Page 81 of The Alpha's Protective Mate

“Get me Florian.”

Florian Grey is my head of security. He’s also someone I trust implicitly. While Harry is my sworn brother and is loyal, he also questions me. Right now, I need someone with unflinching, blind allegiance. I don’t interact with Florian in public. With the unassuming appearance that he has, he is the perfect person to infiltrate the pack and dig out traitors, something that wouldn’t be possible if the other members knew of his relationship with me. As far as the pack knows, Florian got his position because of his intimidating size.

When he enters my office not five minutes later, I lift my gaze to see a bulky, muscular man with a broad frame and wide shoulders. And yet, despite his intimidating physique, he has plain features. Florian is well-liked in the pack. He’s a quiet man with few opinions, always ready to help whenever someone needs a hand. That’s probably what makes it so easy for everyone to accept him. It’s widely known that he doesn’t get involved in any form of pack politics. That’s the image he maintains, and it has served us both well.

I lean back in my chair. “I need you to do something for me.”

“What is it?”

“You see the cafe across the street?”

“The one with the vampire barista?” Florian asks, his voice calm.

I chuckle. “Nothing gets by you, does it?”

“She started there two years ago. She’s quiet, polite, doesn’t bother anyone, so I left it alone,” Florian replies.

“Well, it’s about that barista.” I tap my finger on the desk. “I need you to start watching the cafe. Some bloodsuckers are bothering her. She has a target on her back. I want you to make sure the vamps know she’s not theirs to mess with.”

Florian’s gaze is heavy on me, and he asks, “Should I let them know she belongs to my Alpha?”

There’s no hint of threat or disgust in his voice, just a question.

He gets the confirmation from the way I look at him.

“I’ll handle it.” Florian nods. “What about the pack? Once word gets out, not everybody will be accepting.”

“Once word gets out,” I echo, “I’ll deal with it. In the meantime, I need a report on the drug activity in Downtown and Kenton.”

“I dropped one off with Harry this morning. Ever since Alpha Moore cleaned up the slums in his territory, I’ve been coordinating with his team. There have been no disappearances there; all the residents are safe. In fact, I would say that his areas are now flourishing with the joint program our packs have initiated there. But Downtown Portland and Kenton are a different story. They are on the edge of Nelo Clan territory. I’ve had a few people stationed there. Three of them have gone missing. I set up an investigation team, but we haven’t been able to find anything. In all three cases, two partners separated upon hearing a commotion, and each time, one of them did not return. There has been no sign of a struggle, nothing. Security cameras in that area were very conveniently not working.”

I cross my legs, still leaning back in my chair, as I recall the attack on me. It was swift; I didn’t have a chance to fight back before they injected liquid wolfsbane into my neck. If this is the same tactic being used in Downtown Portland and Kenton, then no wonder there is no sign of a struggle.

“The attack on me…” I say, choosing my words carefully. “How much of the report did you read?”

“I had access to the unredacted version,” Florian confesses.

I nod. I couldn’t let the pack know that there was a way to subdue me, an Alpha, so I prepared two versions of the report. The complete version was shared with both Alphas of the packs allied with mine. However, my pack is a different story. If the more ambitious families realize there is a way to gain control of the Alpha and get rid of him, they will try their best to seize power.

“Put teams of three in place, and add more security cameras,” I say, my voice tense.

The problem is, without a healer on site, there is no way to counteract the effects of liquid wolfsbane. But there are already too few healers within the pack. If we disperse them to such dangerous areas, the vampires will eliminate them first.

I look at the dull brown color of my desk. If Charlotte hadn’t sucked the wolfsbane out of me, I wouldn’t have survived. I owe her my life. It’s incredible to me how she doesn’t seem to register the enormity of her actions that night. In her mind, she was just helping someone.

If I had died that night, all three prominent wolf packs in Portland would have collapsed. That is the problem with allied packs: they become so closely entwined that a blow to one can cripple the others.

“How many pack civilians have gone missing?” I ask, already knowing the number will be high.

“From those two areas?” Florian’s voice is grim. “We haven’t been able to establish the rehabilitation methods over there. We’ve set up job centers, tried cleaning up the area, but the shifters over there are serious addicts, and they don’t seem very interested in changing their lifestyle. We’ve had a few females show up with their children, asking for help, and we’ve set them up in proper housing and are giving them training to enter the workforce. We’re also providing childcare for the pups. But that’s pretty much it. The rest of the civilians in Downtown and Kenton don’t seem to trust us. Therefore, they refuse our protection. From my count, we’re averaging at least three to four missing shifters in those areas every week.”

My eyes narrow in anger. “Children?”

Florian’s jaw tightens in response. I can understand his sensitivity about this matter. Florian’s father indulged in drugs and, as a result, murdered his mate and Florian’s younger sister when Florian’s mother refused to give him money for the drugs. That is one of the reasons why Florian wanted to be assigned to the task force I created to monitor the drugs the vampires are creating.

A couple years back, Adam’s brother, Norman Moore, was found to be in cahoots with the Nelo Clan. He had been trafficking shifters from his pack to the Nelo Clan to be used as ingredients in the drugs that are potent for shifters. Although Norman lost an arm and disappeared after he tried to murder Adam, the drugs continued circulating, and our packs didn’t have enough solid evidence to launch an attack on the Nelo Clan.

That’s what the task force is for: protecting our people and gathering evidence.

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