Chapter 71

Gideon

"Thank you all for coming over so late." It's after midnight, but this cannot wait. "Matt, thank you for leaving your new mate. I know in her current state, that must be very hard for you. I promise we will make the wolves who did this to her pay." We all take a seat in my living room. Only two lamps are on. They strain to fill the large room with light leaving the corners bathed in shadows.

Matt nods, "Thank you, Alpha. Right now, I know I need to be here to assist in the information exchange. It's the best way to Help Bailey." His eyes speak volumes as they peer around the dimly lit room. It was like he was hoping the perpetrator would bust through the door and give him the fight he so desperately wanted.

"Right, let's get started with what we found out on our trip. Marcus, please bring up the file that Alpha Flynn gave to us." I knew everyone was on edge and ready for war if that's what it came to. We needed to get through this debrief first.

Marcus opens the file and begins to review it. "They call themselves 'The New Moon Alliance.' They have two Alpha Council members Lars Sibley of the Death Valley Pack and Jace Kentwood of the Kentwood Pack." Marcus looks over at Jordan. He already knows how she feels about the Death Valley Pack's involvement. He felt it through the mate-bond on the way back.

Jordan stands fist clenched tight brows furrowed, "We know that the Death Valley Pack's Beta Gavin Bryant was the one who brought the non-affiliated wolves to attack us. I also think they murdered my father" There's silence, and it feels like the room grew darker.

"That's a long way from Nevada just to drop off some wolves." Tyson's attempts to lighten the mood falls on deaf ears. He would have dropped dead if looks could kill from the way Marcus was staring daggers.

Marcus rolls his eyes and continues, "They also have three Elder Council members as well. Odell Hyde of the Clear Lake Pack current Alpha Bence Hyde, Thomas Cage of the Ozark Ridge Pack current Alpha Marshall Cage, and Emit Skye of the Silver Dawn Pack current Alpha Ajax Skye." Elders in the Elder Council were all former Alphas or Lunas. Each pack also had a small Elder Council to help the Alpha family with running the pack.

"What!" Amelie yells, jumping to her feet.

"Shhh! Keep your voice down. You will wake the kids." I pull her back down to my side. I put my arm around her back as we sat.

"Emit Hyde was my grandfather's best friend and one of the longest-standing alliances with the Ashwood Pack. That can't be true." Amelie fists the sofa cushion. Her anger is pulsating off her.

"We will need to talk to your grandfather." I sigh and rub circles on Amelie's back to calm her before she rips the sofa cushion apart.

"He's still in France with Grandma. I'll talk to dad." She releases the cushion and leans into my shoulder. It worked.

"The rest of the New Moon Alliance are Travis Payne of Dark Wood and Dale Nichols of the Red Star Pack, as we already suspected. Then we have Wade Darvin of the Motor City Pack, Reed Tarlo of the White Ridge Pack. Last and also the ringleader Nox Jericho of the Blue Crescent Pack. Those ten packs make up this alliance." Marcus sinks back into the sofa, pulling Jordan close to his side. She's still upset about her birth pack. I can't blame her for that.

"There's more information to come. We caught one of their inside men in the Koray Pack. His name is Theo, and his son Owen was kidnapped, and he was forced to help move around money for them." I lean forward. "I promised we would save Owen."

Amelie sighs, "If they know Theo's been compromised, they will probably throw Owen in with the other kidnapped pups." She turns to look at me with tears in her eyes, the dim light playing with the glassiness. "They make pups who haven't shifted fight each other for food and survival. A lot of pups die in the process. I don't know how they have gotten away with it for so long." There's so much sadness coming from her. I'm also shocked at what I'm hearing they are not just kidnapping but abusing children.

"Luna, Dr. Michaels gave me the results on all the tests they ran on the non-affiliated wolves. I went back to the hospital after dinner to drop off snacks for them, and the Doctor gave the file to me." Becky timidly hands a file over to Amelie and me. As soon as it's in our hands, Becky sits back down next to Benjamin.

Amelie opens the file and starts to flip through, "What? Oh my gosh." Tears are trickling down her cheeks. She hands me the file.

I take a breath, "They were drugged with concentrated levels of amphetamines, a low dose of LSD, and anise or canine catnip. They also have been dosed with low doses of ketamine. The Doctor doesn't know how long they have been drugged with the ketamine since all of their heads are shaved. She can only test body hair." I toss the file on the table. This is part of how they control them; it's sick.

Matt stands up and starts pacing. "Matt, we will get them. We know who they are, and I know how they got the drugs." He stops and turns to me. His breathing is heavy, and I can his wolf flash in and out of his eyes, pleading with his Alpha to let him go and kill the wolves who harmed his mate.

"The portfolio of the investment club has a pharmaceutical company in it. It looks like they own majority shares. Normally, I don't like to mix wolf business in the human world, but I think we can use this to our advantage. We can use human laws to shut down or at least distract them. Let's dig into their human employees and get them to turn evidence over to the FDA. We can use this time to track down where they are holding all the kidnapped wolves." I pinch the bridge of my nose, trying to think through a plan.

Tyson stands and also paces. It's not nervous pacing he's thinking, and each physical step is a step of his plan formulating. "We should do the same with the other companies in the portfolio as well. They will probably contact Theo to sell and buy others or move money around. If Theo does it right, he can tip off the FTC and get them for insider trading. The Council members could be suspended until the human legal troubles are over. If we are lucky, they will start to turn on each other and reveal all the hiding places they are keeping the victims."

Amelie reaches into her pocket and unfolds a piece of paper. "We also have this." It's a drawing of the moon cycle with the center silhouette of a howling wolf.

"How is a drawing going to help?" I'm perplexed.

"This a drawing of a tattoo. Faris, one of the non-affiliated wolfs drew it. He said he saw it on a lot of the wolves who held them captive. We believe this is how they identify each other. It's always in blue ink on their forearm." Amelie hands me the drawing.

"This will help narrow down who joined and who has been forced to help them. This is great!" I can't believe they are dumb enough to mark themselves. They are making it easy.

"I wouldn't celebrate just yet." Tyson pauses. "We have identified 20 in our pack with tattoos."

I feel like the wind has been knocked out of me. "20! I want a full list by tomorrow afternoon. We will need to check with each of the Delta Force captions as well. If a satellite branch has been too compromised, we will have to shut it down and recall everyone." I slump back into the sofa. The weight of the plan ahead was making the already long day longer.

"I think we should send the non-affiliated wolves to my step-father's pack." Everyone stops and looks at Amelie. On the surface, it's not a shocking statement, but to suggest we cannot keep them safe in our own pack!

Amelie stands up, "Hear me out. We already have 20 members of this stupid New Moon Alliance here in our home. If the alliance finds out the non-affiliated wolves are still alive, they could be killed, or it could derail our bigger plan." Amelie pauses. "Logan is old school in his punishment of disloyalty. Gideon, you know how many times he's been called in by the Elder Council. He's strict, but he never violates the law. He would kill any Black Hills Pack member who betrayed the pack, and he would be justified in doing so. He also has the largest territory to hide them on."

"Luna, please don't send Bailey away. She needs me." Matt drops to his knees, pleading.

I know all too well how desperate that feeling of needing to keep your mate close to protect them is. "Bailey can stay, but once she's out of the hospital, you will move into the raked wing with Benjamin and Becky. She will need to wear a wig for a while and cover her tattoo with clothing or makeup. She can learn from Becky how to help run the Packhouse staff."

"I would be happy to teach her. She will be the same rank as me, so she should have a job with the ranked she-wolves." Becky's smile is beaming through the dim room, making it seem brighter than it is. I can visibly see Matt relax at knowing Becky will be guiding Bailey.

"Let's meet in my office tomorrow after breakfast." I am beat. I just want to go to bed. My brain cannot take any more information. "Everyone get some rest."

Everyone gets up to leave, and Amelie and I head to our room. As soon as we are in our room, I head for the shower. I want to wash this day clean with hot water and soap. Once I'm out, I toss on some pajama pants and crawl into bed next to Amelie. All I want to do is hold her close and fall asleep.

Amelie sits up and utters the four-word every male wolf or human hate as soon as I get under the covers. "We need to talk."

Shit, my night just got longer and not in a good way.