Chapter 63

Gideon

We land at Teterboro Airport at 8:00 PM, our time, but it’s 6:00 PM here in New York. It’s only two hours but added with stress, and it can feel like jet lag. We arrange for a car service to pick us up and take us to The James New York NoMad on east 29th and Madison. The rest of the world doesn’t know that this is a Packhouse in the middle of New York City. All those urban legends about wolves in New York City parks are kind of true. They are just werewolves. That’s why they don’t get caught. We pull up to The James, and we quickly unload. Alpha Flynn is waiting to meet us.

“Gideon, it’s great to see you again.” He shakes my hand. With this many humans around, we drop titles, but we are naturally larger and more robust. So, seeing a group of prominent men and women all together can be somewhat intimidating.

“Flynn, it’s good to see you so soon as well. I hope to see Frank Newman on this trip. We all have so much to discuss.” I pat him on the shoulder. I can see the tension in his eyes. He’s found something.

“In due time. Let’s get you all checked in.” Flynn turns to address the she-wolf behind the counter, “Danelle, please make she Gideon and Marcus get the VIP rooms I reserved.”

“Yes, Mr. Kory.” With that, we get our room keys. Marcus and I are on a different floor than the rest of our men.

I mind-link Benjamin, “Marcus and I are two floors above you. I think he put us on the Alpha floor. I need you all to keep an eye out for anything odd. With how vague Alpha Flynn has been talking to me, I’m sure he’s found a spy in his pack. They might panic with us here and expose themselves.”

“Yes, Alpha. I am pairing Megan up with Nora in the room right next to mine. I think they might target her since she’s not a warrior.” Benjamin is already on guard and making plans. This is why he and Matt are captions.

“Good call. Always keep the link open while we are here. That goes for everyone.” I turn to go up the elevator. While I’m in the elevator, I reach out to my mate to bond-link with Amelie. From this distance, we can’t talk be we can feel each other. It’s better than a text. I can feel that she is safe. That’s more than I can ask for. I feel her push back, and my heart is at ease. The elevator reaches my floor, and Marcus and I get off. We can tell right away this is the Alpha and Beta Floor. It feels more like a home than a hotel. Our rooms are right next to each other. When I open my door, I find a note on the entry table.

It reads. “Alpha Gideon Alios. Thank you for coming on such short notice. My Beta and I need to be cautious as we have found a rat in our wolves’ dean. Meet my Beta and I in Madison Square Park at 11:00 PM at the Eternal Light Flagstaff. F.K.”

I mind-link Marcus right away. “Marcus, did you get a note in your room?”

“Yes, all it says is there’s a rat in the wolves dean. I’m assuming they found they had a spy.” Marcus is unaffected by the revelation. We had suspected spies even in our own pack.

“They want to meet us in Madison Square Park at 11:00 PM. Do you think it’s a setup?”

“It’s hard to say, but if the Alpha put us on his highly controlled floor, the spy must not be someone close to him. If they are close, I think he would have already let you know somehow.” Marcus’ logic was sound.

“OK, I want every one of our men paired up, and no one goes out in groups larger than four. I want our men safe but not drawing too much attention. I want them to act like it’s a casual trip, but they need to be gathering intel the whole time. If Alpha Flynn doesn’t know who the spy is but knows he has one, our presents will most likely flush them out. Time to catch a rat in a trap.” If we can catch the spy, we will have our first real lead to this group.

“Operation ‘Rat Trap’ in order.” I sigh at Marcus.

“Marcus, calling it that sounds like a cartoon.” I shake my head and continue to walk into my room.

“It’s the best I could come up with, and it’s memorable.” Now I’m laughing.

“Fine Operation Rat Trap. I’m going to FaceTime Amelie and the girls, then we will go out for some dinner before our 11:00 PM meet-up.” I hang up my garment bag.

“Sounds good. I’ll call Jordan and Ryan as well.” We end our link.

I sit on the bed and pull out my phone to face time Amelie. She picks up right away.

“Hey, my storm,” I smile as soon as I see her.

She giggles, “Hello, fire.” I laugh. I will never forget our first night together. I still say fire won.

“Girls, say hi to daddy.” Amelie turns the phone, and I see the girls are in our bed with Miss. Hopps and Mr. Whiskers.

“Hi, daddy.” They both say

Daisy crawls to the phone, putting her face way too close to the camera, and yells, “Daddy, we had maxs and thees with bacon for dinner!”

“Oh, did mommy make that for you?” I hear Amelie in the background, trying to get Daisy to pull her face away from the phone.

“Daisy sit on this side of mommy so was can all talk to daddy.” I hear Amelie cokes, Daisy, back once everything is settled again. I see Amelie has the girls on either side of her as they are all cuddled up in our bed. It’s making me homesick already. Looking at this little screen, I see my whole world, the only things that truly matter to me.

“What’s the plan for the rest of the night?” Amelie asks as she pulls Rose closer to her.

“Marcus and I are going to go grab a bite to eat, then have a meeting with Alpha Flynn and his Beta. After that bed.” I wish it were in my own bed.

“We miss you.” Amelie’s hand moves to rub her baby bump as she’s talking to me.

“Girls, while daddy’s away, you have to protect mommy and your brothers. Can you do that?”

“Yes, daddy.” They both say. Roses lay her head on Amelie’s baby bump.

“They say they miss you too, daddy,” Rose says with her ear to Amelie’s bump. She’s my sweet girl.

“Daddy, what are you going to bring us back? Last buzzness trip, you brought us back a mommy!” Daisy says, bouncing up and down. Amelie and I both laugh.

“How about a t-shirt and a toy. I don’t think you need another mommy this time.” Amelie gives me a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, we want a toy!” Daisy is jumping on the bed next to Amelie, now yelling.

“Well, we are going to let you go so I can get them to settle down and sleep. They are going to the new pack pre-school tomorrow with Easton and Ryan.” Daisy stops and looks over at Rose with bulging eyes.

“We’re going to school.” She screams before belly-flopping on the bed—this kid, what am I going to do with her.

“OK. You girls be good for your teachers tomorrow and be nice to the other kids. You are the Alpha’s daughters. Everyone will want to be your friend, so be nice.”

“Daddy, will it be scawee?” Rose asks. She is so shy, but I know this will be good for her to meet kids her age.

“No, baby. You will have fun and learn lots of things. You will meet so many new friends too.” She nods her head and snuggles in next to Amelie.

“We love you. I’ll let you know how it goes with the school building group.” Amelie is working on pack improvements. After packhouse improvement, she’s moved on to the kids—new schools and programs. The pre-school was opened in the main Packhouse building. Now we needed to build new schools for the older kids.

“I love you all too. Talk to you tomorrow. Rest well, my loves.” I hang up the phone. The conversation made me homesick, but I also resolved to stop this crazy plot, whatever it is. I had to protect who I love.

I take a deep breath and clear my mind. Once I felt my resolve strengthen me, I mind-linked Marcus. “Are you ready? Let’s grab a bite, then scope out our meeting place. Who knows, we might catch a New York rat tonight.”