Jana Leigh & Bryce Evans (5 page)

“
She is an Omega, you are an Alpha, and Vander, well, he is a pain in the ass, but he is strong.  If I had to guess, I would say the three of you are going to be the new Alphas of the Atlanta Pack.  Your power together is going to match ours.  It is a good thing we are friends, or this could be awkward, so many strong Alphas in one place.  But there is a reason for this all; the fates are trying to align us somehow.  Trying to show us that soon, we are going to need that power to help fight the evil that has somehow found its way into our lives,” Jewel said and smiled at Kane.

When they finally reached the station, all of them had successfully ignored the elephant in the car. 
Jewel and Vander walked up to the secretary to get their messages.  Kane watched from the corner as Vander slapped the piece of paper on his hand and rushed to his computer.  Kane was hot on his tail as Vander sat down in his chair, hoping that finally they were going to get good news on where Waverly was. 

“
What is it?”  Vander never looked at Kane but kept typing on his computer.  Kane sat back and waited for Vander to finish whatever he was doing.  Whatever it was, Vander was certainly looking intent on the screen.

“
We have been looking at this all wrong.  The question is why would they take Waverly?  She doesn’t fit the same MO like the rest.  Josh said he was the Redeemer and that people who cheated on their mates, he would take care of them.  Well Waverly isn’t mated and she hasn’t been seeing anyone because she is so busy with the Omega stuff.  So why did they take her?” Vander said aloud to no one in particular.  Thankfully Kane didn’t have to respond, because Jewel walked in and heard what her partner had said.  She sat, leaned back in her chair and squinted her eyes at him studying what Vander just asked.

“
I don’t know,” Jewel answered.

“
They needed her out of the way.  I guess,” Kane replied, trying to figure out what his mate was getting at.

“
Bingo!” Vander said.

“
Look, Vander, I don’t know if that is it.  It was the first thing that popped in my mind,” Kane replied and then shook his head when Vander smiled like he knew a secret. 

“
But you are correct, Kane.  All the others we know why they took them.  Even with Madeline, Ret’s secretary, she was killed for the same reason, but Waverly is different.  She is an Omega and somebody wanted her away from the pack. She was in the way or in danger of discovering something, or becoming something they didn’t want.  Why do you think they already knew what we didn’t?  Mates?  How did they know we were mates? What?  Why are you looking at me like that?” Vander asked as he narrowed his eyes at Jewel and Kane.

“
Because you are a genius.”  Jewel walked over and kissed her best friend.  “That’s it, Vander.”  Jewel sat back down hard in her chair, realizing what this meant.  Vander and Kane could feel the distress in her voice.  “You realize what this means don’t you?”

“
Yeah, there is a traitor in the Atlanta Pack and somehow Josh Campbell got to them.  The traitor also has more information than we do, there is someone else involved with powers, and we have no clue what we are up against,” Vander replied.

Jewel pulled out her phone and
dialed.

“
Benny, we have a problem.  I need your help on this.”  Jewel closed her phone, rocking in her chair, looking down at her desk after she hung up.  Her mates were going to have to be brought in, there was something weird going on, and they were going to have to help them out. Benny would be here soon.

“
I thought you were going to call the Beta?” Kane asked.  “Do I need to make a few calls as well?”  Kane already knew his Alphas were going to be pissed about this new development. They didn’t like to think there was something in their territory that they didn’t know about. Even though there were individual packs throughout the states, they were split into territories, usually with the largest pack in the area overseeing the others in the same territory.  It was a huge responsibility but Ret and Lex had a strong foundation and handled the added responsibility with ease.  Well, till now.

“
If there is a traitor in the pack, I don’t want to spook them or let them think we are on to them.  Benny is an Elder, he can get the list for us.  He has been one for a while now, when he joined the Elders, Flynn took over as Beta in Atlanta.  I really don’t know who it could be but whomever it is is very close to the Alpha.  At the moment we can’t trust calling and telling the Alpha anything yet,” Jewel said and looked at Kane.  This was going to turn into a cluster fuck.

Kane rubbed his face with his hands then leaned forward placing them on his knees.  Jewel could tell Kane was having a hard time dealing with this.
The guys needed to go and talk, sort things out, and start figuring out where their mate was.

“
You okay, Kane?” she asked and Kane could hear the tenderness in her voice.

“
Yes, Alpha.”  Kane was smiling at Jewel when Ret and Lex walked in the door.  Jewel’s face beamed with joy when she saw her mates. 

Jewel ran over and kissed both of her mates hard then smiled at them.  “
Miss us, baby?” Ret asked.

“
Very much but I’ve got to meet with Benny before we can go home.”  Ret and Lex were about to complain when Benny walked into the office.

“
I’m here so hold your horses, Alpha,” Benny said and walked over kissed Jewel on the cheek then shook her mates’ hands. “What is goin’ on?”

“
There is a traitor in the Atlanta Pack,” Jewel muttered.

“
Yes child, I know,” Benny said slowly and then waited for the blow up.

Jewel shrugged out of her mates
’ arms.  “What?  You mean you have known all this time.  But…why didn’t you tell us?” Jewel sputtered.

“
Sit down, baby girl, and just listen,” Benny said reasonably and Jewel sat back down in her seat.  Ret and Lex instantly walked over to their mate and put their hand on her shoulder.  Mates were always touching each other.  They couldn’t help it.

“
Six months ago I found out that information about the pack’s finances being leaked out.  I told you the Alpha was going to retire and that we were looking to merge the packs.  That was a lie.  Marcus came to me and informed me that he had a traitor in the pack because property was being purchased before the Alpha could buy it.  Every time the Alpha was going to buy a piece of property, it was purchased before the Alpha could even put in a bid.  Now this could have been a coincidence but after ten times of this happening.  Well let’s just say it doesn’t take a genius to figure out.  We have a leak and I’ve narrowed it down between four people.  Now, the company that is buying all this property is a dummy company and I’m having a hard time finding out who owns it.  Whoever owns this company is always a step ahead of us.  The reason is they have someone on the inside,” Benny said gruffly and looked at Jewel steadily. 

He would not apologize for keeping
pack business to himself like that.  Some things people needed to know and some things they didn’t, until the investigation ended up here, Benny had sworn not to say a word.

“
Maybe I can help you with that,” Rex offered gently.  Benny looked at the Alpha and nodded.

“
That would be great.  I was hoping you would offer,” Benny replied.

“
Then why did you tell me that the Alpha was retiring?” Ret said and rolled his eyes.  The old man was playing two sides of the fence and he was going to get caught.

“
I couldn’t trust you enough, Ret.  I thought it was you buying all the property at first and wanted the Atlanta Pack as your own,” Benny confessed.  “Look at it from my perspective, hell, I thought you could be a killer a few weeks ago.”

“
Too much property isn’t good for one Alpha.  That much power is never a good thing.  I would never do that to another Alpha.  Especially, Marcus Grant.  He is a friend,” Ret explained.  “As for the other, we won’t talk about that again.”

“
I know now, Ret, but you have to put yourself in my position.  I couldn’t trust you,” Benny advised.

“
I understand, Benny.  Let me make a few calls and see if I can find out who is the true owner of the company.”  Ret kissed Jewel on top of her head and started to walk away when he stopped and asked, “What is the name of the company?”

“
Prince Liberator Inc. is the name of the company,” Benny advised.  Vander jerked his head up when he said the name.

“
What did you say?” Vander asked as Ret walked out of the room.

“
Prince Liberator Inc. is the name of the company,” Benny said again.

Vander chuckled then started typing on his compu
ter.  “What is it, Vander?” Jewel asked as she walked over to him typing on the computer.

“
Well, remember what Josh said about Ret being the Prince of the New York Pack and what does the Redeemer mean?”  Jewel watched as Vander typed in the name Redeemer in the dictionary.

“
Well, boys and girls, redeemer has many synonyms and one of them is Liberator.  You know what that means?” Vander crowed.

“
Shit!”  Benny got up from his chair pacing back and forth.  “It means I was correct and we have a very bad situation on our hands,” Benny advised.

“
Whomever it is, is high up in the pack.  Information about finances wouldn’t be known except by a few people,” Kane announced. 

Benny started pacing the floor thinking about that.  “
I’ve narrowed it down to four people but when we go looking for this person, it is going to stir up a lot of problems in the pack.  People will start accusing each other, then paranoia will take hold.  We have to be careful about how you investigate this person,” Benny explained as he paced the floor.

Ret walked back in the room.  “
I should have some information for you tonight, Benny.  What did I miss?”

“
Well, let’s see.  The Atlanta Pack has someone on the inside that is a traitor and a murderer.  Whoever it is, is high up in the pack.  Benny has narrowed it down to four people.  If we’re not careful how we handle this, then there is going to be riots, screaming, wolves paranoid, etc., etc.,” Jewel responded.

The look on Ret
’s face said it all.  Wolves were protective of each other.  They lived in packs and hearing that one of their own had betrayed the pack was hard to swallow for Ret.  “What can we do to help?” Ret asked.

“
You are doing it by finding out who the company belongs too.  The company name may point the finger toward Josh, but I'm thinking it is someone with a much bigger stake in things,” Benny answered.

“
Have you spoken with Marcus about the traitor?” Lex asked.

“
Not since we found this out, he knows there is someone working on the inside against him.  I don’t know who to trust, if it is someone this close to him, Marcus will need proof.  He always wants someone with him when we speak and if the Beta can’t be there then he gets someone else, but I am worried if he picks the wrong person.  I need to speak to him alone so nobody thinks anything about it,” Benny explained.

Jewel looked up at her mate without talking.  Benny knew that mates had the ability to do that. 
They understand what each other wanted without saying anything.  “Well, I could ask to speak with him about how he wants to handle Jewel leaving of the pack, most packs usually like to celebrate when one of its own finds their mates, even if the member of the pack moves to a new one.  Or, I could tell him that I need to talk to him about something personal.  I don’t think he or anybody would think anything about two Alphas meeting,” Ret added. 

Benny looked over at Vander
and Kane for confirmation. Both were Waverly’s mates, and they would have to be there at the meeting.  Whoever betrayed the pack could know where she was being held, and they would want to be there. 

“
When can you meet with him?” Vander inquired.  Although he could feel the under currents in the room, he needed to speak to Jewel about this mate deal and soon.  First, he needed time to talk to Kane.

Vander
knew that Ret could do things he could never get accomplished, the crazy thing was Vander was beginning to feel like part of a pack.  Who would have thought?  He was human and Ret was the Alpha of the New York Pack and Marcus was an Alpha here, but Vander felt like they were equals.  Marcus would understand if Ret came to him in private.  Vander appreciated the help he was getting from everyone, including Kane who was staring at him when he looked over at him. They were going to have to settle things once and for all.

“
I’ll go call him and ask if he can meet with me tonight at the hotel for dinner.”  Ret got up again and walked out of the room to call Marcus Grant.

“
Well that solves that problem right now,” Jewel answered as she stood and stretched. 

“
You tired, baby?” Lex asked Jewel as he rubbed her shoulders.  Jewel nodded as her head fell forward so her mate could massage her shoulders.

Vander watched the interaction between Jewel and her mates.  He
was happy for Jewel.  He loved her like a sister and only wanted her to be happy.  He could tell everyone was running on empty and needed to go home and eat a good dinner and start fresh tomorrow.  Emotions were high at the moment plus they couldn’t do anything until Ret and Marcus met.  Vander would need to know who could have gotten that information from the Alpha.