Savannah could hear the sound of two male voices mumbling through the door, and the hairs began to stand up on the back of her neck.

“Good morning, Savannah,” Nick smiled, as he walked through the door.

“Morning,” she replied, automatically. Her hackles began to rise. If Nick was here, and Tom was in the locked room, then who else was talking to him?

“Looks like Tom’s letting him out,” Jo murmured to Nick – but Savannah heard every word. “He must be better.”

“Humph,” Nick grunted. “So long as he doesn’t try anything funny, I’ll be happy.”

“I’m sure he won’t,” Savannah heard Jo reply. “We’ve taken care of him, haven’t we? That’s got to count for something.”

Savannah’s heart began to pick up its pace as the door handle slowly opened and the door swung back. Her bear began to growl in warning, wanting to push itself from her skin, but she urged it back down. She wasn’t going to shift, not in front of Jo, unless she absolutely had to.

“Savannah,” Tom said, as he walked out. “This is Dan.”

Savannah froze, feeling her heart stop in her chest. Dan came shuffling out behind her, his eyes catching sight of her almost at once. His eyes flared and Savannah managed to give a slight shake of her head in warning. Everything fell into place. The scent she’d caught, the one that she hadn’t quite managed to place, had been Dan. She’d thought he was dead, so there was no reason for her to expect to be able to smell him but here he was, alive.

“Nice to meet you,” she stammered, staring at him.

“This must be a bit of a shock,” Jo said, walking over to her. “Sorry we didn’t tell you before, Savannah, but we had to be sure.”

“Sure about what?”

“That we could trust you,” Nick explained, as Tom leaned against the counter. His dark eyes were watching her reaction, his arms folded across his body.

Savannah nodded, uncomfortably aware of Tom watching her. "I'm quite surprised if I'm honest," she explained, as Dan shuffled past her.

“Of course you are,” Jo exclaimed, walking over to take Savannah’s arm. “I’m sorry we couldn’t tell you straight away, but we’ve been looking after Dan.”

“Did something happen to you?” Savannah asked. As far as she knew, and as far as Lucas knew, Dan was dead. So what had happened to him?

Dan swallowed hard, glancing at Tom’s dark face before answering. “I got hit by a car. They were kind enough to look after me.”

“Oh,” Savannah murmured, her heart now beating frantically in her chest. “I take it you hurt your leg?”

“A bad fracture,” Tom interrupted. “But it seems to be healing well enough now.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Savannah said, quietly. “Can I get anyone a coffee? I know I could do with one!”

Catching Dan's eye, Savannah walked to the coffee machine and began to make herself a coffee, trying to calm herself down. Her hands were sweaty and she could barely think straight. Dan wasn't dead after all! Instead, Tom, Nick, and Jo had somehow brought him back here and looked after him until he was well enough to walk. This wasn't the evil, treacherous and cruel pack that Lucas had described. Finally, Savannah admitted that this pack was the exact opposite of what Lucas had said. In fact, she was beginning to think that the Northern Wind pack was the cruel ones, not these shifters here.

“Jo,” Nick murmured. “Can you grab us the snacks from the car? I think I left them there the last time we went to the store.”

Knowing that he was asking for a few minutes to talk to Savannah alone, Jo gave his arm a light squeeze before leaving the office. “Sure,” she said, smiling. “Just make me a coffee for when I come back, Savannah!”

Savannah nodded, panic rising in her throat. She hoped that Dan knew what she’d tried to communicate through her sharp look and shake of the head. He couldn’t give away even the slightest clue that they knew one another. It was too dangerous.

Handing out the coffees, and leaving one cooling for Jo, Savannah sat down and looked at the three men in front of her. Dan smiled at her, letting her know that he’d understood her message. Nick was sitting back, his legs crossed at the ankles, seemingly very relaxed, while Tom hadn’t moved at all. He was still staring at her, his arms folded and a grim look on his face. The familiar suspicion was in his eyes, and Savannah knew she couldn’t blame him. After her actions last night, he was probably confused, hurt and angry, and they’d not really had a chance to talk since then.

“So,” Savannah began, trying to keep the tremble from her voice. “You’re another shifter.”

“Yeah,” Dan replied, sitting down in one of the seats and stretching out his leg.

“Jo’s the only one who’s not,” Nick grinned, earning a dark look from Tom. He clearly wasn’t in the mood to laugh.

Savannah let out a long breath. “What are you doing here? I don’t understand why you were in that back room.”

"Long story," Tom interrupted before Dan could reply. "His leg was pretty banged up so he's been resting in there until it heals."

“First day I’ve been able to walk on it,” Dan replied, smiling. “Have to say though, the service hasn’t exactly been bad!”

Nick shook his head. “You haven’t exactly been happy about staying here, Dan.”

Dan gave him a wry look. “Can you blame me?”

Tom snorted, looking away. Savannah, remembering that she was supposed to be curious about what was going on, cleared her throat. “Can someone please explain to me what is going on?”

"Remember I told you about the Northern Wind pack?” Tom asked.

“Yes,” she replied, trying to look confused. “You said there was some kind of fight?”

Tom nodded, his face grim. “Yes, exactly. Dan caught up in that. We’re just helping him get back on his feet.”

“Literally,” Nick grinned, breaking the tension.

Savannah narrowed her eyes slightly. Tom wasn’t exactly giving a lot away. She wanted to know exactly what had happened, without giving away that she knew Dan. It looked like Tom wasn’t going to be giving her any kind of real explanation any time soon – and certainly wasn’t admitting to anything to do with Dan’s injury - so somehow, she’d have to get Dan by himself.

Nick stretched, yawning widely. “Dan will be here until he’s ready to move on,” he added. “However long that takes.”

"Keen to get rid of me?" Dan muttered while Tom rolled his eyes.

“No, not at all,” Nick replied. “In fact, you’re welcome to stay on here, Dan. You don’t have to go back if you don’t want to. I want to make that clear to you.”

Savannah’s breath caught in her chest. Nick was offering Dan the chance to stay in his pack? It would mean changing his allegiance from Lucas to Nick, which wasn’t exactly an easy decision and would definitely have consequences. Savannah didn’t think Lucas would take that kind of news well. She glanced at Dan, who looked right back at her for just a moment.

“Thanks,” he said, eventually, glancing over at Nick. “I’m going to have to think that over.”

“Sure,” Nick replied, lazily. “You’ve got time.”

Savannah could hardly breathe. Dan, a member of the Northern Wind pack had just told Nick that he was going to think about leaving that pack and join his. She could barely believe it. Everything about Dan’s face and the way he spoke told her he was being honest. It told Savannah that it wasn’t just her that was seeing the big differences between this pack and the Northern Wind pack. It told her that this was serious and she was going to have to think pretty hard about her own choices. Her head filled with thoughts, tumbling over one another, making it difficult to think straight.

“Excuse me,” she mumbled, getting to her feet and making for the door. “I need some air.” Three pairs of eyes watched her as she left the office, stumbling out into the fresh air.