Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Gideon

"Maybe it wasn't Tate but Karen. Amelie said the emotional and physical abuse and control got worse once she moved in with them. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find too much about her. She is in her early to mid-fifties. Would you or your father have crossed paths with her?" I look at John, hoping he has something.

"If I did, Amelie would never have been in that situation, to begin with. I would have locked Amelie up and never allowed harm to come to her." I can tell he blames himself for everything she's been through. "I think she was your second chance mate, but you are her destined mate. I know this sounds insensitive, but you would not have your daughters if Amelie was not your second chance. I do believe Amelie was meant to help you raise them. Not many wolves know what it feels like to have stepparents."

"I hope you can accept them as your own grandchildren as well. They do not have grandparents, and they would not have cousins as Mandy and I were both only children." My heart rate rises a bit. This was a big ask of another Alpha.

John smiles, "Amelie will carry their family mark and raise them as her own. That makes them my grandchildren. I will warn you to know Celeste will spoil them rotten," we both laugh.

I still have the family tree in front of me. Something is telling me that part of the story is here. But where and who? "Maybe we can set a trap."

"A trap? For whom exactly, I hope you are not going to try and use my daughter as bate." He raises an eyebrow and tilts his head. That's where Amelie gets it.

"It's a ways off, but if you truly trust your extended family, then maybe we can use the Ember Moon festival and the family dinner. In some way." My wheels are turning.

"The dinner is called the Aruna Banquet. We have always hidden the family reunion in plan sit as a black-tie invite-only Banquet. With that in mind, how would you propose to set your trap?"

I think for a moment. There had to be away. "What if we set up a fake Banquet. We would have two Banquets, the false one, and we would add some of my Delta Force as most Alpha's think they are stand-alone packs. Get with your extended family and see if they have been targeted as well or have any suspicions. We will send invites to those Alphas. In other words, we are going to keep our enemies close. We will need a list as quickly as possible to gather as much information about our targets as possible. One of two things will happen. Someone who was not invited will try and crash the party, or they will be on the guest list and try to make a move. Either way, we will be ready, and between your family and my men, we should be able to sniff them out. We can hold the real banquet on a different night at a different location. I don't want to take Amelie's first Aruna Banquet away from her." I let out a sigh. Festivals were already a pain, but to pull together an entire sting operation on top of that was going to take time.

"It's early March now we need to have the "Invitations" out by early May since the Festival will start June 9th this year. I feel like you and Amelie haven't been able to have a normal start to your relationship. Now adding a full investigation on top of that. You and Amelie are stronger than most." I know all he wants as a parent is for his daughter to be happy, but she keeps getting pulled into harrowing circumstances.

"I'll assign the investigations personal. I have some second Alpha children who have joined my pack, so I will have to be careful who investigates and keeps it necessary. How soon do you think you can get me the list?" I need to get things moving quickly. We need as much time as possible to investigate to get the correct invitation list together.

"I should be able to get it to you in two days." John pauses and chuckles a little, "I'll get it to you in three days. Did you forget about what will start tomorrow?"

I look at John, confused, trying to think, "We just have James' training schedule but nothing so pressing I can't handle the list."

John laughs, "Won't Amelie's heat start tomorrow?"

I stand there like an awkward teenager that doesn't know what to do with their hands. "Um, well, there is that, of course."

John laughs a good hard laugh and pats me on the shoulder, "I'll see you in a few days, my friend."

"I'll get the preliminary investigation going and have my Beta looking into the best locations. I'll give you an update as soon as I can. I'll be going now." Talking to your mat's father about her heat was officially the worst conversation I have ever had. I get up and leave the room.

Dinner will be ready soon, and I wanted to talk to the girls early today since I didn't know If I would be able to the next two days. I head to Amelie's bedroom.

"Tyson." I mind link my Beta.

"Yes, boss man." He was never serious.

"I would like to talk with the girls. Be ready in ten minutes."

"OK. Shay will have to call you. I am in the middle of recruit tryouts."

"I'll be waiting for her call."

"Yes, Alpha." I ended the mind link.

I get up to the room and wait for the call. It's only been a few days, but I miss them terribly. I always do when I leave. My phone rings, and it's Shay's number.

As soon as I accept the call, I get, "Hi daddy!" screamed through the phone.

"Hey, girls, are you being good?" Daisy gives me a huff.

"Daddy, we are always good!" She shakes her head.

"Daddy, where is Amawee?" Rose was trying to look behind me. See her bob up and down and moving the phone around was so cute.

"Rose, she's in her workshop right now. She makes jewelry, and she's working right now." I see their eyes widen.

Daisy puts her face up to the phone and yells. "Daddy, we want a princess crown!"

"Daisy! That's not how you ask for things. If you are good girls while daddy is gone, he might ask Amelie to make you one." I am optimistic she will just win them over, but I can use it to my advantage.

"Daddy, we will be so good! I promise!" Rose is determined to get a princess crown.

"I know you girls are always good." They giggle.

"Daddy, don't let the bad people hurt mommy Amawee." Daisy stand and demands.

"What bad people, Daisy?" Have they been watching scary things on TV again?

"The bad blue people. They have blue on their arm. They are bad people." Rose adds in nodding.

I really need to talk to Shay and Jorden about what the twins are watching. "I understand, girls. I'll protect her. That's what daddy does."

Just then, Amelie enters the room. Nothing gets past the twins. "AMAWEEEE!" They shrike.

"Hello, beautiful girls. Are you having fun talking to your daddy?" She comes and sits next to me on the bed.

"Yes." In unison.

"Amawee, daddy said you make jewwreee!" Daisy wants that crown.

"I do. When I get there, I'll bring you a present. You can help me set up my workshop too. Does that sound fun?" I pull her a little closer. This small moment warms every part of my being. I felt so lucky.

"I want to help, and I want to help." They were both bouncing around, repeating it over and over.

"Rose, Give Shay the phone. Girls, daddy loves you, and I will talk to you tomorrow, OK."

"OK, daddy. Wub you." They say in unison. Rose hands the phone to Shay.

"Yes, Alpha." Shay was not looking at the phone but watching the four kids around her as she talked.

"Shy, I will mind link you later, but I have a few questions regarding what the girls are watching."

"I understand, but we haven't watched anything out of the ordinary."

"We will talk later."

"Yes, Alpha." I hung up the phone.

"Everything OK?" Amelie asked.

I flop back on the bed with my arms over my head, "The girls have been saying such odd things the last six months. I don't know what they are watching or where they are picking it up."

Amelie leans over me slightly, "What are they saying." A somewhat worried look comes across her face.

"They were saying how I needed to protect you from the bad blue people." I shake my head and run my hand down my face.

Amelie gives me her one eyebrow head tilt look, "Like Smurfs are coming for me?"

I sit upon my elbows, "Did you upset Papa Smurf?"

She hits me with a pillow. "It's almost dinner. Let's clean up."

We clean up and head down for dinner. It's a pleasant night, and once we are done, we head to our room. We are both tired from the past few days. We get ready for bed and snuggle under the covers, just talking, and Amelie is giggling, and we fall asleep in each other's arms.