Chapter Two #3
“I don’t think that you can stop that from happening. You saw what Victor did yesterday.”
“And I’ll make sure that he can never do that again.”
Matthew would do whatever he had to in order to make sure he wasn’t lying. He didn’t care who Alan’s boss was. If someone was trying to hurt his mate, he’d stop them.
“You know who my boss is,” Alan said with a sigh. “I’ve been working for him for almost a year. I thought we were doing something good.”
“He is,” Hayes interjected. “We’ve all seen the news.”
“After what happened last night, I don’t know how much of what he does is real,” Alan told him.
“I stayed late at work yesterday. I lost track of the time. When I realized how late it was, the office was empty. I turned off the lights, went to the bathroom, and when I came out, I realized that Victor was back. I didn’t think anything of it.
We sometimes work late, although he tends to grumble when he finds me at my desk past seven in the evening. ”
Matthew made a mental note that he’d have to check on his mate when he worked. He wasn’t going to stop Alan from doing what he felt he needed to do, but he could at least bring him food and make sure he slept enough.
He wrinkled his nose. He was already thinking of a future together, but he and Alan had barely even talked. Matthew didn’t know what Alan thought of the bond they shared or if he wanted to explore it. Maybe Alan would reject him. Maybe he would tell him he didn’t need a mate.
That wasn’t a possibility Matthew was willing to consider right now. He didn’t have time to do so, anyway. His full focus needed to be on Alan and the mess he was in.
“I heard that he wasn’t alone,” Alan continued.
“That’s nothing new. Victor has meetings all the time.
I didn’t think anything of it until I heard what they were talking about.
The second man wanted more names from Victor.
Initially, I didn’t get it, but the other man said that the hunters weren’t providing enough people anymore.
Victor asked for five thousand dollars for every name he would provide, and I got it.
” Alan looked straight at Matthew. “Victor is selling the names of supernatural beings he knows are vulnerable.”
“Who’s he selling those names to?” Matthew asked quietly, even though he was pretty sure he could guess.
“The Glass Research Company,” Alan murmured. “He mentioned the labs.” He looked around the room. “I know what the company did in the past, but they’re not still doing it, are they?”
Matthew wished he could lie to his mate. He wasn’t going to start a possible relationship with Alan by doing that, though. “They are,” he confirmed. “They never fully stopped.”
“I thought that was happening because of the person in charge of the company. Haven’t they changed that several years ago?”
“They did. The man’s son is in charge now.” And either he was as rotten as his father, or he didn’t know what was happening in his company.
“We were never able to connect the company with the labs we raid,” Rikar explained. “We knew it was a possibility, but none of the documents we found in the labs pointed us in that direction.”
“You raid the labs?” Alan asked him.
“We do. The tribe has been doing so for years. We raid any lab we find, rescue the people we find there, and destroy the facility.”
“For years? You really weren’t joking when you said that the labs never stopped working?”
“I wouldn’t joke about something like that. The labs are very much a thing of the present, unfortunately.”
“And my boss, a person who’s promised to protect shifters, has been helping them,” Alan murmured. “If I didn’t hate him before, I would definitely hate him now.”
“What happened after you heard that conversation?” Matthew asked.
“I bumped into something and made noise, and they realized I was there. I knew I couldn’t stay, so I ran to my car. I didn’t expect Victor to follow me. I certainly didn’t expect him to try to kill me.”
Matthew wasn’t surprised that Victor had.
If he really was selling information to the Glass Research Company and the labs, he wouldn’t want anyone to know about it, especially not when he was in a public position.
He’d want to keep his privileges and to continue doing his job so he could get more names and more money from the labs.
Alan had been lucky. He’d managed to escape, but he could’ve easily not, and if he hadn’t, Matthew had no doubt that Victor would’ve made sure he could never talk about what he’d heard.
Matthew had almost lost his mate before even meeting him.
* * * *
“I NEED TO PULL MORE people in,” Rikar said. He sounded apologetic, as if he expected Alan to freak out.
To be fair, Alan had been freaking out since yesterday, and it hadn’t gotten any better. He didn’t think these people were going to hurt him, especially now that he knew about the raids, but it didn’t mean they would protect him, no matter what Matthew had said.
Alan wondered if that protection hinged on him agreeing to be with Matthew. He didn’t want to believe that, but what did he know? What if he decided that he didn’t want to be with the man and the tribe dropped him like a hot potato?
It wasn’t like he didn’t want to be with Matthew.
He just didn’t know the man. They hadn’t had the opportunity to talk, and Alan wasn’t sure they would anytime soon.
Rikar was already calling people and telling them to come to his house.
Alan clearly was going to have to talk about last night again—and again, and again—which meant that there would be no talking to his mate for now.
It was a pity. Alan was curious, and even more so, he wanted the distraction.
He didn’t want to think about what Victor had done yesterday or what he was doing right now.
Was he in the office? What was he telling people?
He’d have to explain why Alan wasn’t there, but that wouldn’t be hard.
He could just say that Alan was sick or something.
Alan tried to never take a day off, even when he had a cold, but people would accept that explanation for at least a few days.
It would give Victor time to decide what to do.
He wouldn’t want to let Alan go. He couldn’t afford for Alan to be out here with the knowledge of what he’d done. There was no way that Victor knew that Alan was protected now and that, by an incredible chance, he’d found people who would know what to do with the information he had on Victor.
On his own, he wouldn’t have been able to do anything. He wasn’t on his own, though. He’d found people who’d been fighting for shifters and other supernatural beings for years. Maybe they could use this information to stop Victor and the company.
Alan stayed huddled in his chair, wanting to talk to Matthew but too afraid to move.
He didn’t think anyone would hurt him if he did, but he was fine watching the others from where he was and trying to wrap his mind around the fact that his life had crashed and burned.
It hadn’t even been his fault. He’d loved his job, dammit.
He couldn’t believe Victor had ruined it for him.
Matthew inched closer when more people started arriving.
The way he clearly wanted to talk to Alan but didn’t dare come closer was obvious and endearing.
Alan wanted to talk to his mate, but he was also glad that Matthew wasn’t pushing him.
His thoughts were all over the place, and he didn’t know what he wanted from the man.
He was still glad when Matthew eventually dragged a chair closer to him and sat there.
He smiled at him, and Matthew smiled back, but he seemed focused on the newcomers.
There were a lot of them, and every single one was angry.
Alan didn’t have to ask to be sure of that.
He could see it from their expressions. It would’ve been scary, but even though he barely knew Matthew, he felt he could trust him.
It was enough for him to stay where he was and take everything in.
“What do you mean, the Glass Research Company is back?” a tall man asked as he stormed into the room.
Rikar cleared his throat. “It’s good to see you, too, Moore. Why don’t you take a seat?”
Moore glared. “Talk.”
Rikar gestured in Alan’s direction. “This is Alan. He works for Victor Hudson.”
Alan snorted. “Worked, I think.”
“I do have doubts that he’d take you back,” Rikar said with a smile.
“Alan was Victor’s assistant,” he explained as he turned back to Moore.
“He heard Victor discuss the Glass Research Company with someone yesterday. Apparently, Victor’s been selling them the names of people they can kidnap and use in the labs.
Alan fled, which is what brought him here.
Victor was after him, but Matthew and Franklin found him when his car crashed. Alan is Matthew’s mate.”
Moore looked incredibly confused, which wasn’t a surprise. Alan felt the same way, and he’d been there and lived through this mess.
“So you’re telling me that a man who’s been clamoring for more rights for shifters has been using his position to hurt the people he was trying to help?” Moore asked. “And that he then chased down someone who found out about it and tried to kill him? Why didn’t anyone call me when this happened?”
Moore turned toward Alan as if he expected him to answer.
Alan wished the ground would swallow him.
He didn’t like being at the center of attention, but it was clear he didn’t have a choice and wouldn’t have one for a while.
These people needed, wanted, and deserved answers.
They were as involved with the labs and everything about the company as Alan, if not more.
They were also shifters, which meant this impacted them especially.
He cleared his throat. He didn’t miss the way Matthew leaned closer. He was grateful for the small gesture of support. He didn’t think anyone here would hurt him, but it was still really fucking intimidating.
“My name is Alan, and I worked with Victor for almost a year, and, yes, I heard him talk about selling names to the Glass Research Company. I ran, he tried to kill me, and I ended up here.”
Moore blinked. “You say it like it’s an everyday occurrence for you.”
“Someone trying to kill me? It definitely isn’t.”
“And you’re sure about what you heard?”
“I am,” Alan confirmed. “I applied to work with Victor because I thought he was doing a good thing. I wanted to help, too. I thought that was what I was doing for almost a year, and I hate that he used me and my work to hurt people.” Alan leaned forward. “I want him stopped.”
“Because you don’t want him to kill you.”
“And because he’s been hurting people. I might be human, but it doesn’t mean I don’t have compassion. It doesn’t mean I want Victor or anyone else to hurt shifters.”
Rikar cleared his throat. “I took the liberty of calling Nysys.”
Moore groaned. “Really?”
“He’s not only a council member, but his mate is the current owner of the Glass Research Company. They’ll both want to know about this. I lowered the shimmering shields so that they can shimmer in without attracting anyone’s attention.”
“Maybe they’re involved.”
Rikar shook his head. “They’re not. I trust them, and you should, too, no matter how you feel about the council.”
Alan yelped when someone suddenly appeared in front of him. He scrambled back in his seat, but Matthew put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed, clearly trying to reassure him. Once Alan was over the jump-scare, he realized that he didn’t have anything to be afraid of.
Two men were standing in the middle of the room. One of them looked angry, while the other was beaming. The smiling guy had pink hair and a lot of tattoos and piercings. Alan recognized him from the news.
“You needed me, and here I am,” Nysys declared, opening his arms and nearly smacking the man next to him in the face.
The man took Nysys’s hand and linked their fingers together, firmly pulling down their arms. “Nysys said you mentioned the company?” the man asked.
Rikar gestured at the empty chairs in the office. “Maybe you should sit down.”
“Spill it,” the man ordered.
He was wearing an expensive suit and shoes. Alan was pretty sure that the guy’s haircut cost as much as a month’s rent for his apartment.
“Morin, this is Alan,” Rikar said, gesturing at Alan. “He was Victor Hudson’s assistant until last night, when he heard his boss talk to someone about selling the names of shifters and vulnerable supernatural beings to the labs. Your company was explicitly mentioned.”
Morin turned to Alan, who swallowed. He barely knew any of these people, but he didn’t feel like he had a choice. He had to trust them.
It would be hard not to trust Nysys. He wasn’t smiling as widely anymore, but he looked eager to hear what Alan had to say.
Alan was getting annoyed at how many times he had to repeat his story, but he understood.
Everyone needed to know what was going on, and what better source to explain the story than the person who’d heard the words in the first place?
He sighed and settled back into his seat. “I’m sure you know who Victor is,” he started, hoping this would be the last time he had to repeat this.