Puppy Love
Chapter 42

~Tamia~

We finally got a tip about Sophia, and even though it was wrong, we all got physically involved.

The thrill of the adventure made us eager. None of us had any business getting on boats wearing disguises and investigating criminals. We were royalty, but we did not want to pass on the fun, and the truth was, whoever we sent would not do a thorough job.

I knew how much this meant to Liam, and I wanted him to be happy. We all did… Well, some of us, like Vino, were also just chasing the trill of another adventure.

It wasn’t fun just signing papers, making decrees, and overseeing council meetings. I could tell we were bored to our core.

I figured Amelia was most bored when I saw her get creative with torturing the islander.

She seemed to have a blast doing it. Truth be told, we all did.

It brought back old memories and made me want to get some more action.

Answering our prayers, the moon had given us a lead to follow.

“I hope our disguises work in Kaizen,” I said to Sylvester while I zipped my bag.

“It will. Have you seen the way the blonde wig looks on me,” he said, picking up his wig and placing it on. I was so glad he wasn’t blonde. He looked hilarious.

We both laughed as I watched him try to position the wig properly.

“If you wear it wrong, you will draw as much attention as we are trying to avoid,” I said, and he took it off, still laughing.

“I believe we will have a blast in Kaizen. Hopefully, we get them,” he said, returning to the topic.

This was a rescue mission. Poor Sophia and her mother did not need this amount of stress.

Even if Mike was innocent, I still had issues with how he allowed his family to be roped into this mess. He was supposed to protect them and keep them out of it.

“Once this is over, Liam can focus on the things that matter,” I said, and Sylvester chuckled.

“Like what? He is already doing something,” he remarked, and I nodded, but I knew what I meant.

This whole Sophia thing seemed to get Liam trapped in a certain head space.

“I mean the whole Sophia thing,” I said, and he shook his head.

“I do not think Liam is interested in Sophia in that sense. I suspect he hoodwinked us into getting involved to help a friend,” he said, and I frowned at him.

“Why would you say that? I was there when he told you how he felt about her. You knew what he was willing to do for her. How can you say that?” I asked him, and he nodded.

“True. He did seem passionate at first. He was willing to do plenty and even get his cousins involved,” Sylvester admitted, “But what if his convictions and feelings have changed?” he asked.

I wondered what Sylvester was trying to say.

“I mean, he is a young man, and he isn’t fated to Sophia… at least not yet; she is too young for that.

All I am asking is, what if he doesn’t feel the same way anymore?” he said, and I disagreed.

“Feelings like that don’t go away. Liam went to Grizlo Academy because of her. He altered a lot of things because of her. Did you not notice them when they were together. Did you not see the attraction?” I asked him, and he sighed and zipped his bag.

“It is clear you have not been watching him, green eyes,” he teased me, and I frowned at him.

“None of it compares to how he looks at Josephine or the way he always tries to be by her side. His gestures. He takes her hand at every opportunity, sits beside her, and stares at her when he believes no one is watching. I have seen him, and Alexei has noticed, too, even Leo. Josephine blushes whenever they are together. She stares at him as if he is the only one in the room. There is something there, green- eyes, and it is real, pure and uncorrupted,” He said, and I wondered how

Josephine got into the picture.

“Josephine?” I asked, and he nodded.

“I believe there is something there.” He said, and I disagreed.

“I am sure he is just fond of her,” I said, and Sylvester laughed.

“I saw him caress her hand while she blushed and giggled. It was during the briefing in Leo’s office.

That was what gave it away for me,” He said, and I gasped.

“Liam and Josephine?” I said, surprised, and he nodded.

“He seems head over heels for her, and the cute part is he believes we do not see it,” He said. I was in complete shock. 1

“So, why hasn’t he told us yet?” I asked, and he shrugged

“Hopefully, he will when he is ready to tell us. He may be waiting for her to come of age,” he said, and I shook my head. 1

“She is seventeen, plus she is of age. What you mean is he might be waiting for her to turn eighteen so he can tell if they are fated or not,” I said, and he laughed.

“Tamia, I know you are willing to bend the rules for his sake.” He said, and I shook my head, knowing exactly what it was like to be seventeen. I was with Leo then and did not think I was too young.

Although he didn’t touch me until I was eighteen.

“So what do we do?” I asked Sylvester, and he laughed.

“We watch them. There isn’t really anything we can do. We let them move at their own pace. We shouldn’t interfere or get involved. We should just watch them,” he said, and I nodded.

Just then, Amelia linked me, and judging by Sylvester’s reaction, someone had linked him, too.

“Lounge,” She said, and I suspected it was a general link. Amelia’s mind link lately has been lazy, just saying the vital words to pass the message. I wondered why.

Sylvester and I left the room and headed to the Lounge. Most of us arrived there at the same time.

Max was pacing around with an envelope in his hands. I wondered what this was all about.

Sylvester and I sat on a couch while Devin poured himself a drink. Leo seemed a bit annoyed, and I figured something had gone wrong.

“So?” Theodore asked, wanting them to get to the point;

Max took out the contents of the envelope, and they were pictures. I wondered whose pictures.

He passed them around, and we all studied each picture before passing it to the next person.

We moved the pictures in a circle.

It was a distant photograph of Mike, Margret, and Sophia. The three of them were in chains being loaded on a boat.

“Where is this?” Sylvester asked.

“That is Kaizen,” Max said, and my heart dropped. I was really looking forward to going there.

“You know what this means, right?” Linda asked, and neither of us needed to guess.

It meant whatever we did in Mountain had found its way to Kaizen. I didn’t want to believe that there were spies in the Mountains. The easterners were loyal to a fault, so I looked at Claudia immediately.

“Did you speak to anyone about our plans?” I asked her because she had left us briefly and gone to Grizlo to attend to the housekeeper.

“I linked Liam about it and might have discussed it with them at the pack house, but Justin cleared the house. I made sure of it,” She said, and I balled my fist in anger.

“You shouldn’t have, Claudia. You shouldn’t have, I said, and I noticed Vino get a bit uncomförtable.

“I just wanted to give Liam a piece of uplifting news. You know how he has been. I wanted him to know we are working on it and that he isn’t alone,”

She said, a bit worried.

I sighed and told her to calm down.

“Are you absolutely sure the packhouse was emptied when you spoke to them?” Amelia asked, and Claudia nodded.

I could tell Claudia was feeling guilty already, but I knew she had done nothing wrong.

Our children did deserve to know what we were doing, but we had been careful lately because we did not want to know the extent of the criminal’s reach. Hence, we did not discuss the mission extensively on the phone, just in case the calls were tapped.

“If that is the case, it means we have to call Justin to sweep that place. It might have been bugged,” Avery said, coming to the conclusion everyone seemed to be coming to.

“If it has been bugged, then whatever progress they have made recently will amount to nothing since the criminals will always be ahead,” Susan said, and that was true.

“It also begs the question of who might have done it?” Kyle asked, and Leo chuckled. 3

“That’s the easy part, Kyle. Definitely the former Gamma and Delta. If they decide to bug the packhouse, then we need to look into them. I doubt Grizlo pack members or kappas would bug the packhouse. There was no need to do it in the first place since Thompson did not stay there,” Leo said.

“Whatever was done was done recently,” Sylvester concluded. The danger of the mission in Grizlo became real to me; I noticed the fear registered on the faces of the others.

8°

“Let us not zero in on the officers. We can’t hide the fact that there are workers at the packhouse, and workers can be easily used for this,” Marcel said, and Leo nodded.

“But workers need incentives. So they either work directly for the Delta and Gamma or the criminals.

Whatever it is, we have to warn Justin to be on his guard.

We were still discussing the issue when an image caught my eye in one of the photographs. I could not believe my eyes. Right there beside Sophia was Margret, Stephanie’s main housekeeper. The very housekeeper we had tried to locate after we found out she wasn’t the one who was attacked.

What was she doing in Kaizen? I could not tell if she was in chains or not, but I recognised her.

There was no mistaking it.