The Lost Art Of Keeping A Secret

Oliver

Lya’s question shocked me a little. I didn’t expect it to be so innocent. I was prepared and willing to divulge all my deepest, darkest secrets to her, and here she just wanted to hear about my childhood. The conversations twenty questions had started usually had an agenda, anyway.

“That’s a difficult question to answer,” I admitted. “I don’t really have anything to compare it to.”

“Tell me a story, then,” she sighed. “A happy memory.”

I stayed quiet, my mind going blank. Twenty eight years of memories went out the window when put on the spot.

Lya opened her eyes, looking up at me through thick lashes. “You and Trevor have always been friends, right?”

I brushed the hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. “He grew up in the packhouse, like me. He used to live in the beta wing, but after his parents died, he needed to move over to the alpha wing as my parents essentially adopted him and the new beta family was moving in.” I paused, thinking back. “He refused to give up his old room, which was supposed to be Anna’s new room, until Anna just started sleeping in there with him.”

Lya giggled at that. “He’s such a player, I’d think he wouldn’t mind a pretty girl crashing with him.”

“He still had a bit of self respect when he was fourteen,” I chuckled. “Besides, Anna was only ten then.”

“I forget he was that young when they died.”

“He was pretty dark and twisty for a while,” I confirmed. “But really, I think having Anna around to constantly haze him helped distract him for a long time.” I told Lya stories about the antics Trevor and Anna used to pull just to drive each other - and everyone else living in the house - up a wall until she drifted off to sleep. I slipped off the bed, certain after a taste of Anna at her finest, her nap was well deserved. Lya cuddled deeper in the sea of pillows, latching onto the one I had been laying on. I smiled to myself and slipped out the door. I was fairly convinced she would be around forever - we would have time for a run another time.

I was not surprised to find someone in my office, waiting to speak with me. I was, however, surprised that the person was Rose. I looked at her questioningly as I made my way behind my desk.

“Alpha,” Rose said with a nod.

“Rose.”

She sat quietly for a moment, keeping her eyes trained on her hands. “Alpha, I need to know what side I am supposed to be on,” she finally blurted.

“Side?” I asked. “I wasn’t aware there were supposed to be sides.”

Rose tapped her foot impatiently. “Am I first and foremost Lya’s friend, or do I need to report matters back to you?”

“Oh.” I sat back, pondering the question. The last thing I wanted to do was betray Lya’s trust, but I also wanted to know all the details she didn’t share with me. It had already been proven that she had valuable information that she didn’t realize was important. “In your professional opinion, does it jeopardize the safety of the pack?”

“Safety? No,” Rose considered. “But I know this pack will fare better with a luna, and what I know could expedite the process.”

“But that would be cheating, wouldn’t it?” I said with a sad smile. “Rose, I appreciate the offer, but I believe on this matter in particular, you need to remain Lya’s friend first.
Only come to me if it is a safety concern.”

“A safety concern for the pack.”

“Yes,” I confirmed. “Is there anything you need to share, Rose?”

Rose stood up. “No, I don’t think so. Thank you for your time, Alpha.”

The conversation didn’t sit right with me, but I could worry about benign secrets that would eventually find their way into the open another time. There was a tickling in the back of my mind that just maybe it deserved more thought, but I couldn’t dwell on it now.

The Wulver Pack name was standing out to me, and I needed to figure out why. They were a fable amongst pups, and served as an example as to what the Moon Goddess created us werewolves for, so of course I remembered hearing about them all through childhood and history lessons in school. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that at some point in years previous the name had found its way across my desk, and I found it odd. Granted, if they were as integral in present day werewolf safety as Gregory and Thom led us all to believe earlier today, I felt like I should probably know more about them. And now that my mate seemed to be entangled with them, it was even more imperative, especially considering that was probably the aspect about her the hunters were most interested in.

I turned to the filing cabinet filled with records of pack members that had transferred into this pack, having no better idea of where to start. The Wulver Pack was actually a pack, so it was possible someone from them had joined. The other options I had were to search through my father’s old email and contact the other alphas that were at that meeting in Maine, but I felt like those routes wouldn’t bring up any new information.

Staring at that filing cabinet was daunting. This pack had over doubled in size since I had assumed my position, and it would take months to go through each and every file. I was kicking myself on not taking the Cyber Unit’s offer to digitize records. I let out an exasperated sigh and decided to track down people to do this for me. I’m sure the Beta’s children would want a summer job. Figuring out more about the Wulver Pack would, after all, not change the situation my mate was in. She would still have hunters after her, and I would still have a duty to protect her. All on top of running a huge pack that spanned multiple states.

A better use of my time would be determining if the town up in Wyoming was actually having a violent rogue problem like the gamma there claimed, or if he was just executing peaceful rogues in cold blood if the rumors were credible. So, tearing my mind from my mate, I made my way over to the training grounds. Cody and I needed to determine which scouts to send out that way.