Insight

Graham had requests for information flooding into his office from concerned pack members. They wanted reassurance that they were no longer under threat from the escaped rogue commander and his followers. Truthfully, he couldn’t tell them that. According to StarLight official reports, the commander was missing. He had vanished after the Call.

The Beta announced that he would hold a meeting at the town hall in Green Tree. The room was entirely full of bustling people with worried and curious expressions. Graham stepped up to the podium, examining the crowd. There were some familiar faces behind the group. Like the elders Joshua and Edward, who stayed by the door.

“Hello, StarLight.” He spoke into the microphone.

The room slowly got quiet as everyone took their seats or moved to stand behind the others. There was a reporter from The Green Tree Gazette. He was noticeable in the front row with his voice recorder and press badge.

“The latest reports say that the valley has been cleared. The fugitive isn’t in the area. Our territory is still secure, there have been no breaches since the Call.” Graham stated. “I’ll open the floor for questions now, but take pity on me. One at a time, please.”

He smiled affably and heard the chuckles in the crowd. Hands were raised into the air, many of them. Graham spotted the reporter’s hand and pointed to him.

“Alpha hasn’t been to the arena for training and he hasn’t spoken to the pack.” The young man stood. “For weeks, we’ve heard that he’s at headquarters, leading us again. Is that true?”

“Yes. Don’t fret. Our Alpha is performing his duties to protect StarLight. He will address the pack when the timing is appropriate.” His facial expression betrayed his disbelief that the address would actually occur.

He looked out over the group again and hands went back up. A young woman was bouncing up and down in her seat with her hand raised. She had wide, brown eyes and curly dark hair. The man beside her was watching her worriedly. They were clearly mates. Graham pointed at her.

“Where is Luna Eve?” She stood abruptly and crossed her arms over her chest.

All eyes moved to the Beta, anxiously awaiting an answer. The young woman met his gaze without fear or doubt, only conviction. The man beside her put his hand on her leg, trying to calm her.

“Luna hasn’t been seen since the night of the Call. To protect the investigation, no details are being released. She is still in the mindlink. Keep in mind, this alone means she is alive.” Graham replied.

He began to scan the crowd again but the young woman climbed onto her chair.

“Ellie...” The man beside her whispered warningly.

“That’s not good enough, Beta!” She stated loudly.

Graham moved toward her, contemplating how best to handle the fiery young woman.

“I know that you’re concerned. Ellie, was it?” He replied calmly.

“Yes.” She nodded curtly. “I’ve known Luna my entire life and I want to know what’s happening. Alpha isn’t saying anything.”

“Ellie, we’re still investigating. Revealing what we know could have unknown consciences, for the pack and Luna Eve. I’m sure as soon as we are able to explain things, we will.” Graham replied.

She begrudgingly hopped back onto the floor. Her mate wrapped his arm around her shoulders when she sat back down. Graham looked out over the crowd once again.

“Yes?” The Beta pointed at a warrior in the middle row of seats.

“Should we be sending our families to the pack houses in the valley again? Are we waiting for orders to do that?” The man probed.

“At this time, there are no current plans to move the pups. The territory is secure, you’re families are safe.” Graham reassured him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joshua watched the entire meeting from the back of the room. The Beta answered the questions asked in the way one would expect. Still, there was something about the way he referred to Alpha Flint that was bothersome. Graham projected his disbelief in their leader without directly saying a word against him.

Graham left the meeting with a weight on his shoulders. Facing the pack, those his father had betrayed, was difficult. He drove toward his house but never arrived there. Somehow, he found himself standing outside his childhood home. The house that his father had built.

He examined the exterior. The driveway was empty, where his Mom’s van used to sit. The porch was covered in snow, revealing the amount of time that the place had been left vacant. Graham grimaced at the red tape on the door. He tore it off and pushed the threshold open.

The air inside the house was stale. For a moment, he remembered the way it once was in this place. His father reading a book in his chair by the window. His mother humming in the kitchen as the smell of dinner wafted threw the space. But when that moment was over, so ended Graham’s sense of peace.

There was no electricity in the home, which filled the place with shadows. He stepped in and absorbed the cold, stagnant air. The Beta glanced around, imagining the altercation that had taken place there.

The couch was slid crookedly into the center of the room. The table was covered in dust and the corner had dried blood on it. He could smell that it belonged to his father. There was even more dried blood on the floor behind the sofa.

The investigators that had been inside had left papers and objects scattered randomly on the floor. Every drawer in the entire house was open and had been rifled through. Graham had the urge to go down the hall but he didn’t. He didn’t have it in him to see his childhood bedroom in tatters.

The Beta walked over the clutter and went into his father’s study. Seeing the wreckage of the office space produced a lump in his throat that he couldn’t swallow. The memory of his father’s death flashed before his eyes. The feeling of his own spine shuddering when his father’s neck snapped.

Graham picked up the overturned desk chair and sat down. The bottom drawer of the desk, the one Clark always kept locked, was left open. He reached inside it curiously, taking the paperwork that was sticking out. Bank records, nothing more. Graham sighed and threw the documents into the air.

As they fluttered down around him, he spotted something in the bottom of the drawer. He reached in and pulled out a large, half empty glass bottle. Graham smiled bitterly. Alice didn’t want Clark to drink alcohol. Apparently, he had a hidden stash of scotch.

“Here’s to you, huh?” He opened the bottle and took a drink out of it.

“What did you do, old man...?” Graham sighed heavily and took another large gulp of the chilled liquid.

His cellphone vibrated against his chest. He grunted bitterly and pulled the device out of his inner jacket pocket.

"Beta Graham Monroe." He answered the call.

"Hello, Beta." Came a familiar, snarky voice.

"Why the hell are you calling me?" He sat up abruptly and looked at the blocked number on the screen.

"Because I can." The man chuckled.

"What do you want?" Graham took an agitated drink from the bottle in his hand.

"I want for nothing, actually. I sent you something. I'm thinking that if you want your target to have an outburst, I have just the thing. Make sure your timing right, or you'll waist your best ammunition."

The call beeped, signaling its end. The Beta grunted and took another gulp of scotch. He opened his email and saw something new from his mother. It looked like a standard message until he noticed the name on the account may have been Alice Monroe, but the email was from an unfamiliar address.

The message referenced a few places in the valley. Graham searched the internet for the locations but one of them didn't exist. It led him to a blog that required a password. He typed in the numbers that were randomly at the bottom of the email.

The image that loaded on his phone made his eyes burst open. The caller hadn't lied. This was surely the straw that would break the Alpha's back. Graham smiled weakly and shook his head, emptying the bottle into his mouth.

Every step he took, he thought he was taking for StarLight. For his father. For the future of the mountain. The Beta simply never imagined the associates he would make along the way.