Tavas
“So, tell us oh clever one, how are we going to get Vadik’s men to show up where we want them to so we can kill them easier?” Koit asked as he followed me down to the basement.
I glanced over my shoulder at him, he was far too chipper for what I was about to do. “Do you really want to know? Yesterday you got a taste of what it’s like to torture someone, do you truly want to see the after math?”
Koit paused as I headed down the corridor to the cell were Sofia’s body still lay. “Um...what are the chances of me not having nightmares through this whole ordeal?”
“Zero,” I answered, not willing to lie to him about something like this.
Out of the original four of us who rescued Viv, none of us had seen war. As Tristan liked to say, we lived in a time of peace amongst the werewolves, but I knew that a war to end all wars was coming to a head. Viv was just the match that lit the kindling that had already been gathered.
“You want to pause a moment and think about that? No, cool,” Koit mumbled to himself as he caught up to me.
“If I’m going to have my rose colored glasses taken from me and get used to blood and guts then I best do it now.
Better here than when we are in the middle of things and I can’t take a moment to puke my guts out in the corner... again.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “Yes, Orion does have a thing about a clean work space, it’s fine for him to get it dirty but no one else can.”
“Seriously what is the deal with that? Have you seen him when he cleans his “tools” it’s like they’re his babies,” Koit said with a shudder.
Stopping, I turned and looked at Koit. “You need to cut the guy some slack, it’s hard enough to have a wolf share your brain and body.
Now think of adding in a third personality that has its own identity trapped inside yours.
Okami is a real person who has likes, dislikes, and preferences of how things get done.
He is the one who looks after what he calls his tools of the trade, and if Orion doesn’t do it right, Okami will take over and redo the whole thing. ”
It was clear to me that somewhere along the way these two had started rubbing each other the wrong way.
It wasn’t as obvious as Bentley and his shitty attitude, but it hadn’t taken me long to figure out.
I wasn’t going to get into their business, but I felt it was only fair to point out the challenges Orion faced that everyone seemed to forget about.
“By the way, did he ever tell you his wolf talks to him?” I shared as I opened the cell door.
The stunned look on Koit’s face told me the answer to my question. “Holy shit, are you telling me that he has two people arguing with him about everything in his head? Damn that’s gotta suck.”
Smirking to myself, I took a plastic sheet out of the workstation and rolled Sofia up in it so I could keep myself as clean as possible.
The start of my plan was to drop her off in front of her shop in the dead of night, so everyone knew what had happened to her.
We needed Vadik’s men unsettled and without Sofia to make the wolfsbane concoction to cover their tracks they would lead us right to their hideout.
Once we knew where that was, I would work with the others to figure out the plan.
“I need you to scout ahead so we can sneak into town,” I explained to Koit as he helped me tie the ends. “We can’t let them know who it was that did this to her. Orion already doused her in vinegar, so they won’t catch our scents if we do this right.”
I tossed the body over my shoulder and headed back up the stairs and out into the courtyard.
Pausing a moment for Koit to shift, he shot off ahead of me out into the night.
Most of the day we had spent working on how to get to the US without alerting many people to our departure.
The Collective had people monitoring all forms of transit in and out of Europe just so they could be on top of things.
Darius thought it might be best to charter a jet instead of trying to figure out if we could sneak out with the one he owned.
At this point, I didn’t care as long as eventually we would end up in the States.
It had taken everything in me not to react about what Orion told us.
I’d never thought I’d live long enough to have a mate, let alone think about having pups.
If the Collective had managed to talk my father into letting me just leave the pack instead of fighting my brother, I would still have been theirs to control.
Being in a situation like that I would never want to take a mate, it only gives them more leverage to control you with.
Not that the situation I was in now was faring any better, but this battle had been a long time coming.
Koit let out a short high pitched bark letting me know that someone was close by.
I paused to scent the air and found it was one of our guards patrolling around the now vacant houses where Astrid and Sarma used to live.
Ducking into the woods, I took a wide berth around the area he would be watching and kept moving.
Once we got Viv and returned, there was so much work that would need to be done— well if we decided to come back.
After all that’s happened and what’s to come I wouldn’t be surprised if Viv didn’t want to return to this life.
Once I reached the border of the downtown area Koit was waiting for me, naked as a jaybird, leaning against a tree.
“I wandered through the town looks like everyone is asleep, but there isn’t much cover for us where Sofia’s shop is.
Sometimes being on an island of werewolves is such a bummer, I mean look at the effort we have to go to just to plant a dead body. ”
I couldn’t help but smirk at Koit, being on my own was what I needed, but I’d sure missed him and his humor. “Well, let’s get this done before the scent of blood wakes someone up. Good thing we slept in this morning I don’t think we’ll be getting much tonight.”
“Yes...why was it again this had to happen now?” Koit questioned as he kept a sharp eye out for movement.
“Did you really think we could pull this off in broad daylight?” I shot back.
Koit rolled his eyes at me. “That’s not what I’m asking. Why don’t we just claim the kill and say that she was working for dick face and scare the crap out of them that way.”
“What would your first reaction be if that happened?”
“Tell the rest of you,” he scoffed. Then the realization hit him. “Ah right, we don’t want Vadik to know we know yet.”
“It might still happen, but my hope is that they have a second person who was truly in charge and will still try to carry out the mission. This will just speed it up and we can deal with it in a more aggressive manner.”
“Damn man, you got real fucking scary being out in the wilderness for four months,” Koit grinned as we paused for me to drop the body.
Unrolling the plastic Sofia tumbled into her shop’s doorway lifeless as a ragdoll. “How are we doing on scent?”
“Well, it just so happens that I popped by her shop earlier today and you know what I just happened to find, tucked away in a wall safe behind a bookshelf? Wolfbane watered down to use as a scent remover— strange right?” Koit chattered on as he pulled the bottle from where it was tucked away on the side of the building.
My eyebrows rose at this development. “How could you have known to grab that? I didn’t even know what my plan was until a few hours ago.”
“You are not the only one skilled at catching a rat in a trap. I knew we might need it, but I didn’t want to let on that we knew she was making it. So, I left it tucked away for easy access,” Koit answered as he started to sprinkle the solution around the area.
Retreating back into the woods we shifted and hightailed it back to the castle.
I wanted to check back in with the others since they had a video meeting with Christian, Orion’s friend he’d managed located in the US.
Koit and I headed right for the conference room where they had set up and joined the others around the table, but out of sight of the camera.
“Man, I would love for you to come visit, what’s it been over a hundred years since you went back to Europe?” Christian replied excitedly. “I bet it’s getting hella cold over there, here in Florida it’s still sunny and warm.”
Orion gave his friend a genuine smile as he leaned forward. “I never know what things are like in the wild wild west known as America. Over here we have two major power groups that influence the werewolf population.”
“Ah well you know us. We hate having people tell us what to do, but we each have one person in charge per state. Then they report back to a council that deal with our human President, but they’re all corrupt as fuck and if you have enough money, you can pretty much do whatever the hell you want,” Christian explained.
“Look, I’m going to be traveling with some of my friends who have never been Stateside, so are there any rules with entering another packs area if we weren’t invited?” Orion asked.
Christian didn’t answer right away. “Hmm, well when I go on vacation or travel I give the alpha a heads up if I’m going to be close to his pack lands.
Mostly because I’m an alpha myself and lead the largest pack in Florida.
There isn’t anything formal or set in stone, but if you tell me where you want to go, I’ll let you know if the alpha’s in that area are dicks or not. ”
“Awesome, we’re still trying to figure that part out since we didn’t know if the area is off limits or not,” Orion commented.
I had to hand it to the man, he had a talent for making you feel so comfortable that you didn’t even realize that he was milking you for information.
“I wouldn’t suggest going to Wyoming, that is practically owned by Grayson Industries and they are not the friendliest bunch.
Personally, I think he picked that place to grow his pack because it was already the least populated state, so he could fill it with as many werewolves as he wanted and stay hidden. ”
Orion’s gaze flicked over to us, and Darius nodded and pulled out his laptop and started typing away while Tristan grabbed his tablet and started searching for something.
“Right, I’ve heard of that company, my friend Darius has worked with them—”
“Hold up. Are you talking about Darius the Alpha of the Moonlake pack?”
Orion blinked a moment in surprise. “Ah, yeah...do you know him?”
“No, but damn would I like to. That guy is a god in the tech world with the advancements he’s made in cyber security. Word is that he’s found his mate and taken a step back from work though.”
“Well, it’s your lucky day because he is one of the friends I’m traveling with, so you’ll get to meet him,” Orion answered, sidestepping the question about a mate. “There are seven of us, all alpha’s come to think of it. You cool with that?”
“Totally, it’s not like you guys are coming here to take my pack and start a world war are you?”
Orion laughed . “No man, we don’t want to take over your pack. What kind of asshole friend would I be if I did something like that?”
“So, when are you guys coming out? I just want to make sure I tell Kate, she hates not being prepared for visitors.”
Tristan scribbled something down on a piece of paper and slid it over to Orion who scanned it. “Wait, are you telling me that you actually mated with Kate?. You had it so bad for her, but she didn’t even give you the time of day. How did you manage that?”
“I believe it’s when I got on my knees and begged— right babe.” Christian yelled to someone.
A soft female laugh was the only answer we got.
“It looks like our plan is to start on the west coast since that is where we are flying into and then make our way east. So, I would say in about two-ish weeks, but depending on how things go it could be sooner. I’ll make sure to give you as much of a heads up as we can,” Orion said answering Christian’s earlier question.
“You sure two weeks is going to be enough time? If you’re doing a tour of the US that isn’t much time,” Christian cautioned.
“Each of us are picking one place or thing we want to see on the trip so with only seven destinations it makes it easier. Let me tell you, planning with a bunch of alphas isn’t something I would wish on anyone,” Orion grumbled, rubbing his head like he had a headache.
A warning growl came from Rik, letting Orion know he shouldn’t push it too far.
“Alright man, I’ve got to get my day started, it’s a honey-do list kinda day,” Christian sighed.
They each said their goodbyes and Orion shut the laptop down and closed the screen. “Who’s excited to go to Wyoming?”