Chapter 30 I Prefer Not to Take Chances

— Darren —

In the morning, Henry and I began our work.

He seemed like a jovial guy.

His twin brother had been and still is Gamma of Blakewoods and he had been Gamma himself since the formation of Blakemore. His brown hair barely had any grey in it, which was the opposite of his long shaggy beard. He looked like a man that has spent most of his life living in a remote cabin in the woods, and his clothes—which consisted of a plaid shirt and denim—reinforced the image further.

We spent the morning meeting with the other ranked members of Blakemore.

There was Jayson the beta who was maybe a year or two older than Kaden. He was five six, five seven at best, but he looked like he could handle himself pretty well in a fight. His knuckles had the faint scarring of someone who’s seen some violence. He was also the most mobile of the ranked members. He would often travel with the Alpha all over the world.

Then I met Nathan, the other Gamma, my homologue. Nathan had long dirty blond hair and shaved on each side of his face. He went to school with Kaden and, along with Sam his driver and bodyguard, were probably the ones who knew the most about him. His father was Gamma at Blakewoods, but not Henry’s brother. Apparently Blakewoods is so big, it was ruled by three Alphas backed by each a Beta and Gamma.

Packs with multiple Alphas are rare and generally ruled by siblings, so though not unheard of, it was more an exception to the rule, than the other way around.

Then we went to see the Deltas.

Marcus was in his fifties with dark skin and black short-cropped hair. He was the only one of the ranked members who didn’t have a bloodline to back him up. He rose through the ranks the hard way. He had been a pretty notorious warrior under Sebastian Devon back in the days, and got promoted at the beginning of Blakemore.

Tahmina had a Middle Eastern complexion. Her father was Alpha of a far away pack, and she decided that her future would not be to be married off to a powerful man of pure lineage. She went on her own to find her own place, and landed here. Her husband was Benedict, the CEO of Celia and still my boss. She was also seven months pregnant, and had been told to lower her workload, and so the others were picking up the slack, and would even more when she’d get her maternity leave. Given that the team was bigger than most, it did help cover more ground when there was a change in employment or leave of absences.

I also got to see a good overview of the whole of Blakemore and decided that I needed to learn more about other shifters. I was to represent more than werewolves, and I needed to do this right, so Henry suggested that I went to Blakeden’s library which had a vast collection of work on werecreatures, along with a lot of other supernaturals.

Actually, Blakeden had one of the rare Unis with classes in magic, faerie history, vampire lore and anything that had to do with our world. Including even classes on interactions and dealings between humans and non-humans.

I got so intrigued by that school that I considered doing a few classes once both of my degrees are completed.

I got dinner with Eva. She was preparing to leave tomorrow.

We were both a little anxious, it would be the first time apart except for the week after we met. She really wanted to become a more active member of this pact, and given my recent promotion, I couldn’t blame her whatsoever, so we spent most of our time trying to comfort one another, and tell each other it was okay, and it wouldn’t be long anyways.

— Eveline —

Mads was driving me through long dirt roads slithering around hills and woodlands.

It took us three whole hours from the tarmac to the packland of Ghealach.

After we passed security at the borders, it took another hour to reach the packhouse. It was an old stone thing. One of the towers was definitively in disuse, with the top half down. Some sections of the building had been modernized, but most of it could not deny its medieval fort past.

A tall springy man with wild red hair was waiting for me near the entrance. He opened my door for me and gave me his hand.

I wouldn’t dare insult someone so polite, so I took his hand to slip out of the car.

“You must be Eveline Devon, Aye?” he asked me with a thick Irish accent.

“I am.”

“I’m Lorcan Murphy. I’m the Beta of Ghealach.” He had absolutely stunning eyes the colour of emeralds.

“Nice to meet you,” I told him.

“Same,” he said smiling. “How about we go in to meet the Alpha?”

“Sure.”

The inside of the house was even more interesting. It was a sort of mishmash of farm house chic, and medieval stone ruins.

Lorcan knocked on a door. “She’s here,” he said then led me in.

“Hi. I’m Eveline Devon.”

“Alpha Killian Byrne,” said a broad-shouldered man in his forties. “This is my wife Aisling.” He pointed to a brown-eyed woman around the same age as him. She had curly brown hair going all the way to her waist. I shook hands with them both.

“How about we get dinner first? You must be famished, and then we can talk,” Aisling offered me.

“Sure,” I said.

The three of them went to a low ceiling room all wood and stone with a huge carved limestone fireplace, where there was a thick wooded table that was probably as old as my bloodline in the middle. Mads and I followed.

We ate a hearty meal of steak. The ingredient local, but the cuisine excellent.

“Are ye the Hellhounds daughter?” Aisling asked me.

“No, I’m too old for that. I’m his sister,” I answered. Though my father is also, technically called the Hellhound, I knew they meant my brother as he was the one they had talked to.

We were sipping wine, all but Mads of course. He would never dare drink on the job.

“Why exactly does the Hellhound wants to get into Fae business?” Killian finally asked me after we finished our plates.

“He doesn’t want to get involved in any Fae business. I believe his words were they will give no answers that you don’t know and ensnare you in bargains you can’t escape.”

“That’s quite accurate, alright,” Killian said.

“There have been abnormal pack activities near some of Blakemore’s allies. There is a pack named Nubinero which has had ideas of grandeur lately. It has far reaches and is trafficking werecreatures. And when trying to understand their machinations, information about the Faes have come to light. But it’s vague at most. We will not stand for trafficking of our kin. We will not let down our allies in need either. But we need to know what we are about to get ourselves into, before ramifications further than anticipated strangles us from behind.”[ Weird sentence

Lyv Aiken 2021-06-09, 18:27]

“Aye,” sighed Killian. “Well said. I don’t know about this Nubinero pack, but I’ve heard of some others like that. Go get Fergal,” he asked Lorcan.

Lorcan rose, inclined his head to me once, then left the room.

“There have been all sorts of activities among the Tylwyth Teg lately,” he explained.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not that well versed in Faeries,” I told him.

“The Fair Folks, missy,” he said.

“Ah, okay.”

“Fergus is our resident expert, and our emissary when we have to deal with the Fair Folks.”

I nodded.

“But I will ask something in return.”

“For information?” I asked.

“Aye,” he said.

“I’m not sure I have the authority for this,” I said.

“I asked to talk to someone who had authority,” he explained.

“If you don’t mind, I will make a call to my brother.”

“Of course,” he said.

I rose from my seat and left the room. Mads followed me.

“You knew about this?” I murmured to him.

He shook his head.

It was late back home, but I didn’t see a way out of this, so I called Kaden.

“Yeah,” he answered half-asleep.

“I’m sorry to wake you,” I said.

“S’fine,” he mumbled.

“Alpha Byrne is asking for payment for the information.”

“How much?”

“A favour.”

“He said what he wanted?”

“No.”

“Ask, and put him on speaker phone.”

“Okay,” I did and walked back in.

“Would it be possible for us to know what favour you want in exchange for this information?” I asked him. I put my phone on the table.

“What if I prefer to call my chip later on?” he answered.

“I don’t do blank checks,” said Kaden from my cellphone.

“It isn’t something that can be discussed on the phone,” said Killian.

“Why?” I asked.

“Security,” he said.

“This line and these devices are secure,” said Kaden.

“With all due respect Alpha, I prefer not to take chances.”

“Then tell me something you can tell,” Kaden said.

Killian thought about it.

“I need help to protect something,” he said.

“For how long?” asked Kaden.

“Until safety is assured.”

“If you have something of value, that is sensitive enough not to be able to talk about it on the phone, I’m fairly sure safety will never truly be assured. Don’t get all cryptic on me and try to lock me in a disadvantageous deal. I may not be well versed in the ways of the Sidhe, but I can spot a scam coming. Don’t try this on me Byrne, I don’t take it from Faes, I won’t from you either,” Kaden said. He didn’t sound angry, but there was an undeniable finality to his words. Killian would be an idiot to argue further.

He thought some more.

“How about one year?” Killian asked.

It was Kaden’s turn to think it through.

“There would be conditions. First, I need the details, all of them and as fast as possible. You can give them to Eva, she’ll relay them to me at her return. I need to know about what needs to be protected, from what and why. Second,” Kaden continued. “I’m given freedom in how I will perform such duty. I will not risk men and resources in a bad scheme that could be done more effectively otherwise. You will be consulted, of course, and you can refuse at any time, but that will bring this deal to a close.”

“It will be done here,” said Killian.

“It will be so if it can be done efficiently within reason.”

Killian didn’t seem to like this answer, but he said nothing, thinking. Kaden seemed to get what was going on, so he continued.

“That is my final option. I have other contacts to milk about the Faes. If we can’t do business, that is your choice.”

“Deal,” said Killian reluctantly.

“You will give anything Eva asks for. You have twenty-four hours. Once I get the details about your needs, I will dispatch effectives within seventy-two hours. Is that acceptable?”

“Yes,” Killian told him.

In answer, Kaden hung up.

Killian blinked at the phone, probably unused to someone so curt.

“My excuses,” I told him. “But it is very late for him.”

“Of course.”

“So,” I said. “Do you want to talk about the Fair Folk first or do you prefer to talk about this mysterious thing that needs protection?