50. One good reason
Tony
I went down the hall as people started settling into their seats. It would be a little while. I headed into the private bathroom and closed the door. I went to the sink and splashed water on my face. I needed to run. I needed to attack something. The anger bubbling up in me was almost too much to bear. I wanted to jump across the hall and claw David’s face off. I could almost feel the sticky, hot blood in my claws. The challenge in his eyes, the way he asked about Lucy. The only thing that was keeping me calm was the prospect of actually convincing David and Peter’s underlings to join my plans.
An alliance. It was a radical idea. I hadn’t planned on bringing it up, but Peter was always pushing for moves that would destroy us. If things kept going on like this, we might not even make it to the next Crescent Moon Festival.
I pulled out my phone and called my beta.
“How are things?” I asked, drying my face.
“… complicated. Alpha Matt is… furious, for lack of a better word. The luna doesn’t seem to be doing well, though I’m sure he told you that much.”
“That and a lot of other things. Have you learned anything about where she came from? How she got there?”
“Nothing,” he said. “The only thing I know is she’s a half-breed. Though, we’ve confirmed that David was at the same orphanage before he was brought back to the werewolf world.”
“How did he get there?” I set my job. “What a thing it would be to find out that little bastard is a half-breed too.”
My beta chuckled. “I’ve looked into that. He’s not. My best guess is that he was put there for safekeeping.”
I nodded. “That’s most likely. And the members of the pack who are missing?”
“Nothing yet.”
I grit my teeth. I could feel my anger boiling. I’d be losing myself soon.
“Let it be known that they’re all considered traitors and are to be killed on sight,” he snarled. “And when they pop up in another pack, they will either be turned over, or they’ll be killed.”
“With all respect, I… don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why not?” I asked. “Give me one good reason.”
“If we send out word now, they’ll just go into hiding,” he said. “We have to give them time to show up under another pack first. Give ourselves time to strengthen our defenses again and find leads. If you want the case to be airtight to the SCF, it has to be complete. Otherwise, we’re just pointing fingers.”
“You’ve got nothing on how they left the Estate and when. This wasn’t a quick job. It couldn’t have been. This was planned.”
“We have loose timelines. We’re still combing through all the footage.”
I licked my lips a sighed. “Tell me… Tell me you’ve seen her today.”
“I have.”
“Tell me she’s there, and she looks… healthy?”
“She does,” he said.
I clenched my hand on the edge of the sink and took a deep breath. “Peter knows that our father is being released this year.”
“What?” He asked, his voice growing tense. “There’s been no word from the SCF.”
“Strings being pulled. Maybe something else. It doesn’t matter. We need to make… arrangements.”
“I’ll get on it. Would you like him put under the house?”
I laughed at that. “I’ll think about it. How are the repairs to the luna’s quarters?”
“They’re mostly complete. Just a last layer of paint left.”
I licked my lips. “I want to tell you to knock out a hole, but don’t do that.”
“… would you prefer another door?”
I swallowed. “How long would that take?”
“A week or so. Would you want one for Matt’s room as well?”
“He’ll throw a fit if not… It would be for the best.”
“Baby-making does take a lot of work,” he chuckled. “I’ll set to work on it. Anything else?”
“No,” I said. “Thank you.”
I hung up and gathered myself.
Matt, where is Lucy?
She hasn’t come out of the doctor’s office.
I swallowed. She’s safe?
Yes, but did you know she has a silver knife?
My lips quirked. Yes. She has to for surgery.
Matt scoffed. She basically threatened to cut me.
You probably shouldn’t have threatened her first.
I took another deep breath and headed back to the large hall.
Look into the journals. Try to relax. Your irritation isn’t helping.
Sorry.
I settled into a seat and wanted nothing more than to leave and return to the Blue Moon Estate. If I could just hold on for the rest of the night, then I could head home, and everything would get that much easier. As I settled into my seat, I felt like I was a few wrong words away from snapping on someone.
Then, the auction began.
“The first is a human woman we took from her family rather than turning her,” Peter laughed. “I think you can agree that she has enough assets that she was better off kept alive…”
A cry of interest filled the air as the busty woman was dragged onto the stage. She was blindfolded and draped in a thin white gown. The scent of lust filled the air, and Peter started the bidding. It was set up the same way that the auction where we’d found Lucy was, though a great deal nicer.
I watched the auction and the way the rest of the room reacted to the way Peter announced every offering. They were all women. Most of them were human, but there were a few half breed women as well, like Lucy. None of them were to my interest, but I noticed something about the way the people reacted.
Then, it hit me. Peter was bribing them more or less. This was a taste of what they could expect if we followed Peter’s agenda to take over the human world. Endless new human women to have and discard as they wanted. The power of not having to hide in plain sight, to be treated like kings, was what Peter was offering. It was ridiculous and short-sighted to think that Peter was really offering such a thing.
If we didn’t grow our packs, werewolves would die out. If we didn’t unify, there was no chance of us growing our packs. I shook my head and left the auction before it was over. As I left the hall, I paused to look out the glass doors and wondered if I could get away with leaving tonight.
I shook my head and turned from the foyer, took the elevator upstairs, and returned to my room. Once inside, I stepped onto the balcony and called my contact with the SCF.
“What have you found on Black Moon so far?”
I sank into the lounging chair, trying to keep my mind off of Lucy. I kept my voice low to avoid all the microphones I knew were in the room.
“Much of the same. There was a territory dispute with the dragons. You can guess how that ended.”
“Peter’s made it seem like he won.”
“I’d call it a draw at best.” He said. “Mostly, the dragons ate four of his werewolves, and he managed to injure them with some sort of weapon. From what I could find out, the dragons are demanding payment, and Peter has made arrangements to give it.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Look into this weapon. I want to know everything I can. If he’s using it against dragons, he’s only a step away from using it on anyone else.”
“Of course. And that information you wanted on Lucy?”
I swallowed. “Give it to me.”
“We’ve picked up her adoptive parents and gotten copies of all the records we could manage. We’re still searching for anyone else who might have been at the orphanage… There’s one other thing.”
“Yes?”
“On the Blood Moon Estate, there was a secure room in the Estate, one that’s not on the official schematics. We’re not sure how big it is or what’s in it, but it’s got a shit ton of security on it.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Can you tell how old it is?”
“No, but we’re guessing it’s at least twenty years old.”
That would make it older than David, for sure, but something told me that it was much older than that.
“I’ll look at it when I get back. For now, just carry on with the research you’re doing into Black Moon and add in a look into Blue Moon’s finances. Tony and Matt seemed entirely too… calm while Peter was speaking about all the collapsed businesses.”
“I’m on it.”
I hung up, and my thoughts immediately went to Lucy. I had half a mind to leave the hotel and head back tonight, but that would just cause more trouble, and it wouldn’t help my irritation and rage. Getting there and not being able to see Lucy immediately would just make it worse. My hand fluttered on the air chair.
Getting her pregnant as soon as possible was the only option we had to make sure that she understood her place with us. We’d already found out that we couldn’t protect Lucy inside our own territory. There were holes in our defenses that we hadn’t been aware of, and we still don’t understand.
My head started to hurt as I thought about what our father would say when he got back, whenever that would be. I went back inside to pour myself a drink from the mini bar and watch the sunset from my balcony. Next door, I heard someone coming back with a screaming, frightened woman. I went back inside, not wanting to hear whatever was happening.
I crawled into bed, unsettled by the empty space beside me where Lucy usually lay, missing the warmth of her body and the way she’d gasp and moan when I was inside her.
I missed her.
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