5. Rikkart
RIKKART
Two days had passed since our meeting where we found out that the Collective was now our enemy and that Viv might be in America.
Tristan and Darius were working around the clock to figure out what was going on in those companies’ financials to see if there was a connection.
Koit and I had been going over lists of every pack member, sorting out who was trustworthy, neutral, or trouble.
The list of trouble far outweighed the trustworthy and I had a hunch there was a red ant going around biting at people’s heels and stirring up trouble.
“Do you think they really want to pull off some kind of medieval takeover or something?” Koit asked when I brought it up.
Stroking my beard I couldn’t get the thought out of my head.
“It’s not like it doesn’t happen, we are trained to see things diplomatically because of the Collective, but think about every other werewolf pack in the world.
Hell, just look at the Russians, Vadik is a prime example of a wolf who takes what he wants and doesn’t give a shit about what other people have to say about it. ”
“You’re still hung up on that shopkeeper aren’t you,” Koit sighed, resting his head in one hand giving me an exasperated look. “Nothing happened, Orion gave me the heads up about her and I now don’t go near her alone.”
“That doesn’t mean it still can’t happen. Who’s to say she can’t still pull it off? We never know when those visions of his are coming to pass,” I challenged.
“Sofia might be crazy, but do you really think one woman could kidnap me and toss me in a cellar? Come on, give me a little more credit than that, bro,” Koit sniffed.
Grabbing a few sheets I tossed them over at him. “Okay, let’s say she gets any one of these hundred wolves we know that hate us. Tell me how well you would fare against that, hmm?”
Koit sat up and glared at me, a low rumble in his chest. “I’m no longer your sidekick beta Rik. I’m an alpha in my own right who is also mated to the same woman you are.”
“That has nothing to do with what I’m saying.
” I yelled, slamming my fist on the table.
“If you could just listen to me before you make a judgment call on this you’ll see what I do.
There has to be someone stirring up trouble, other than Astrid, Juris, and Sarma being dead along with Viv missing— nothing has really changed.
They have no idea there are problems with the Collective because Darius hasn’t gotten around to updating the access they are given through the internet. ”
“Okay...”
“So, what has all these wolves pissed enough that they are unafraid to pick fights with us? Sarma and Juris both told us there were more of Vadik’s people on the island.
They must be the ones getting the information and spreading it around, causing all the unrest. If we have any plans to leave this island in the hands of beta’s then we need to figure out who those people are and take them out before we can leave.
If we don’t, there will be nothing for us to come back to,” I explained finally seeing the lightbulb going off in his brain.
“Come to think of it, the Collective hasn’t even asked for the mate prospects to be returned. I know we moved them out of the castle, but they are still living on the island,” Koit said, eyes wide with realization. “We need to get them the fuck off our island, like now.”
Shooting out of his seat he headed out the door of our living room like his tail was on fire.
I couldn’t help but grin as I wished I could join him on his witch hunt, but I knew I needed to keep working on this.
Contrary to what he believed, I trusted him with my life and our pack’s wellbeing, even if he needed a little direction at times.
Even though he grew up alongside me he’d always been trained to be my right, so he didn’t default to the same thinking that I did.
“I thought you were going to see if there was a way to smooth things out with the Collective so they don’t actively try to slaughter us,” Darius grumbled when he entered our living area.
Looking up at him from the paperwork I was holding I raised a brow. “When did I say I was going to do that? I believe I was charged with finding reliable betas and making sure that we didn’t leave this place hanging when we found Viv.”
Darius poured himself a scotch then sat down on the couch, kicking his feet up on the one corner of the coffee table I hadn’t used yet. “Yes that’s what I said, but I remember tacking on there at the end the part about the Collective.”
“Hmm, well it seems I shot that all to hell when Koit shipped all the unwanted prospects back home. Tell me, why would this make them even more pissed at us?” I asked, setting my work aside. “I would think they’d welcome these lost members of their pack.”
“This is where you are still so na?ve to the world around you. They wanted them to spy on us and spread whatever propaganda they could to turn them against us and for the Collective,” Darius explained, taking a hefty swig from his glass.
Smirking I clasped my hands behind my head. “Goodness, that would be awful to have obvious moles running around our pack stirring up trouble. Guess it’s a good thing that we have you around to show us what bumbling idiots we are, Darius.”
Darius grabbed an accent pillow and chucked it at me. “You know I think I liked you better when you lived in the mountains far away from me.”
“Look, I get that we’re in a tough spot when it comes to the Collective, I also know that no matter what, they have their sights set on taking this island.
The less information they can get in or out of this place, the better.
Now I can spend some time in town and really get a feel for who is with Vadik and who was just hoping for all that the Collective was willing to offer,” I pointed out.
All of us had been burning the candles at both ends, doing everything we could to find Viv and keep this pack we now called our own together.
Some of us were handling the pressure better than others, Bentley and Tav for example.
Tav was off on his own, refusing to work with us to figure this out.
Bentley, that little prick, had decided that he no longer needed to listen to anyone but himself when it came to matters of the pack.
He might be an alpha, but he was the youngest out of us and a bitten wolf not raised by the pack.
He’d been kept by some crazy female and her family to tend to her dying mother for most of his years then pulled into the Collective’s web of lies.
This was the first time he was ‘free’ to do things his own way and his arrogance needed to be taken down a notch.
He’d shown a very different side of himself to Viv and I hoped that was really who he was and this was just growing pains.
“So other than kicking them out of the pack what else have you managed to find out,” Darius asked, pulling me from my thoughts.
“That we’re fucked five ways to Sunday. The list of people we can count on don’t include any from the Imperial Dawn pack.
I plan to do a pack meeting and give them an update on things to try and gauge who might not be as against us as I think.
It will be a time that we can let them air their grievances and tell us what they need from us...
not that we can do much, but it’s a start.
” I shared watching his face to see what he thought of it.
Darius and I had run our packs very differently, he was the lord and master of his, keeping it tough but fair.
On the other hand, I was the man of the people living, working, and always present for my pack in whatever way they needed.
Neither of these were wrong and both our packs were very healthy, but this situation would take a more delicate hand than he was used to.
“You want us all to be present, giving off a united front for this,” Darius stated, showing me once again how easy it was for him to see the big picture.
Nodded my head I leaned forward. “I know the chances of getting Tav back here in a few days is slim, but if we tell him we have news of Viv it might work.”
“Right and who is going to deal with him when we don’t actually have much to go on?” Darius challenged. “Tristan and I are working like mad but it’s slow going because I can get him all the information he needs, but only he can go through it and make sense of it.”
Stroking my beard I tried to put myself in Tav’s shoes and how I would feel if they pulled a stunt on me like this— only I couldn’t because I never would have left.
No matter what it took, we needed Tav to figure all this out, he was the best I’d ever seen at figuring out what people would do next.
Even the Collective took advantage of it, giving him a spot in their council just so that he would be at their beck and call.
Hell, if we hadn’t had him helping, we never would have been able to free Viv from Vadik the first time.
“We can’t let that stop us Darius, I don’t give a flying fuck how Tav will feel when he finds out we duped him, because he never should have left in the first place.
The mind of a predator is what we need and he’s the best there is.
If he won’t help us then he doesn’t deserve her,” I growled, my wolf snarled in agreement.
Darius gave me a hard look then nodded his agreement. “Alright, I’ll send out the text and see what happens, but you’re the one who is going to have to handle him if he loses it.”
“Fine,” I said, waving him off and grabbing my paperwork again. “He’s not the only one who’s got some rage about the situation.”
Darius gripped my shoulder giving it a squeeze as he passed by out of our rooms and back into the castle. “Just remember when you have that chat we still need him alive.”
At that I let out a harsh laugh finding myself once again alone and able to concentrate. That is until my phone rang.
“What Koit?” I snapped irritated he couldn’t just come talk to me in person seeing as we were in the same building together. “I’ve told you that even though I’m using my cell phone more doesn’t give you the go ahead to make me talk on it all the time.”
There was dead air on the other side making me pause and sit up alert.
“Who is this?” I demanded. “What have you done to my brother?”
A soft female laugh filtered through the phone. “Alpha Rikkart, you’re not as dumb as they say. If you want to see your brother alive then I suggest you come to the cabin in the woods to talk...alone.”
“What cabin? There are tons of cabins on this island,” I countered hoping they would give me more to go on.
“Ah-ah, you know the one I mean. After all, it’s where you gave up your life for your brother and mate... Don’t keep me waiting, bad things happen when I get bored.”
“God damn it,” I snarled as my phone beeped that the call ended. “What the hell is happening now?”
I pulled up the group text to let everyone know what was going on, but then I saw Darius’ message to Tav. I couldn’t risk that message getting missed so I opted to text Orion separately hoping he would be enough backup to deal with this.