"It just seems too easy, and I don't see my father giving up his bid to be alpha of the Silver Lake Clan simply because he was banished."
He swallowed hard when Rob's jaw clenched.
"You think he's going to come back and try and challenge me?"
"No, because he can't win a challenge and he knows it, but that doesn't mean he won't try and mess with the clan in some other way. Knowing my father, he'll cause enough havoc and sow seeds of dissent until this clan fractures and he can come in and take over. That's how he works."
"Explain," Rob snapped.
"He doesn't do anything that can get him sanctioned by the council. He works behind the scenes, making people start to question things. Why certain rules are in place. Why others have everything and they have nothing. Why there isn't more pride in being a bear and not a human. The list is endless. He'll use whatever means he can to create chaos."
Randal wouldn't even be surprised if there were random attacks on clan members. His father didn't care much who he hurt in his bid to become alpha of the clan. "I'm not trying to be disrespectful, but you really need to hear me when I say that he is a danger to this clan even if he's banished. That won't stop him."
"I hear you, Randal. I'm just trying to figure out how he thinks he can cause issues when he's been banished. He's not allowed back in my territory."
"And I can't say he will be, but that won't stop him from hiring someone to come in and cause problems for him."
Rob cocked his head to one side and a thoughtful frown crossed his face. "You think he will hire people to create problems?"
"Like I said, he won't do anything that can get him sanctioned by the council, but that doesn't mean he won't work behind the scenes. Talk to Alpha Kersey, he can tell you. My father has done stuff like this before. He always pushes the line, but he's never seen crossing it."
Rob's eyes narrowed. "My gut tells me that he has crossed the line and you know about it."
Randal shrugged because he couldn't deny it. "I suspect he knew what Jason was doing and helped him. It's nothing I can prove, but he visited Jason several times with my brother. I think he was trying to convince Jason to take his father out and then he planned to turn Jason in to the council. With no alpha, he'd be the next in line and could take over without a single challenge. Since he was family, he'd be the most obvious choice."
It was scary as hell to admit that, but Randal knew his father.
The man was a monster. A very smart, conniving monster.
Chapter Two
"That should do it." Luca Buchanan set his tattoo gun down and wiped a clean rag across the skin he'd just inked and then applied cream and a bandage. "You know the rules. Don't get it wet for—"
"Yeah, I know."
Luca chuckled as Jack sat up. He'd been doing the man's tattoos for months, one right after the other. He was starting to look like a walking advertisement for Luca's tattoo studio. "See Trent on your way out and get your paperwork."
"See you next month?"
Luca nodded. "Yep."
Once a month, without fail, Jack came in to have something added to his tattoos. Luca appreciated the steady income, but at this rate, Jack was going to run out of available skin.
Once Jack walked toward the front of the store, Luca started cleaning up his work station. He recapped his ink bottles and put them away, cleaned his tattoo gun, and then went about wiping everything down.
While he loved inking people, he was a tad bit anal about sanitization. The quickest way to lose clients was to have a dirty work station. It could lead to a bad reputation, infections, and even death. It was every tattoo artist's nightmare. Or at least his nightmare.
Once he was done cleaning up his station, Luca walked to the front of the tattoo studio. "Do I have any appointments coming up, Trent?"
Trent was flipping through his cell phone. He paused and glanced at the appointment book for the studio. "Nope."
Luca rolled his eyes. "Fine, then I'm going to be in my office doing some paperwork."
"Okey dokey."
Trent was not a brainiac, but he was a damn good receptionist. If he ever learned to get his head out of his cell phone and pay attention to his training, he might actually make a good tattoo artist.
Luca turned and walked to the back of the shop where his office was located. As much as he loved owning his own tattoo studio, he hated the paperwork involved in running the place. Order new supplies, pay the bills, and make sure he was complying with all of the state regulations. There seemed to be a never-ending list of things he had to do.
