Chapter 82
Chapter 82
Gideon’s POV
20 vouchers
With my command to have a healer bring the prisoner back to consciousness again as soon as possible, I received news that he had awoken once more in the dawn hours of the next morning. Leo was still sleeping, and Nova was also asleep.
I allowed Raven to hand–pick the guards who would watch the children, and then the two of us went to speak with the prisoner.
I had ordered him confided away from the other prisoners, worried about what messages might pass between them. He was kept then in a dark solitary cell with a thick metal door and a single thick glass and barred window. The window was west- facing, so the world was still dark beyond, with no trace of the morning light to the east.
A dim coverless bulb hung from the top of the cell, casting long shadows.
The attacker sat on the edge of his bed, his hands on his knees. He rocked back and forth a little as we entered. When he saw me, he laughed.
“I thought you might come here. Want to get answers out of me?”
Raven and I stood side by side in front of the man. She crossed her arms. I kept my straight at my sides, but with my muscles lightly flexed. My fingers were curled like claws. I was ready to shift at any moment. It was only with my Alpha training and my fearsome willpower that I kept from closing the distance and tear this man’s throat out.
How dare he try to kill my son?
“You will tell us what you know,” I said, pushing my Alpha authority into my voice. “If you refuse, we will make you. You will not like what that means.”
The man laughed again. “You won’t have to torture me, Alpha. I’ll tell you what I know. It won’t help you.”
I would be the judge of that. “Who hired you?”
“I don’t know. The posting was anonymous but received from a reputable source.”
“What source?” Raven asked.
He looked at her. “The usual channels where all assassins receive their contracts. I can give you the name of my contact, but I’m sure it’s not his real name. You’ll have a hell of a time follow the source. No one really knows each other. But the money has always been good, I can tell you that.”
“You are a paid assassin,” I said.
“There’s a contract out for the murder of your son,” the man said, turning his sunken–in eyes back at me. “The payout is the biggest I’d ever seen, but I suppose it fits the difficulty of the job.”
I frowned, even though I had meant to kept my expression blank. The thought of anyone creating a contract for the hit of a six–year–old boy made my stomach twist violently. That it was a contract for my son only made that disgust more intense.
The man continued, “With a reward like that, you are going to get pros and novices alike. Your pack is about to be swarmed, Alpha. There’s no harm in me telling you that. You’ll find out soon enough.”
Malice also entered Raven’s voice as she demanded, “Just how much is the reward?”
The man grinned. “Two hundred million dollars.”
I froze, dread filling me down to my bones. A sum like that would indeed bring everyone who deemed themselves an
17:27 Thu, Jan 15 G GM
Chapter 82
as youchers
assassin from all over the continent. Even those without training, who just hoped to have a chance at that kind of money might try their luck as well.
Worst of all, a sum that large might even be enough to turn some of my most loyal guards.
We pressed the man a bit more, but it was clear his knowledge had limits. He only knew what the contract offered, not who had made it, or even where it had originated from.
Raven and I left that meeting with brand new fears. Whatever hope I had made to protect Leo myself from the world that meant him harm shriveled up as we stepped into the now bright dawn.
Raven looked at me.
She didn’t have to say what she was thinking. This was bigger than we could handle alone.
“Please call Ivan,” I said. “Arrange a meeting.”
To my surprise, Ivan made his visit a priority, arriving swiftly that evening with no fanfare.
“The less people who know what we have planned, the better,” Ivan said, as he, Raven, and me sat in my office, sorting out all of the details. “In fact, it would be best if most people continued to believe Leo was here.”
I knew what he meant. If the assassin’s thought Leo was here, we could use that as a trap to catch them as they arrived. The secret would be kept even among the guards and staff, in hopes we could catch the traitors as well.
Only my oldest and most trusted guard and servants would be brought into the loop. Peter, one of Ivan’s warriors who had worked with Raven in the past in my pack, would also stay to assist. An outside perspective might see things more clearly than I could. Even I could acknowledge that.
That Raven trusted Peter so implicitly meant that I could also trust him.
“I will offer whatever other resources I can provide,” Ivan said. “My pack has always been secular and isolated, and this has served us well. This will help protect Leo, but I fear my use of spies is limited. However, anything I hear, will immediately reach your ears. I hope the same courtesy will be returned.”
“For as long as my son is in your protection, you will know all that I know,” I assured him.
A partnership like this would need to go two ways.
There was nothing normal about what was happening here. Alliances between packs happened all the time, yes, but usually those were slow–going with thick contracts that were ironed out over several days and weeks.
What was happening here was more a gentleman’s agreement between two Alphas, made in a rush in the dark. Nothing about this was normal.
If Raven didn’t so clearly trust Ivan with everything she had, I would have never agreed to this. Even now, I struggled. Yet knowing she would continue to protect him in Ivan’s pack as she had protected him here helped smooth some of my more prickly nerves.
“Do you believe Daphne is the culprit here?” Ivan asked. I appreciated his directness, even if I didn’t have a direct answer to give in return.
“The reward is a substantial sum, even for her wealthy family. Though now that she is with Justin…” I shook my head. “Truly I have no idea. As my alliance with Justin’s pack is already strained, thanks to her finding his fated mate with Daphne, I fear that confronting Daphne directly without proof will break that alliance entirely.”
My pack already looked weak. A broken alliance would only make things worse, especially as this pact with Ivan was done in secret. My enemies would not know of the connection between our packs.
17:27 Thu, Jan 15 G GM.
Chapter 82
35 vouchers
“I will work to uncover that proof, if it exists,” I said. “And I hope, with it, Justin will see reason. In the meantime, Leo needs to be somewhere safe. And with regret, that place is no longer here.”
Ivan hummed. “He will be safe at my pack house. Raven will be with him, and Nova will keep him company. He will want for nothing.”
Except his father, his home, and his pack. “Yes, and for that I am grateful. My only remaining request is that I be able to visit him whenever I wish.”
Ivan shook his head before I had even finished talking. “No.”
