Liam had dismissed the notion of giving in to the demanding humans until the idea for the concession came to him. He tried to convince himself it had nothing to do with Nell, but had to admit the thought of having access to her twenty-four seven was an appealing one.In truth, he was lonely and yet he wasn’t overly eager to find his mate. Having her at his beck and call, including in his bed or on the floor beside it, was too tempting a lure to resist.Not that he wanted Fallon to succumb to the weakness inherent in hybrids. Though holding her the other day had told him something was definitely amiss.Creating a new law would be a way around that.He could, of course, sack Nell if it suited him. Maybe he would tell her that if she started to misbehave.The delegation from Shutterford was due to arrive and he understood the mayor’s deputy was a doctor by trade, but there was no way he was going to have him examine the pup.Nell was coming to take notes. He hadn’t seen her for a day or

From the moment Holly gasped out the alarming truth, Nell had known instinctively she was right. Did that explain Rosemary Worthington Field’s coldness towards her? Her close relationship with her father spoke volumes. She knew he hadn’t been anything other than reassuringly human. Did that mean her natural mother was an elf?And had she been forced to give birth unattended in a hut which caught fire?Could Liv have been privy to the secret? That would explain a lot. Was her hip pain a sign? She supposed she would never know unless she plucked up the courage to ask her mom to tell her the truth.Holly didn’t seem unduly upset. She found the whole thing cool. Deborah had a slightly more grown up approach. They both wondered how the Alpha would take it, though neither of them voiced the thought.When he turned up, eventually, her heart was hammering in her chest. Nell knew the chignon suited her and that it had been a style favoured by Martha when hosting the once famous pack parties.T

She saw red. If it hadn’t been for the Beta’s mate talking her out of it, she would have marched to his office then and there, Bella or no Bella.“Why is he spying on me?”“He isn’t, Nell. It’s really to monitor what happens when you’re not here. If you think about it, it makes sense to leave it switched on.”“Well, I wish I had known,” she said. “Maybe Alpha Liam would care to hear what I think of him right now.”“Don’t, Nell. You’re overreacting.”“Am I? At every turn there is some new insult to be overcome. Put this in your earpiece and smoke it: I quit.”She wasn’t serious, and provoking Alpha Liam of all people wasn’t the best idea she’d ever had. But he had neglected to inform her about something so important and, after all, it was her bedroom. What if the nightmare had recurred and she’d said something wildly inappropriate without meaning to, stuff he might take the wrong way?There hadn’t been time to come to terms with who and what she was because of him and his demanding nat

People sometimes offered up the opinion, unasked, that you were never so lonely as when in a crowded room. Nell was finding out the hard way how wrong that was. Being alone and quite lost in the deepening twilight was frightening and she was worried about the Alpha and feeling guilty for not raising the alarm. What if he’d been having a heart attack? She could imagine Deborah’s take on that. Stupid mutt should have appointed a new doc soonest. Nell had to smile. While the sentiment might have belonged to Mrs Marchant, the phrasing of it was pure Oakley, even if she had borrowed the insult. The packhouse was mostly warm, especially the nursery, and she shivered without either cardigan or coat. Maybe she could find a hollow tree and squeeze herself into the gap in its bole. A covering of leaves would be nice. So what if she dirtied her dress. It wasn’t one she had chosen. Had a she-wolf left it behind? Not wanting to examine that idea too closely, she trudged on, discovering she was

Something wasn’t right. Nell loved her sister but she didn’t know who she was any more. This was borne out by the kind of outlandish things she was saying about their shared past. She remembered it differently, that was for sure.“Why did you always call me Ellie, Liv?”“Ellie – elf,” Olivia taunted.“You knew all along?”“Course I did. But mom swore me to secrecy. It would have been an almighty scandal in Oakley.”“I see.”Nell realised they had allowed her to grow up believing she had a deformity when all the time she was being denied the right to know about her heritage. It was a wonder the Alpha hadn’t cast her out.She thought she knew why but didn’t want to contemplate a different, possibly uncertain future within the pack. Not until she’d begun the search for her other kin. And after that intriguing communication in the woods she knew that was a very real possibility.“The pup was sick again this morning, all down my front.”“Was she? I can’t understand it. Fallon’s been thrivi