A Hidden Crown

Chapter Six:

Michael

I reached the pack house faster than I probably needed to. My uncle’s mind-link had sounded urgent enough to make me abandon Lyla’s porch without knowing whether she was safe. I had spent the entire run back imagining everything from a border breach to another attack.

Instead, when I entered the office, my uncle was standing behind my father’s desk, looking through a stack of folders. He lifted his head when I walked in.

“Did you talk to Lyla?” he asked.

I stopped near the door, annoyance cutting through the panic I had carried with me.

“That was the pack urgency?”

His expression barely changed. “You were gone all night, and no one had seen you this morning. I thought something might have happened.”

Before I could respond, footsteps sounded behind me.

“Morning, Alpha,” Tafari said as he entered the office.

“Morning.”

I motioned for him to come inside and shut the door. Once he did, I looked between them.

Uncle Donnie watched us quietly.

“You don’t look particularly happy for someone who just found his mate.”

"How..." I started to ask.

Wrinkles appeared at the corners of his eyes as he smiled.

“You woke me up in the middle of the night asking where Lyla lived and whether she was seeing someone. Then you disappeared until morning.” He shrugged. “I figured she was either your mate or you planned to choose her as one.”

I tried to hide the grin that likes to spread across my face every time I think about her.

"Yes, she's mine." I huffed. "Which is why I went to talk to her after the party, but she wasn’t home. I waited on her porch all night.”

“Did she ever come back?” Tafari asked.

“No.”

The concern I had been trying to ignore tightened around my chest again. She had run from me at the party, and I had no idea where she had gone.

Uncle Donnie stepped away from the desk.

“She hasn’t been here,” he said. “She usually helps Susan prepare breakfast before going to the daycare.”

I should have known she would have been working with kids.

Uncle Donnie’s gaze moved over me.

“Check the daycare,” he said. “If she isn’t there, we’ll have security start looking.”

“I’ll go now.” I turned toward the door.

“Michael,” Uncle Donnie called.

I looked back over my shoulder.

“When you’re finished, return to the office so I can start showing you the ropes. You got big shoes to fill.”

The words settled heavier than they should have. Today the real work starts. After all these years, part of me expected to see my dad welcome me home. For him to be the one to hand down the pack to me. Now the person standing in his place was my Uncle Donnie. He done well. Now the only thing I needed to do was find my Luna so that we could run this place together.

“I’ll be back within an hour,” I said.

I looked at Tafari. “Can you ask Susan whether she has seen Lyla?”

“Yes, Alpha.”

Tafari and I left the office together. He headed toward the kitchen while I made my way through the pack house.

Lyla had been frightened last night. I could still see the panic in her eyes before she ran from me. I should have followed her then.

Find mate. Knight paced restlessly inside my head.

“I’m will,” I muttered.