The Luna’s Choice (Theo and Ayla) by Kat Silver
Chapter 189

Chapter 189

v

Chapter 40: Theo

Ayla and Briggs were already down in the cellar. I was waiting in the lobby for Kingston to come down.Dinner was about what I had

expected — awkward and tense. I let Dad and Kingston do most of the talking. Leaving that time forthem to discuss regular pack business. Now, I just had to get through the five minutes alone with himduring the walk to the cellar.

Kingston exited the cafe with his Gamma, who had driven him here, and headed in my direction.

“Ayla and the others are already downstairs,” I told him. “Follow me.”

I led them through the packhouse to the back exit and turned toward the utility shed. It was a quietwalk. I couldn’t tell if Kingston didn’t want to risk starting a fight out in the open or if he was biding histime. But I highly doubted it was because he had nothing to say to me. His energy was telling me plenty

I walked us down the stairs and met the others in the investigation room. We needed to talk before westarted questioning the rogues. I took the seat next to Ayla at the table. Kingston sat across from usnext to Briggs while his Gamma remained by the door. Mina already had everything ready to presenther replaceings.

“Okay,” Mina said after I nodded to her to get started. “I know we’re all ready to get some answers fromthose assholes stinking up the place down the hall. So, I’ll make this brief for now. We can review anyquestions later.” She handed files to me and Kingston. “We know Harry was involved with the WaarPak somehow. Our initial theory that he was helping them develop tactical weapons appears to becorrect. In the folders, you’ll replace a list of schematics and chemical

formulations found during my investigation.

Kingston was looking over the documents. “There’s not a lot here to tell us exactly what any of this wasfor. Just some possible

applications.

“Yes, that’s about as far as I’ve gotten with that so far.” Mina said. “We‘ Il have to send some of this offto a company specializing in this field to better understand Harry’s research. Due to the sensitivity ofthe investigation, we’re still narrowing down an appropriate candidate. But we have enough to give us abroad idea of what we could be up against

“I’ve deciphered about half of Harry’s journal,” Ayla said. “We know he was just using the Waar Pak fortheir resources. He couldn’t use some of his prior contacts because of their loyalty to the pack. Sowe’ve been able to get a starting point from that.”

“Do we know what his plan was regarding the Waar Pak?” Kingston asked.

“He was going to betray them once he… re–established my family name.” Ayla put it delicately, notwanting to bring up his attempt to force her to mate with him. “He was working on fail–safes andcounter agents to his work to help bring them down. We’ve included what we can replace in the informationthat will be sent for analysis.”

“It’s one of our top priorities at this time,” I stated. “Beta Briggs and Gamma Jimmy should have adecision by the end of the week to get started on the research and development project.”

“Have you determined any more about why he was so fixated on Ayla, particularly why rebuilding theOnxycrown Pack was so important?” Kingston asked

“I’m still working on that.” Ayla said. “His journal gets a bit convoluted the further you get into it. Hiscode is evolving as well. The best I cant tell is it has something to do with the Blessed One story.However, we kind of assumed that already

I gently squeezed Ayla’s leg in support. Kingston had watched her intently through the wholeinteraction.

“Right now, the most important thing is that we know the Waar Pak is targeting her,” I said. “That bringsus to the rogues. I have a task force working our border and providing regular updates. You said youhad more information on these attacks and who may be behind them.”

“I do,” Kingston replied, laying the file on the table. “The man behind the attacks is named ArthurGrogan. I’ve been tracking him for several months now.”

“How are you so sure about this?” Briggs asked

“Because I know him,” Kingston said. “He was Jack’s Gamma.”

“What?” Ayla said. “You didn’t tell me that part, Kingston.”

“Forgive me, Ayla,” he said sincerely. “I wasn’t in my right mind that evening.”

Ayla nodded to him, gesturing for him to continue. I draped my arm around her shoulders.

“Grogan betrayed us,” Kingston continued. “He’s the reason the Waar Pak were able to get into thepackhouse. Your father never figured it out and confronted him that night as we escaped. I wouldn’thave thought anyone could have survived what Jack did to him, but apparently, he did. Either way, hemust have been working for the Waar Pak ever since. My guess – he’s a higher–ranking member atthis

“That doesn’t tell us why you’re so sure about his identity,” I commented.

“He paid my private cabin a visit a few months ago,” Kingston said. “I caught his scent and have beensearching for him since. He’s left other traces along the way. I got close once. Really close to catchinghim. By following up on one of our own rogue attacks, actually. After he slipped away, the bastardmade contact. Trust me, it’s him.”

“And you think these rogues can give us information that can help us replace him?” Ayla asked.

“That I’m not entirely sure about,” he replied apprehensively. “There’s likely only one rogue in anygroup that may have met him, if any. The ones I’ve questioned could only lead me to dead ends. Well,dead bodies, usually. He has a habit of dispatching his messengers once the job is done.”

I looked to Ayla. “Well, it’s good we’ve got the best person to question them.”

”