I was up at the ass-crack of dawn and not happy about it. My phone sounded from an incoming text. Whoever it was needed to have a spectacular reason for waking me up or heads would roll. I untangled myself from Liam and reached for my phone. I glanced at the screen, blinking several times to clear my vision from the bright screen.
It was a text from Jamie saying she missed me with a sad selfie included. Shit, I couldn’t be mad at her for that. It hadn’t even been a full day and I missed my friend, too. I did kindly remind her that I was three hours behind her now and, while I missed her, it was better for her life expectancy if she never texted so early again.
I silenced my phone and crawled back under the covers. Liam wrapped his arms around me, trying to lure me back into sleep, but it was too late. My mind was back to firing on all cylinders and I had too much shit to do today. Lying in bed wasn’t going to get any of it done.
I began to move, but Liam’s hold tightened on me.
“Don’t leave,” he mumbled incoherently.
“Sorry, lover boy. We’ve got adulting to do today.”
“Fuck adulting. It’s overrated.”
I leaned over and pressed my lips to his. “On an ordinary day, I would completely agree with you, but I can’t today. I need to begin my official alpha training today with my dad and Augie. We also need to speak with Rick and get an update on how things are going with the hunt for Declan. The longer he stays hidden, the more potential he has to gain resources.”
We couldn’t handle any more surprises. The sooner we moved in on him, the better for all the packs. We had no idea who he would target next.
Liam sat up. “Let’s get working, then. We’re going to have decades together. I guess I can wait a little longer to have lazy Sunday mornings in bed with my mate.”
I slid out of bed and blew him a kiss. I had a feeling that if I touched him again while we were both undressed, I wouldn’t make it out of our room for a while.
I took a quick shower and got ready in record time, but Liam still beat me. Some days, it was a pain in the ass having long hair, but I loved my red locks, so I dealt with the extra effort they required in the mornings.
“Ready, Mate?” Liam reached his hand out to me.
I nodded, taking his hand. “Let’s go.”
We headed for the training facility. The sun had fully risen, but it was still early, so we didn’t see any pack members on our way until we arrived at the holding room.
“Morning, Jared. Did my dad or Augie speak with you?” I asked.
He nodded. “Courtney already brought him breakfast, so he’s awake if you want to go in.”
“Thank you. By the way, this is Liam. My mate. He should be allowed full access to anything within the pack.”
Jared reached his hand out. “Nice to meet you, Liam. Gerald already said much the same, so it’s not a problem. The others on rotation should have been notified as well.”
“I appreciate it.” Liam nodded as he shook Jared’s hand. Then, we continued into the room.
Rick was sitting at a table in the corner of the room, just finishing his food. He pushed it aside and stood to greet us.
“Taya. Liam. I didn’t expect you to be back yet,” Rick said.
I glared. “Why? Because people were sent to attack us on our way back and you knew about it?”
His eyes widened in shock. “No, I assumed Liam would need more time with his family. Are you okay?”
His face held all the sincerity I was used to from before everything went to shit. It made me hesitate and I didn’t like it.
“What are you hiding, Rick? What could possibly make you act like this?” I snapped.
“I didn’t do this. I know you have no reason to believe me right now, but I would never turn against our pack.”
Liam pulled two chairs out for us. “Then why don’t you explain what you were doing out there?” he asked as we sat.
Rick’s face downturned. “I can’t. I know it doesn’t make sense why I wouldn’t tell you to save my life, but the reason is more important than my own life.”
“What about when we went to Hood River and you disappeared for a while? Or how you distanced yourself from all of us these past several weeks? Can you explain any of it?” I demanded.
I needed something to make sense. Him refusing to say anything, whether it was lie or truth, was not helping.
“I don’t know what happened in the storm that day. As far as I knew, I slipped and hit my head. If someone attacked me, I never saw it coming and they weren’t there when I came to. As for why I’ve been separating myself, well, my grief was more than anyone else understood. The only person I had to turn to was gone.”
I sighed. “Rick, you have to give us something. Sam caught you tampering with the sensors. You haven’t denied that. I don’t want to believe you’re capable of turning against our pack, but you’re making yourself look guilty.”
“I can’t tell you.”
I leaned in closer to him. “I hope whatever you’re hiding is worth dying for, because if we can’t prove you aren’t the traitor, then that’s what is going to happen. Do you understand that?”
“I do,” he said confidently.
Internally, I was screaming. He was hiding something, but I had a gut feeling it had nothing to do with Declan. I wanted to help Rick, but he wasn’t making it easy.
I nodded and stood. “Very well. I think we’re done here.” I turned for the door with Liam right behind me, glancing back at Rick once more. “Just remember, your decisions are not only hurting you, but they’re hurting the pack. Something to think about with what little time you have left.”
He flinched at the reminder to the consequences of his actions, but still said nothing. We slipped out the door and I slammed it behind us, frustrated.
I stormed past Jared without saying a word. I needed space, but not from Liam. I made sure to keep him close. Once we were outside, I slowed and ran my hands through my hair.
“Did any of that make sense?” I asked him.
Liam shrugged. “Yes and no. I think he’s protecting someone, but I can’t imagine who he would know that would need defending he didn’t think we would provide.”
Huh. He had a point, but I couldn’t think of who Rick might be protecting, either. It made sense with the way he was acting, but at the same time, it made absolutely no sense.
“Why don’t we go talk with your dad and Augie?” Liam suggested. “It might help to talk it out some more with people who are closer to the situation. Maybe they haven’t thought of this scenario and it will trigger something for them.”
I smiled at him. “This is why I keep you around.” I reached up to tap his nose. “You’re pretty to look at and smart.”
He laughed before swatting my ass. “That mouth of yours is going to get you in trouble you might not be able to get out of one day.”
I winked at him. “You love my mouth.”
“That I can’t deny.” He tugged my hand. “Come on. Let’s get breakfast and find the others.”
We left for the pack house and went in through the back door, right into the kitchen. Courtney was already gone for the morning, but some of the shifters who had just gotten off shift were lounging around.
“Good morning,” Sam said as we entered. “What are you guys up to?”
Liam nodded in greeting. “Getting some breakfast before we meet with Gerald and Augie. Everything as it should have been last night?”
I raised my brow at Liam. He was fitting right in, asking all the right questions to show he cared for the pack business.
“Yup. I imagine things will be calmer now that Rick is locked up.”
I turned toward Sam. “You don’t believe him when he says that it’s a misunderstanding?”
He shrugged. “Isn’t that what all the bad guys say when they’re trying to save their own ass?”
Hmm. He had a point, so I left it alone. Liam and I took our breakfast to go and headed for the office.
Augie had just rolled out of bed and was coming around the corner, looking like shit.
“What’s wrong with you?” I asked.
He groaned. “We were short a guy last night, pulled a double shift. I haven’t slept since… I don’t know when, but it’s been a while.”
“Put me on the schedule,” Liam piped up. “I’m perfectly capable of helping out when needed.”
Augie’s eyes lit up at the words. “Really? That would take a lot of stress off me. For now, I’ll have you be a fill-in until you learn the ropes. Then, we can make a permanent schedule for you.”
I smiled, enjoying the fact that Liam would soon have a purpose at our pack other than being my mate. I knew that would make him feel a hell of a lot more comfortable.
The three of us entered the office together to find my dad reading through some papers. He was in full concentration mode and didn’t notice us until Augie closed the door.
“Augie, why are you in here?” he snapped. “Go to bed.”
“I’m fine,” Augie mumbled.
My dad leaned forward, narrowing his eyes. “That wasn’t a suggestion. It was an order. Go. Sleep. You’re not good to me like this.” His hand waved up and down. “I don’t want to see you until after lunch time.”
Augie didn’t even put up a fight. He dragged his feet, heading back toward the door without saying a word.
Once he was back in the hallway, I turned back to my dad as Liam and I took a seat.
“What do you have there?” I asked, pointing to the papers.
His responding grin made me regret asking. “Your training syllabus. Research I want you to do. People I want you to meet with. Training you need to complete with certain pack members. All things that will be expected of you as alpha-in-training.”
I should have minded my own business.
“Don’t we have more important matters to discuss besides training schedules?” I asked.
Dad shook his head. “Declan will not derail our plans. He’s taken enough from us, and I won’t let him hold you back unless this isn’t what you want.”
My eyes widened. “I want to work alongside you. Nothing there has changed, but I wouldn’t mind postponing whatever it is you have on that sheet.”
He laughed. “I know, which is why your training will be spread out over a couple years, unless you decide otherwise. You won’t get to kick back by any means, but I still want you to have a life. It’s my one regret with Cord. He never got to be a kid. His whole life was about becoming alpha one day. I don’t want that for you.”
Emotion choked me from the inside out. Liam squeezed my hand and I held on as if my life depended on it.
“Anyway, you’ll work with me in here for two days a week and two days a week you’ll shadow Augie. Somewhere in between all that, you’ll mark things off this list.” He slid the paper over to me.
I glanced it over, trying to distract my mind from the dark reminders of losing my brother. Spiritual training with Edmund, scouting with Sam, farming with Patty, and the list kept going. At the bottom was a reading list with at least twenty books.
I glanced back up at my dad. “You realize this could take me forever, right?”
“I think you’ll surprise yourself. I’m not worried about it.” He grinned, then turned toward Liam. “I’ll work on your duties within the pack next. Do you have a preference of what you’d like to do?”
Liam nodded. “I told Augie before we came in here that I’d like to work with him. Anything that will get me out with the others would be great. I’d like to get to know the pack members.”
“Very well,” my dad said approvingly. “Now, I know you didn’t come in here to speak about schedules. Are you ready to meet with Rick?”
“We already did,” I said. “It only confused me further. I don’t know what to think about the tampering situation, but most importantly, we can’t ignore his secret and the way he’s been acting. Have we ever had a traitor within our ranks before?”
My dad nodded but offered nothing else.
“What is the punishment for something like this?” Liam asked, but I already knew the answer.
“Death in front of the pack.” Dad’s face hardened. “A way to show that there is zero tolerance for that level of deceit.”
I sucked in a breath. I wasn’t ready to see Rick killed, but he had to know the consequences of refusing to divulge whatever he was hiding. We couldn’t help him if he refused to open up to us.
“When do we hold the trial?”
“We’ll call those who wish to be present together tonight. We don’t have time to sit on this.”
The pack would be gathered, and Rick would be given one last chance to prove his innocence. If he failed to do so, he would die on the spot. I had never seen a trial of this magnitude happen, so I didn’t know how he would die or who would do it, but it would be public, and it would make a statement.