Chapter 32 - Good news

Daisy POV - 

Stepping out into the early morning light, I suck in a deep breathe, feeling the freshness of the day fill my lungs as a shudder of energy passes through my muscles. It is so beautiful here, so peaceful, the energy that flows over the land resonates with me. But lovely as it is here, and as much as I feel I belong, in those brief moments I am myself, I can't help but feel eager to return home, my brother needs me, and so does our pack. It is weird, there is something here, I can feel it, like it wants me to be here, and it makes me want to be here, but in the moments when I feel completely in control I can't help but wonder what it could be that is making me have these mixed emotions. It is almost as though Carly has spelled me. Cast some kind of spell on me or slipped me a potion to make me want to stay, but, lovely as she is, I can't imagine thatshe would ever do something like that. I mean, really, she doesn't know me, she doesn't truly know who I am, and why would she want me, a woman she barely knows, here badly enough to use her magic? I'm nothing special, not compared to her at least. I'm not better than any other shewolf in reality. 

My mind whirls with these thoughts but I manage to hold on to the control of my emotions for longer this time than I have been able to since my arrival. I feel that pull, trying to force me to let go again, to let it envelope me in it's comfort, but I resist. Taking a deep breathe to stabilise my emotions and ground myself, I dig my phone out of my pocket and dial Dave again.

It rings and rings with no answer and I feel my pulse quicken as frustration threatens to wipe out all rational thought. As I move my phone down to hang up and try again I hear him answer. He sounds rushed, like he raced for the phone.

"Daisy? Daisy? I'm ok, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I didn't answer before."

"Dave? What the fuck happened? You scared the hell out of me! Tell me everything," I demand, hearing his voice brings all my emotions to the surface but the feelings I have been experiencing since I arrived don't soften them as they have been, hearing my brother's voice seems to have grounded me in the present more firmly than my own will power has been able to, and that, along with all the worry from the past couple of days weighs me down. I sink to my knees at the relief I feel from hearing his voice, from knowing he is safe.

"Daisy, I am so sorry, I wanted to answer, but I was a little busy…" He trails off slightly at the end and my heart beat picks up it's pace while I wait for him to continue, I know he hasn't finished talking. "We got him D', we fucking got the bastard"

A breath rushed out of me as his words register, "Ace?" I need to be sure I am hearing right, "You got Ace?"

"Yeah, we got him, I brought him back here, didn't think Jack should have to handle knowing he has him locked up under his feet and not able to do anything about it," I can hear the joy and relief in Dave's voice as he tells me the news.

I stay silent for a moment and Dave doesn't speak either, he knows me, he knows I am absorbing the information and that I will have something to say soon, so to save himself from being interrupted mid word he waits for me.

"We got him? This is fantastic, does Cassie know? Where are you keeping him? What about the others, did you get everyone back safely? Was anyone injured? Oh Goddess, I have so many questions. Dave, he can't escape can he?" My words leave my mouth almost faster than I can process each question as it arises, luckily my twin has always been able to follow my rambling.

Dave lets out a chuckle and I hear a creaking that brings an image to my mind of my twin brother siting at his desk, legs stretched out before him and resting on his desk as he leans back relaxing, and knowing him it is probably the first time he has relaxed since well before he left to rescue our pack members. 

"We got everyone back, no injuries though there was a bit of a fight from what I can gather," he pauses just long enough for me to jump in again.

"That you can gather? You weren't with them?"

"No, we met up with Jack as we had planned, then just as we found the talismans, oh, thank Luna Carly for us won't you, the information you gave us really helped," Dave often goes off on a tangent when telling a tale, but I was quick to get him back on course, I needed to know everything, and I needed to know, like, yesterday!

"Yeah, I will, but don't get distracted, you met up with Jack and then?"

"Right, um, so we made our way to the face of the mountain and were looking about for the talismans. We finally found one and then another and were just beginning to get an idea of how they were laid out when Mark burst out of the mountain and practically ran us over he was moving so fast."

"Mark? He got out? And he left the others?!" this little tidbit almost renders me speechless, I never imagined that he would leave his team behind, and more importantly leave his mate behind, I couldn't imagine him doing that from what I have heard about him from Twin Lake members, but what do I know, it's not like I've really spent any time with the guy.

"Daisy, are you listening?" Dave brings me out of my thoughts and I realise he has been speaking while I have been rambling in my own head.

"Sorry, sorry, I'm listening"

"Thank you, so as I was saying, Mark told us about everything that had happened since they left on their scouting mission, he told us about them being captured, how Maddie tried to question him, how he managed to escape, he had even managed to make a partial plan, but the further he got from their camp the fuzzing his memory of the location became, by the time he reached us the best he could do was point in the direction he had come from." 

"Those talismans must have had more kick than even Carly suggested," I muse aloud, " but having the right direction must have helped you find and follow the talisman trail at least?" I'm kinda thinking aloud at this point and though I pose it as a question, I know it helped, if it hadn't they could well have gone in the wrong direction and would still be looking.

"For sure, so we kept looking, we found the entrance and they went in ready to fight for the others, but Jack and a couple of his guys appeared before we even entered the cave and just as I was filling him in on the magic, a great growl came from behind us," Dave always loved to tell stories, he loved to add drama and intrigue when going over past events, and I loved to listen to him, usually.

"Dave, seriously, will you cut to the chase? I need to know what happened," I heard him huff out a chuckle before he got to the point.

"Ace and his witch were heading home, they realised we had found their hideout and while we sent the others into the cave, Jack and I backtracked, we found them easily, his growl had given away his location, he was beating on the witch. Jack and I decided that it would be best for me to get Ace," 

"So Jack didn't rip him to shreds at first sight, yep, makes sense"

"Ace realised we were there so we lost our edge, but he fled so I went after him, Jack stayed to handle the witch, who was in no condition to protect herself," I nodded, that was the right choice, then realising he couldn't see me I uttered my approval, "so I went after Ace, and considering we are both Beta's by birth he wasn't any match for me without his magic and his element of surprise," I could hear the pride in his voice as he told me how he finally captured the bastard and brought him in.