Gamma No More - Book 3

Meeting Alpha Kieron, the last of the wolves before she had to face the Royal Pack, had taken a little longer, Toni could feel how awkward he felt in her company, after all, the last time they had met he had threatened to imprison her and take her pup, all of which he apologised for.

Now, he was in her presence as a prisoner and she was a Lycan stopping a fight. In truth, it would have been strange for Toni if there hadn’t been an atmosphere.

She had taken his apology and then brushed them under the rug as if it had never happened, before concentrating on the job at hand.

It had taken almost no time after that to find that he had been honourable in his desire to protect the King, much like his brother had been in the interview before.

As Liam leads him out, he turns and stops, speaking out.

“Lycan Antonia, thank you.

My brother told me he had met with you a while ago. I will be honest. I was worried, but he told me you advised him to rebuild his relationship with me.

I cannot tell you how much that means to me.

Regardless of your decisions on my, and my pack’s, future, I cannot thank you enough for giving me my brother back.”

She just nods her head as he’s led off and she can feel Karl’s eyes burning into her.

“He wanted to imprison you? Take away your pups?”

She can tell his anger is rising. Walking over, she pours a whisky for them both; she feels they’ve earned it.

“Karl, we were all in a different place and he thought it would protect his brother and the pups.

And I would have killed him before he did, so it’s all good!”

“There are times I wonder how you can deal with these people so calmly after how they treated you.”

She can hear the exasperation in his voice.

“That’s easy”

She laughed before continued

“I’m the one with all the power,” she shrugs

“and when I’m not, I just try to ruin their plans, and that makes me feel better as well!”

Karl can’t help but smile before he continued

“So the Royals….”

She groaned

“I’ll see Delta Asher, and Beta Alek last as I know those, and then the King as the final interviewee”

Toni peruses the list

“The Acting Alpha and his brother who complete some of the Beta duties with Alek stayed back to run the pack, along with two other Gammas

So I will take the other Deltas, Gammas and Prince Kai first.”

Karl nods and as they work through their last wolves together.

If she hadn’t already excluded Prince Kai from her list, she would after talking to him, he had a softer look to his features than Darius had, with no look of disdain or scorn rendering him not only handsome but giving him a gentler, almost feminine look.

Tyra had no qualms in clearing his wolf of any ill intent, as she had done with all the wolves today so far, which leaves them down to three wolves.

Deep down she prays to the Goddess that Asher and Alek have had no part in the uprising, she would feel oddly betrayed if they had, she’s not sure she can put a finger on it, but she had bonded with Alek’s wolf and to some extent Alek years ago, and even when they have clashed recently, it felt like he was doing his duty rather than any other reason.

Asher had at least treated her normally when he had been her escort as the Gamma, but more than that, he was the brother of Susan and she didn’t want to cause her friend more pain.

Even with Leif’s message about the mystery figure’s phone being in the Neutral Zone, it would be easy to fake that after all, she had used the phone app to do so and for one so careful; it felt wrong.

Because of that, she won’t and hasn’t assumed that anyone she sees is innocent.

Asher’s voice breaks her out of her thoughts

“Lycan Antonia,”

His words come out forced, as if not wanting to say them

Toni does her usual invitation to sit and talks briefly about why they are there. Do they know anyone called Tane or Badeil? ignoring the fact that Asher was uncomfortable in her presence.

She gets the ‘Pass’ message from both Karl and Tyra, but she sits back in silence for a while and waits

“Is that it?” Asher looks her straight in the eye as he spoke after a few minutes.

Toni raises an eyebrow at him before responding

“Is there something else you were expecting?”

“What about my sister? While we sit here, she is in trouble.”

She can feel the frustration in his words

“I need to find my sister. After your message, I wasn’t able to find her before the pack lock down.

I’d been told that you were to blame for her disappearance, so I’d like to know what you did to her.”

Toni looks at Asher sadly.

“You honestly believe that I would hurt Susan?

But let me ask you this: what will you do when you leave here with the Royal Pack?”

“I’d seek a leave of absence to go search for her before I head back and try to help repair the damage done to the pack.”

She nods. Beneath the hostility he had displayed was the concern for his sister.

“Felix, take Delta Asher to Gamma Anderson’s tent for a supervised visit, before returning him to his pack holding area.

Delta, your sister is safe. Maybe ask her who is responsible before assigning blame.”

Toni dismisses him with her words

Alek came in next, but his words were far more respectful.

“Lycan Antonia, it seems you hold a lot of titles now. I hear you are also an Alpha.”

“As do you Beta Alek, but I was an Alpha when we did the broadcast, so it’s not so new anymore.”

She signals him to take a seat as she catches a brief look of surprise on his face.

“A Lycan though,” he whistles

“How on earth did that happen?”

The corner of her lips twitch, she can’t help herself

“Are you asking for a biology lesson if so I kind of feel sorry for your mate, Mattie…”

Karl groaned from the corner before mind linking her.

′Toni, we need to concentrate…′

Alek shakes his head, but he’s got a genuinely joyful look on his face

“There’s that humour you hid so well when you were a young pup in our pack. I’m glad to see it came back.

But it explains how you managed to take down that stag and carry it back.”

The image in her head brings a smile to her face

“I struggled to hold it at the end, but I refused to back down and drop it.

But I have to ask you some questions. We are trying to find out who is responsible for the civil unrest.”

Alek inclines his head briefly before she asks the first question.

“Do you know anyone by the name of Tane or Badeil?”

“I’ve come across the name in some communications about the unrest, but neither myself nor the Alpha could find any records to match.

They never contacted our pack directly, nor did I investigate it as that was the King and Alpha who reviewed it, while I concentrated on running the pack.

Alpha Dan mentioned that Tane was an obvious anagram of Nate and that the name only cropped up once the King asked Nate to take a sabbatical.

But Alpha Nate denied it when the King spoke to him and we couldn’t find any other evidence that linked the unrest to him.

He hasn’t yet come back to the pack, having recently found his mate in the Still Water pack.

She is the only child of the Alpha, so he was considering staying there and leading that pack with her.

He had the King’s blessing if that was his choice, but there has been no other evidence that he was behind the unrest.”

They cover the remaining questions, with Alek answering each one openly.

Toni rubbed her hands over her face, Alek wasn’t lying to her, Tyra was confirming everything Toni’s senses were telling her, no heart rate rises, no sweat response, Axis, his wolf didn’t avoid Tyra, his wolf backing up everything he said.

But it’s just too convenient for Toni.

‘Toni, what do you think? Is it too obvious?’

Karl doesn’t sound convinced and in reality, neither is she, while Alek wasn’t lying. To have the puzzle solved so simply after months of hunting felt wrong, almost like cheating.

‘We can’t ignore it, but it doesn’t feel right, but Axis confirms he’s not lying.’

Finishing the session with Alek, she breathes a sigh of relief at having just the one wolf left, but she calls for a break, still not sure how she will cede control back to the Royals.

Swear him back in as the King, appoint him as Regent for the remainder of his life, or do what her council wants and take over as the leader.

“You don’t have to have a plan yet, Toni, do you?”

“For facing the King, no. For what happens next, still no.

But I need to head off after the interview to pay a visit to a wolf that may know where Tane’s been hiding out.”

Karl’s jaw tenses before he grits out his next line.

“And when were you going to tell me that?”

“After the interviews, don’t worry, I intended to let you send a team with me.”

She smiled innocently.

“Well, it seems you are on your own with the King. I need to go organise an escort to get the best team for you.

I swear you will kill me with these last-minute ‘trips’”

He growls as he leaves, making Toni call out just as he exits the tent.

“Comes with the Council title of Lord High Marshall… bet you wish you hadn’t appointed yourself now!”

Toni chose to ignore the random muttering she hears as he leaves the tent.

With Karl gone, their last prisoner, King Petrus entered the tent in. He takes his time looking around the tent before he lets his eyes rest on Toni.

“Alpha Antonia”

Internally, she raises her eyes at his attempt to make her seem less important.

“Take a seat”

She looks back at the papers in front of her; they aren’t at all interesting, but two can play that game.

He delays sitting for a while until he realises it’s becoming a little awkward, so he adjusts the chair, trying to own his space. As he sits, he tries to take control of the meeting.

“I’d like to thank you for your help in resolving the conflicts.

I’m prepared to lift the warrant over your head and recognise your pack, given the proper registration process and surety that your rogues cause no issues in the two-year proving period.

We will, of course, need you to answer some questions for us on the warrant before we render it invalid, but we can smooth most of this over.

And as a point to note, you really should have assessed the packs based on ranks, releasing the Royal pack immediately.”

Toni finally looks up from her papers. She has to admire the audacity and his display of confidence, and in that moment, the plan for what happens next has solidified.

She interlaces her fingers in front of her and just lets her eyes meet his; it takes less than two minutes before he drops his.

“While that is a generous offer, over seventeen hundred wolves, when I include those that came with me, saw you submit.

So excuse me for declining your offer, but I don’t think you or your pack can offer me anything.

Ironically, I came bearing information for you to stop the fighting. The wolves we brought were only to persuade you to give me a chance to be listened to without prejudice, but alas, you had already given up on talking.

So first, I need you to answer a few questions….”

She had gone through the standard questions and it was clear the King, or maybe that should be ex-King, had not been involved in creating the unrest.

Throughout the discussions, she hadn’t addressed him with his title, and she could see that while it rankled with him, the reality of the situation was slowly sinking into him, she wouldn’t force him to revoke his title, but she had a feeling without being in charge anymore, it would fade away.

It was time for Petrus to step up and run his pack, as a pack, rather than stepping in from afar, his mismanagement of the packs had led to the unrest and he had ignored several chances to stop the fighting, that was something that Toni could not overlook.

Before she left for her ‘trip’ as Karl had called it, she called the council together to discuss their findings so far.

They had decided that the Alpha Knight was to be replaced by his sons, leaving his Beta and Luna to decide who was most fitted for the role of Alpha from his sons, while she and Beta Wilson hadn’t been friendly, he was a good wolf and Toni respected the packs Luna.

Every pack who had received payments from Tane would also face significant financial penalties equivalent to at least the amounts they had received.

Toni also insisted that Alpha Knight should pay a significant payment to his daughter as compensation for writing her into a contract.

Her knowledge of his funds from the investigation of Tane had made her furious that he had sent Louise to the Nightshades pack all those months ago. It didn’t matter that she was not his biological daughter; she had been his pack and should have had his protection as an innocent.

They stripped the Alpha and Beta of the Shadow Stalkers of their ranks, but allowed them to live, being sent to Nightshades and Iron Claw respectively after agreement with the Alphas of those packs.

They were to live as unranked wolves, with their families, allowing strong leaders to keep an eye over them and hopefully rehabilitate them, but at a minimum, stop them from causing further trouble.

The council decided to leave the remaining leaders in place for now. However, if there were any further signs of rebellion, they would face a Lycan and her council, who would not be lenient with them as they had in the past.

Less than one minute with the King had cemented that in Toni’s mind, that he was not fit to lead, he had spent his life as a figurehead and it was time for him to step up and lead his pack.

For the next day, the plan was to interview the remaining unranked wolves and then the process of the packs being released would start.

Karl had arranged for her and the escort to be taken by the river to the Shadow pack, reducing the time they needed to travel. All the wolves were uneasy; boating wasn’t a natural pastime for any of them.

But to get there and back in a day, compromises needed to be made, and it was time for them to leave. Tyra agreed to get on the boat only after Toni promised not to put off talking to her Erasthai when she was back.

For now, it was time to take the escort Karl had put together and visit Killian, to see if any of his information matched with the suspicions that were now cast over Alpha Nate.

It was time to get answers and decide on a fitting punishment for him and his mate.