Chapter 67

Chapter 67

Gideon

"I trust you. I love you too. Please call me as soon as you can, and once I'm done here, we are heading home! I don't care if it's the middle of the night!" I say in defeat over the phone to Amelie.

She giggles and gives me a slight smile. "I promise. I love you." We hang up, and I have never been more conflicted in my life. Do I stay and finish what I need to here, or do I pack up and go home now?

"Mate is right. We need to continue our work." Ulv's conviction is surprising. When we first heard we had a rouge attack, He wanted to try and run back. Now, after it's over, he is thinking clearly, but I'm not.

Marcus interrupts my train of thought. "Alpha, the report I am getting for Matt's team, and Jordan is baffling. How did six non-affiliated wolves attack us? Plus, their attitude and mannerisms along with how they look do NOT sound like any rouge I've ever seen."

"I can't agree with you more. It's just odd and a little eerie." I stand and look out the window. We are meeting with Alpha Flynn in two hours, and with the leads he gave us on the flash drive, I hope I have enough to start making some arrests.

"Alpha, look at this picture." Marcus shows me a picture sent from one of the Delta guards taking the non-affiliated wolves to the hospital. It's a picture of one of their ankles. It's a tattoo of two letters and six numbers.

"I've seen this tattoo on dead rouges." I look at Marcus with confusion written all over my face.

"Alpha, I have a new theory to add, but I know you are not going to like it," Marcus says to me while pulling something up on his laptop. He turns in around to show me. It's a Missing Person report of a little girl from 10 years ago named Bailey Rhea.

"OK, I'm not following." I tilt my head to the side and look at Marcus.

"The she-wolf that ended up being Matt's mate is this missing girl, and this is a picture of her ankle tattoo. Look at the date on the missing person's report." Marcus directs my attention to the date on the screen.

I looked at the report; the date she went missing was 09/12/11. I look at the picture of the tattoo, and it says BR091211. "What!" is all I can get out.

"I don't think they are rouges. They are kidnap victims. That's also why they don't smell like rouges. I don't know how or why, but things are not as they appear. Hopefully, the Luna can get more information after talking to them." Marcus turns his laptop back toward himself and starts searching our records for more.

"This has to end. Not just for the sake of my family but all the families unknowingly affected by this. That poor girl has been mistreated for ten years." I slump down on the bed. I think of my girls and what I, as a parent, would do if it was one of mine.

I run my hand down my face and pick up my phone. It's picked up on the second ring. "Tyson."

"Hello, Alpha." He responds.

"Tyson, when you get to the hospital, get all the non-affiliated wolves' names, birthday, and birth pack if they know it. After that, check our missing persons' database for matches. We already found Matt's mate Bailey. She went missing ten years ago from a pack in Oregon." I pinch the bridge of my nose. This is just getting more and more complex.

He sighs, "Yes, Alpha, I'm going to the hospital with Luna Amelie as soon as she drops off the twins at the packhouse." He pauses. "I'm sorry I let this happen."

"Tyson, you have nothing to be sorry for. Shay was there too. She could have been harmed too. This was not in your control, but we will find out who planned it, and I will have their head." I snarl out the last part.

"I'll give you an update as soon as I can."

"Keep me in the loop." We hang up.

"Marcus, let's head over to Kory Investments and get the rest of what we need." I stand up and grab my suit jacket and sling it over my shoulder.

"I'm right behind you." He closes his laptop and slides it into his briefcase. We are out the door and down into the lobby in no time.

Benjamin walks up to us. "Mr. Gideon, we have the cars waiting." I nod, and Marcus and I follow. The rest of our men are already in the cars waiting to go.

I mind-link the team when we get in the car. "I know you are all aware we had a rouge attack. After looking into it more, this is a false report. As we move about today, we may encounter someone that knows about the attack or is surprised to see us. That is your target."

"Yes, Alpha." I hear.

We pull up in front of Kory Investments and file out of the cars. The passerby's on the sideway quickly get out of our way as we step inside. Beta Newman is waiting to greet us.

"Mr. Gideon, please right this way." He gestures to an elevator.

We step into the elevator. I turn my head toward Beta Newman. "You don't have to ask. I'm already looking into it." I'm vague. We are not alone, and I don't know who we can trust.

Newman smiles. "Mr. Gideon has my thanks in advance."

We step out onto the floor, and it's lined with cubicles, and all I hear is phones ringing and typing. I can smell a mix of humans and wolves. We follow Beta Newman. "Your men can wait for you here." I nod my head for my men to enter the conference room. Marcus and I continue following Beta Newman.

I mind-link Benjamin, "Slowly send our men out to sniff out the rat. The more uncomfortable they feel, the bigger mistake they will make."

I turn and see a snarl come from Benjamin, "Yes, Alpha. We will find them!" He's typically stoned-faced, but Benjamin is beyond pissed. Becky was supposed to have been with Amelie today. All my raked males are raging mad. They attacked our pack, our Luna, and our mates. We all wanted them to pay. Don't mess with a wolf's mate.

We get to a large corner office, and Beta Newman opens the door. Alpha Flynn stands up from behind his desk. "Alpha Gideon and Gamma Marcus, please have a seat." No humans are within earshot, so we use titles out of respect.

"Alpha Flynn, thank you for your hospitality." We sit across from him on one of the sofas.

"Thank you for the information. We are still going through it. It looks like the investment club has expanded from four packs to 10. Are you positive no others are hiding in the margins?" I ask Alpha Flynn.

"As much as I dug and tried to make connections, we only found the ten that were financial connect. Calling their investment club, the New Moon Alliance. Disgusting, right?" Flynn shakes his head.

"I only wish I knew what they were after. I asked my mother if she remembered anything as well." Marilyn Ashwood John's aunt and the object of obsession of former Alpha Brian Jericho.

"Did she remember anything?" I asked, leaning back into the sofa.

"Yes, she did." He pauses, taking in a long breath. "She said at the time Brian Jericho would stop at nothing to have her, but she was an Ashwood and knew she would only accept her destined mate. This pissed him off, and he told her one day she would regret not choosing him. He would find a way to have Ashwood under his thumb." Flynn gets up and pours himself a drink. "It sounds like the ramblings of an obsessed ex-lover, but my mother never did more than dance with him at a ball. He was obsessed with her Ashwood name and what it would bring to his pack to have an Ashwood as his Luna. Jericho tried to kidnap my mother, but her brother Jackson caught him and beat the crap out of him. Jericho tried to kill Jackson after that, but he failed as well. After that, your father stepped in, and Brain stopped. So, we thought." He takes a sip of his scotch. "The investment club was started by Brian Jericho and Alpha Silvester Payne of the Dark Wood pack. They passed it down to their sons, who have added more members. My guess is this started with Brian Jericho and is now a family obsessed with obtaining power. They are in it for the long game. They don't want the Council or Druit guard interfering, so everything is in the shadows. What is going on in the shadows, I don't know. What I do know is they are well funded." Flynn takes a long drink of his scotch.

I run my hand down my face. "So, we are dealing with a group that's been sneaking around building power in the dark for over 50 years."

"That's correct. This new batch of Alphas is not as patient as their fathers and grandfathers. They are sloppy and are making mistakes. They had three different investment clubs that I would have never linked together if they didn't combine the portfolios. They tried to poison Amelie in public at her Luna Ceremony. They openly attacked my son and your brothers-in-law. They think they are untouchable. This also means they have members on the Council." Flynn clenches his jaw. He set down his glass hard on the table.

"That they do. Looking at the list you gave me, we have three Elder Council members and two on the Alpha Council. I don't know how they were able to turn them or if the Elders are, but I will find out." I say as I sit up straighter. I am growling out my words.

"Five total, that's it. After 50 years, you would think they would have more." Flynn scoffs.

"Five is enough to cause trouble, and the Council is not an easy group to infiltrate. I guess the five they have on their side had been having money issues or rouge problems and might have even been coursed to join. I'll find out." I have a way of getting information out of someone. I just need to find that someone.

There's a knock on the door. "Come in," Flynn yells. The door opens, and from the smell, the person is a wolf in the Kory pack. "Oh, Theo, I wasn't expecting you. This is Alpha Gideon of the Druit Guard." I stand to greet the wolf properly. Theo looks like a deer caught in headlights. I look past him in the hallway, and I see Benjamin. His eye darts to Theo, and he nods at me.

Theo reaches his hand out to shake mine. His palm is sweaty and cold. I get a devilish grin and shake his hand. "My, what an interesting scar on your hand. I would love to hear the story." I squeeze tighter.

Theo's eyes get wide. We caught our rat.