Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
The line connected, and my stomach dropped. I didn't want to say hello, or they'd know right away something was wrong. They had to already suspect it, or they wouldn't be calling.
Silence filled the line at first, until a deep, menacing voice said, "Samuel, where the fuck are you?"
I'd been afraid the voice would sound familiar, but it didn't. Relief coursed through me that another person I trusted hadn't been working against me. Granted, the two people I trusted most were here with me.
"Samuel?" the man said in a lower tone.
Griffin, Killian, and Sierra entered the room, and we all looked at each other, at a loss as to how to proceed.
What's the plan? Griffin asked as he glared at the phone.
"Who's there?" the man demanded. "I take it the silver wolf is listening."
Sierra's head snapped in my direction, and her mouth dropped open.
Well, there went keeping Sierra in the dark. I only hoped Killian's judgment was sound with this one…because it hadn't been with Carter.
"For some supposed ‘fierce warrior,’ you’re sure scared to talk to me." The guy chuckled, clearly trying to get a rise out of me.
He already assumes I'm here, so I might as well speak. Maybe I could wrangle some sort of information from him. "I'm not scared, just trying to decide if you're actually worth the effort."
"Ah, I heard that you had a smart mouth." He tsked . "Very unbecoming of a lady."
I let disdain drip from each word. "I'm sure I'll lose sleep tonight over disappointing you."
"See, that's what’s wrong with having a female who thinks she's destined to be alpha. You don't respect the natural balance of the hierarchy."
No. He didn't just go there. "You mean I should be willing to submit to any male wolf?"
"Exactly." He scoffed. "This whole women's rights movement doesn't work, especially in the supernatural world."
This guy was a dick and the exact reason Dad had been so hard on me growing up. Assholes like him had to be put in their place, and I couldn't wait to be the one to teach him that lesson. "Yet, you're the one hiring people to come after me while you stay behind, all safe and snug in your secret hideout."
"There are reasons for that," he growled. "And none of them have to do with me actually being worried that you could best me. There's a lot at stake here, more than you even know."
"All I'm hearing is that you all are too scared to let your identities be known." This situation had been one hot mess after another—along with many different races getting involved—which made it even more complicated.
Maybe you shouldn't goad him? Griffin frowned, as concern flowed from him through our mate bond.
He wanted to protect me, but this person wasn’t going to stop. Whether I spoke to him or not, whoever was behind this would continue to come for me. They had this grand plan that centered around me; they wanted to control the silver wolf population. We had to figure out the end game—if we could do that, it should help us determine who might be pulling the strings. If I anger him enough, he might reveal something, or react without thinking. It's the best strategy we have right now.
"We aren't scared, and our identities will come out sooner rather than later." The guy sounded amused, not angry. "I applaud your efforts to rile me up. However, you have no clue what you're up against. If you’re free, that means Samuel failed, which is unacceptable. Death is a blessing compared to the punishment he would have received for coming back empty-handed."
The reference to Samuel killing himself was clear. This guy was feeling me out—trying to determine if the bear shifter had given up anything. I wouldn't let him know that the bear shifter wasn't alive any longer.
"Noted." I inhaled sharply. "I'll relay the message to Samuel for you."
"Oh, is he near?" His tone took on an edge. "I'd love to hear his voice to confirm he's still alive."
"Why would I do you any favors?" He was calling my bluff. We were in a game of chess where we were trying to outsmart one another.
"Because I don't believe you have him." The guy chuckled. "He's too smart to do something that would negatively impact his family. Well, this conversation has been fun, but I've got other pressing things to attend to. I'll talk to you soon."
Now the bear being desperate enough to kill himself made sense. He’d been protecting his family, just as Carter was trying to protect his brother. Whoever we were up against was heartless and cruel. They didn't mind taking whoever they needed to in order to get their pawns to comply. Though, I imagined the bear shifter’s family wasn't safe. We needed to locate these assholes so we could free everyone they'd taken prisoner.
Before my finger hit the red hang-up button, the guy spoke again, "Oh, and Sterlyn."
The fact that he dropped my name made me uneasy. He was about to say something that would trip me up. My gut screamed a warning, but there wasn't a damn thing I could do. "Yeah?"
"Tell the Shadow City alpha and the Shadow Ridge alpha that I said hi." He ended the call; the silence was harsh—a screaming in my ear.
He wanted the shock value, and he’d gotten it.
"There were so many things wrong with that conversation." Sierra walked past me and paced in front of my bed. "No one thought it might be a good idea to tell me that Sterlyn is a fucking silver wolf?"
"No one was supposed to find out. Only Atticus was supposed to know we still existed." I had no idea how this group had found out about us, but being slaughtered and attacked reaffirmed that our ancestors were right to have hidden us. We’d wanted no part of the corruption that had taken over the supernatural world. We’d kept to ourselves and stayed peaceful so that others wouldn’t try to use us as pawns.
Guess that hadn’t worked out so well.
"Everyone thought the silver wolf was a myth." Sierra shook her head. "You’re one of the strongest supernatural beings there are, which is why these people want to capture you. But why did they kill off the entire pack? You’d think they would want to control all the silver wolves."
There was no use keeping things hidden from her at this point. She knew my secret, so I might as well fill in the gaps— especially since she was in harm's way now. "Because we could kill them if we decided to fight, and my father would refuse to work with them."
"Then why not kill you, too?" She waved her hands like she had a sword. "It doesn't make sense."
"They plan to use me as a breeder." A shiver ran down my spine as Sierra gasped. "And break me so I’ll submit to whoever is in charge."
"Which is never going to happen." Griffin pulled me against his chest and wrapped his arms around me.
"He purposely dropped that he knew Griffin and I were with you." Killian cracked his knuckles as he nibbled on his bottom lip. "Which means someone must have realized we found you."
I hadn't considered that. The thought sat like a hard lump in my stomach. "You're right. We probably need to get back to Shadow Ridge soon since they could see if we were hiding here." But there were still some spots unturned in my dad’s office. "Let's finish searching the house. Maybe Killian and Sierra could keep an eye out to make sure no one comes through before we're ready to go."
"Yeah, we should probably get out there now, after that call." Killian stepped into the hallway and looked at Sierra. "Let's warm up the leftover pizza and load Sterlyn’s things into the vehicles. That way, if someone comes, we can leave."
"Let me pack some stuff." There was no reason to leave here without my clothes and personal items. It would save me a ton of money.
"Sounds like a plan," Sierra said, as she followed Killian down the hallway.
Sighing, I grabbed two duffel bags from under my bed and began filling them with all of the essential things I needed.
"Did you find anything?" Griffin asked, as he slammed the drawer to the last cabinet he’d searched through in my dad’s office.
"No." I'd dug through the entire desk multiple times, hoping to find something that could hint to who could be behind the attacks, but nothing looked even a little bit promising. Most of it was bills and a few piddly things that had to do with the land surrounding us. As I’d guessed, the town’s land had been passed down over generations, and he had several offers from people wanting to purchase it from us.
"That's so strange." Griffin glanced around the walls. "Dad's office was like this too. He handled a lot of political stuff, but when Mom and I looked through his files, it was like he hadn't kept any paperwork on the packs and Shadow City."
"Well, he knew where we were located. The knowledge had to pass down somehow." My gut said there had to be something that had gone unfound or was missing. Dad was paranoid—always thinking about ways to hide things in case something happened—and we were found; that told me that he had information secretly hidden somewhere. We had lived here for centuries—something of importance had to have been kept here, somewhere.
"At the time I didn't know that…but yeah, exactly." Griffin stood behind me and rubbed my shoulders. "You're tense."
"Being drugged and kidnapped after losing your entire pack will do that to you," I bit out, and immediately regretted being a bitch to him. None of this was his fault, but my nerves were frayed. "I'm sorry. I have no right to talk to you that way." I was also on edge from expecting Killian to call at any moment telling us to move, but luckily, he hadn't. We had at least a little more time to look—I just didn't know where else to search.
"Hey, it's okay." He kissed my forehead as his fingers dug deeper, working out the knots.
The pressure both hurt and felt amazing, relaxing me enough to clear my mind. "Maybe we're thinking about this all wrong." If I knew Dad like I thought I did, he wouldn't leave information where someone could easily find it. He'd leave enough—like the land offers—to make people think that was all there was.
Like I almost had.
Griffin's hands stilled. "He'd have a hidden compartment or location."
"Exactly." But where the hell would that be? I looked around the room for something that seemed a little out of place.
Nothing stood out.
"Maybe it's not in this room." Griffin dropped his hands. "This would be kind of a dead giveaway location-wise, right?"
"I bet it'd be in their bedroom." I had avoided going into their room so far, but fate kept nudging me that way. She must have a sick sense of humor.
"Do you want me to look?" Griffin squeezed my arm. "You don't have to go in there if you don't want to."
The fact that I would love to take him up on the offer proved that this was something I had to do. "Yeah, but I'm going with you." I wouldn't have been strong enough to do it on my own.
"Are you sure?" Griffin tucked a stray piece of my hair behind my ear. "I don't mind looking alone if you aren't ready."
"I can't keep letting their deaths impact me this much." I would never get over losing them, but I had to face reality. "Otherwise, these guys will continue to have leverage over me, and that's not acceptable."
"You're stronger than anyone I've ever known," he whispered, placing a hand on my cheek. "You make me want to be a better man."
I couldn't keep the giggle from bubbling out. "Really? You're going that cheesy?"
"Any other girl would've loved to hear words like that from me." He lifted his chin, pretending to be upset. "But not you. You always make me work for it, even when I mean what I say."
"No, that's sweet." Even though he was trying to keep our conversation lighthearted, I could feel a little bit of hurt wafting through our bond. "I'm sorry. I just never thought I'd hear you say something like that, especially since the first time you spoke to me, you informed me you only liked your cream in one place."
He grimaced and closed his eyes. "Please don't remind me of that. That was definitely not my finest moment."
"No, it definitely was not." I pecked him on the lips and smiled. "And yet, here we are."
"I wouldn't trade it for anything," he said, as he winked and took my hand. "Come on, let's go see if we can find anything."
The moment of lightheartedness vanished, and I followed his lead. We did need to finish our search.
I headed to the very last doorway in the hall. My hands grew sweaty as I reached for the doorknob. I wasn't ready for this—I never would be. I was going to have to push through.
Trying not to overthink it, I opened the door. My parents’ bed was made, the navy-blue comforter, wrinkle-free, contrasted with the white bed frame. The sky-blue walls made the room feel too bright for the staggering hole they'd left behind. My heart fractured further, feeling the pain of their loss even more in the moment.
"Any idea where they would hide something?" Griffin entered the room, running his hand along the wall.
"No." But at least there weren't any cabinets or desks to go through.
I scanned the room, trying to think like my dad. He was always so straightforward and said what he meant.
Griffin walked around the room, stepping purposefully on various parts of the floor. He listened to the noises the floorboards made, trying to find a spot that sounded more hollow. He bent over and knocked on a low portion of the wall. His gray boxers peeked out from his jeans.
Some of Dad's words of wisdom played inside my brain. He'd always told me that people's underwear drawers held the best secrets; that they could tell you more about a person than anything else. I’d always thought the comment was odd and would roll my eyes, exclaiming he was weird.
Wait.
What if that had been a clue? I might be losing my mind, but…at this point, what did we have to lose?
I rushed to his chest of drawers. The underwear drawer was at the very bottom. I pulled it open, then moved his boxers out of the way.
Gross . I tried not to think about touching my father’s underwear as the bottom of the drawer came into view. I inhaled sharply as the outline of a hidden compartment became visible. Had I not been looking for it, I would’ve missed it. With a shaky hand, I dug my fingernails into one side and lifted.
I couldn't believe my eyes. Documents and a photo album sat inside.
Griffin's phone rang, startling me back to the present.
"It's Killian," he rasped as he answered the phone. "Hello?"
"There are cars heading this way," Killian yelled.