Book 1: Chapter 17

*'Silas…'*

*'Shut up, Eros. I don’t want to hear it.'*

He growled. *'Maybe you need to. He’s right and you blowing up at him only proves it.'*

*'I said I don’t want to hear it. From you or from him. Or anyone else who wants to put their two cents in my damn business.'*

Eros swished his tail. *'I think you need to go down and apologize to those three.'*

Growling, I shoved him back.*'There was no damn way I am apologizing to rogues. I did what I had to do. I will continue to do what is necessary to protect my pack. We will not have a repeat of what happened to my sister. If it means I need to get my hands dirty, then I will.'*

I tapped my desk as I read over the paperwork delivered yesterday that I had fallen asleep on. Charles had stopped taking my calls and this proved why. The police were provided enough proof that the bar was clean and no minors had snuck in. Slamming the paper on the table, I growled. 

Nate bringing back three kids who tried to sneak in gave me the idea but the fact that they were able to provide proof within days was shocking. I was hoping to drag the investigation out which would lead to them closing down long enough maybe they would just give up.

After a couple weeks, I realized they weren’t even closed for business so I decided to do something about it myself. I ordered some cockroaches off the internet and when they arrived, I set up a plan with my two lieutenants. We dumped the two boxes, around thirty of them, in the back hallway. I’d hope that one of the patrons would find one and freak out. But apparently, they somehow knew we had done it and this was their retaliation. It was good, I had to give it to them. But I wasn’t about to give up. Contrary to what Eros and Nate wanted.

A quite a few of the pack members volunteered to help with the cleanup, mostly the teenagers wanting an excuse to climb trees and get out of school,  and now were spread out all along the Southern border. Nate ended up heading there as well after an hour or so of holing up in his office.

Working on some more paperwork, I had Meredith bring me lunch but ignored the calls for dinner. Getting up, I grabbed my keys with the bundle of arrows I had and headed out of the pack house. I slammed the door behind me and jumped into my truck. I needed to speak to Charles. He was better at this shit than I was. He knew much more about the ins and outs of the law.

It was a Friday so that would mean that he would probably be off at seven. It was an hour till and we could go out for drinks. I could pick his brain and hang out with him. Hang out with someone who wouldn’t boil my blood. Pulling into the station forty-five minutes later, I jumped out and a bunch of the boys nodded to me. Most of them I had gone to school with or at least their older siblings. Saying that made me wince. Was I really getting that old?

“Silas, what can I do for you?”

“Is Charles in?”

Eric, the officer in front of me, nodded and headed in the back. Charles poked his head out of an office and gave me a short wave. He came to the front.

“What can I do you for, Silas?” His tone was purely professional and I knew he was on the clock but it was unusual for him.

“Was thinking…you and me grab some drinks? You’re off in fifteen, right?”

There was a look that crossed his face for a second before it was gone. “Yeah buddy, give me a few to clean up the paperwork I’ve got out and we can go.”

I nodded and watched as he headed back into his office. His whole demeanor was off. Maybe he just had some shit with the station that was going on. I waited outside, grabbing a smoke from some of the other guys and chatting them up about the local going-ons. Charles came out after twenty minutes, dressed in jeans and a shirt. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it, standing against the wall.

“So what do I owe this rare appearance of your ass in town?”

“Nate was pissing me off. Needed to get out of the territory for a bit. You know how he gets. Also had an issue with that stupid group of rogues today. I swear, I should just report them for putting shit on my territory.”

He chuckled. “You got proof it was them?”

I shook my head. “No, but I knew it was. Fucking petty as shit. A quarter of the pack is out there right now climbing trees trying to make it even bearable to be down there. I’ve got enough on my plate right now.”

“Yeah well, I got an unofficial report that someone let loose bugs in their place. Apparently, they had camera’s showing three people. I wonder who those three could be.” His eyes caught mine.

I stared at him for a moment, caught off guard that the rogues had footage of us but didn’t go to the police. Instead, she had chosen to completely fuck over my southern border. Nate was right, it was ingenious to do and I knew that some of them would end up being up there for a while if they all couldn’t be found.

Shrugging, I sighed. “I’ve got my hands full with the Elders lately. If I don’t magically procure a Luna by the end of the year, apparently ‘there will be consequences’. Whatever the fuck that means. We’ve had this battle for years and I’m just over it.”

“If it’s the Elders, they want to find a new Alpha.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I’d like to see them try. My family has held that Alpha position for generations.”

“You can’t if you don’t have kids. Speaking of, ever thought of fucking around with a human? Seeing if maybe…”

Glaring at him, he put his hands up, his cigarette held between his teeth. “Just saying. You’ve been alone for a damn long time. You and Nate both.”

“And you? Happily married with three kids and a white fence?” I clapped back at him.

He frowned. “Low blow asshole.”

Taking a deep breath, I let out one last smoke filled breath and put out my cigarette. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. My heads in a fucked up place right now.”

“I can see that. Jesus, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you wound this tight. Come on. Let’s get some drinks and see if we can’t get that knot in your shoulder to loosen up?” He put out his cigarette and clapped me on the back. “I got dropped off today, so you’re driving there.”

I chuckled and nodded. We got in the truck and Charles grabbed the bundle of arrows I had on the seat.

“This them?”

I nodded again.

He whistled and chortled. “This is something else. A dog whistle, holy shit. I mean, I honestly never thought you would be effected by it but I guess that was just me being dumb.”

“Dean says they’ve removed about six hundred or so.”

Charles coughed and looked at me wide-eyed. “Six hundred! Wow.”

“Honestly, I think there might be another four hundred or so. At least, that’s what the guys are saying. They are trying to be efficient as they can but some of them are just too high for anyone to climb.”

“Impressive.”

Chuckling, I shook my head before turning into the dive bar we used to go to in college. They had pool tables and a full bar which was all we ever really needed. Pulling into the lot, we headed in and the bartender tipped his head to us.

“You boys grabbing the usual table?”

“Yeah. Let’s start with the hard stuff and work our way down.” I told him.

He laughed and nodded. Putting two glasses down, he put an ice cube in both and filled it halfway with whiskey. Grabbing the glasses, we headed to the back of the room and set the drinks down. Pulling the sticks off the wall, Charles got to setting up the table. Taking a sip of the alcohol, it burned down my throat and I sighed.

Charles came over and took a sip. “Take the break, Alpha.”

I chuckled and nodded. We played in silence for a while. Only ordering drinks after we finished the last. Four drinks in, he fucked up his line and sank one of my stripes.

“Shit.”

“You drunk, Charles? Those strips looking solid?”

He sighed. “No, asshole. Just play.”

I took my shot but wasn’t able to sink anything. “I got the documentation about the rogues too.”

Charles seemed to be expecting it because he just sighed again. “She gave us so much paperwork and video feed my boys were sitting eating popcorn for two days while they watched it. Don’t fucking make me do work like that Silas. It makes my job a lot harder.”

My eyes widened. So the whole place was under surveillance? Three of my new plans suddenly were crossed off my list. It made sense though if that little hallway was but the whole place, inside and out?

“Look, I had three of my kids come back with my Beta. Some shit might have been going down. I need to keep my pack safe.”

“Then keep your kids in line, Silas. They should know better than trying to get into a fucking bar.” Charles hit one of his solids into the pocket and moved around the table to hit another. He looked up at me, a frown on his face. “If you’re trying to get me to do shit to them too, you can just leave the bar now. I’m not doing anything to them. There is nothing illegal and honestly, Solaris has been through enough without you trying to mess with her business. It’s going to bite you in the ass if you keep at it. More so than today’s shit if it was them.”

My eyes narrowed. “One, I wouldn’t ask you to drinks and pool to do something illegal to someone. I know better Charles. I though after Marlene you would understand my hate for rogues and want them gone out of the city as well.”

His shot was wild and he slammed his que down on the table. “Silas, I caught the bad guy. He’s rotting in jail for the rest of his life, werewolf or not. I, at least, can understand that it was one person and I didn’t hold it against every fucking werewolf in this town.”

“Look…”

“No. You look here. If this is the argument you got into with Nate, you’re not gonna find any different here Silas. You need to let this shit go. Seriously. It’s eating you up inside. I’ve accepted the fact that Marlene is gone and I was able to avenge her by catching the sick fucking asshole who raped and killed her. You might not have had that closure, but it was also nineteen years ago. You can’t project your hate onto everyone else.”

I growled and leaned my hands against the table, staring it down. “Why does no one get it? Why does no one understand…”

“It’s not that we don’t understand, Silas. It’s that you’ve dug this hole in your life so deep you can’t move on. If you were a human I’d tell you to go to therapy and talk this shit out but lord knows you won’t do that. You need to get over this though. One way or another.”

“They took my fucking sister! Doing goddess knows what to her and then killed her! How can I move past that?”

He shook his head, grabbed his drink and downing it. He motioned the bartender for another. “First, by accepting that not every single wolf out there took your sister.”

“What the hell…?”

“Silas, those three rogues? Solaris is 27, Noah and Finn are 32. That would make them 8 and 13 when your sister got taken. Did an 8 year old and two 13 years olds take your sister?”

I growled. “No.”

“Then it wasn’t them, Silas. That’s the simple truth of the matter."