Gamma No More - Book 3

Looking at her phone for the tenth time today, Toni’s now officially worried.

For the last two days, Susan had not been responding to messages. In all the time she’s known her, it has never taken her more than an hour to respond before. A sickening sensation creeps up on her, fearing that Susan may have caught up in the recent pack turmoil and she’s not in a pack she can contact easily.

It’s making her anxious enough to consider messaging Henry, Susan’s mate, but she knew he didn’t approve of her, he had, after all, tried to ban Susan from having contact, only the intervention of her family had helped them come to a compromise.

Instead, she messaged Delta Asher from her laptop using a phone application, another gift from the hackers, it’s safer than the random burner phones she has and harder for them to triangulate her position as it uses a phone-based in the Neutral Zone.

She is hoping that using this won’t bring a whole can of whoop ass on her, and her pack’s location, aware that Asher may just report the message and aim to have it traced and nothing is foolproof, especially in the hands of an amateur.

There’s a large part of her that is hoping that all is well and it’s just her pup that is keeping her busy, but its abnormal behaviour, but maybe with all the unrest, that’s expected.

Alpha Joseph and Louise had all responded, but even they had been slower than she expected, deep down she hoped she was worrying for no reason, but the news that Louise had found her fated mate in Beta Oliver pleased Toni, she deserved someone good in her life and Oliver was fundamentally good and loyal wolf.

Shuffling the papers in front of her, she looks at the latest list of suspects

King Petrus

Darius

Alpha Nate

Prince Kai

They had excluded the rest, but it was concerning that the remaining list of names was all exclusively from the Royal Pack. What would they have to gain by creating unrest and killing random people?

She thought through at the list of names she had to eliminate. Most of them were members of Royalist packs, so she couldn’t understand why someone from the Royal pack would want them dead, especially those that were a relative of the pack’s Alphas?

If she cannot find a motive, she could clear King Petrus and his son Darius, who was once the Crown Prince, from the list and absolve them of any involvement in the killings. After all, what would they have to gain from the deaths of their loyal subjects?

But then why would Alpha Nate or Prince Kai want them dead, Alpha Nate, well she had a chance of justifying him being on the list, if she assumed that he wanted to take over the pack, but he always seemed so loyal to the Crown Prince, plus he would have to get all the warriors on his side and she can’t imagine the two Delta’s she knows, Asher and Alek agreeing with that, they appeared far too loyal to the King.

Prince Kai had the opportunity to take over after his brother, Darius’ exile, but he made no attempt to do so, making it unlikely for him to be the one that was behind the unrest.

She groans and goes back to the list of packs causing issues. Not all of them were on the packs that had received payments. Some packs where Vincent had received money to make her assassinate someone were involved in the unrest on a smaller scale, others were causing issues and the rest weren’t on either list, there was just no pattern to it.

Looking at the list once more, she started to make three lists, based on motive, money and size, then stopped. It didn’t matter which way she cut the data. She couldn’t either point a finger at any of the suspects or remove one.

She pinches the bridge of her nose, this is probably her third or fourth time trying to work out who the mystery person was and it always ended the same way, she needed to find out something new or she would be stuck in the same place.

Meanwhile, all the time they sat idle, the unrest was increasing, and there was hardly any pack that had been untouched by the violence now, according to the data that the Deltas had collated.

While she could sit back as it technically wasn’t her pack’s problem, when she couldn’t make contact with Susan, when pack members were all anxious about family and friends, then it became her problem.

The hunt for Rowena had stalled, but she was determined to pinpoint with more accuracy who it was and where they may be. She was pretty sure that it was highly unlikely that any of these wolves had taken her onto Royal Pack land. She knew that with increased security, there would also be more patrols and therefore a greater chance of Rowena being uncovered.

There are too many things going on that are all connected and yet, not by enough to link them in any way, bar tenuously for now. This hidden figure, this puppeteer that sits above them all putting out their shadowy tendrils that link them all together, is slowly weaving the threads to create a blanket of distrust, a web that is gradually pulling the packs closer to war.

She just needs one thread out of place, that’s all, and she could try to unravel the web, but as yet, nothing is standing out.

There’s a knock at her door and Laura is standing there, smiling.

“You have an unplanned visitor. Are you free?”

Toni looks out of the window, the sun is still high so it’s unlikely to be one of the Vampires, it could be a Thrall, sent as a messenger though and she feels she owes Leif any of her time he may asked for after doubting him before; she won’t deny access to anyone he sends, it could, after all, be the finalised treaty.

She looks back at the lists of suspects. No, whoever the visitor is, she will see them. A break sounds like an excellent idea at this point.

“Sure, send them in, but why are you grinning so much?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” She shrugged.

“It’s a nice day. Leah is driving Karl mad with cleaning their house and collecting every pillow and duvet in the house, trying to create a den for their pup’s imminent arrival and we have zero additional issues in the pack today.

If that’s not a reason to smile, I don’t know what is… oh and your visitor is Cage, he’s always fun to be around!”

Toni looks at the slight blush on Laura’s cheeks

“I won’t tell Tommy another male made you blush….”

“Oh, he knows he was there when it happened.

Cage tries to talk to me in the old language. Every time he visits, he asks me to teach him a little more.

But instead of saying it looked like it would be a hot day, he said I look hot today.

Tommy spat out his coffee and I left Cage apologising profusely.”

Toni lets out a laugh

“Put the poor guy out of his misery and send him in. Tommy will be teasing him mercilessly!”

Toni takes all the papers on her desk and places them back in her desk, while she’s aware Cage knows about the investigation. For now, she needs a break.

It doesn’t take long for Cage to stride into her office looking a little less than calm and, as a smirk hits the side of Toni’s face, he growls jokingly.

“Dear Goddess, is nothing sacred in this pack? She told you already, right?”

“We are a family in this pack, so of course, we share!

So apart from coming to hit on my Gamma female, in front of her mate, what can we do for you today, Cage?”

“I don’t hit on females…”

Toni sits back grinning

“Oh, I don’t know…”

She left the sentence hanging in the air.

“I flirt with unmated females. I am respectful to mated ones, both are different to ‘hitting on’ one!”

“Interesting line to draw, but don’t worry, I think you made Laura’s day and I promise I won’t tell your pack!” Toni laughed openly.

“Well, I am here on behalf of Alpha Dimitri, he apologises knowing he should have been the one to come to make the offer himself or sent his Beta, but as I am the only one that knows the location of your pack, you got me.

Anyway, he would like to offer you his support if things go tail up in the main packs.”

Toni sits quietly, as she pondered the deeper meaning.

“How far does the support go?” she asked.

“All the way, as long as you are trying to diffuse the attacks, he and our warriors will support and join any action that seems reasonable.

He is offering you an alliance, aware that if we become aggressors in our own right, stepping into the troubles as independents, then we are technically in breach of the Neutral Zone rules.

But he’s been talking in depth to Raine, Jenna and Lord Leif and they all believe that it would be in the best interests of peace for us to offer to be involved.

So, according to their perspective, if we side with you, they would not sanction the Freedom Pack, but they would if we sided with the Royal Pack or the Rebels. They see you as an independent voice of reason, someone with nothing to gain in either direction.

Toni looked at him with a frown on her face.

“Ack, that doesn’t make any sense.

First, who is to say that we would get involved, I mean, ideally, the packs will stop the fighting themselves, seeing sense sooner rather than later, although with every day that passes it seems less likely since the Royal Pack isn’t stepping in to stop issues.

But I guess there is still hope for them to do it. If the Royals send warriors in force to each pack one or two at a time, letting the domino effect take effect as packs fall in line.

The intervention is overdue, but they can still do it, but the longer they leave it, the sooner it will send the packs into all-out civil war and it won’t be as simple as the Royal’s side or the rogue’s side, because at least initially, the rogue pack, those involved in the unrest aren’t banding together yet, they don’t have their figurehead in place as far as I can tell.

And so far, that figurehead is nothing more than a shadowy figure and I can’t work out why.

But if the war happens, we, as in the Veiled pack, aren’t necessarily going to stay neutral. We are a small pack with just twenty warriors and ten Veiled Ones.

So, I guess there is no guarantee we can even stand up to an attack, so why would you want to give us support, as Neutral zone residents, you are at least protected and don’t need to ally yourselves with a weak rogue pack.

What am I missing here, Cage?”

Cage gets up and grabs himself a coffee, making Toni smile. He doesn’t stand on ceremony, never had, in all their time together, he just did his own thing and honestly, it was refreshing.

In public, he was far more circumspect and stuck to the rules, addressing people correctly, but outside of that, he didn’t, and it was a refreshing change, making her feel normal.

“You aren’t Toni. It’s the Neutral zone wanting to protect themselves by officially remaining neutral, but worried that war is coming.

The Elders of each species have ratified it and noted the decision in the records, but they see you as someone independent and not on the payroll or indebted to either side, someone who wants peace not war, so on that basis, they are happy for us to side with you, regardless of the choice you make or the strength of your pack.”

Toni gets up and paced her office for a while, ending up looking out of the window in her office.

“Why does everyone seem to feel that I am going to get involved or, better yet, that I know what I’m doing?

I’m not trained in war tactics, nor in being an Alpha, so why am I the one they are turning to?”

Cage let out a happy huff and walked over to the window. Standing next to Toni, he points out of the window at her pack, going about their daily business.

“That’s why.”

He paused, watching her face to see if his message sank in

“You took a bunch of wolves that didn’t work well in a pack, rogues that no Alpha would dare to touch, and made them your family.

There isn’t a wolf out there that would follow another Alpha the way they follow you.

You are their firm, but fair leader.

The darkness that guides them into the light, and it doesn’t end with them.”

Toni scoffs loudly.

“Dimitri, Raine, Jenna and Leif worked together to get you as much help as they could when you were being hunted by the Royal Pack.

They called everyone they needed favours from to get people onto the streets to slow down your hunters. That’s unheard of and borderline breaking Neutral Zone rules.

You just have to start to see what others already see in you.

Tap into that inner voodoo you have that makes people listen to you and take a long look at its effect on others, so you finally see what we see.

The question is, do you want our support and alliance, or do I go back and tell the Alpha I failed to persuade you to let us join you?”

Cage turns to face Toni, waiting for an answer.

“I think I preferred the flirty Doorman I first met, rather than the serious Delta.”

Cage bursts into laughter

“You know, I’ve never met your wolf, and it’s a nice day….

Wanna come get naked with me?”

He raises his eyebrows suggestively, making Toni almost choke on her coffee.

“Seriously….”

She started to said before Cage jumps in

“Hey you preferred the flirt. If that’s what it takes for me to get you to accept the alliance, I’m game.”

He winks at her with a twinkle in his eye

“Plus, your lands look like there’s space for a good run …and the Alpha told me to be persuasive…”

Smiling, Toni looks at Cage

“I’d be a fool to turn down either proposal

With the unrest out there, packs need to find all the alliances they can, and your Alpha is calm and level-headed, and from the conversations we’ve had, had a similar outlook on what’s right.

It’s also a glorious day and Tyra hasn’t been out for our run yet, but when I shift, I’ll be giving her almost all the control.”

In her head, Tyra is letting out a happy rumble at the idea of running with another wolf, making Toni realise just how much time she spends solo, even here in her pack.

“Then I apologise in advance for Hakan. He likes to show off and act like the most dominant wolf around, will be fun to see him put in his place by a she-wolf!”

As they head outside Toni hands him one of the spare cloaks, before she checks her watch

“I’ve got about ninety minutes, then I have to be back to pick up my pups from kindergarten. We should be able to get to the Lake in thirty minutes unless your wolf is slow,”

She gives Cage a sideways look

“A challenge huh, I love a challenge… what direction are we running?”

“West and my pack are always challenging me, in words and in sparring. It’s kind of our thing, make everything into a who’s faster, stronger, etc.”

Toni stripped quickly, letting her cloak cover her. As Cage stripped down, he turned to ask Toni a question.

“Which way is west?”

As Toni pointed toward the lake, he jumped forward, shifting, getting a head start on Toni.

Pulling her cloak in, she laughed before she shifted and let the chase begins.

It took her twenty strides to get into her rhythm and catch up with Hakan, nipping at his heels for the cheek of cheating, his wolf does a sideways sweep of his bushy red tail, straight into Tyra’s snout causing her to sneeze and lose ground.

She can hear his wolf rumbling happily at his actions, so Toni dives off to the right, lengthening her stride and becoming the shadow she’s known for, leaving little trace or sound of her passing.

As Hakan breaks from the treeline, heading straight for the lake, Toni breaks from the side, closer to the lake, but she angles towards him, shoulder bumping him as she passes, causing him to stumble.

As he gets back to his feet, Tyra swats him with her tail before sliding to a stop in front of the lake. She yips happily, tongue hanging out.

Hakan drops low, stalking towards Tyra, who is dancing at the edge of the lake, almost taunting him to pounce on her, as soon as he launches at her, she drops and rolls to the edge of the lake, her tail catching the water but the rest of her staying dry as Hakan sails over, landing in the lake where the ground drops away, soaking him thoroughly.

Toni shifts, releasing the cloak to drop around her, crying with laughter as Hakan stalks out of the lake. Pride hurt, he comes close to Toni, before shaking all the excess water from his coat onto her.

“Okay, I deserved that,”

Toni states, brushing the water off her. She takes a seat on the floor. As Cage shifts, slower to release his cloak, she hears Tyra.

He’s a powerful wolf, should keep him close.

Toni smiles to herself. Tyra has always appreciated Cage.

“You’re fast, but I think local knowledge helped you….”

“Sore loser much?” she baits

“Hell yes,” he grins at her

“I will have to up my game for the next visit. My wolf won’t take losing twice, but I’ve heard talk of your wolf. But up close, she’s impressive and not just for a she-wolf, she’s probably bigger than most Alpha wolves.”

There’s a part of Toni that trusts Cage enough to tell him her secret, but something stops her and so she passes the time just talking about simple, unimportant things before Toni announces its time to head back, taking a slower, more scenic route back before they finally shift outside the Kindergarten.

“I’ll let Dimitri know about the Alliance. He will be happy. My task was to persuade you at any cost, but apparently, all it took was for me to flirt with you and your pack!

But we’ll get some paperwork drawn up to protect us all.”

His eyes are alive with mischief

Rolling her eyes, Toni watched as Cage headed off back to his pack, he had a long journey ahead but had declined the offer of a bed for the night, before she turned and picked up her pups, feeling lighter than she had for a long while.