“Nope. Just enjoying the moment.”
“Good. You needed to unwind,” he added. “I was getting worried about you. You’re taking this Declan business almost personally, and you need to be careful. I don’t think it would be right to ignore it, but at this point, it’s really none of our business.”
And there went the end of my peaceful rest.
Sitting up, my body turned toward Augie. “I know it’s hard to understand, but I have to do this. My dad has done a lot for the wolf communities over the years, and I’m expected to fill his shoes one day. If Declan is causing a problem, I plan to fix it.”
Augie reached over, placing his hand on my shoulder. “Just remember, you’re not alone in this. Don’t do anything stupid on your own.”
My lips stretched into an amused grin. “So, you’re saying if I plan to do something stupid, then I need to make sure I bring you along?”
His eyes rolled at my statement. “Yes, Cord. That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Sarcasm dripped heavily from his words. “We need a plan. If you’re set on doing this, we need to meet with your dad soon to decide what comes next.”
I glanced out toward the water. Taya was serenely laying on one of the floating air mattresses. Not a care in the world. Just how I liked it. I might have only been a big brother to her by mere minutes, but I took the role seriously. Nothing and nobody hurt my sister.
Except for me.
She was going to be so pissed with me when she found out what we’d hidden from her, but she’d eventually calm down. Probably after beating the shit out of me and Augie.
I turned back to Augie. “We need something before we meet with my dad. He’s too concerned with politics and keeping me safe to think clearly. We need a concrete plan that puts me in the action without being obvious.”
“But not here. Taya will have our heads when she finds out.”
“Hey, I was relaxing just fine, without worrying about all this shit, until you sat down,” I barked. “You only have yourself to blame if she overheard anything.”
He shook his head. “Whatever. She’s out like a light.”
Water war, part two was about to go down.
“Should we go find out for sure?” I smirked.
Augie groaned. “You have a death wish, don’t you? She’ll kill us in our sleep. No, she’ll wake us first, then stab us. You know she’s twisted enough.”
My arm reached out as I stood up, and I pushed him off the chair at the same time. “Come on, chickenshit. We’re supposed to be having fun. When have we ever had fun any other way than torturing each other?”
Augie didn’t answer. Instead, he flipped me off as he raced ahead.
We enjoyed another hour on the water before we decided to call it quits. Augie headed back to his house to shower and change before coming back over for dinner.
After I was done cleaning up, Taya came into my room. She sat on my bed and just stared at me without saying anything.
“Yes, my sweet sister. Is there something I can do for you?” I joked.
She glared at me. “Is everything okay?”
Shit. I had done a good job thus far of avoiding conversations that would have me directly lying to her. I hated that I had to do so now.
I joined her on my bed. “Of course it is. We just had an afternoon off. Why wouldn’t it be?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. You just seem more stressed than usual, and Dad is even busier than normal.”
“It’s the Decennial Gathering. There’s a lot for Dad to do in preparation. I’ve been trying to help him, but he’s being stubborn as usual.”
Well, that wasn’t very far from the truth. The Decennial Gathering would be the perfect excuse for anything we needed to do. I hadn’t been looking forward to it, but Taya had just made me realize it was the solution to get more information.
It was a meeting of pack alphas and betas that occurred every ten years. Trade deals and friendly competitions usually filled up the two-day event.
“Okay, if you’re sure,” she drawled. “Not that I want to be part of your training, but if you ever need help with anything, you know you can count on me, right? I might not follow your book learning, but I can kick anyone’s ass in the gym.”
Laughter escaped me. “The guys call you the speed ninja whenever you leave. You test their stamina and their egos. It’s one of the things I enjoy most at the training center.”
“Well, I’m happy to be of service anytime you need it. Especially if it means I get to leave the pack for a little bit. I’m tired of always being stuck here.”
My arm wound around her. “How about when Dad and I get back from the gathering, we go on our own adventure?”
“You’re on.” Her eyes lit up as she stood. “If Dad says no, then we’re running away. No questions asked. We just leave. He can’t keep me locked up forever. I’m not a princess.” Fire and passion lit her eyes with each word. She would have made one hell of an alpha-in-training.
I hated that I couldn’t bring her in on our plans. I needed her now more than ever, and she had no idea. I just needed to figure out how to take Declan down without anyone getting hurt, but the more I learned, the goal seemed to move further from our reach.
Chapter 3
A short time after Taya left my room, Augie joined me, so we could go over what we wanted to speak with my dad about. Now that I had a solid plan formulating, I needed to discuss it with him before we presented it to my dad. We had to make sure it was foolproof, so there was no way he could shoot it down.
Augie sat in a chair at the corner table in my room, peering at me expectantly. “So, what did you come up with? I’m assuming by the glint in your eye, you’ve got something brewing already.”
I nodded. “When I was talking with Taya earlier, I got an idea, and I think it’s going to be the best we can come up with if we want to do anything before the gathering. I’m going to visit all of the main packs of the four other territories.”
Lines spread over his skin as his face scrunched. “Why in the world would you do that? That seems like a big waste of time when you’ll be seeing everyone soon anyway.”
“I know. I’d already thought about that reasoning. That’s where I need your help. There has to be something valid we can think of, something that would make sense as to why I want to visit the other packs. I need a reason to be inside Declan’s pack, and this will likely be our only opportunity.”
Augie stared out the bedroom window as I continued to brainstorm potential excuses for visiting the other packs.
He slapped his hand on the table. “What if it didn’t need to be some elaborate scheme? You’ve never visited the other territories before. There’s never been a reason to, but now that you’re further along in your training and taking on more responsibility within the pack, you want to get to know the leaders of the other packs better, in hopes of solidifying relationships. During the gathering, there won’t be much time for one-on-one conversations.”
My head shook. “Alphas are proud men. They won’t give a shit about relationships and likely turn the request down, but I like the thought behind it. What if we changed it to me wanting to learn more hands-on stuff from other alphas besides my own? Just to get a different perspective and see how things are done? It might boost some egos that the Chief Alpha’s son wants to see how their pack is run.”
Augie’s laughter filled the room. “Yeah, every alpha but your dad. He’s not going to like that. It will make him seem inferior.”
Damn it. Augie was right. I didn’t want to make it appear as if I felt like I wasn’t learning enough from my own father. That was the furthest thing from the truth.
“Okay, so what other options do we have?” I asked.
The debate continued for another hour on why I’d be visiting the packs so close to the Decennial Gathering, where I’d be seeing all of them anyway. It was harder than it sounded to think of something simple but hard to turn down. Finally, we had a plan I was confident woul
d work.
I stared at the paper with notes I had, summarizing what we decided on one last time, just to make sure we hadn’t missed anything before we met with my dad.
“Dad will send an announcement to the other territory alphas asking for their permission for me to visit. I will be going to each territory for one to two days, meeting with the alpha and alpha-in-training in a more formal one-on-one setting, in hopes of learning their history and, most importantly, their present. He’ll explain that he doesn’t feel like I’m seeing the bigger picture of how one pack’s decision can easily affect all of the packs. And will stress the point that the Decennial Gathering doesn’t allow for that, and he considered waiting until afterward, but he thought it would be good for me to meet some of the other alphas-in-training beforehand.”
“I think that’s going to be as good as it gets,” Augie added, nodding. “Hopefully, your dad will agree it has potential and roll with it, or he’ll add to it. Either way, I don’t think he’ll be able to disagree with the logic behind it.”
“I agree. Let’s meet in his office tomorrow morning. He’s usually more amicable earlier in the day. It’s getting late for the old man.” I laughed.
Augie stood. “Sounds good to me. I’m going to go check in on Taya. See you in the morning.”
“Are you sure there aren’t any feelings between the two of you?” I taunted him. He hated when people said things like that. “It would make sense as you got older if things changed.”
“You’re an idiot,” he answered flipping me off.
My amused gaze followed him out of the room, then I stood up from the table as well. My wolf rumbled inside me and I decided a run was what I needed. The sun had already begun to set, and twilight was my favorite time of day to let my wolf take charge. The transition between day and night had always been something I fascinated over as a kid.
Tucking our notes away in my desk, I headed downstairs. Our pack house was two stories with most of the bedrooms upstairs. Our dad, Taya, me, and house assistant Courtney were the only ones who lived there permanently, but we frequently had visitors from other packs within our West Coast territory, so the house was well-used. Plus, my dad loved to cook, so he often prepared dinner for the pack. People were in and out of our kitchen at all hours of the day.
Once outside, my feet pounded against the grass as I ran toward the forest edge, getting in my human exercise before my wolf had his fun. The fresh mountain air filtered through my lungs with each breath. The run fueled my adrenaline, and I decided to take a few laps around the training facility before allowing my shift to take over.
When I was ready, I quickly undressed and stored my clothes in one of the outbuildings we had. Letting the transformation begin, I savored the feel of the change. As my bones moved and body changed, I sank into my subconscious, letting my wolf take charge.
Having so much alpha blood running through me, four generations to be exact, I had solid control over my wolf. Our relationship was sound, and I never worried about him leading me astray. Some shifters were concerned about forced shifts when their wolf got upset, or the inability to change back to their human form, but not me.
It was one thing I had excelled at early in my childhood. Taking care of my wolf was always a priority to me. I didn’t want to end up rogue like others I had seen. It wasn’t good for anyone.
When the shift was complete, my wolf took off into the forest. He knew our land better than I did, so I let him go where he wanted.
We stayed out for a few hours until my wolf was spent. When I arrived back at the pack house, everyone was sleeping, so I snuck into the kitchen for some food to take up to my room before I let sleep claim me.
Flicking on the light, I about had a heart attack. Taya was sitting on the counter with a tub of ice cream and a spoon in her hand.
Taya’s fingers wiggled at me. “Whatcha doing?”
“Who the hell eats ice cream in the dark?” I snapped.
“A sugar-crazed shifter who didn’t want to be an asshole and wake up Courtney by turning on the kitchen light at midnight.”
“Shit.” I turned the light back off, pulling my phone out of my pocket to use instead. “But still, why didn’t you just go back to your room?”
She sighed. “I knew if I took the whole ice cream container back to my room, I’d eat the whole thing. If I ate it down here in the dark, I’d soon get bored and decide it wasn’t worth it anymore. I was almost there, and then you walked in, making my insane thought process completely worth it.”
“Sometimes I wonder if Dad dropped you on your head a few too many times as a baby.”
She hopped off the counter, cutting in front of me to put her ice cream away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve always been Dad’s favorite. He wouldn’t have let any harm come to my awesome brain.”
“Or maybe you’re his favorite now because he feels so bad for putting that dent in the back of your head as a child…”
Taya’s elbow landed in my ribs, but I knew I deserved it and decided not to retaliate. It was too much fun to poke at her. Some days, I just couldn’t help myself.
“I’m off to bed now,” she said. “See you tomorrow, dickbag.”
My laughter was suppressed as I remembered Taya’s earlier words about not waking Courtney. “I love you, too,” I called after her retreating form.
She mumbled something I couldn’t hear, which was disappointing, because she had a unique way with words. Her insults usually entertained me to no end.
After grabbing one of the premade sandwiches Courtney had in the fridge, I headed to my room. Tomorrow morning was going to be interesting, and I decided a good night’s rest was just what I needed to convince my dad that sending his only son into enemy territory was the only option left.
If he didn’t agree to our plan, I wasn’t sure what we would do next.
Chapter 4
My dad stared at us when Augie and I finished telling him our plan. He didn’t once interrupt or change his facial expression. I was about to reach across the table and shake him, but Augie spoke up first.
“Gerald, are you okay?” he asked.
Slowly, Dad’s gaze shifted between the two of us. “Let me get this straight. Cord wants to go on a pack tour of sorts. Use some bogus excuse as to why he is there, just so he can hopefully get hard evidence against Declan. All while putting himself right in the line of fire. Did I get the gist of it?”
Well, shit. When he put it that way, it sounded like an idiotic plan.
“I won’t do anything stupid, Dad,” I defended. “I’ve watched you work enough people over to know when to push and when not to. I know I lost my temper yesterday, but I can do this, and I need you to believe that I can. If not, then all of the training I’ve been through was a big waste of time.”
Augie cleared his throat, eyes wide at my statement, yet took the easy way out by keeping his mouth shut.
My dad’s hands settled on top of the desk, as his intense stare challenged me, but I didn’t back down, even when my wolf whimpered. This moment, whatever was happening between my dad and me, would decide my future within our pack. If he couldn’t trust me to do this, then I wasn’t sure I wanted to be an alpha-in-training anymore.
“Very well,” my dad spoke after minutes of tense silence. “I’ll make a few changes as to the reasoning behind your visits, but everything else should work just fine.”
I blinked rapidly in response. “Really?”
“Would you rather I have said no?”
“I’m just surprised,” I answered, shaking my head.
“You’ve earned the right to do something you seem to be so passionate about. I won’t be the one to stand in your way of doing what you believe in. If this is something you feel you need to accomplish on your own, I trust your judgement.”
“Thank you, Dad.”
Augie leaned forward, joining back into the conversation now that the hard part was done. “We need to make a travel schedule, a
nd it needs to be soon. We don’t want to cut it too close to the Decennial Gathering. I can work on that today if you have a start date in mind.”
“The Southwest won’t mind a spur of the moment notice,” Dad explained. “Get Cord on the first flight tomorrow to Arizona. He can take a red eye flight to the other destinations, and make sure he has a rental car for each one.”
Augie’s chair moved back as he stood to leave. “I’ll get started on that, unless either of you need anything else from me.” When neither of us spoke up, Augie left the office, closing the door behind him.
When I met my dad’s stare again, it was no longer that of the hard alpha he needed to be at times. It was a father who was truly worried about his son.
“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” I asked.
“No, I’m really not, but like I said before, I won’t hold you back. I don’t like you being so close to Declan without anyone else with you, but if I sent Davis along, suspicions would rise, making it even worse. There’s no easy way to do what we’re trying to do. I wish it wasn’t us who saw the population records, but it was and now we will deal with it.”
“Thank you, again,” I offered. “I do have one more favor. Can I tell Taya? She’s starting to ask questions and I hate lying to her.”
His body stiffened. “Not yet.”
“We can’t protect her forever.”
“I can sure as hell postpone it, though.”
I laughed at his response. “It’s your grave you’re digging.”
“I know,” Dad answered with a heavy sigh, “The problem is, I know she is more than capable of doing everything you do, and she’ll want to be involved as well. I don’t like it. It’s too much.”
“You’re right, but the longer you keep her out, the more likely you are to lose her anyway. Just remember that.”
Taya was the most independent shifter I had ever known. She didn’t take anyone’s shit, and if she felt stifled for too much longer, I didn’t expect her to stick around our pack and just deal with it.
Shades of Secrecy: Prequel Novella (Raven Point Pack Trilogy) Page 2
