Gideon’s POV
38
65 vaunters
I returned to my pack, arriving quickly and without most people noticing. I only slept for a couple hours before the sunshine came out again, and it was time to start the day again.
My visit with Leo had been brief, but it had been enough to steel my resolve. My determination was strong, and I would not fail. I had to make my pack safe again so that Leo, Nova, and Raven could return.
And, if with my success, Raven was pulled away from Ivan, I wouldn’t complain about that. Maybe with that distance, she could find someone who would treat her better than Ivan was. Someone who would happily accept Nova as his own and publically take Raven as his mate.
But none of that would happen if I didn’t make my pack safer for them to return.
So, as soon as the others were awake, I invited Peter and my Beta Xavier, and we went to speak with the merchant who had sold the wolfsbane to Darius and Daphne. As a leading apothecary in the pack, his shop was right downtown and had a long line when we entered.
Xavier immediately closed down the store, escorting everyone out. Peter and I walked past the cashier and into the backrooms, where we found the owner of the shop himself looking through his ledgers. When he glanced up and saw me, he paled. “Alpha!”
“I have questions,” I said, moving straight to him. Peter stayed behind, nearer the door to the backroom, guarding it, though I was sure he would back me up if I needed him to. “You have answers.”
The merchant squirmed. “I don’t know why you would think that Alpha…”
“You sell wolfsbane here,” I said. I didn’t appreciate being lied to and I allowed my annoyance to be clear in my tone.
“Yes, but it’s all very above–board. I keep records, and I submit them like everyone else.”
“Darius is in prison. Yet you continue to sell to him.”
“To his estate. Not to Darius, himself.”
“You should not be selling to the family of a man who sits in my jail,” I said, a slight growl coming out now. “Are you aware that someone tried to poison my son with wolfsbane? They failed in harming my son, but instead poisoned his protector, which I do not take kindly to.”
“I.. I heard something about that, Alpha. But there is no certainty that the wolfsbane used came from me.”
“We already followed the paper trail here,” I said, tired of this game already. “I will not hear more excuses. What I want is a name. Who have you been selling wolfsbane to? Who exactly?”
Simply saying Darius’s estate was not enough to go on. Anyone there could simply say they didn’t know, and that would be that. But if I knew the specific person who bought it, I could put pressure on them that way, and hopefully continue to follow the chain to the top, like tipping over lined–up dominos.
One might fall at a time, but eventually, I would knock over the entire underground empire.
1
Someone had clearly been doing Darius’s dirty work for him while he had been in prison, and I would find out who.
The merchant didn’t want to tell me. That much was clear in the way he clamped his mouth together.
But I wasn’t some weak–willed wolf to be trifled with. I was Alpha.
16:39 Mon, Jan 19 MG.
Chapter 94
I drew myself up to my whole height and glowered at the man. “A name,” I demanded. “Now.”
E35 vouchers
This time, the merchant was much more agreeable. Cowering slightly, his voice trembling, he said, “Gregory.”
Stepping outside, I conferred with Peter and Xavier. I knew a few Gregory’s, but none in relation to Darius’s house.
“I know the Gregory he means,” Xavier said. “He’s a servant, and been there for a very long time. Darius has even trusted him to call the pack house in the past, to lodge complaints and deal with other matters.”
“Would you know him if you saw him?” I asked.
“Yes,” Xavier replied.
I looked at my two companions in this. “Then maybe we should go pay a visit to Darius’s house.”
Ivan’s POV
I stood at the front of the pack house to receive one of my warrior’s urgent reports.
“Alpha,” he said. “Please come to the border at once. There is an unknown man attempting to seek sanctuary.”
“I am not in the business of kindness,” I said. “My pack is not a charity.” What we had done to save Claire was a one–time deal. That had occurred under very specific circumstances that I doubted anyone else in the universe would be able to fulfil.
“Forgive me, Sir,” the warrior continued. “The man is being quite insistent. He’s from the Silver Crescent Pack, which is the only reason we haven’t sent him away yet. He says he is familiar with a man named Darius.”
“Darius,” I repeated slowly. “He gave you this name?”
“Yes, Alpha.”
This could be a trap. Darius was Daphne’s father, who Gideon had in his prisons. Perhaps this man knew something of that, and of the wolfsbane, and possibly of the contract on Leo’s life. Perhaps this man came here in an effort to escape Gideon’s judgment on him, to wrongfully perceive I wouldn’t just hand him over to his own Alpha for justice.
But, if this man didn’t know that, then perhaps I could discover some of the information that we were seeking. For that reason, and that reason alone, I decided to speak to him myself.
“I will go,” I said. I glanced behind me, at the pack house, where within, Claire was watching the children. With a quick thought, I decided not to tell her about this, not wanting her to worry. This was something that I could handle without her being involved.
She had more than enough to worry about.
I walked with purpose toward the border, not rushing but neither moving slowly. When I reached the border, a line of my warriors was blocking the entry of an older–looking man of his mid–sixties, perhaps. He was thin with a pinched expression.
“Alpha, my name is Gregory,” he said, lowering his head. “Please, I ask for sanctuary and protection within your pack.”
“From your Alpha?” I asked.
“No, from Darius.”
That gave me pause, though I allowed no surprise to show on my face. “Explain yourself.”
“I’ve done Darius’s dirty work for years, but now he’s getting desperate and paranoid. For good reason perhaps. I’m ready to turn against him, but my Alpha’s guard are filled with traitors. I need protection. In exchange, I will tell you all I know.”
I didn’t trust this man at all. Though, I didn’t trust most people.
16:39 Mon, Jan 19
Chapter 94
He could be lying to my face. He could be telling the truth.
35 qers
If he had come here for any other purpose, with any other information. I would have sent him on his way without second thought.
But if he knew something that could help protect Leo_
“We will house you for now,” I said. “In a guardhouse near the border.” I gave the instruction to one of my warriors. I didn’t care what this man knew or whose side he was on. I didn’t want him anywhere near the pack house and the children.
Unfortunately, at just that moment, scenting the air, I detected. Claire, Leo, and Nova out for their morning walk. I turned hurriedly, wanting to stop them before they could come into line of sight, but it was too late.
This man. Gregory.
He had seen them, and he was staring directly at Leo.
A
