let's grab another pack of paper towels we're running well no then that big one yeah do you need to get more hold on this is david greg yeah it's definitely been a while have you been how's the pack good it's good to hear oh when did you get into town yeah i can meet up my mate and i are out grabbing some things at the store which hotel are you in we can swing by on the way home we're just about done here we could be there in maybe 30 minutes okay all right see you then yeah that was you remember at the solstice party a few of the wolves were from another pack from the keaton back well that was gregory keaton their alpha an old friend of my dad's he's in town he wants to meet up no that's not a bad thing it'll be nice to catch up we haven't kept in touch as much since dad passed i think that's everything let's head to the checkout it's just interesting i get the feeling this is about more than just catching up we could do that over the phone or in person but with a trip that's actually planned not him driving all the way down here at the last minute sounded like the only reason he came down was to talk to me i don't know what that could be about i'll know in about 30 minutes are you okay with meeting him if you'd rather you can just drop me off there i can get an uber home when we're done anything he could have to tell me he can say in front of you or i don't need to hear it can you give me that if you want to come i want you there but this is also last minute and i don't want to just throw you into it if you're not comfortable with it he's a good man warm he was my dad's friend for 30 some years they each started their packs here in dalia around the same time most of us in that second generation from each pack grew up knowing each other then we'll go in again there thank you angel david shaw it's good to see you again gregory it's been a while you haven't met my mate have you no i haven't had the pleasure i'm gregory keaton good to meet you please take a seat thank you i've gotta say i was surprised when you reached out i know you and my dad weren't good friends but our packs haven't crossed each other's paths as much in the past few years since you moved your territory farther north dalia was getting a little crowded the growth this city's gone through in the last 10 years is something else there was a little more room to stretch our legs up in ferris so it seemed like a good fit besides both our packs were growing when your dad and i each started up we both only had a handful of people in our groups for a while there we even kicked around the idea of joining up together but as much as i valued your old man as a friend i wasn't about to step down to become a beta to anyone even him and he felt the same way about me besides back then dahlia was plenty big enough for both of our packs but times change and we grew and at same time we stopped stepping on all your toes it was a big move to take shifting your territory like that i was a little shocked when you told me it was the plan he was a unanimous decision he was the best of both worlds really it wasn't too far of a move so we got to stay close to the familiar but it also got us some breathing room no other packs up there no vampire clans we get to be the kings of the castle i won't lie it was a real breath of fresh air i'm glad it was a good fit you're all definitely missed but i hear you well as long as you're in a listening mood there was something that i needed to talk to you about i'm looking forward to catching up and i don't plan to make this whole trip about business but that just makes it that much more of a priority to get this out of the way i'm listening i've heard you have a problem one named quinn that's one way to put it what about him it can be hard to keep your ear to the ground in dahlia the city's big and it's only getting bigger there are a lot more rumors and it's a lot easier to blend in up where we are there's less background noise it's harder to keep out of sight at least when you operate like he does greg have you heard something he's been around again not in dahlia not even in ferris farther north there was an attack last night hansel was the one to investigate it the department will be calling you up about it first thing in the morning but from what i understand they're hesitant to say that it's definitely quinn i imagine they'll water it down to make it clear that they don't know who exactly is responsible but i trust ansel and he's sure it's quinn i wanted you to know that with it being an ongoing investigation ansel can't talk to you about it directly but that still leaves room for me to indirectly mention a rumor with a fellow alpha if you catch my drift thank you for telling me any more of these rumors that you hear please let me know always i've got copies of the case file with me i'm sure you're already imagining a million different ways to tackle this i'd be doing the same thing in your spot but if i can add an idea of my own into that brainstorm we may be from different packs but we've always considered everyone in the shaw pack to be like extended family your father was a good man and a good friend he saved my ass more than once i don't mean to speak for him and i hope you already know this but gabe would have been so proud of the man you've grown up to be david he already was so proud of you you were always on the tip of his tongue every time we'd catch up none of that respect and care that we held for your pack changed just because he passed away you have it and you have our support whatever this quinn is trying to pull your pack doesn't have to face it alone he's dangerous and he knows to target the people that can't defend themselves the people he can hurt the most my pack is already on his list but yours doesn't have to be the last thing i want is for anyone else to be put in harm's way i appreciate the offer but i can't have you risk your pack on our account a member of my pack is now investigating quinn's latest attack and you know ansel he's not going to just file this case away and move on to the next he's going to pursue this our pack is already at risk of quinn's vengeance for that alone regardless of our connection to yours we can help i'm not asking for our two packs to go off on some vendetta across the whole state hunting him down like some kind of vigilante team i'm just telling you we've got your back on this you're not alone and any information we get from ansel's investigation or otherwise is yours thank you gregory we should go i need to tell my pack about this they need to know i'm sorry there won't be more time to catch up way ahead of you i booked the hotel for two nights i figured you'd want to tackle this as soon as you heard it it's exactly what i would do we can catch up tomorrow after you've had a chance to go over all this with your pack dinner on me anywhere you want careful with a blank check there chief my palette can get real refined real quick when someone else is footing the bill we'll manage thank you greg of course and it was a pleasure to meet you it'll be nice to actually get to know you a bit tomorrow instead of the two of us just talking your ear off drive safe you too we'll be in touch i'm all right i knew we'd get news about him at some point i hoped it would be something more concrete just when it finally felt like things were settling down again jesus christ i guess i should be grateful that things at least waited this long i'm glad ansel is on the case because i know he'll keep the heat on this make sure the department treats this seriously but i'm also getting damn tired of hearing the people i care about are in harm's way of this freak and the last thing i want is for greg's whole pack to be on quinn's list too but he's right now with the investigation going that's already a foregone conclusion yeah i gotta call them before i get the pack all together they should know first i don't want them to be blindsided they're probably with sam right now which is just as well he needs to know too as soon as we get home then i can take a look at the case file yeah greg's a good guy i i should have kept in better contact with him with all of them the distance between us that came up after my dad died it was my fault not his gregory offered to help in whatever way he could he's another alpha if anyone knew how to help me settle into the role it would have been him but i don't know i just there was a part of me that felt like i couldn't lean on anyone but to do that would somehow invalidate my position and i already felt undeserving enough of it but there was also something in me that that felt like i leaned on greg and learned from him that it would be like like trying to replace my dad and even back then i knew that was stupid i knew that if anything my dad would want me to get help from the people that he trusted and not struggle on my own the feelings don't always make sense especially not in a time like that but that was years ago and the lots changed we'll figure this out all of us together you