by Sydney Addae
Tyrese tapped his ear piece. “No, don’t let him leave the grounds if he attempts to flee, otherwise, just stay out of sight. He is meeting Rone in a few minutes.”
Tyrese looked at his brother. “You need to scan him before he comes to the main building. No offense,” he looked at Rose. “But we don’t know where he’s coming from, or if he’s been tampered with. We don’t know how these bombs are being inserted, I don’t believe Boggs was aware he was loaded, but Siseria is.”
Tyrone stood. Jasmine and Rose both protested. “Why does he have to do it?” Jasmine asked, afraid for her son.
“I can do it,” Tyrese said, standing.
“No,” Rose and Tyrone said at the same time.
“Look, we are trying to keep this in the family,” Tyrese said, exasperated. “Silas is only going to allow us so much leeway. Two people entered the compound wearing explosives on my watch. I'm not taking any chances now, not with anybody. As far as I’m concerned, in order to enter this area you will be scanned, me and everybody in this room included.” He glanced at Jasmine. “Except you, Mom,” he said sheepishly.
“Hmm, well thank you, Sir,” she said in a dry tone.
“I’ll be back in a few,” Tyrone said. He kissed Rose on her forehead and left the room.
Jasmine gave Silas an update and promised to let him know when Thorne was secured.
She exhaled and grabbed Rose’s hand. They sat quietly waiting for the all clear from Tyrone.
“He’s clean,” Tyrese said ten minutes later, releasing a breath.
Rose exhaled, and bending from her waist, placed her forehead on Jasmine’s shoulder. Jasmine rubbed the younger woman’s back and murmured words of comfort.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been that scared before,” Rose whispered and slowly lifted her head, wiping away her tears.
Jasmine cupped her daughter-in-law’s face in her palms. “There’s nothing wrong with being scared, almost every great thing that was ever done in this world happened when people were scared. We just keep moving through our fear, that’s all.”
“Rone and Thorne are in the room in the tunnel. He contacted Silas, he’s on his way.”
Jasmine stood.
“Uh…Mom?”
She looked over her shoulder at Tyrese. “Huh?”
“Silas doesn’t want you or Rose down there. He…uh…told me to escort both of you upstairs.”
Jasmine stared at Tyrese for a moment, trying to decide if she was going downstairs to intervene on Thorne’s behalf, which would cause her son, who has already had a hellacious day, problems. Or go upstairs and deal with Silas’ heavy-handedness later. She shut down the link between them and nodded to Tyrese. Silas was on his own, he’d learn soon enough dealing with family was no easy task.
“Fine, son. Let’s go.”
Rose’s brow shot up.
Tyrese’ eyes widened and then he smiled. “Thanks, Ma. It’s been a rough morning and I haven’t had lunch yet.”
“My lunch never arrived, so we can have lunch together since you’re on baby-sitting duty.”
“Mom, that’s not fair, I love spending time with you. It’s no duty.” She slapped his arm and walked out the room.
Chapter 7
Silas walked into the lower office being used to interview Thorne. The young man sat at the table eating and laughing with his brother-in-law, Tyrone. The sight ticked Silas off and the heat of his anger filled the room, causing the walls to expand outward a bit. The lights flickered off and then came back on. Thorne’s long hair moved as if it was being blown by a strong wind. The young man and Tyrone held on tightly to the table, but it began to slowly slide. Silas cut their communication channels, so neither man was able to contact anyone. He knew Rose would be angry, but he was Patron and he would not allow these infractions in his compound.
“Thorne?” Silas said, and the young pup rose from his seat. Wide-eyed, he stared at Tyrone as his feet moved toward Silas. When he was two feet away, Silas made him fall to his knees.
“I am going to ask you one time and you will tell me everything, do you understand young Thorne?”
“Yes…yes, Sir. Please Sir, I understand,” Thorne said, crying.
“Why did you contact the human females from the surveillance room?”
“Oh shit…shit...shit. I...." He wiped his lips. “My sister asked me to contact them. She wanted to know if they were okay.”
Silas looked at Tyrone, noticed the deep scowl on his face on behalf of his mate, and asked another question. “Which sister?”
“Lilly. She is with her mate in the caves. He is hurt and she cannot leave him.” The pressure in the room eased. Rone and Thorne both gasped for air.
Silas sat forward, the human women forgotten for the moment. “Who is your sister’s mate? Have you seen him?”
“No, Sir. I don’t know who he is, never met him. She won’t allow me or anyone to get close. Lilly’s mean, a real fighter. If she says no, then it's no.”
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know, Sir. She contacts me sometimes, asks how Rose is doing or how I’m doing. Twice, I took some medicine, just some bandages and antiseptic, along with two blankets, bottled water, and a few bags of jerky and left them near this big rock for her. She was supposed to pick it up later. This past week she asked about the humans, but I don’t know why. They just talk about their stupid cause.”
Silas wondered if Lilly had found Cameron. He knew the man wasn’t dead; Silas still sensed his wolf but couldn’t lock on him. “Why didn’t you tell Rose or Rone about this?”
“Lilly told me not to. Plus, Rose is busy with everything; I didn’t want to bother her.” Silas looked sharply at Tyrone, his message was clear. Keep the boy busy and close to home or else. Tyrone exhaled and nodded.
“Stand up,” Silas said, feeling the sting of his separation from his mate. He hadn’t realized when he'd shut her out; she had shut him out as well. When Thorne stood, Silas scanned him again just to be sure, and was satisfied the young pup was clean and telling the truth as he knew it. “You are never to go in any part of this compound other than your sister’s and Tyrone’s wing. I am limiting your access because you are not ready to handle that type of freedom, yet. You will move in with them immediately.”
Thorne bowed his head. “Yes, Sir."
Silas glanced at his watch, turned and left the room. His security detail fell in behind him. He contacted Rose. "Has the technical team arrived yet?"
“Yes Sir, they are assembling now in the lower chambers waiting for you to brief them. Tyrese is on his way.” Good, he wanted to talk to Tyrese and Hank about Cameron. Maybe there was some way to track Lilly and hopefully find Cameron in the process.
Silas stopped, closed his eyes at the growing discomfort behind his eyes and unclenched his fist. This mating thing pissed him off at times. “Where is Jasmine?” he growled at Tyrese.
“In the nursery.”
He knew Jasmine had felt the energy blast in the room with Thorne, even without their mental link. She was probably pissed over his poor family skills but…damn it. How could he lead his wolves when he couldn’t protect his mate and four pups? The enemy had literally sat in his basement for weeks. She could’ve exploded and wiped out his litter, and to think a ‘family member’ had shared information with that bitch, it had been too much. And now he was paying for it with the backlash of his mate’s displeasure.
“Jasmine,” he called, hoping she would answer. She didn’t, stubborn bitch. “Jasmine,” he called again with a bite in his tone.
“What?” she snapped, and the tension eased in his head.
“Don’t shut me out.”
“You shut me out, Silas. Don’t put this on me.”
“I know, I know.” He released a breath. “But we are not meant to be disconnected for long periods of time. I have a lot of work to do and I cannot concentrate on it when you disconnect like that.”
“What?”
“You can keep
me from hearing your thoughts without disconnecting our link, love. I’ll be out of your immediate thoughts but we will still be one, okay?” This was another one-sided benefit the human breeders had that wolves didn’t. A full-blood bitch had to be connected to her mate at all times and vice-versa. But the breeders, it didn’t seem to bother them at all, and that sucked big time.
“Oh, okay.” She paused. “That’s all you have to say?”
The tone of her voice stopped the ‘yes’ that was forming on his lips. He took a moment to think. “I’m on my way to deal with the technicians; can we continue this conversation later?”
“You better believe we will, Silas.” She shut him out of her thoughts. He didn’t like it, but it was better than the void he’d experienced before. Pushing the conversation to the back of his mind, he headed down the corridor to reach the lower tunnels.
“Rose, set up a meeting with the Alphas in an hour.” He needed to brief them of these new threats. Hopefully he was the lone recipient of the attack, but he doubted it.
“Yes, Sir.”
When he entered the room, six men and three women stood at attention. Silas looked at Hank and the man nodded, each of these people had been scanned for devices and deceit. Silas stepped to each individual, shook their hand and did a more in-depth search, rifling through their minds for deeply rooted deception. By the time he shook the last hand, he was pleased with the level of loyalty and commitment of each person. They were eager to begin the research.
“This way.” Silas led them to the room where Siseria lay in an induced coma. The team looked at her through a large window as Tyrese spoke of Boggs and gave them folders with pictures from the aftermath of the explosion and some before. They looked at the x-rays of Siseria and all agreed there was something inside her that shouldn’t be there.
“I am borrowing some equipment from the hospital,” Silas said. “It should be here within the hour. It’s a robotic x-ray machine. It will be operated from outside the room so you can get a better idea of the shape and size of the object. I believe you have her blood work and preliminary lab work. Any questions?”
“Yes, Sir. What is our primary task?” Passen, one of the lead doctors asked.
“It’s two-fold. Find a way we can detect this device without a scanner. And find a way to neutralize it before it’s triggered.”
“That can take months, years,” another tech said.
“You don’t have months, let alone years. We are all prisoners here until you unravel this mystery. I have an Alpha challenge to preside over in a month. You have until then. If you need help, bring them in. Understand, anyone who enters this area must be personally cleared by me.” He looked at the shocked faces of the people in the room. “As Patron, I have chosen you because I am certain you can do this, was I wrong?”
“No, Sir, we…we will get started right away. We must outline our strategy, where is the blood work?” Passen asked, taking the papers and walking toward the monitors.
Silas nodded and left the room, waving at Tyrese to follow him. When they stepped into the hall, Hank joined them. Silas pointed at Hank. “You’re lead on this project and security detail. I want it tight. No leaks, no mistakes. Everything goes through you to me. Make sure you introduce yourself to Passen and everyone in that room.”
Hank nodded. “Yes, Sir.”
“Where is Brad?” Silas asked, looking around; the man should be fully healed by now.
“We rotated out at lunch,” Hank answered.
Silas nodded. “When he comes down, work out a schedule with him, I want eyes and ears on this crew around the clock. Use Jaree at night when he’s not guarding my mate if you need to. Any other guards you use must be personally vetted by me. Your job is to make sure they have everything they need to find a solution to this problem. I want it done quietly and efficiently, but quickly. They need to make a schedule and give it to you so we know where everyone is at all times. Two connecting rooms have been outfitted with twin beds, trunks and a few desks for their use. The cams are active there and in the bathroom as well. No outgoing calls. I’ve disabled their mental links, nothing in without a security check, got it?”
“Yes, Sir,” Hank said. He nodded and returned to the lab with the techs. Silas and Tyrese walked down the corridor in silence. Security guards stood in the halls to insure no one left or entered the area without Silas’ permission. They rode the elevator in silence.
Silas shuffled his priorities and by the time they entered his office he had called Tyrone in to join them. The twins each took a seat in front of his desk and waited for him to give instructions. It dawned on Silas he had never had this level of assistance before. He'd always had his Alphas and they’d do jobs for him as needed, but they’d be away from their primary responsibilities of handling their state matters. Jacques was his administrator, not someone he sent on jobs. Maybe this family thing his mate talked about was good. He looked at the twins. This was good, he decided.
He waved them to seats at the table as the large monitor flicked on. Within moments, the camera was active. Roll call would begin momentarily. Silas went over in his mind what he wanted to say and what he planned to keep in reserve.
“Alpha Theron reporting, Sir.” Silas nodded as the next Alpha checked in. These were men he'd personally trained, each had taken his last name, Knight, and wore his crest on their shoulders. That one had betrayed him cut deep.
“Alpha Jayden reporting, Sir.” Silas nodded, glad to see the man.
Within five minutes, roll call was complete.
“Up until last year, we met on these conference calls once every two months, or if a special situation arose that needed my attention. Now it seems as though we are meeting weekly. Times are changing quickly and we, no I, was caught off guard. The human breeding phenomenon was bigger than any of us imagined.”
There was some nods and verbal agreements from the monitor.
“My job as Patron is to all wolves. I control the wolf, so if a person shifts into a wolf, he merits my concern and protection.” He had said those words before, but it bore repeating every time they talked because there was still some reluctance. With the overwhelming number of half-breeds being reported, most of the Alphas agreed those wolves needed to be accepted into the packs. Some merely gave lip service and did nothing to ease the way of the half-breeds. Those were the Alphas he addressed with his declaration.
“Is that understood?”
“Yes, La Patron,” the Alphas and the twins said.
“Good, now to bring you current, we have run into some problems.” Over the next hour Silas explained about the bomb, eased concerns over his security, and had to defend his staff.
“This was not a security breach. Focus on what I’m saying. Someone has invested money to make an undetectable bomb. Think suicide bombing on steroids.”
No one spoke as his words penetrated. “Think full-bloods or half-breeds with wolves so weak they are undetectable. How the hell did that happen? I need each one of you to see the bigger picture. Someone is fucking with us and I want to know who and I want to know why. That…” he pointed at the Alphas, “is what we should be discussing, not that other bullshit.”
“Yes, La Patron.”
Silas watched the monitor and realized they were beginning to see the enormity of the problem, and felt better. “Now I’m going to open the floor for discussion. Let’s take the wolf issue first.”
An hour and a half later, Silas and the twins left his office with an outline of a sketchy plan. Everyone agreed Dr. Passen and his team should look at Jenkins' wolf and make a diagnosis. More information was needed before they could go further. The tone of the meeting was a lot different at the end as the discussion peeled away layers of what these new threats meant to their nation.
“Change of plans, I want Detective Jenkins bought in as soon as possible and kept beneath the gym. After I pull his wolf, I want Froggy to work with him. I don’t care how long it takes. I want his wolf healthy so I can hav
e better access to find out why he’s in my town.”
“Rose says he’s talking to a lot of humans, they are going to notice when he goes missing,” Tyrone said.
Silas pinched the bridge of his nose and counted to five. Once done, he inhaled. “Fix it so that isn’t a problem. Do not bring the police to my door. This discussion is about what I want to see. I expect you to work out the details, the implementation, and get him here. No fuck ups. No excuses.” He looked at each one with an arched brow.
“Yes, Sir,” Tyrone said.
“Yes, Sir,” Tyrese said.
Glad they understood, Silas pulled open his desk and placed a key in a lock. The blinds closed. The curtains moved inward blocking the residual sunlight. He slid back in his seat and typed a few keys on his keyboard. The screen he used for Alpha conferences rolled down and clicked into place.
A few minutes later, the interior of a large room filled with people appeared. The initial picture quality was poor. After playing with the keys for a while, the picture quality improved well enough that you could see the various eye colors of the people milling about the room.
“What was the date you were at the club and the time?” Silas asked Tyrese, who stared at the images on the screen.
Tyrese told him and Silas typed in the dates and the blocks of time. The screen went black and after a minute or so, the picture returned. Silas used the knob to pan the room and stopped on Tyrese and Boggs. They watched in silence as the black female with the long braids walked up to them.
“Hold on, can you check and see what she was doing before she met them, was she talking to someone?” Tyrone asked.
Silas split the screen so they could watch what she was doing while Tyrese and Boggs were talking.
“She’s talking into a head piece and laughing. You see that.” Tyrone pointed to the screen.
“Hold it,” Tyrese said. “That’s Leonidas. He was in the club, standing not too far from her and I never saw him.”
“Do you see any of the others?” Silas asked, searching the room.
Tyrese quickly identified the four other wolves. “I didn’t see or scent them inside the club and I was constantly filtering scents. In the corridor, I knew there were wolves outside but they were unfamiliar.”