by Nora Phoenix
Duer smiled a little. “One advantage of being a beta in an alpha’s world is that they tend to underestimate me. I’m a new hire at the union, replacing the man who supposedly sat down to talk to you, and I’m sure they thought handing me the case last minute would be enough for you to go down in this fight.”
Lidon smiled back. “Tell me you have a plan.”
“I do, but it all hangs on how well you and I can work together. If you want a chance at getting out of this with your reputation intact, you have to be willing to follow my lead.”
Lidon studied the beta. His alpha was quiet, sensing no deception in the man. “How do I know I can trust you?” Lidon asked. “In case you missed it, that’s the chief of police in that room, trying to fuck me over.”
“It’s not the chief you have to be worried about,” Duer said. “He’s simply been fed false information. But we don’t have time to get into that now.”
That remark told Lidon everything he needed to know. “Okay. Tell me how we play this.”
Duer took a note from his pocket. “I wrote down a few things I think they’re going to try. When they do, follow these instructions. Pretend you found this online and don’t mention you got it from me. Whenever they press you, pivot to me to confirm. I’ll play the village idiot who’s scared of all the big bad alphas, but I’ll back you up enough to block whatever they’re trying today.”
Lidon quickly read the note Duer had handed him. He’d scribbled down instructions for four different scenarios, it looked like, with some legal terms that meant shit to Lidon. It seemed the beta had worked his ass off in the short time he’d been on the case. Lidon looked up.
“Thank you,” he said. “I won’t forget this.”
Duer nodded. “You’re welcome. Now let’s hope it works because if we’re not convincing, they’ll pull me off the case and assign you some dickwad who’s truly in their pocket.”
Thirty minutes later, Lidon walked out, feeling elated and worried as fuck at the same time. If it hadn’t been for Duer, he would’ve been royally screwed. They’d thrown the book at him—the legal book, in this case. They’d refused to show him the evidence they had against him, citing an ongoing legal investigation as the reason. Apparently, they’d contacted the district attorney’s office, which was preparing an indictment. Duer had expected this and had jotted down a few sentences Lidon had managed to deliver with credibility, making it sound like he’d done online research.
“Mr. Hayes,” Duer called after him.
Lidon turned around, mindful of the other eyes watching them.
“I apologize I couldn’t be of more help,” Duer said, pushing his glasses up his nose. The kid really excelled at acting.
Lidon bit back his amusement. “Yeah, thanks for nothing. Big help you’ve been,” he said sarcastically before walking off.
He’d given Duer his phone number and email address, confident he’d be in touch. He’d fucking need his help because he knew enough about the indictment they’d mentioned to know he’d be in deep, deep shit if that went down.
Grayson woke up happy that morning, still on a high two days later, courtesy of the breakthrough he’d experienced with Lars. It was such a different experience, waking up with his two boys. Lars always needed a little time to wake up, looking all frumpy and sleepy for the first few minutes, but Sven was one of those instantly awake-and-happy people.
He’d followed Grayson into the bathroom without any sense of personal boundaries, which Grayson had found endearing. It was like the omega couldn’t bear to miss even a second of their start together, not even when Grayson was doing mundane things, like brushing his teeth or taking a leak.
The latter had given him some ideas because clearly, Sven was willing to do a lot more of serving his Daddy than Grayson had counted on at first. He’d watched Grayson as he’d emptied his bladder, his eyes studying Grayson with curiosity and hunger. Grayson wasn’t sure what had been going through the omega’s mind, but it had been good. He knew that much. Sven wanted more, and Grayson couldn’t be happier to ramp up the intensity of their relationship.
Now Lars, that was a different story. Lars was hard work and slow going, careful steps forward and holding his breath he’d gotten it right. But their session two days ago had been good, he thought. Lars had surrendered, he felt, even if he still held back part of him. It was another step forward.
He’d given Lars a few orders that morning, nothing too hard, and Lars had only balked once. When he had, Grayson had stepped in immediately, staring Lars down until the beta had surrendered. Maybe it was time for another spanking tonight. He frowned. Maybe he should make it a daily habit, part of their routine together. Lars clearly needed it, this proof that he was taken seriously and held accountable for his behavior.
Lars was at work outside, Sven was doing laundry since Vieno wasn’t feeling well, and Grayson had just finished two hours of intense writing and craved a cup of coffee. When he walked into the kitchen, Palani was sitting at the kitchen table, his laptop in front of him. But the beta wasn’t working on it, more staring into space. Grayson studied him for a few seconds, wondering what was going through the beta’s mind. He’d noticed Palani seemed a little down lately. That wasn’t surprising, considering everything that had been happening to him.
While Grayson certainly felt sympathy for Lidon and Enar being suspended, his heart went out to Palani most of all. It was different for the beta. Grayson suspected a lot of his identity was wrapped up in his work, and to lose that with everything he had built up, the reputation he had built for himself, that had to leave scars.
“Good morning,” he said.
Palani’s head jerked up. “Good morning. I didn’t hear you come in.” He smiled a little. “I guess I was lost in thought.”
Grayson walked over to the counter to start the coffee machine. “Do you want some coffee as well?”
“Sure, thank you.”
Grayson debated skirting the topic, then decided he preferred facing it head on. From what he had seen from Palani so far, the beta seemed like the type to appreciate that.
“How are you holding up? Do you manage to stay busy?”
Palani shrugged. “A little.”
Yeah, that didn’t sound like he was in a happy place, Grayson decided. “Bored out of your mind?” he asked.
Palani shoulders dropped. “You have no idea. I never thought I would miss work this much.”
Grayson finished getting the coffee machine ready, then sat down opposite Palani at the kitchen table. “Is going back there a realistic option at this point?”
“No. Their demand for me is to release my sources,” Palani said. “We both know I would never do that. I think they know as well. My gut says this was the easiest way they knew to get rid of me without going through legal proceedings. They must have known I would never reveal my sources. So I guess my suspension has now been changed into a termination, effective for whatever date they choose.”
“So you’re out of a job,” Grayson said. “What are you going to do now?”
“You tell me. It’s not like there are a lot of job options for someone like me. I’m good at what I do, so it’s not like I doubt my skills on the job market. It’s just that I am too well known to be hired by anyone else right now. Other newspapers have to be a little leery of hiring me, considering me too risky, I guess you could call it. So I don’t know what options are left for me. Plus, after everything that’s happened, I’m sure Lidon isn’t exactly thrilled with the idea of me working in the city again. And to be honest, neither am I. Then there’s my role as his beta for the pack, which makes it hard for me to be gone all day as well. That leaves me with exactly nothing.”
The coffee machine beeped that it was done, and Grayson got up to pour himself and Palani a cup. Despite the massive size of the ranch, Lidon hadn’t splurged on a lot of luxury inside. That being said, the coffee machine was a state-of-the-art one, and Grayson really appreciated the delicious coffee it produced
. He only drank two cups a day max, but damn, they were good.
He brought the coffees back to the table and placed one in front of Palani, then sat down holding his own. “Gotcha. So I’ll repeat my question. What are you going to do now?”
“I have no fucking idea, man. Got any ideas for me?”
Grayson leaned forward. “I do, actually. But answer me this first. Am I correct that you enjoy the investigating part of your job almost as much as the writing part?”
Palani cocked his head, a small frown appearing between his eyebrows. “Huh. I never really thought of it, but I guess you’re right. I love finding out new information and digging into something. It’s like a puzzle to me, trying to find all the pieces and putting them in the right place to create a whole picture. And yeah, I guess I enjoyed that almost as much as writing about it.”
“How important was the recognition for you that you got through your job? In other words, if you were to write about your discoveries in another medium, would that work for you as well? Or was the status of the job important for you?” Grayson asked.
“Wow. You don’t ask easy questions, do you?”
Grayson took a sip from his coffee. “Do you prefer easy questions?”
Palani shook his head. “I really don’t. And to answer your question, I don’t know. I won’t deny I got a kick out of doing so well as a beta. Seeing your name as a byline in the newspaper, man, that’s a massive rush. I’m sure you recognize that feeling as an author, what with seeing your name on printed books and everything. It has to be the same.”
“Sure,” Grayson said. “But I would write no matter if my books got published or not. The stories inside me, they need to be told, not just for the entertainment of others or to sell books, but because they’re inside me, and they need to get out. I would write books, even if no one would buy them. I think I would go mad if the stories had to stay inside my head.”
“You’re saying it might be the same for me, that maybe the joy of investigating and writing about it in itself will be enough for me,” Palani said.
“The thought went through my mind,” Grayson said. “You’re smart as a whip, Palani. The things you’ve discovered so far are nothing short of amazing. The fact that you discovered the origins of the Melloni gene alone is mind-blowing, considering how much research the professor did and never got any closer to discovering how the gene mutation developed. And we still have so many questions we need answers to, answers that you can find.”
Palani avoided his look, hunching his shoulders a little. “It’s been hard to motivate myself to keep digging. I know there is still a ton to be discovered, and I know I’m the person to do it, but I feel like I’ve been frozen somehow. Or paralyzed, maybe?”
Grayson waited to speak until Palani looked up to meet his eyes. When he did, Grayson sent him an encouraging smile. “That’s understandable, Palani. You’re allowed to grieve over the job you lost. The way it happened was traumatic, first of all, but more importantly, you’ve lost more than Lidon and Enar did. You lost a big chunk of your identity, maybe even of your pride. It’s okay to take a little time to process that.”
Palani nodded. “Thank you for saying that. It means a lot to me that you understand that it’s more than just losing my job.”
“Oh, I understand completely. That being said, it would be a total waste of your phenomenal talents if you can’t shake yourself out of the funk you’re in. You need to start investigating again, Palani. There’s too much we don’t know, too much we need to know. And you’re the one who can find all the answers we need.”
“But when I find the answers, how will I share them with the world? Even the truth about the Melloni gene still isn’t public knowledge,” Palani said. “I’ve lost my platform to share my discoveries with the world.”
“So build a new one.”
“Build a new platform? How?”
Grayson shrugged. “Start a website. It’s not that freaking hard, especially for someone with your talents and skills. A lot of fans followed your articles in the newspaper. I’m sure that if you started a website and did a little marketing, people would find you and start reading you wherever you published your work. And let’s face it, if you published about the origins of the Melloni gene, you not only will have the scoop of the century but also can publish it under your own name. The paper would not be able to take the credit, as they always do a little for the stuff that you discovered, but it would be all you. Seriously, starting a website is like a twenty-five-dollar investment, plus what, a few hours at most? You can build one in a day or less.”
Palani looked at him as if he had just explained Einstein’s relativity theory, his mouth open. Finally, he seemed to catch himself. “I never even thought of that. That’s an amazing idea.” That frown between his eyebrows appeared again, indicating he was thinking about something. “But do you really think I should do it under my name? Wouldn’t it be safer to do it anonymously?”
Grayson leaned back in his chair, taking the last sip of his coffee, then put the cup down on the table. “There’re two sides to that issue,” he said. “From a safety point of view, it would be safer to do it anonymously. There’s no denying that by starting a website under your own name and revealing some of the shocking truths that you discovered, you’re painting an even bigger target on your back. The other side of the coin is that that target is already there. While we’re not sure about who is after us exactly, it’s reasonable to argue that they want us to keep quiet about what we discovered. Once we go public with our knowledge, that argument disappears. Yes, we would still have a target on our backs, but the whole argument of trying to silence us and prevent us from sharing the truth with the world would be gone. Once the information is out there, they can never take it back.”
Palani hummed in approval. “Good point. I’ve been thinking about writing about the Melloni gene. We may not have all the answers, but I think we know enough to go public. One reason for me to go public now was that we know things that could help carriers of the gene. Like, knowing that being knotted by an alpha helps. Or being able to warn omegas who have the gene that they need to stay away from alphas shortly before their heat. We could prevent a lot of heartbreak, I think.”
Grayson nodded. “I agree. It’s hard to publish the information we have without being able to provide all the answers people will want, but it’s better than not sharing anything at all. As you said, the public needs this information to protect themselves and their loved ones. Plus, there’s the added benefit of nailing Lukos to the cross publicly.”
Palani sighed, then rubbed his temples with his fingers. “That’s the part I am still conflicted about. I know that Lukos, or I should say Maiitsoh, was horribly out of line with creating the gene. There is no denying that, and the consequences of what they have done are far-reaching. The problem is that some of the solutions they have come up with, some of the medications they have developed, are the best on the market. If we nail them to the cross publicly, as you put it, those could be pulled off the market. That means omegas will be left with meds that are far less effective.”
“Hmm,” Grayson said. “That’s a good point. But to push back a little, what’s to say their medications aren’t more effective because they created the Melloni gene? I’m sure they used their own research into the gene when creating them to assure they would be more effective. And what’s to say that all the ingredients in those meds are legal? Who the hell knows how they manipulated those trials.”
“Good point. I’ll have to think about that. But, erm, the way you talked about websites and blogs makes me believe that you know a little more about this, am I right?”
Grayson shrugged, smiling. He knew exactly what the beta was getting at. “I know enough to get by. I run my author website, of course, and I guest post for a few other writer blogs.”
He watched with amusement as Palani obviously debated how to best ask Grayson for his help. Finally, he took pity on the beta. “I’d be happ
y to help you out,” he said. “In case that’s what you were trying to figure out how to ask.”
Palani grinned. “I guess I need to work on my poker face. But yes, I would love your help if you’re willing to teach me.”
A few minutes later, they sat together with Palani’s laptop, setting up his blog. Grayson patiently explained to him which steps he had to take. He discovered again that Palani was quick to understand things and not afraid to ask questions if he didn’t. An hour later, Grayson was sure Palani knew enough to get the ball rolling.
When Lidon walked into the kitchen, back from his suspension meeting, Palani didn’t even look up from his laptop, and Grayson smiled. What a difference from two hours ago, when he had found Palani staring into blank space. Lidon looked a little miffed that Palani didn’t even acknowledge his presence, and held back a chuckle.
“He’s working on something,” he told Lidon. “I helped him set up a website where he can blog about his investigations.”
Lidon’s eyes lit up. “What an excellent idea. Thank you for helping him.”
“My pleasure. Just don’t blame me if he’s not interested in you right now, alpha.” Grayson laughed.
“Oh, I’m not worried about that,” Lidon said. “He’s always interested in me.”
As if the alpha wanted to prove it, he walked over to Palani and put his big hands on the beta’s neck and shoulders. The look on Lidon’s face when Palani all but swatted him away was priceless, and Grayson chuckled.
“You were saying?”
22
Palani wasn’t sure why he himself had never thought of the idea of starting his own website, or blog for that matter. It wasn’t like it was that farfetched of an idea. He had just never considered it. Maybe the funk he had been in—Grayson’s words—had blocked his mind to new ideas. It made sense if you thought about it, but he was happy Grayson had managed to break through it.
In the last three days, Palani had done a ton of research on setting up his own blog, and he was already quite happy with it. There wasn’t anything on there yet in terms of content, but he liked the way it looked. He’d chosen to keep it clean and simple, with few distractions, and to focus on the content more than on appearances.