33. Shale
Chapter thirty-three
Shale
S hale Aged 21
“This is her landlord’s house, right?”
I nod my head without taking my eyes off the house. He probably pulled that bullshit excuse of not receiving rent. The guy’s solid but easily one of the shortest betas I've met. He’s also got this mean streak that comes with age and hard life.
“Do you think he offered her what he offered the Widow McKinley?”
I freeze at Keagan’s cold words.
“If he did, I’m going to cut his fucking cock off and feed it to him,” Beau says and spits.
“Let's go.”
We run up to the house and jimmy the door open. It doesn’t take much. The layout of the house is pretty standard for most of the homes here. Small open dining and kitchen. Three small bedrooms and a bathroom. Nothing big, nothing fancy. Who needs fancy when you live in paradise, right?
I push open the door to the bedroom, my knife glinting in the moonlight.
I walk over to the bed and stand there while Keagan bounces up onto it. Waking Sorrel Lardass up with a shriek fit for the finest pig.
Keagan is as vicious as they come. If he loves you, he loves you. But he hates the rest of the world and lives for moments like these, when I let him off his chains.
In that, the three of us are the same. There’s a reason the islanders are scared of us. But the truth is if you give us no reason, the Daane won’t look your way.
Unfortunately for poor little Sorrel, the half dead omega we rescued a few nights back is the most precious person in this world. Our scent match.
And we will make every person on this planet bend the knee for her if we choose to.
Keagan kneels down with one knee pinning our flatulent friend to the bed. I surge up, shoving my knife up against his throat.
“Now, we have some questions, and if I don’t like the answers, I’m going to start cutting, do you understand me, Sorrel?”
“Y-yes!”
Beau leans in from the other side. “Now, tell us everything you know about Aspyn Montauk.”
P resent Day
We’re hiding too much from Aspyn and Gael, as well, for that matter. Neither of them are coping with being here. Gael spends most of the night pacing the hallways, unable to sleep. He withdraws into the estate business instead of dealing with his feelings.
Aspyn, though, is like a wilting flower. With every minute that passes that we stay here, she is just floundering. The aggression of the staff bruised her. Seeing our pictures in the newspapers and on the internet everywhere has cut her deeply.
What they are saying is making her withdraw into herself.
I’ve tried to reach Nat repeatedly, and I can’t get through to her. I make a call I’ve been putting off.
“Mael?” I say when the phone picks up.
“You need another favour, cousin?”
“I do. Aspyn’s best friend has gone missing. She was meant to be following us here a couple of days ago, but she never showed up. The ticket I bought her went unclaimed. That guy I had you looking into, have you found anything yet?”
Mael sniffs. “She didn’t run off with someone else-”
“No, Nat is Aspyn’s ride or die. She might go off for a day, but she always, always checks in.”
“And you can’t handle it because?”
“I’m fighting a war on all fronts at the moment.”
Mael is quiet for a long moment. “Do you need our help?”
“Probably. Things are getting out of control.”
“We’re on our way.”
I walk outside and stop, seeing someone suddenly run for the driveway. I’m not sure what time it is, but I can guess what happened.
If I chase him down right now, I might very well kill him, and Kelly has asked politely to lead this situation and not to kill or hurt anyone.
My patience is wearing thin.
I approach the cars and find them dripping with something that smells absolutely repulsive. The tires are slit, and written on the ground in blood is the word ‘Traitor’.
I smile.
My mirth summons the demons of my pack. Keagan and Beau materialise out of the shadows, standing just behind my shoulders.
“Is it time yet?”
I shake my head. “Not yet.”
I feel their disappointment, along with the growing feral savagery.
Inside the bond, Aspyn’s connection flares with warmth, love, and arousal.
“She loves it when we do our thing,” Beau says with deep satisfaction.
“Let’s go show her how much we care.”
Y ou’d think the suit I’m wearing would feel strange, but Ezy’s connections brought out a young man who saw us and giggled. It was disconcerting until I realised he had no interest in us. His excitement was solely for the clothes.
They fit right. The six of us are in dark charcoal suits with different colour shirts. Mine is black, Keagan’s is dove grey, Beau’s is dark blue, Kelly is wearing gold, Ezy bronze, and Gael dark green.
Security tries to stop us, but one word from Kelly silences him. He leads us through the expensive marble foyer and into the mirrored lift.
“Are we sure it’s safe leaving Aspyn at home alone?” Ezy mutters.
He was the most opposed to that decision.
“She’s not alone. Mael, Kingston, and Edric are with her. If Holt even looks at her the wrong way, Mael will skin him alive.” My confidence in my cousin is not misplaced.
I wish I were kidding, but whatever brutal genes I inherited from my dad, Mael Morrow got from my father’s sister. My aunt was not just cunning but cruel and deadly, and my cousin has inherited the family gifts and surrounded himself with a pack as bloodthirsty as he is.
Mind you, so has my brother, I’m just not sure why he is hiding it. You’d think Eben was sunshine and calm with a smile that makes everything feel at ease, but I remember him that night. The night it all ended. I’m not sure if he even knew I was there, but I felt what I felt, and he’s not our mother’s son, he’s his fathers. A Daane through and through.
I don’t know where he is. He pops up and disappears so well not even Mael can find him. I need to fix that. Perhaps it’s finally time to force the meeting and drag my brother back out to face the mistakes he made.
I refocus as the lift doors open.
Kelly straightens his shoulders and marches out into a long, wide hallway with offices on either side.
“Alpha Raines?” A woman with a tablet rushes to catch up, her heels clicking on the marble. “Alpha Raines isn’t here.”
“He is not a Raines,” Kelly snaps back at her.
She lets out a tiny eep and disappears. Kelly walks into the boardroom. A vast array of men and women sit around a massive table.
“Excuse me, this is a closed meeting.”
Kelly smiles. “Not to me, and not to my pack.”
I don’t listen to Kelly’s speech. He’s been writing it for days. Kelly is basically coming in and deposing Typhor. He’s going to overhaul the company. The criminal activities will cease, all claims of abuse will be investigated and contracts restructured to treat artists with integrity and respect. How shockingly ethical of him.
What I do is pay attention to the individuals. They are all unhappy, but I weed out seven individuals who are going to be problems straight away. They are the ones who protest, who get red-faced, who threaten.
They, in fact, turn and say that the company belongs to Charles and Kelly has no right to be making that decision and clap themselves on the back for coming up with such a great work around.
Gael turns a tablet around to show a furious-faced Charles.
“My son is my proxy. Typhor has abused the name and trust the Raines gave him, and as he is just a stand-in, if Kelly says we’re removing him this instant, then that’s what we’re doing.”
“No! No, there are more Raines than just this. You don’t get to decide. What about, what’s the kid’s name, Locky?” The red-faced old man slams his fist on the table. I wonder what sins he’s trying to hide.
Gael presses a button, and Locke’s face is revealed.
“Kelly has my vote.”
Ryn appears and adds hers. Raider throws his weight behind Kelly, as does the cheerful Lia.
I can feel the distress in the bond. Kelly doesn’t want this, but he’s trying to protect everyone. He’s trying to do the right thing, even if it kills him.
I step towards Gael and murmur something. His eyes widen, and he nods, walking quickly from the room.
Gael is gone for five minutes, all of which they try to undo Kelly’s decision and get nowhere. I feel a little bit like we’re telling off the island kids. They stamp their feet and slam their fists on the table, but it doesn’t sway us.
Gael walks back in and hooks his tablet to the laptop by the wall. Five boxes appear on the massive screen.
Charles looks out and down at Kelly. “I’m changing my vote.”
Kelly’s jaw drops. “What?”
Charles shakes his head. “Kelly is my proxy for now, but I’m going to come down and train up the Raines replacement.”
Kelly’s devastation turns to hope.
“All in favour of Bailey Raines becoming the next CEO of Alpha labels.”
Lia, Ryn, and Locke all say aye. Raider looks at Kelly, really looks at him.
“You’ll never be happy here.”
Kelly exhales roughly. There is so much emotion in the bond. “Thank you.”
“Aye!” Raider says.
“First thing’s first,” Kelly says. The doors open and several police officers stalk in. Fifteen of the thirty board members are arrested. It gets loud, but, by the time it’s over, the rest are sitting stunned, their faces pale.
“Now, down to the important part of all this,” Keagan growls. “Where is Typhor?”
The board quakes in their seats, but they tell us everything they know.
M ael has dark eyes and dark brown hair. He disappeared for a couple of weeks a few years ago and came back with the darkest shadows in his eyes, and the cruelty and viciousness just got worse.
He leans against the wall and watches Edric and Kingston talking with Keagan and Beau.
“I haven’t found her yet, but I’m working on it.”
I sigh, disappointed that I have no news to give Aspyn.
“You should take care of Holt. I gave him a warning, but he’s got that fanatical look.”
I groan and shake my head. “I’m tempted.”
“What are you waiting for?”
“This is their world. We’re giving them a chance to sort it out before we take care of it.”
Mael laughs. “Stupid.”
Edric and Kingston are deadly. But I’m more terrified by that giant cat draped over his shoulders that hasn’t taken its eyes off me.
“And Eben?”
Mael growls. “He’s becoming a thorn in my side. Every time he surfaces, he comes out, splashes his presence all over, and then vanishes off the grid. I truly think he’s found a little cabin in the woods far away from society, but, don’t worry, I’ll get him. He always knows when he’s needed, which means the little shit is watching us.”
I pause. There’s something in that comment that requires some thought, but then Aspyn sends her calm happiness through the bond.
Mael sees the look on my face and winces. “You should go. Don’t wait for her.”
“Go home, Mael,” I say, taking a chance.
Mael’s face stiffens. “We can’t do that.”
“You can. You can take a chance. You could see what happened and make her yours.”
Mael mutters something but looks away. He heaves a sigh. “Yeah, we should go home. I need to know once and for all.”
His dark smile has me wondering if I should feel sorry for the little girl who followed them around.
But then I think of how I fell for Aspyn, and I know little Selene will be fine.