Part C: Chapter 66

Carter was pacing back and forth as we waited for Ivan in the meeting room at the pack estate. He was starting to have second thoughts and I couldn’t blame. Ivan had been part of our lives for such a long time and we trusted him to take care of the pack when we weren’t around and now we were suspecting him of high treason. I didn’t think I would be able to do it.

“Calm down, you’re making me rethink everything that we are about to do,” I snapped from my seat at the head of the table. I ran my fingers through my hair in frustration. “This is also harder for me to do, so don’t make it worse.”

Carter sighed as he turned to glare at me. “If you are so worried about it then maybe it isn’t him and we both let Danvers get in our heads because that’s what he does, he messes with our heads like that,” he said as he walked over to me, stopping just a few feet from me and then he pulled out the chair to my right and sat down. “Listen to me not as your best friend but as your Beta, what if he is innocent and ends up finding out that we had suspected him from the onset? Do you think he will forgive us when that happens?”

“And what if it’s him? What then?” I countered. As much as I hated to admit it, Ivan had been acting suspicious from the very beginning and none of us just wanted to admit it. Not once had he come to us with anything that he had found and it had been close to a month now. Just what kind of Gamma went MIA when his pack really needed him? I knew I didn’t have any solid evidence that he was the traitor but that didn’t mean I had to dismiss my feelings and how I truly felt about the entire situation. “We have to think about this in a rational manner and not just jump to conclusions or try and dismiss everything simply because we believe the person would never do such a thing.”

Carter ran his fingers through his hair and sat back in his chair. “But he’s our friend and we have known each other for the longest. Doesn’t that deserve some form of trust no matter what?” he asked softly. “Don’t we owe him at least that much?”

I took a deep breath in and then sighed as I turned my attention to the door, waiting for him to show up any minute now. “Under normal circumstances, it would but this is far from normal. This is a life or death situation for her and it’s a ticking bomb for me,” I said with a blank face. “So no, forgive me but I will not place my utmost trust in someone who seems like he couldn’t care less about what happened to the one who is my mate.”

“We don’t know that because we haven’t bothered to actually talk to him about any of this. Maybe he is just as worried as we are and he is dealing with it the best way he knows how, by being distant,” Carter said lamely, his eyes closed because he knew there was nothing he was going to say to make me change my mind about going through with this whole plan.

I also had to think about the fact that the entire place was rigged and they were listening in to us. That was what hardened my resolve because I was sick and tired of being played for a fool. “Carter, stop acting like such a concerned friend. If you really did believe everything you are saying right now, then you wouldn’t be here. You would have warned him about it but here you are, waiting for him to walk into his own demise. What kind of friend would do that to their own friend?” I asked, my voice coming out softly.
Just as Carter was about to say something to that, the door opened and in walked Ivan and behind him was Gerald, limping as usual. Carter and I exchanged a look as Carter sat up straight. This was an interesting turn of events.

“What’s he doing here?” I asked coldly as my eyes narrowed at a smiling Gerald. “I didn’t say you could bring anyone with you Ivan.”

Gerald walked over and sat on my left while Ivan sat down next to him. This whole thing was making me queasy. “There is no need for any tempers to rise, I’m simply here because I wanted to not because he invited me,” Gerald answered on Ivan’s behalf.

I turned my attention to Ivan but he wouldn’t even look at me. That was it, I was going ahead with the plan whether Carter agreed to it or not. I needed to find out what was truly happening. “I wasn’t speaking with you old man, I asked my Gamma and therefore I expect my Gamma to respond to my question and not have some old has-been come to his rescue over a simple question.”

But Ivan still wouldn’t look at me which only angered me. Was he truly Gerald’s puppet that he could no longer think for himself?

“That won’t be necessary,” Gerald answered again, that evil smile still plastered on his face because he thought he had won. “And the reason I’m here is quite contrary to what you called him for. I’m here to talk some sense into you about abandoning your little quest for finding that degenerate woman you call your mate. She isn’t acceptable and I will never accept her as my daughter in-law, much less the Luna of my pack.”

I could feel my hands clench and unclench underneath the table. “Who the hell told you this is still your pack old man? This is now my pack and I have no care about what you think. She is my mate and as such I will do whatever it takes to find her even if it costs me my life,” I snarled at him in pure contempt. “You have no say in how I choose to run this pack because you had your chance and you blew it.”

Gerald narrowed his eyes at me and then returned to smiling. All I wanted to do was remove that stupid smile from his face. “I have no time to exchange words with my own son when all I’m doing is looking out for him,” he said with a fake sigh, trying to fool me. Back then it would have worked but now I knew all his tricks and I wasn’t going to let him get into my head like he used to. “I want you to succeed and be the best version of yourself but I can’t do that if you are so hung up on this woman who couldn’t even bother to keep her legs closed long enough to wait for you to find her the first time. You need to think about mating with Shelly before it’s too late.”

That made me really angry because the next minute all I saw was red and he was pinned against the wall as Ivan called out to me while he tried to pry my hand from Gerald’s neck.

“I told you to never say such things about her but it seems like you never learnt your lesson the first time round,” I snarled, feeling my canines elongate as he saw him struggle under my grip. “I’m only holding back on killing you because Mum would be disappointed in me.” I released him, my eyes and teeth going back to normal as he fell to the floor and Ivan helped him up. I dusted my suit and walked back to my chair, sitting like nothing had happened.

“Don’t think I won’t kill you the next time you get in my way,” I said calmly, “and that goes for you Ivan. Watch your back from now on because it seems you have already chosen a side and it’s not mine.” I pushed off the chair and walked out of the room, not looking back. I needed to calm down.