“What did she do?” asked Reeve.
“No one ever told me, but grandpa never said it again, at least not while I was there. My dad told me to forget everything he’d told me about bees making honey and to ask my mother when I wanted to know about sex.”
“Did you?”
“Hell no. Luckily, a friend educated me on the finer points of doing the tango between the sheets.”
“Holy shit, you are just full of these euphemisms today,” Reeve said, chuckling.
“What can I say…it’s a talent,” Heath bragged.
Shaking his head, Reeve replied, “Let’s get back to Alice. So you think Josiah’s shagging her?”
“Yeah. From everything we have learned, Josiah doesn’t give a damn who gets hurt as long as he comes out on top. Leading Alice on with false promises in exchange for her spying for him fits his profile perfectly.”
“Hmmm…” Reeve thought for a moment, then said, “No one is allowed to meet or talk to Alice for the next few days. Let’s see if spending some time in solitary helps her understand the seriousness of her situation. In the meantime, I want a record of what she says or does during that period.”
“Do you want me to schedule the interrogation team?”
“Not yet…I want the tech team to see what they can find on her phone and computer first.”
“Okay, what’s next?” Heath asked.
“Josiah’s house. Have the financial team do an inventory including the worth of each item.”
“Before or after they finish reviewing the accounting records on the pack’s finances?”
“At the same time. And if Tom needs more people, let me know,” Reeve replied. “I asked Alpha Blackwood to tell me what wouldbe acceptable to him for restitution and it would help if I knew what I had to meet it.”
“How did your meeting go with him?”
“Actually better than I thought. He isn’t anything like Josiah which gives me hope that it will be easier than I first thought to reach a settlement with him.”
“A push-over…that figures since he is one of the youngest Alphas to lead a pack.”
Snorting, Reeve shook his head. “Boy are you wrong. That young Alpha is built of steel and I pity anyone who tries to cross him. Don’t forget he has the strength and financial power of Dire Enterprises behind him.”
“A show-off, then.”
“Not one bit.” Reeve chuckled. “Low-key, friendly, warm, and fair...a true Alpha…something I haven’t seen many of recently.”
“That’s high praise coming from you.”
“Yeah, well...he certainly will make my job easier. You know as well as I do how much the Council wants this all to go away…”
“I know…the keyword is ‘optics’,” Heath sneered. “Can’t make the High Council look bad now, can we? And while they’re worried about protecting their reputations, these pack members are on the verge of starvation. Tell me boss, what will the Council do when these pack members are kicked off the Silver Point pack lands? Where will they go? Will the Council help them find homes in new packs?”
Growling, Reeve quickly shuffled through the papers, until he discovered the report from the medical team. Quickly scanning it, he found Heath wasn’t exaggerating about the state thepack members were in. Fury swirled within him as he recalled the lines of Silver Point parents grasping the hands of their emaciated and ill-clothed children. Compared to the youngsters he saw at the Blackwood Pack, the difference was clear as night and day. Looking up at Heath, he said, “Tell our cooks to feed all of the pack members three full meals a day until I say otherwise.”
“We didn’t bring enough supplies with us to be able to do that.”
“Then get more, dammit! Use the operating funds the Council gave for this mission until I can figure out what’s in the pack’s bank account. I’m not going to stand by and watch innocent men, women, and children suffer because of one fucking psychopath.” Taking a deep breath, Reeve slowly exhaled, knowing it was imperative to calm down. Once under control, he looked at Heath and said, “Go…I want these people fed as soon as possible…and check with the doctors to see if they have any dietary restrictions the cooks should follow about what or how much starving shifters should eat.”
Alone after Heath left to carry out his orders, Reeve leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. His childhood memories flooded his mind and he could still feel the hunger pains that always clawed at his insides—constant companions until that fateful day when he was saved by an angel. Even many years later, memories of that day were still as vivid as if it were yesterday. Scrawny, half out of his mind with pain from the ‘treatment’ his father insisted would make him a man, it had taken a couple of minutes before he could focus on the apparition before him. He grunted with pain as he raised his head, trying to find the source of the gentle voice. Finally, after blinking several times, his vision cleared and he saw a man with wavy, dark hair and beautiful deep blue eyes filled with kindness smilingcompassionately at him. That’s when he knew his father had finally succeeded in killing him because the man in front of him certainly didn’t belong amid the evil that was his life on earth.
Chapter 7
Tade wasn’t sure where his courage came from, but if he had to guess it was from hearing the new Ruler of the Mystic Realm speak about his changes for their world. It sounded too good to be true, but then, he himself was proof that the Ruler was telling the truth. Now, sitting in the room with the other rescued low-level magic users and listening to them discuss what they hoped their futures might be, a germ of an idea began to sprout in his mind.
