Saved By The Alpha
Chapter 27

I spent the rest of the day with Iris — we’d even gone to bed early after getting Bella settled. We didn’t do anything, not really. I’d fallen asleep with an arm wrapped tightly around Iris’ middle and my nose pressed against the nape of her neck. It could be said that I needed the sleep, and honestly, I woke up feeling far better than I would have expected. I wasn’t even dreading returning to the Silver Streak holding facility, even though I knew my father would be there.

Remus had messaged earlier in the morning to let me know that my father had arranged a private jet back to London so his guards could escort Brock back to the Longbow territory. Both he and Viola would be held there until Nic returned to banish them.

I wasn’t entirely sure how I felt about my mother being banished as well, but…there had been so many situations where she could have stopped Brock. So, so many. It had become clear to me years ago which of us she cared about more, and when I thought about it like that, I wasn’t sorry to see her go at all.

I didn’t even think I’d miss her.

With the private jet currently in use, we met up with the others at Remus’ house. Bella was dropped off with Luna and Fiona before we made the long drive back up to Oklahoma City. It was well into the afternoon by the time we got there, and both Maverick and Agent Foxrun were up to their eyeballs in files by the time we got there.

“Well, at least we won’t be bored for a while,” Iris said, flashing me a small smile before seating herself in a corner and grabbing a stack of paper. I did the same, sitting so our knees could brush. The room was quiet save for the occasional turn of a page or someone making a note, but I didn’t mind. Instead of anxiety-inducing, it almost felt meditative.

I’d lost track of time, well into the research zone, when Remus suddenly blurted out, “Holy shit.”

I blinked, glancing up. Iris did the same.

“What’s wrong?” I queried.

Remus held up the paper he was reading a little higher, but I couldn’t make it out from here. He picked up a second piece with his other hand. “Holy shit,” he said again, sounding absolutely baffled.

“Remus?” Iris prompted, setting down the folder she’d been leafing through. “What is it?”

He finally looked up. His eyes wide. He held up the papers again. “Come here. Come look at this,” he said.

I got up at once, setting my file to the side. Iris followed me over to where Remus stood, and he set the two pages down on the folding card table as the rest of us crowded around. “These are adoption papers.”

I squinted. “And?”

“This one is for the girl we know as Ashley Sanders, and this one here is for Hannah Locke.”

Iris sucked in a sharp breath. I leaned down, almost not believing what I was hearing, but there it was, written out in black and white. “What the hell?” I said, my brows furrowing. “Why wouldn’t their parents mention that when we went to talk to them? Seems pretty relevant!”

Remus snorted. “Well, normally, I would suggest that perhaps they were embarrassed or afraid I might judge them, but given exactly where we are replaceing the files…”

Iris had picked up one of the papers, scanning it quickly. “So…there really were children born here,” she said quietly, the anger clear on her face. “What happened to their parents? Their biological parents? It doesn’t say anything about that here.”

Maverick grunted. “I’m not surprised. If they were adopting children out, that means they failed whatever purpose Dr. Brenner or his predecessor had for them. Why would they alert the future family to that?”

I frowned. “Why would they risk exposure at all, though?”

Maverick pointed to the bottom of the sheet Iris was holding. Written there was quite an exorbitant figure, and my brows shot up. “Because adoption is expensive for any family,” he said. “But a shifter family wanting a shifter child? I imagine their options are extremely few and far between. Project Night Moon uses one of its cover businesses or agencies to broker a deal with a family desperate for a child. The family will move heaven and earth to adopt, including paying a small fortune…and Project Night Moon gets an injection of cash to continue their operations. Looking at it through their lens, it’s a win-win. A desperate family isn’t going to ask many questions and certainly isn’t going to expose them. The child is out of their facility before it can remember anything, and they get paid.”

Iris set down the paper and frowned. “Wouldn’t Project Night Moon have been in Europe about that time, though? How would no one notice that these families went on vacation and came back with a baby?”

“Well, I was only five at the time, but my father did foster relationships with packs in Europe while he was alive,” Remus said, rubbing his chin. “Several of Silverstreak Motors’ clients were — and still are — in Europe. If Ryan Sanders was in the financial sector, it’s possible he got a position over there.”

“And the Lockes?”

Remus snorted. “The Locke family has a ski home in the Alps. I don’t know how close my parents were with Paul and Ann, but I don’t think anyone would be surprised if Ann wanted to spend a whole year there, claiming pregnancy and a desire not to travel. If nothing else, I doubt my father would have had any reason to suspect them.”

Agent Foxrun frowned, rubbing her chin. “They’d have jumped through a lot of hoops to conceal this adoption,” she said. “Not just from the pack, but from the government. Transporting undocumented children is generally frowned upon, so they’d have to go to great lengths — and probably spend quite a bit of money — to get all the requisite documents and forms to make it look like these girls were their biological children. Why not just be open about adopting? I’m sure things could have been worked out between packs.”

Remus shrugged. “Some of the oldest members of my council are still quite traditional — and the council was even more conservative under my father’s watch. I imagine they were embarrassed or afraid of judgment. I don’t imagine they would have actually been denied…but as I said, I was a young child then. I can’t say for sure that’s true.” He paused, his frown returning. “More than that, the Locke family is quite an old, traditional family. It’s possible her mother was afraid that Paul’s family would try to run her off or convince Paul to leave her if she couldn’t provide them with an heir.”

I scowled, shaking my head. “Well, it’s obvious then, isn’t it? These two women are the traitors. They’ve been with Project Night Moon all along. Probably been feeding information to the guards about which wolves would be best to grab to avoid making anyone suspicious.”

Iris pursed her l!ps, folding her arms over her ch3st. “Look, I’m hardly a fan of Hannah, but that doesn’t quite make sense to me. If their parents went to such lengths to conceal the fact that these two girls are adopted, why would they tell their children? That could open so many cans of worms: what if the girls wanted to meet their biological parents? What if one of them said something? That would render all of their efforts to keep this secret completely moot.”

I paused. She was right. If nothing else, after all they’d done to save face, why ruin it like that? “Then why are they still missing? Do you think that Dr. Brenner decided he wanted them anyway?”

Remus shrugged. “Well, his predecessor would have been the one to have them adopted out. He could have decided he made a mistake, but…I do agree that it’s too much of a coincidence that they came of age around the same time wolves started disappearing from my pack.”

“Well, they could replace out without their parents telling them,” Agent Foxrun suggested. “They could have found documents if they were careless about it.” She nodded to the forms we’d gathered around. “Or someone from Project Night Moon could have approached them to tell them. If they had proof, they might have turned the girls against their parents — a ‘why didn’t you tell me’ type of scenario, perhaps?”

“Hurt, angry teenagers make a lot more sense than girls who’d been Project Night Moon all along,” Iris said, making a face. “But it’s still such a far jump to start feeding wolves to this project that just showed up out of nowhere, you know? Even if their parents lied to them…it seemed like they still had friends in the pack. Why betray them?”

“Maybe it was the men,” I suggested, suddenly remembering the pair of wolves Remus and I had confronted about a week ago. What did they call themselves? Blaze and Axel.

“What do you mean?” Mav asked, raising a brow.

I couldn’t help but smirk. “Well, they were teenagers, right? And they could be hurt and angry like Iris said. Maybe that wasn’t enough to tip them over, but what if these older men were also paying attention to them? Maybe they wanted to impress these assholes. We all know teenagers don’t make good decisions, and this didn’t start six months ago. It probably did start when they were teens and were easier targets.”

“That would explain why we can’t replace them,” Iris agreed, stroking her chin. “If they went willingly, they wouldn’t be chained up like prisoners — especially if Ashley agreed to help try and extort her dad. Either they totally left the area and have no idea what’s happened, or they’re scared and hiding.” When I made a face, Iris continued. “Ryan got killed, Eli. Even if Ashley was pissed at him, I doubt she wanted him to get killed…and that kind of responsibility would be crushing for anyone, much less someone who’s twenty or twenty-one. Besides, you said Blaze and Axel chewed some cyanide pills and killed themselves to avoid being taken hostage, right?”

Remus and I both nodded.

I could see the gears turning behind Iris’ eyes as everything fell into place inside her mind. She’s brilliant — and damn, it looks good on her.

“If they found out these two men they were into, guys they probably looked up to, got caught and got killed, they’re probably scared out of their minds. I would bet money neither of them thought it would come to this. Ashley might not be as rich as Hannah, but nothing bad ever happened to either of them before. They probably didn’t imagine they’d ever get caught, and they certainly didn’t imagine the consequences would be so dire. They’re not like Dr. Brenner — this isn’t about ‘science’ or ‘research’ to them.”

“They’re probably hiding somewhere familiar to them,” Agent Foxrun suggested. “Especially if they’ve gotten scared.”

Remus nodded, already reaching for his phone. “I’ll look into pack records. Both families own multiple homes.” He paused, looking over at the agent. “I doubt they’ve fled the country, but Hannah’s family does still own that chalet in Switzerland. Could you check on flight records to confirm they haven’t left?”

“Absolutely,” she said, nodding.

“Thank you.” He huffed, running a hand through his hair. “I think it’s best I investigate these properties in my territory without alerting the families, just in case the girls try to run again.”

“I’ll go with you,” I said at once. “You don’t want to be outnumbered.” I seriously doubted the girls could overpower him, but if they wanted to escape, it would be much harder to trap them if they tried to divide and conquer.

“I’ll keep working here,” Maverick rumbled. “Let me know if you need to arrange anything in Switzerland.”

I offered my friend a small smile. “Will do. Thanks.” I turned back to Remus. “It’s a haul back to Texas. Let’s get this show on the road.”

As fate would have it,the Sanders family had a luxury cabin tucked into a private cove of Lake Texoma. I was glad Remus had called Bane to have him start going through files before we returned to Austin, as it saved us several hours of driving.

It was still the dead of night when we arrived, though, so we parked at the end of the driveway. Remus turned off the headlights but didn’t move.

I frowned. “What’s wrong?”

He nodded toward the house. “As much as I do not want them to escape,” he grumbled, “bursting into the house in the middle of the night…” Remus shook his head. “It leaves a bad taste in the mouth.”

I snorted. “I get what you’re saying, Remus, but betraying their pack should have left more than a bad taste. If they didn’t know they’d done something wrong, they wouldn’t be hiding.” I turned my gaze back toward the ostentatious vacation home. “Admittedly, they didn’t hide very well.”

It was Remus’ turn to scoff. “Well, they’ve never had to hide in their lives. Besides, you’ve met Hannah. I can’t imagine she relished the idea of living in discomfort. I think Iris had the right idea — these girls really, truly thought this couldn’t possibly go wrong for them.”

“Yeah.” I shook my head. I couldn’t quite bring myself to feel bad for the pair. It wasn’t even that Hannah had been insufferable when we met, not really. While they’d probably been duped and taken advantage of by the people pulling the strings at Project Night Moon, they must have known giving up their packmates was wrong. You could be the richest, most sheltered person on earth and still understand that this was betrayal.

I inhaled and squared my shoulders. “C’mon. The longer we sit here waiting, the higher the probability they notice us and make a break for it.”

“You’re right,” Remus said, undoing his seatbelt. We got out of the car and walked up to the house silently. When we got to the front door, however, he scowled, motioning to the lock. There was a keypad. “Shit,” he hissed.

“Wait!” I stepped forward, leaning in to squint at the numbers. “Iris taught me how to deal with this.” One long night when we were just shooting the shit, I’d been asking about her job. The things she did. No matter how she felt about it, her work as a private detective was infinitely more interesting than sitting in an office all day playing with numbers.

Remus quirked a brow at me, but he stepped aside, giving me space to study the keys. I knew it would probably take Iris only a matter of seconds, but I was soon able to pick out which keys had been pressed last; someone had smeared chocolate on them. Honestly, I should probably thank Hannah for having a candy bar or something on her way over. I could even pick out the exact order of the keys based on the amount of residue.

I typed in the number, and the door clicked open. Remus looked at me like I was some sort of genius, and honestly, I felt like one at that moment. Iris won’t believe I was able to do this on the first try, I thought giddily, almost forgetting why we were there.

The elation left me as soon as we stepped inside. I could see the glow of a television from farther down the hall.

“What was that?” I didn’t recognize the woman’s voice, so I had to assume it was Ashley. “Hannah, you locked the front door, right?”

“Of course I did,” Hannah replied. “You’re probably just hearing the show.” I heard the sound of fabric rustling as we hurried down the hallway. “Wait…”

Ashley was getting to her feet as we rounded the corner. Hannah was still sprawled across the couch though, like she was waiting for someone to paint her as if she was in Titanic. Both jumped, eyes widening at the sight of us.

“Oh!” Ashley gasped, falling back into her seat. “Uhm! Remus! I mean, ah, Mister Silverstreak! Sir!”

Hannah recovered more quickly, making a small face as she pushed herself upright. “What are you doing in my house?” she demanded. “Do my parents know you’re here?”

Ashley shot her friend a dirty look, but Hannah clearly didn’t notice. Remus drew himself up, growling softly. “They don’t. Do they know you’re here, Hannah?”

She made a face and tossed a strand of hair over her shoulder. “I’m an adult. I’m allowed to take a break from it all, ancestors. You’d think I up and died or something.”

“People have died, Hannah,” I snapped, already fed up with her devil-may-care attitude. “And your parents are clearly worried about you, though f**k knows why they would be.”

Ashley shrunk farther into her chair, eyes growing misty. Right. Her father is dead. She didn’t even go to the funeral.

“Hannah…” she said quietly, glancing between her friend and her alpha. “Maybe we should…”

“Be quiet,” Hannah snapped, shooting Remus a sideways look. “Don’t say anything!”

Remus growled again. “We know what you’ve done,” he rumbled, red creeping into his irises. “Blaze and Axel are dead. They took cyanide tablets. They aren’t coming to help you. Dr. Brenner and the guards are all in custody. You have no other choice.”

Hannah sniffed. “Doctor who? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Hannah!” Ashley looked like she was on the verge of tears.

Remus lifted his upper l!p. “Do you really think Dr. Brenner would hesitate to give you up?” he replied, tipping his head. “The harder you make this, the worse it is going to be for you.”

“I’m sorry!” Ashley gasped, curling up in the chair. Tears spilled down her cheeks as she sucked in a shaky breath. “I’m so sorry. I was so mad at my parents. I even asked them, and they just kept telling me I was wrong and that everything was fine, and I just… I couldn’t…they lied, and then Axel just said he needed my help, and they took me and Hannah everywhere, and no one said this would happen, and I—”

Her rambling was cut off by a ragged sob. We all fell silent. Even Hannah seemed to deflate, looking at her hands instead of glaring daggers at Remus.

“Hannah. Look at me.”

Hannah met Remus’ eyes, squirming in discomfort.

“Who were you working for?”

She shrugged, fighting not to look away. “We just, like, told Axel and Blaze some things. We never kidnapped anyone. We never hurt anyone.”

I growled, but Remus held up a hand. They were his packmates, so I took a step back. “Who were Axel and Blaze working for?”

She shrugged again. “I don’t know. They got orders from some dude named Simon, but he wasn’t in charge.”

“Who was in charge?”

“The general.”

“And who is the general?”

Hannah scowled for a moment. “Why are you asking me? I don’t know! I wasn’t actually part of their little club. They needed my help. No one has ever needed my help, so I helped them, and in return — whatever, it doesn’t matter. I never met the general. I don’t know who he is. I just know he’s part of the packs, okay? That’s all I know.”

Remus frowned. “Very well. Eli, keep an eye on them.”

Thankfully, neither of them tried to move while Remus made a call. Some nearby guards were able to join us within an hour, providing transportation for the pair back to the holding facility in Oklahoma City.

Once they were gone, I turned back to Remus. “Did you hear what she said?”

“Which part?”

I made a face. “Packs. She specifically said packs.” I grimaced. “I think there must be someone undermining Longbow, too.”