Gila Pack House
Alpha's Offices
Enrique finished his presentation to Robert and Renee and the Pack investigators, Melody and William, with his findings on the Telluride Pack. "So as you can see, the money shows that someone in that Pack paid to have Black Ker take out their Alphas. There are only so many people with access to the Pack accounts."
Renee sighed, since it wasn't the Alphas that meant one of their top Betas was a prime subject. "And your suspicion?"
Enrique put up the photo of David Francis, the new Alpha. "Occam's Razor... the simplest answer is usually correct. Who gains the most by the passing of the old Alphas but the man who takes their place?"
Robert sat back and thought for a while. "It's pretty thin, certainly not enough to go to the Council with. We have to be able to tie a single person to the assassination request. Plus, it doesn't make much sense. Why take out the Alpha's mate with poison? Why would Black Ker, with all her skills, not just kill the Alpha directly?"
"Well, if you kill the Alpha or is mate, the Pack will immediately know when the bond breaks. She was deep inside Pack territory at the time, it would have been suicide." Renee took his hand, she had met the dead Alpha pair and knew how loved they were.
"I don't know. Something is still fishy." He paused, sending out a request to the Pack for any members with family or friends in the Telluride pack to contact them and quietly ask if there was anything suspicious with the attack or the Luna's death. "Renee, if you can contact the Johnson pack and do the same, and William, please contact the El Paso pack. Meanwhile, let's focus the investigation on Alpha Francis." Enrique, William and Melody all agreed. "Anything else?"
"Yes, the Black Ker bank account." William sat forward as he spoke. "We need her to access that account and all the transactions. If we get that history, we can have Enrique go back and see if it can help to clear her in any way. Right now, we don't have any proof Joe's mate is anything but a stone cold killer for hire. Knowing who did the hiring won't save her."
"Then help him," Renee said. "When he calls tonight, pass along all the information we have gained thus far and ask them to go to the Los Angeles branch. Access accounts, get statements, safe deposit boxes, anything. I mean, we don't even know her NAME." It was true, none of the fingerprint inquiries had come back with any hits according to Alpha Merino of the El Paso pack. "If they need help, give it to them, but make sure any help can't be traced back to us. If this goes bad I can't have anyone knowing that we were behind aiding Council fugitives."
"I'll take care of it." Enrique packed away his computer as the meeting broke up; as he was leaving, Renee stopped him.
"I know Joe is your friend, and you want him to be happy and his mate to be innocent, but she probably isn't. Prepare yourself for what you may find, Enrique. Luna's plan is a mystery to me right now." She gave him a quick hug then exited the room, looking for her babies who were with one of the Omegas.
Private Jet
Somewhere over Nevada
Joe relaxed into the leather seat, finally accepting that no one was going to kill them in the next 30 minutes. His wolf was on edge, his phone call with Enrique had done nothing to calm him down. They were still wanted by every Pack in the country with kill on sight orders, and he still didn't know who his mate really was. Clearly she was skilled in weapons, she thought and acted without hesitation in dangerous situations and had killed at least five werewolves. Still, she was warm and innocent and showed a loving side that didn't match up to the picture Enrique had given.
The pilot had closed the cockpit door before takeoff, and had barely glanced at them as they got on. They had covered their faces anyway, the pilot was human anyway but it was clear he was used to ferrying questionable people around. Enrique had given them three names and cell numbers, each located at different airfields. All they had to do was call one and give them a code name and destination, so after a few hour drive they abandoned the Telluride Pack SUV and were airborne.
He looked down at his mate, she had curled up into his lap shortly after takeoff and fallen asleep almost instantly. His fingers absentmindedly stroked her black hair and the back of her neck as she slept, and the low-frequency purring sound she made was addictive to him. If he stopped, she would start to twitch and wake up, so he kept it going. She was so beautiful, so strong, so absolutely deadly; for a man who respected strength and intelligence, she blew him away with each new discovery.
But he didn't even know her name. He would never call her Ker, that was a name reserved for her enemy, not her mate.
When the noise shifted from purring to soft cries, he moved his hand down her shoulder and arm but it didn't help. Soon she was twitching, her legs kicking and her hands pushing out in front of her like she was trying to get away from someone. He pulled her up his chest, wrapping his arms around her, but her nightmare was getting worse by the second. She struggled against him, breathing heavily, until she let out a blood curdling scream. Joe shook her, tried to wake her up but nothing was helping, so he did the only thing he could think of.
Grasping her face to hold it still, he kissed her. Hard, passionate, forcing his tongue between her lips until she stilled and accepted it. She relaxed into him, and he moved one hand down her back to pull her on top of him as he reclined back. Her eyes finally opened as she pulled back, she looked at him and broke down sobbing. She collapsed back on him, her eyes leaving wet spots on his shirt as she let it all out. He held her until she looked up. "Do you want to talk about it, my love?"
She nodded slowly. "I was in the trunk of a car. My arms and legs were bound, I had a gag in my mouth and I couldn't see anything, there was a hood over my head. I felt the car stop, heard the trunk open and a couple men pulled me out."
"Werewolves? Cats?"
"No, they were human. They said nothing, one man threw me over his shoulder and carried me in. I struggled, but he was strong and I couldn't do anything. We went down some stairs, it smelled like mildew and urine. I heard a cell opening and I was tossed onto a mattress. A man came in, he was new, he smelled of expensive cologne and hair gel. The man pulled my hood off, grabbed my throat and pulled me up." Joe's fists were tightening and loosening as he fought off the shift. "He told me I was now theirs, and I would do what I was told or else."