The Alpha Queen's Mate (Book 5 of The Regal Eclipse Pack Series)

Chapter 5

The plane finally landed in California and she and Nick walked inside of the small airport. He'd already rented them a car, a nice sports car that he seemed excited to drive.

"Don't we have one of these?" Noelle asked him, looking it over. The men of her pack all had a love of cars and owned quite a few, some priceless old cars that had been purchased brand new at one point, and were well maintained. There were pack members who's specific job was to keep those vehicles in good working order and they would track down the parts needed to keep them up and running.

They also had a drag strip on their pack lands and would hold races one night a month. She'd loved going to watch them, and missed it when she'd been away at college.

"Nope," Nick said, eying the vehicle appreciatively. "But if I like it, I might buy one."

Noelle laughed at that comment, and climbed into the passenger seat, looking around at the leather interior. It was definitely a nice car.

Nick climbed in behind the wheel and she watched him smile in enjoyment. "Too bad I won't get to see what she really does until we head to Sierra Nevada tomorrow."

"And if you get a speeding ticket?" Noelle asked cheekily.

He shrugged. "Bite your tongue, but it'll be worth it."

She laughed and shook her head.

The hotel wasn't far at all, as the town was small. There was only three hotels, and Nick picked the nicest one, which she could tell he was less than impressed with. They grabbed their bags and headed inside.

The clerk was on the phone and while he smiled at them, he was booking rooms for someone, and it took him a moment.

If you want to just get us one room with two beds, I'm fine with that, Noelle linked Nick. That way you can show me how to do the reports.

He looked back at her thoughtfully but didn't say anything and she wondered if he would or not.

"I apologize for the wait. Can I help you?" The clerk finally hung up the phone.

"I'd like a room with two beds please for one night," Nick said.

The man looked between the two of them and raised an eyebrow. "Alright." He gave a brief description and price.

"We'll take it." Nick pulled out his ID and credit card and a few moments later, he was handed the room keys.

"Second floor, to your left. Continental breakfast is served from six am to nine am. Check out is at eleven am. Have a good stay," the clerk said as the phone began to ring again. "Non-stop," Noelle heard him mutter as they both walked away.

They took the elevator up to the second floor and easily found their room. It had two queen sized beds, and the usual amenities. She dropped her laptop bag on the table while Nick placed his bag on the bed closest to the door.

Noelle walked over to the other bed and sat down her own bag, then opened it. "I'm going to take a shower. Is that okay?"  she asked, turning back to him.

"Of course."

She grabbed what she needed and walked inside the bathroom. She felt a little dirty after being around Mason and his Beta. Their leery gazes had made her cringe. She was glad Nick didn't look at her that way.

She scrubbed herself down good and then dried off and got dressed before heading back out into the bedroom. Nick was sitting at the table, his laptop open in front of him.

He glanced up at her. "If you want to come over here, I'll show you how to do the report."

Ugh. But it was a necessary thing that she had to do. There were too many packs, too many people to remember everything that had happened from visit to visit. Notes were an important reminder, especially in a situation like this where something had gone wrong somewhere.

She walked over to the table and pulled out her own laptop. The pack files were kept on a large server at Regal Eclipse. Certain pack members were very tech savvy, and they had an entire large underground room full of servers. The werewolf community internet was controlled by them. It was very hard to access unless you knew how, but they also monitored the regular Internet as well, keeping the big secret. It was much too high tech for her to understand, and those that worked in that area had all taken many classes over the years.

Those that worked as pack liaisons had access to the pack files, including herself, even though she wasn't a liaison yet. But her father had told her she needed to familiarize herself with all the packs. If he named one off, she needed to know where it was and who the current Alpha was. It was a lot, and she hated to say that she still didn't know it all. She moved the other chair closer to Nick and sat down.

He frowned at her. "You're going to have to get a lot closer if you want to see what I'm doing." He reached out and grabbed her chair, pulling it next to his own.

They both stared at each other for a long moment, then Nick turned his attention back to his laptop.

Noelle opened hers, hooking into their own personal secure hot spot and then opened the pack files, looking for Salt Flats Pack.

"So, when I visit, I make a lot of notes. I put down what was discussed and anything I think that's relevant or not. I put down who I talked to, what time of day it was, how long I was there and so on. Sometimes Luke will help me as well. Always write it down, no matter how insignificant it is. You never know when it might be an important detail later." He opened up the file that contained his previous pack visit. "Read that over. It'll help you get an idea of what you're doing. I'll read over whatever you write and add to it when you're done." He stood. "I'm going to shower while you work on that."

She nodded and watched him move over to the bed and grab his bag, then turned her attention back to his laptop. She read over his last pack visit carefully. The man was meticulous, and she wondered if she'd ever be able to take that good of notes. He'd even mentioned the weather. Apparently she'd picked someone good to train under. Her father had said to her once that Nick was one of the best liaisons the pack had, and she could always depend on him when she became Queen.

She turned her attention to her own laptop and began to think over the visit, carefully typing away. She'd occasionally look back at his, reading it over again and again. Once she was satisfied with her own report, she flipped back and read through his notes from previous visits. She glanced at the time. How long had Nick been in the shower?

When she was satisfied, she sat back from her laptop and breathed out deeply, feeling a sense of accomplishment. She knew that she was going to have to write another report after her visit with Sierra Nevada tomorrow and she sort of wished she'd read through Nick's reports before the visit to Salt Flats today. She would have taken better mental notes, but knowing he was going to add to it helped ease her mind. She still felt uneasy after their visit and she'd never been there before. 'Is there anything you think I missed?'

'No. But yeah, something is wrong there,' Holly agreed.

Noelle had a feeling Salt Flats had known she and Nick were coming and had been prepared. Their Alpha wasn't stupid. Blake had just been there last week and she wondered if they might have suspected that the Royal Pack would visit after, especially if Blake had acted suspicious. And if Salt Flats was aware of everything that had gone down at Sierra Nevada last week, then they knew for sure that Blake had spoken to Regal Eclipse, especially if Hailey was still in communication with them, though Noelle had a feeling she wasn't.

She herself would leave that pack and never look back.