”

“Of course,” Danielle replied.

“Let me do that,” Austin interrupted.

They both entered the room at the same time, bumping into each other in the narrow doorway.

“Sorry!”

“My fault,” he replied.

Despite the contact with his body and the fact that Austin was just as handsome as his brother, she felt nothing, no spark, no attraction, nothing that drew her to him.

“No, no, you don’t need to help,” Priscilla said quickly, a tinge of dread in her voice. “Danielle and I can take care of it.”

Was Priscilla afraid of Austin? Afraid of what the Werewolf Alliance could do to her and to all of them if they were displeased with anything the Gallagher pack did? Or was she just frazzled and still in shock over what had happened tonight?

“I’ll take the box,” Danielle said, and reached for it. She took the box with both hands, her bucket in her left hand, dangling underneath the box now.

“Thanks, Danielle,” Priscilla said and turned back to the closet to take out the second box.

“Thank you,” Austin said. “Both of you. I’m really not used to being waited on hand and foot.”

She ignored the comment and quickly nodded before she left the room and headed downstairs.

Despite Austin’s words, she knew that everybody in the pack would make sure that Jude and his men would receive everything they needed before they had to ask for it—everybody except for some of the family members.

Having witnessed Byron’s outburst during the earlier meeting, it was evident that he would make it as difficult as possible for the Werewolf Alliance team to assimilate.

Or maybe it was the other way around: perhaps the Gallagher pack had to assimilate with the Werewolf Alliance, because it was their rules the pack would have to live by from now on.

The small storage room was located on the first floor.

Danielle used her elbow to press the door handle down before pushing the door open.

Inside the windowless room, it was pitch-black.

Again, she used her elbow to flick the light switch.

There were several shelving units as well as numerous boxes stacked up on one side of the tiny eight-by-eight room, covered with a thin layer of dust. Danielle set down the bucket and looked for a space to store the box from Cameron’s room.

Seeing that there was very little space left for anything, she closed the door almost completely to see if there was any space left behind it.

She was lucky and found a spot into which she could squeeze the box.

She turned back around, reached for her bucket, and switched the light off. But before she could open the door, she heard hushed voices right outside the storage room. Her hand on the door handle, she froze.

“Listen to me,” Eve hissed. “He killed Cameron. We can’t just let that go.”

“Cameron was an asshole, and you know it.” She recognized Byron’s voice.

“He was our brother! Just because you and he constantly got into fights doesn’t change that!”

“I’m not saying that.”

“You know what? This is typical for you! Big mouth and no action! You’re just gonna stand by and let them exile Dad without doing anything about it, aren’t you?”

“Well, what the fuck am I supposed to do about it? At least, you’ve got an easy way out! All you need to do is mate with the alpha, and you’re back in power!”

“Mate with him? Not in a million years! I despise him! He comes rolling in here with his thugs, making a big announcement, thinking I’ll submit willingly. Phew! I wouldn’t screw him if he were the last man on earth!”

“Don’t be stupid,” Byron ground out. “I don’t have to tell you that it’s an affront to any alpha to refuse to mate with him.”

Eve grunted, and it sounded like she wanted to protest.

“I’m not finished! Because if you refuse to mate with him, you know exactly who’s next in line: Violet. Do you really want that to happen? Do you want to have to bow down to our cousin and her overbearing mother?”

“What do you have against Aunt Flora?”

“Nothing. But if Violet mates with Jude, she’s the boss around here.

She’s half as smart and beautiful as you.

Do you really want her to be above you in rank?

” Byron scoffed. “Yeah, I didn’t think so.

You should be the matriarch in the pack, not Violet.

It’s bad enough that Aunt Flora took that role after Mom’s death.

Let’s not give her the chance to continue that role. ”

“She was there when I needed her.”

“So she lent you a shoulder to cry on, boo-hoo!”

“Well at least I cried when Mom died! And what did you do? Get drunk every night! And hunt in the woods, and do who knows what! Don’t make that Aunt Flora’s fault!”

“We all have different ways to grieve!” Byron snapped. “Just because you and Thaddeus cried on Flora’s shoulder like little babies, doesn’t mean the rest of us had to do it too.”

“You’re such a jerk, Byron!”

“No, what I am is a realist. We have to make a plan how to proceed now. We can’t just take this lying down.”

“Oh really?” Eve huffed. “But I should, right? Isn’t that what you just said? I should spread my legs for the alpha, but you and the others will take the high road! Isn’t that just typical?! I have to make the sacrifice while you talk the big talk.”

“Sacrifice? Don’t bullshit me. You could do worse than Jude. At least he’s young and good looking. Don’t tell me a tumble in the sheets with him is a sacrifice. I’ve seen you fuck uglier guys than him.”

A loud slap echoed against the walls, and Danielle instinctively sucked in a breath and quickly pressed her hand over her mouth to prevent herself from gasping and giving away her presence.

Had Eve really slapped her brother?

“Bitch!” Byron cursed. “Fine! Go ahead! Figure it out yourself. I was only gonna help, but it looks like you don’t need my help after all. I almost pity the guy now. He has no idea what he’s in for with you.”

One set of footfalls traveled down the corridor, then faded. Danielle listened for more sounds. From the sound of the footsteps, she assumed that Byron had been the one who’d walked away.

“Fuck it!”

The curse was low. Nevertheless, she recognized Eve’s voice.

A moment later, lighter footsteps traveled in the opposite direction to the mudroom that the pack members used to undress in when they planned to go running as wolves.

Danielle let out a breath. She, too, wanted to run in her wolf form to let go of the tension in her body, but she thought it best not to do that when she knew Eve was out there in a bad mood.

When she heard the door to the mudroom close, Danielle emerged from the storage room.

She placed her bucket with the dirty towels in the laundry room and walked into the side wing of the mansion, where she used the back stairs to the second floor.

She heard voices and footsteps above her, but ignored them.

Instead, she headed toward her room. Before she reached it, the door next to hers opened, and Thaddeus emerged.

Their gazes met. Of all the Gallagher family members, she’d always liked him best. He was quiet, didn’t talk much to anybody, and often withdrew to his room early, rarely staying up for drinks with his siblings and cousins.

He was different from the others, not easy to provoke to a fight, though she’d heard him argue with his father a few times behind closed doors, but didn’t know why.

“Night, Thaddeus,” she said.

“Going for a run,” he said with a nod.

She could have told him that Eve was out there running too, but she didn’t want anybody to know that she’d listened in on a private conversation.

“Enjoy,” she said instead and entered her room.