Chapter 60

Gideon

"Fight!" A young lady came running into the ballroom screaming. Amelie and I both rushed out to the back garden where the young she-wolf directed the fight was happening.

As I rushed outside, I found an interesting sight. James, Riley, and Harlow are fighting off seven other Alpha and Beta Heirs. Three of them were already on the ground reeling in pain. It's a three-on-four-fight when I see the glint of metal in one of their hands as he charges for James. Ulv took over before I could react and leaped from the stairs and tackled the kid to the ground.

"That's enough!" Amelie screamed and pushed all her new Luna aura out. All the teens stopped and submitted on the spot. I had to fight, not bowing in submission.

By now, all the parents were outside. "Take your children to bed. We will discuss this with each of you in the morning." I commanded. No one questioned me. The teens and their parents quickly left for their rooms. "Excitement is over go back inside." I hollered over the chattering crowd.

Everyone went back inside except Amelie's family. Amelie pulled all three boys into a hug all at once. Which I could tell threw them off a bit. They didn't fight it; they just let their sister and cousin embrace them. Then she pulled back and punched each one in the arm.

"Mom, tell Amelie not to hit me!" James whined.

"Well, when she's done, I'm going to start. What the hell is going on?" Celest folds her arms over her chest and is not amused with her son.

Riley is the first to speak up. "It's not our fault we got jumped!"

"Yeah, a few girls asked us to come outside, then bam, these guys were all over us. It was seven to three! They didn't stand a chance even with the numbers." Harlow chuckles and nods.

I walk over to the ground, where I tackled the one kid and picked up the knife by the hilt. I touched the blade, and sure enough, it burned my skin. It's a silver switchblade. A weapon banned by both Councils. I turn around and look at John. I fold the blade back in and toss it to him. "We have a problem. Illegal weapons."

John unfolds the knife and touches the blade. "This can't just be some simple fight among ragging hormonal boys. It doesn't make sense. Why be so brazen and stupid!" John pinches the bridge of his nose.

"I agree it's not a simple fight. They were lured out here and ambushed. I don't think, however, they are the masterminds behind everything, just dumb kids thinking they are better than the boys." Logan scoffs.

"You are right but, that switchblade says we have a problem. Similar weapons have been used in numerous Rouge attacks over the past eight years. These attacks have a unique signature to them, all done by the same group. They attack small packs and only outlying homes not close to the Packhouse. There are never survivors, and the houses are always burned to the ground. Every time we find small handheld silver weapons and nothing else. To see the same type weapon in the hands of an Alpha Heir is unsettling." My gut is telling me something more is going on, but I don't know what.

"Rouge attacks, poisonings, and kidnapping of an Alpha's daughter. Is it all related, or can we not trust our kind?" Hope huffs in frustration.

"I don't know. There's no actual evidence proving they are or are not connected, just theories and speculation." I sigh and rub my hand down my face.

"Which packs were those boys from? Does anyone know?" Flynn Harlow's Father and John's cousin ask.

"I only knew one of them that I knocked out when the fight first started, Halston Payne of the Dark Wood Pack. I think he's 19 because he used to try and talk to me and ask me questions about Hope. I blew him off because he's a creep." Harlow said.

"Son, did you say Dark Wood?" Flynn furrowed his brow.

"Yeah, dad. We hung out a few times, but he would always ask creepy questions about Hope since he knew we were cousins and she's the same age as him. I stopped talking to him because it was just weird." Harlow shook his head.

We heard a deep growl and a yip and looked over the see Philp's eyes glowing and arms wrapped around Hope. "Mine!"

"Philp! Control your wolf! You and your Luna are safe. You are with the family!" Amelie demanded while pushing her aura out. Her eyes glowed brighter silver. Philp visibly relaxed and loosed his grip on Hope.

"I think I might know who the Dark Wood Pack is allied with." Flynn gets us back on track.

We all turn and wait for Flynn to keep going. "As you all know, I run an investment firm in New York. Most of our pack is white-collar and works for our firm. We handle most investments for the packs throughout the country. About ten years ago, one of my pack members came to me with a combined portfolio from 4 packs looking to create an investment club. They were small packs, and it made financial sense, but what I found odd was some of the stocks they had. Silver mining, logging, pharmaceutical, urban constriction firms, hunting, and sporting goods there was more none-wolf friendly business than I had ever really seen in one portfolio. It always felt off to me, but I didn't know why. It's pretty common for wolves to invest in a human business that we normally wouldn't be interested in but not on this scale."

"Do you remember any other Packs listed?" I ask maybe it could be a lead.

"Blue Crescent, Dark Wood, and Silver Dawn are the ones I remember. I will need to contact my firm in the morning to see who else is part of the investment club." Flynn pulls out his phone and looks like he's about to send a text or email.

"Wait, stop." I grab Flynn's wrist. "We don't know if they have planted spies. It might be best to hold off till you can check it yourself. If they can plant a maid to poison Celeste, they could have one in your firm watching the investment club's portfolio."

"He's right, Flynn. We can only trust family and our ranked members right now." John pats his cousin on the shoulder. John turns to look at me. "Gideon, I think this is bigger than we thought. I don't know how big or how long this plan has been going on, but we need to play this tight to the vest."

"Your right." I close my eyes and let out a breath. "We can't say anything about the knife and only scold the kids who started the fight. If we let on that we are on to them, they could try to strike with deadly force before we know what we are truly dealing with."

"We will need to be cautious and ready all our evidence for both Councils. We don't have enough right now." John said with annoyance dripping from his tone.

"John, we are going to need to pull in the rest of the family," Flynn said.

"Already on it. Most are here, so it shouldn't be too hard to have a small family reunion. Also, we are going to set a trap for the Ember Moon Festival. Gideon, can we use the Alpha Wing tomorrow for a family gathering?" John asks with a devious look in his eye.

"We can gather after Lunch before our Alpha meeting that evening," I said while nodding in agreement with John.

"I think we have gathered long enough. Let's head back in. Gideon and I will be heading to our wing to relieve the sitter." Amelie says as she grabs my hand and ushers everyone back into the main Packhouse.

We say our goodbyes to the family and make our way to our wing of the Packhouse. As we are walking, I can't help going over the few details I do know. Yet, I don't know for sure if everything is related or not. Now throw in years of Rouge attacks, and everything is even more complicated. The biggest question is why? And who? What is the motivation behind everything? I know Alpha John and Logan feel this is all a long play for power, but the details and everything is hidden in the shadows for years. There is something we are missing. I can't even say the Rouge attacks are related, but the silver knife tells me this is bigger. Hopefully, tomorrow after the family meeting, we might have more to work with.

We go to check on the twins first. After the dinner portion of the ball, we had two Omegas take the ranked couples' kids to the playroom to have a sleepover. We peek in and see all the kids sleeping in the middle of the floor in sleeping bags. They loved having sleepovers, and I know everything is changing quickly for them, so to have their friends helps keep things regular. Both the Omegas are sleeping on the sofas. Amelie puts a blanket on each of them. We let them sleep and head to our room.

As soon as I close the door, I pull Amelie to my chest and kiss her with all my love. She stands on her tiptoes and wraps her arms around my neck as our kiss deepens. I pull away and rest my forehead on hers. "I love you, my Luna. You are my life."

"I love you, my Alpha. You have given me life." Amelie's words strike me for a moment. In this short time of a month and a half, our whole world has turned upside down. We said we would take things slowly and crawl into love, but we sprinted instead.

"You are my goddess." I run one hand up her neck into her hair and kiss her again. My other hand has found the slit of my mates' dress that has been mocking me all night. It's a good thing the night is still young. I'll have to let her sleep at some point.