The Quiet One

24

Regal sat in his chair and flinched when the door slammed. He could kill Hunter for his phone call, but he had no clue Harper was listening. His heart hurt when she'd looked at him with betrayal in her eyes. It hadn't been on purpose to leave her out, he just didn't want to stress her further. His gut told him John Heart was just the bluster to hide the real mastermind. He had a meeting with Jace Kimber the wolf pack alpha later that day. He would use the time to learn more about the new alpha. He'd taken over last year when his father had retired. Regal knew very little about Jace as he was eight years younger than Regal's thirty three years, which meant they never spent time together growing up.

Ding.

He looked down to see a text from Hunter.

Hope I didn't get you in too much trouble with your mate. Let me know if I can help.

Don't sweat it, she'll calm down.

Regal hoped it was true and Harper would calm down and come home.

...

To his utter surprise and disappointment, Harper hadn't come home. It was well past seven and she should have been home by now. He punched the wall leaving a dent, today had not been a good day and his meeting with Jace came to mind.

Earlier he'd walked into Jace's office doing his best to mask his discomfort. Jace had done away with his father's comfortable office and replaced everything with hard black surfaces. Jace sat behind a large desk on a black leather chair with his hands folded in front of him.

"Please have a seat." Jace motioned to a hard straight back chair set in front of the intimidating desk. Regal resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the power play Jace was trying at and sat.

"Thank you for agreeing to meet," Regal started and Jace gave him an eerily evil smile.

"Anything for another alpha, what can I do for you?"

"Last week Harper Talbot's car was vandalized with bright red paint and her home broken into. Both times the scent of wolf had been left behind and a warning to stay away human. Have you heard about any of your wolves being upset with her?" Regal hoped to word his question in a way he wouldn't offend Jace.

"Well, John Heart was very vocal about his opinion of Ms. Talbot last week. I can assure you no one in my pack would harm a human, as long as they don't have that wolf's property. If Ms. Talbot feels she is in any kind of danger, she can come to me. I can offer her protection." Regal's hairs stood at Jace's last sentence.

"Ms. Talbot is with me, so she won't need your protection. If you hear anything, please, let me know." Regal stood towering over the desk a tight smile on his face.

"Of course." Jace stood, he was small for an alpha and slim. Regal knew if it came down to a fight his panther would win. He didn't doubt Jace was cunning and knew exactly who had gone after Harper. He'd left the office knowing he needed to keep a close eye on him and his wolf pack.

Shaking his head to bring himself back to the present he thought about what to do about Harper. He didn't think his panther could handle being away from their mate for a night. Taking a deep breath he called his mom,

"Hi honey, what do I owe this phone call?"

"I need Helen Talbot's home address," Regal explained, he held his breath waiting for his mother to answer.

"Why?"

"I may have made Harper mad at me and she said she was spending the night at her parents house. I didn't think she would actually do it, but it is well past dinner time and she isn't home," Regal explained. He knew he would have to tell her the truth if he wanted to see his mate tonight.

"If she is mad, sometimes you need to give her space to calm down. If she is still angry she won't be in the right mind to hear you out. What did you do?"

"I didn't tell her about my investigation into the attacks on her car and apartment. She found out when Hunter called me this morning to give me information about John Heart."

"Why didn't you tell her?"

"I didn't want to stress her further."

"Don't you think not knowing if someone would attack her or her store daily is stressful? Wouldn't it be better to keep her in the loop so she knew what was going on and could have some peace of mind?" she asked, he ran a hand down his face and around the back of his neck.

"No," he grumbled,.

"Boy, you better think of a way to make it up to her. I like Harper and I want her as a daughter-in-law. I will text you the address and you fix things now."

"Yes ma'am." He felt like a child again being scolded by his mother.

"Good, let me know how it goes."

"I will." He hung up and a minute later his phone dinged with the address for Helen Talbot's home.

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