Chapter 56 - D

It was the early evening and Leona was round at Adalyn's house, helping her get ready to go and find Dylan in the Star Howlers territory.

"I still can't believe you got wasted at the ball Ady. You really need to be more careful with your drink. You're quite clearly not a seasoned pro."

Adalyn tried to hide how puzzled she was from what Leona was saying. Kai had mentioned that he had spoken to her but he obviously didn’t tell her the full truth about her being poisoned and obviously made up some story about her getting drunk. *'Fabulous!'* she thought sarcastically. She had wished that he’d at least given her the heads up beforehand.

"I'll be more careful next time," Adalyn replied.

Leona stopped rummaging through her bag of makeup to look at her. "So there will be a next time huh?" She winked.

Adalyn looked at her curiously. "What do you mean?"

"I mean sleepovers with the prince? Did you both....you know." Leona raised both of her eyebrows suggestively at Adalyn to re-iterate what she meant.

"Oh! No, we didn't err.. do anything. I was too ill to be honest." She lied. If things had gone as Adalyn had intended she may very well have been telling Leona a different story.

"Well I'm glad to know that he didn't take advantage of you in that state. He's earning more brownie points from me."

Leona reached over to Adalyn and applied some more mascara to her eyes. "There, I think that will do on the makeup front. Ready for the final touch?"

Adalyn caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She had never worn such heavy makeup before. It didn't necessarily look bad but she didn't look like herself with full thick lashes and red lips. Leona had convinced her that if she was going to be able to move around freely, she'd need to look like the rest of the ladies there.

"I look so...different." Adalyn wasn't quite sure whether she liked it or not.

"You look like sex on legs, which is exactly the look we're going for. Now put this on."

Leona handed Adalyn a cropped blonde wig. Adalyn bundled her long brown hair up then pulled the wig over the top.

"Wowza definitely screams *lady of the night to me*. "

"I thought I was supposed to be looking like the waiting staff, not like the *ladies for hire* there!" Adalyn replied anxiously.

Leona couldn't help but laugh. "They all dress relatively the same there, the only differences with the waitresses are that they all wear black skirts." Leona replied.

Adalyn looked at herself in the mirror. She was feeling a bit nervous but she mentally slapped herself to keep her mind focused.

Leona could see the slight unease in her. "Are you sure you're going to be okay doing this on your own? Maybe I should come with you."

Adalyn grabbed Leona's shoulders. "I'll be fine, I won't be there long, besides I need you to stay here so Arrow thinks that I'm home."

Leona tightened her lips, slightly unconvinced. "Well, if you're sure." Leona's eyes suddenly sparkled as she thought about Arrow. "Well I suppose I can take one for the team if it means spending some quality time with that delicious babe."

"Leona!" Adalyn warned. "He has to think that you're me, so you mustn't let him see you. That means no hanging out by the windows. Better yet, just stay in bed."

Leona did a fake pout. "Spoil sport!"

"And here, put these on" Adalyn chucked Leona a pair of her track pants and a hoodie. "The more you smell like me the better."

"Okay Okay." Leona threw the hoodie on over the top of her clothes then sat crossed legged in her bed. "How are you gonna head over there?"

"I've got some of aunts spray to help mask my scent so I'll spray some of that one me before I head out the back. I'll head in to the forest then shift once I'm clear. It will be quicker to head over to the Star Howlers territory that way. If you keep the lights down low Arrow will just assume I'm in my room reading or something, so he shouldn't have reason to suspect anything."

It had been a while that Adalyn had last shifted but she could tell that Tara was excited about their little espionage mission.

"Okay, well be careful and say hello to Dylan for me." Leona gave Adalyn a big bear hug just before she left.

Adalyn exited out through the back door of her house. She was struggling to sense exactly where Arrow was but Tara could tell that he was there. She pulled her hoodie up and crept out towards the forest. As soon as she felt she was out far enough, she removed her clothes and blonde wig, then strapped it to her leg with some loose fabric. *'Time to go'* she said to herself before she shifted and bolted in to the night.

As the Star Howlers territory directly neighboured the Blue Moon pack territory, it didn't take her long to reach it. She had forgotten how fast Tara could be when she was serious. Adalyn quickly shifted back and dressed herself in the clothes that Leona had given her. A black tight fitting mini skirt which all of the waiting staff wore and a dark red halter neck top. The outfit fitted her perfectly. She scooped up her hair and threw on her short blonde wig to complete the look.

She caught her reflection in one of shop windows that she passed and she didn't mind what she saw from afar. Her body had definitely started to blossom since she met Kai. Now in town, Adalyn made her way towards the red-light district. She noticed more and more roving eyes from some of the intoxicated males hanging out on the street. Being keen to not draw any unwanted attention she kept her head down and walked briskly towards the direction of the club.

The red-light district seemed like such a foreign place to her. Almost each pack territory in Galas had their own version of it. She really didn't think that Dylan was the type of guy to visit one of these places, but if not, he was probably the exception to a lot of male shifters. She couldn't help but wonder if Kai used to come to a lot of these places too.

As Adalyn neared the club, she made a mental note to look out for a blue sticker stuck to to one of the side doors of the club to let her know which one would be open. Leona's friend had told her that she'd put it there as a marker for her.

Finally reaching the club, Adalyn walked down the side alley alongside the side of the building and quickly located the blue sticker stuck to one of the doors leading inside *'Bingo'* she said to herself. She tried the handle and it opened freely. She took a quick look around her then stepped inside.

The smell of tobacco and alcohol instantly hit her as she walked inside. The club was dark and dimly lit with soft amber lights leading the way down the hallway. Adalyn straightened out her outfit and stood more upright. She had to look as though she fitted in. She passed a few of the women that worked there as she walked down. None of them seemed to give her a second glance.

*'Now what room will he be in?'* She asked herself. Leona had advised that he usually goes with some of his betas but the number of rooms leading off the central hallway were vast. He could easily be in any one of them. She couldn't just go knocking on all of the doors in hope that he was behind one of them. From the noises that she could hear behind some of the doors, it was evident that it was a busy night tonight. Adalyn started to make her way down to the front of the club. Perhaps they had a board or some kind of rota to show which rooms were occupied or not and by whom. As she continued down the hallway, one of the doors on the side opened and a cropped haired blonde male shifter poked his head out.

"Seriously, what does a guy have to do get a drink around here?!" He called out. He scanned up and down the corridor quickly looking for someone to serve him and spotted Adalyn. His face lit up as his eyes wondered up and down her body.

*'Shit!'*

He approached her quickly and grabbed her by the hand. "Perhaps you can help me?". He pulled Adalyn towards him then led her in to the room.

"Hold on, wait!" Adalyn protested.

As he pulled her inside the room three more male shifters were sat inside. Two of them each had a woman sat on their laps on the large black leather sofa on one side of the room. Both of the girls were in a partial state of undress and were laughing and giggling to whatever the men were talking about. The third who was sat on one of the leather sofas at the other end of the room was nursing a glass a whiskey and checking his phone. He looked up briefly as his friend dragged Adalyn in to the room.

"Look at this delightful young lady I ran in to." He said with a cheeky smirk on his face.

The whiskey drinker glanced quickly at Adalyn. He couldn't help but be slightly appreciative of what he saw but quickly resumed checking his phone to feign indifference.

The blonde shifter pulled Adalyn over toward the vacant space next to the whiskey drinker then sat down ahead of her.

"Why don't you take a seat baby doll?" The blond shifter asked her. He motioned with his eyes towards his lap. He was quite clearly expecting Adalyn to entertain him like the other two girls were doing. Adalyn couldn't help but cringe internally. Even pretending to fawn over this man like the other girls were doing did not appeal to her in the slightest, plus she didn't have time for this. She wanted to get back out there and look for Dylan ASAP so she could get the info she needed then leave.

"I'm just a waitress here. If it's a drink that you'd like I can get one for you." She tried to pull back from his hand that was wrapped around her wrist but he didn't budge.

"Funnily enough I don't feel particularly thirsty for a drink anymore." His eyes flashed black showing a hint of his intent.

*'Ugh'*

He patted his hand on the empty space of the sofa between him and the quiet whiskey drinker. "Come take a seat, I promise I don't bite."

With the grip that he had on her wrist Adalyn didn't feel like she had much choice. She could quite easily get out of his hold but she didn't want to create a scene unnecessarily by overreacting as that would only defeat her purpose. His offer for her to sit next to him rather than on his lap at least felt like a safer option for now.

She took a small breath to calm her nerves then slowly sat down next to him.

"Lovely!" the blonde shifter acknowledged her. He could sense her unease. He couldn't quite work out if she was playing hard to get or not but she had an energy about her that had both him and his wolf excited. "Forgive my hastiness baby doll, but with a face and body like yours, your 100% my type. Perhaps we got off on the wrong foot. My name is Kale and to your left over there is our Alpha, D."

*'Alpha?'* Adalyn thought. She cut the guy drinking his whiskey a quick glance. He was clean shaven with short dark hair slicked backwards and shaved closely on the sides. He definitely had an aura about him that was different to the other men in the group. He continued to stare into his phone in his hand. He quite clearly wasn't particularly fussed about being there and hadn't even taken note of Kale introducing him to her.

*'That isn't Dylan, is it?'* she asked herself.

She tried to assess him a bit closer, but with him not looking at her, it was making it difficult for her to confirm it.

Kale could see her keen interest in the alpha and turned her face with his finger so she was back facing him "Keep your eyes on me gorgeous. Moody over there is very rarely an active participant."

Kale rested a hand on her thigh then lowered his face in to her neck. The touching and the closeness made her uncomfortable but she decided to put up with it. With Kale getting distracted she could better assess the whiskey drinker. She stared at him and willed him to look up at her so she could work out if it was Dylan or not.

D couldn't help feeling her eyes burning into him and he lifted up his gaze to look at her. There was something familiar that he saw in her face, but even more so than that, he could see her silent cry for help as Kale's hand tucked under the inside of her skirt and moved slowly up her thigh. Just as Kale was about to grab hold of her ass, Dylan grabbed hold of his hand to stop him from going any further.

This move surprised Kale who was lost in the moment. "Alpha?" Kale questioned.

"This one is mine. Hands off." D's eyes turned black to highlight to Kale that he was serious.

Kale smiled in surprise and removed his hand. "No fair, today of all days you're suddenly interested? Fine. I'll let you have this one. She quite clearly has eyes for you."

Adalyn sighed a breath of relief. Kale's hands on her was making her skin crawl and she was nearing her limit to pushing him off her herself. D pulled her to her feet and pulled her close in to his arms. The move made her gasp as he pressed her flush against his hard chest.

He stood a good few inches above her even with her heels on. From this angle she was certain that it was Dylan. He had changed a lot since they were at school together but she could see his unique but familiar features. He was definitely more chiseled now and had a commanding presence to him, which was quite different to the lanky young teen that she once knew. Puberty had obviously been very generous with him.

Dylan's eyes raked her face curiously. Adalyn couldn't quite work out if he had recognised her or if he was just interested in her sexually.

"Come..." Dylan took her by the hand and led her out of the room to the chants of "Go Alpha! Show her a good time!" from his companions.