Page 83 of Awakened
Zach turned his laptop toward me. He had created an elaborate Visio, complete with color coding, arrows, and circles.
It was actually kind of a clusterfuck.
“And what the hell am I looking at?”
“I’ve created a relations chart for all the North American Packs, and this page has all the representatives to the Regional Powers and shows the wealth breakdown by pack.”
“You did all this in three hours?”
“Yup.”
“You’re a fucking nerd.”
Zach rolled his eyes. “Okay, Ms. Color-Coded-Notes. If you look at the first graphic, you’ll see the four Cornerstone Packs all have related alphas. Now, scrolling to the next page, you’ll find that these four packs make up 25% of the Regional Powers, with Alpha Reynolds being the chair of pack regulation. The final page shows just how much wealth the Crescent Pack has accumulated, lagging only behind my own and Alpha Collins’ Mountain Pack. It’s simple. Family, plus power, plus money, equals no investigation.”
I frowned, scrolling through the chart. “How did Reynolds get such a prominent position? He’s really open about being a damn kook.”
“From what I found ten years ago, he rode a tide of conservative backlash into the position. Even the more moderate alphas supported the appointment. From there, he’s just been laying low. Well, until this whole gathering thing.”
“So, nepotism and bullshit are why Grace didn’t get justice? Oh, fuck that.”
Zach nodded, turning his laptop back to him. “I looked more into this Gathering proposal. Wolf might be hosting in Montana, but Mountain and Crescent are flipping the bill. All thepacks should receive the proposal by this time tomorrow. Collins gave it to you first, knowing the Amazons would abstain. I think they’re banking on it.”
“But why? Don’t they need women?”
“Think about it. They couldn’t control me, so I couldn’t be with Grace. You think these Old Church dicks want to face off with an Amazon?”
He had a point. I almost wanted to go and find out I had an Old Church mate, then destroy him. That would be nice. I could imagine Marie beating one of them to death with their own arm. Oh man, I wasn’t usually a gore girl, but I was into the physical destruction of these pricks.
“Sunshine? Where’d your mind go? Your smile’s creeping me out.”
I tilted my head dreamily. “Just imagining the disembowelment of the patriarchy.”
“Ah.” He stood. “I’m getting more coffee. Want some?”
“Sure.” I grabbed his laptop.
Grace’s murder was swept under the rug by—I checked the chart—a second cousin. There was no doubt my dad’s murder was even easier to bury. I wanted to find the person who killed him and rip every limb from their body.
I reached Dad’s last entry. It was dated a week before he was found mauled in the woods.
I finally made contact with Grace’s sister, Hope. The plan is to remove her and her younger sister, Chastity, from the territory on 2/7. I know Marie will take them in, but I don’t want to involve her until I have to. Should something go wrong, I don’t want her to be collateral. This is a suicide mission, but I can’t let those girls meet Grace’s fate. I haven’t slept in weeks. Every time I try, it’s the same nightmare. Insteadof Grace lying in the woods, it’s Celeste. It’s too much. Everything I’m doing right now is for her. I see her in every missing person poster for the taken girls. The world needs to be rid of this sickness. All eight girls were taken because of this perversion of the mate bond. I couldn’t save them, but I can save Hope and Chastity.
I told Hope to pack nothing and not to change her routine or behavior. I only wish I had backup, but I can’t let Craig know about this. It’s killing me to lie to my alpha—to my best friend. I’ve moved all my records to personal files. Should something happen, I need all I’ve compiled to survive. I don’t think Craig is working with the Cornerstone Four, but I can’t be too sure these days. I hope this works and that I can get more info on the taken girls.
That was it.
“What’s wrong?” Zach was suddenly at my side.
“It’s the last entry. The last thing he wrote. It was about me.”
Rubbing my back, Zach squatted next to my chair to get face to face, but I couldn’t bring myself to make eye contact. I felt too terrible.
“The night before he died, we got into a big fight. He was trying to get me out of Kirksville for a week. I was in the middle of tax season, planning a wedding, and preparing for a weekend intensive with the teen girls. I told him I would leave if he just told me why. He wouldn’t. Of course, that set me off. I told him that, as gamma, I should have his respect. He played the dad card, and I played the bitch card.”
Tears streamed down my hot cheeks. “He-He kissed myforehead, told me he loved me, and left. It wasn’t our first fight, so I wasn’t too worried. I knew we would talk it through the next day.” My words came out choppy and stilted.
“The next morning, he wasn’t at the house, so I went to Grandma Rose’s to see if he was there. He was always helping her out, you know. Fixing stuff up? That’s where Aiden and Alpha Williams found me.”
