Kevin’s got the vape to his mouth now, so he holds up a finger for me to wait as he takes a hit. “Yeah,” he coughs the vapor, then reaches into his pocket to retrieve a ceased business card. “They were like private security or something, though, not actual cops.”
I take the card. All that’s on it is a name, a phone number and a logo. But the logo is a laurel wreath framing a barely there profile of a howling wolf and there’s really only one organization that could symbolize. The triumvirate must have figured out where I lived. Not great news that they’ve done that extensive of an investigation into me, but at least I might have a way to contact them now.
I pat at my pockets, forgetting for a second that my phone is… who knows where at this point. “Can I borrow your phone?”
Kevin blinks and glances at the coffee table. “Uh…”
“Here,” says Tatiana. “Use mine.”
“Thanks.” I jump to my feet. “I’m just going to make this call in my room, so I have some privacy.”
I grab Luke’s sleeve and drag him down the short hallway and into my tiny bedroom. The space is still a mess from earlier, the covers in a bundle on the floor and clothes and other items strewn all over.
“Sorry about the mess,” I say. “I had to leave in a bit of a hurry.”
Luke nods and sits down on the edge of the bed. “Who are you calling?”
“Hopefully, the triumvirate.” I show him the business card, then type the number into Tatiana’s phone and hold it to my ear.
“This is Smith,” says the gruff voice that answers after two rings.
“Hi, um, this is Keir Anderson,” I say.
“Are you calling to turn yourself in?”
“Sort of,” I say. “I mean, if you guys need to arrest me again, that’s fine, but I was hoping you might be more interested in helping me stop an illegal challenge.”
Luke raises his brows.
“Illegal challenge?” asks Smith.
“Um, yeah.” I don’t know where I’m going with this, but I seem to have gotten his attention.
“I’m going to need a little more information than that,” says Smith in a flat voice. “For example, why you believe the challenge to be illegal.”
“Of course,” I say, running every fact I’ve learned today about shifter laws through my brain, trying to find the one I need. My gaze darts to Luke, knowing he can hear everything and hoping he might have some ideas, but he only shrugs. “Well, I don’t know if you guys know this or not, but I’m an omega.”
That always seems to get a reaction out of people…
Smith scoffs. “There are no registered male omegas and there haven’t been any for a long time.”
“My pack never registered me,” I reply quickly. The guy’s not shooting me down, so maybe I’m on the right track. “When they found out, they just tried to kill me.”
“Kid, lying about something like this isn’t going to endear you to anyone, least of all my bosses.”
Luke gestures for me to give him the phone. “This is Luke Anderson. I’m the pack Alpha’s son and I was there the night Keir first shifted. I can confirm not only that he’s an omega, but that my father attempted to murder Keir on the advice of the pack cleric.”
Smith is silent for a moment. “And the illegal challenge?”
I snatch the phone back. “Rossi, the Chicago Alpha, arranged for a challenge he knows has no basis because he knows Julien Matisse is my fated mate. It’s a revenge thing that has something to do with Rossi’s brother’s mate.”
When Smith doesn’t respond, I continue my rambling and list as many of Rossi’s maybe crimes I can think of. “He also violated that whole omega free passage thing because he kidnapped me a couple times. Or maybe it was only once? It’s been a long day. He planned to murder Julien’s brother, who’s acting as a pro-something or other, and I think that’s against the summit rules?” I wrack my brain, trying to think of more and something Rossi said the first time I met him suddenly comes into glaring focus. “And I think Rossi’s trafficking other shifters, too.”
Twenty-Five
Julien
Gettingoutofachallenge is much harder than getting into one. I didn’t expect it to be easy, but I assumed Derek would see reason once he had a chance to cool down and we could discuss things. Apparently, I underestimated how much his injured pride would affect his common sense.
