CHAPTER 33

"No," Darius blocked my view of Aiden's grin by stepping in front of me. Aiden looked at him, a dark brow raised.

"No," Darius repeated. "You play at legitimate, but I know what Hoventech really is."

My curiosity peaked and I glanced at Aiden who's expression cooled considerably.

"Fortunately, I wasn't asking you."

There was a knock on the back doors of the van. My adrenaline hadn't calmed down yet so I could feel the rush of energy to my limbs, my body prepared to fight.

"It's your men," Caroline turned from the screen where she'd been typing rapidly. "I kicked them out earlier because they wouldn't stop touching things. They've been waiting in your car."

Since I was the closest to the back I opened the door.

Chase blinked at me with relief.

"We've gotta go," he commanded. "Pack business."

Micheal was standing a step back, his face locked into a deep frown.

Something had happened.

"I need that information on Thostchild," I told Aiden. "Anything that was on those servers."

He tilted his head in a nod.

"The information is encrypted. We should be able to break it in..." he glanced over his shoulder at Caroline.

"Seven minutes," she told him, already back to typing in a flurry.

"We don't have that time," Chase told me.

"Go, I'll send you any files we retrieve associated with Thostchild," Aiden promised. "Think about the job, we would make incredible partners."

I didn't wait for Darius to protest on my behalf again, I nodded my understanding and jumped down from the van, closing the doors behind me. Belatedly I realized I still had Aiden's equipment. I set the communication device on the rear bumper, and was about to remove the electronic field generator but then stopped. I should really ask Aiden for permission to keep it, and I'd promised my wolf we would have one for a better look at.

"Raven," Micheal ground out.

I decided to take the generator with me. I'd let him know I had it later.

We made it to the car and I slid into the back seat.

"What's happening?" I asked.

The men climbed in, and looked at each other, the tension in the car shot through the roof. I started to get nervous.

"What?"

"It's Anthony," Micheal hedged, starting the car and pulling out of the parkade. I waited, little fingers of dread crawling along my spine. "He's done something."

That did not sound good.

"You guys are freaking me out a little. What has Anthony done?"

"He took a crew to Victor's territory, south-side, and he took out all of the men who helped Victor make the challenge. He left one on the doorstep of each of the other caporegimes. Told Jacob he needed to make examples of them."

I frowned. That wasn't the way challenges were supposed to go.

Traditionally, any alpha could be challenged at any time. The challenge itself was a fight to the death, so the challenger had to be prepared for that eventuality, but there were no repercussions aside from that. I knew that Rob hadn't been challenged since my arrival in Boston, but he had mentioned that there had been a few from his earlier days. It was the way of the packs.

But now Anthony had gone off script and I didn't think it was a good thing. From the expression on the men's faces in the front seat, they didn't think so either.

It felt like our argument played into this somehow. He'd been so angry when he left, yet I never would have guessed he'd do something like killing a dozen men and sending their bodies to his underlings. Some of whom supported his ascension to alpha. I wondered if they would still support him now.

It took twenty minutes, with traffic to get back to the manse, and I spent the entire ride brooding.

The action really wasn't like Anthony. Under Rob, Anthony had always been more of a strategist. everything he suggested was for a reason, leaving nothing driven by emotion. This move he made felt very much like one driven by emotion.

I frowned to myself. It wasn't as if it were my fault. I owned no responsibility for Anthony's actions...so why was there a well of guilt eating at me?

It was the middle of the night, but the manse was lit up when we pulled up to the house. There were several cars parked out front.

Word travelled fast in a crime syndicate.

It looked like Tanner had called in all security personnel. That was probably why Micheal and Chase were in moods too. An act like the one Anthony pulled could easily garner retaliation. If any of the other caporegimes had been thinking of challenging for alpha, they would have a very legitimate excuse to do it now. And they might be able to pull some support from the others too.

Micheal and Chase saw me inside and then took off, looking for direction from Tanner. Arguing voices came from the media room, but I knew Anthony wasn't in there and I didn't want to talk to anyone else. I focused on his scent. It was mixed heavily with the strong smell of brandy and coming from Rob's old office. He was alone.

He wouldn't be drunk, of course. But by the smell of it as I climbed the stairs, it wouldn't be for a lack of trying.

The door was locked, with no light coming out from beneath it.

My senses didn't lie, so I knocked on the door softly.

"Anthony?"

I heard him shuffle, but he didn't answer. I sighed. It had been a long night.

"I don't want to argue," I told him. "I just want to go to bed and have you hold me."

That got his attention, I could hear him set down his glass and his footsteps as he made his way over to the door. He unlocked it and peered out at me.

His hair was pulled back into a neat tail at the base of his neck, his suit pristine, if one could get past the blood splattered on its front. There was something haunted and wild in his eyes though. It scared me a little. I wasn't sure I understood exactly what he was going through, and I wasn't sure he did either.

I held out my hand.

I didn't imagine the relief on his face when he reached out and took it.