“Oh, uhmm, I was looking for a place to build a house and someone told me about this land, so I came to check it out.”
“Someone owns it?” asked Steel innocently. “I didn’t realize that,” he said as he turned to his father and said, “I guess my map reading skills are rusty. It seems we’re trespassing.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Kahn reassured him, “the owner lives somewhere else, from what I understand.”
“This sure is a beautiful area. How much land is for sale?”
Khan hesitated, “I-I-I don’t know exactly.”
“We better go now,” Steel said, “since I want to get home before dark. See you around, Kahn.”
“Bye,” called Khan as Steel and Maximus turned to hike back to the pickup.
They didn’t talk until they were in the truck, driving away. Then Steel shattered the silence. “What bullshit! Building a house! Land for Sale! All lies! But what I want to know is, who is this guy? What connection does he have to the Silver Point Pack?”
“Didn’t you have lunch with him and talk about any of that?” asked Maximus.
“No, I knew once I met him, he wasn’t my fated mate so I just wanted to eat and get out of there as fast as I could. Conversation was just small talk. All I know about him is he has no problem lying to my face,” growled Steel.
“Do you think he’s a member of the Silver Point Pack?”
“That’s a fair assumption though I think we need more information to be absolutely sure.” Turning to his father, Steel said, “I don’t want to mention this to Jackson yet, Dad, until we find out for sure one way or the other. No sense worrying him.”
“Are you sure about that? I have never found it a good idea to keep things from your mother.”
“Nor have I, Dad,” Steel chuckled. “Slate and I found that out when we were younger, trying to prevent Mom from discovering our exploits.”
“Your mother would always tell me about your and Slate’s effort to hide your adventures, but that’s not what I meant, son. Jackson is your Alpha and you owe him full disclosure on anything that could affect the pack,” warned Maximus.
“But he’s pregnant and I won’t have him upset over this. It might turn out to be nothing more than what Khan said he was doing,” barked Steel, annoyed at his father’s suggestion.
They both fell silent as Steel headed home. He didn’t mean to snap at his father, but dammit, he was worried about what this extra stress might do to Jackson. His role was to ease his mate’s life, not add to the problems he was dealing with on a daily basis.
But intuitively Steel knew his father had a valid point—he should tell his Alpha about the sighting of the man on Fox River Pack land. First, though, he wanted to do some research. Maybe his brother, Slate, would have some information for him that could put this issue to rest and get some justice for his mate.
~/~/~/~/~
Hoping for some news from his brother, Steel sat down at his computer, opening his email program. Sorting through the messages, he soon found what he was looking for and clicked on it.
“Congratulations on your mating, dear brother of mine! I can’t wait to meet your mate as Mom and Dad speak highly of him. Take a selfie of you two for me in the meantime. I found an application from the Silver Point Pack asking Dire Enterprises for funds to start a mining operation on land the Alpha Josiah claims he inherited after his brother, Striker, died. The funding has tentatively been approved, and will be released once they provide the required documents to complete the application. The main document needed is proof of title to the land. A warning, dear brother—the Silver Point pack has been notified of our tentative approval and the need for the proof of title, so guard your mate well. If this pack has done what your mate has claimed, then he isnow in greater danger. Your brother, Slate. P.S. I have attached their application for you and Dad to review.
Steel slumped back in his chair as stark terror struck his heart, followed by the rage of his wolf at the threat on his mate’s life. This he absolutely needed to tell Jackson but first he must come up with a plan to neutralize this threat.
He sat there, going over different options, thinking about which his mate might accept. His mate would be angry to learn the reason for his family’s death, but he also knew Jackson wouldn’t take any measures against the Silver Point Pack that would require violence if it could be avoided.
Lost in thought, staring at the forest outside his windows, he didn’t hear his father enter the office. So, when Maximus asked, “Have you heard from Slate?” Steel whirled around with surprise.
“Jeez, Dad, don’t you knock anymore?”
“I did. What has you so deep in thought you didn’t hear me?”
Steel threw a copy of his brother’s email across the desk. “Read it and you’ll understand.” He waited until his father finished and then asked, “What do you think?”
Maximus studied his son. “Well, that explains why the massacre occurred. But what does Silver Point plan to mine?”
Steel handed his father the copy of the Silver Point Pack application, sitting back to wait for a response. He’d calmed down since first reading the email but was still agitated at Silver Point Pack’s deceit.
Of course, Silver Point had no way of knowing his mate would be one of their prime targets. An involuntary shiver coursed down his back when he thought of hismate being in harm’s way. Steel felt his restless wolf pacing back and forth, eager to hunt those who meant to hurt its mate.
