Dad’s informant spoke softly, as if he didn’t want those around him to hear his report. “Sylas was in debt. Significantly so. He has a gambling addiction, and he owed some loan sharks a hefty amount of money.” Significant. Hefty. Words that spoke to his desperation. Fuck.
Dad and I frowned at one another. We didn’t have any casinos in Presley Acres. That would’ve made this too easy.
I interrupted Nico. “The loan sharks must not be members of the Keller pack.”
“That’s correct,” he responded. “We tracked down the loan sharks and found out they received a deposit from Sylas just before he went off the radar.”
“Fuck.” Dad slammed his fist against the desk. “Is that it? Have we hit a dead end?”
“Not quite.” Nico cleared his throat. “The one thing you can depend on with an addict is that they’ll always need their fix. Doesn’t matter if it’s drugs or gambling. Hell, even food or shopping. You get the drift. When that itch starts, he’ll need to find a way to scratch it.”
Nico made a valid point. If Sylas’s gambling addiction was really that bad, he’d need to find a place to feed that addiction. He couldn’t stay off the grid for too long before hitting the tables.
Nico continued. “I doubt he’ll return to the casino where he’s already burned his bridges, but I suspect he will probably be found somewhere gambling. And soon.”
We’d have to intercept him when that happened. “Nico, were you able to pick up any other information that would help us narrow down the casino he might hit next?” I asked. If we could narrow it down even a little, finding him wouldn’t be such a labor of energy.
I could practically hear Nico shaking his head over the line. “According to the loan sharks, Sylas’s vice is poker. He rarely bets on or plays anything else, though he likes to spread himself out among several backroom games.”
That narrowed down the options. We could post people at all the big casinos where markers were given out. They had him on a hook. They would feed him until they controlled every part of him, then we’d swoop in and scoop up the mess.
“Thanks for the intel, Nico. Keep me posted, please.” Dad reached to hang up the phone before Nico stopped him.
“One last thing, sir. My teams are being sent to all the casinos in the nearby vicinity. We’re also looking into any underground gambling rings Sylas might stumble upon. If he’s gambling, we’ll find him.”
Dad gave Nico a few more instructions before hanging up the phone and slumping in his chair. He wasn’t just worried. He was exhausted.
I, on the other hand, was on edge, like I could explode with anxious energy at any minute. Castro being alive wasn’t just trouble for the pack, seeing as how he had information that he’d gladly share with everyone. It was trouble for Liza, as well. He was obsessed with her—had been since they were children.
I doubted Castro’s obsession with her would go away. If anything, it was only ramping up. Time would make it worse, not better. As her mate, it was my job to protect her. I wantedCastro to be found and dealt with as quickly as possible, but it was becoming clear that he would not be an easy man to catch.
“We have to find him,” I said, curling my hands into tight fists. “And when we do, I’m handling him.”
Dad met my hard gaze. His eyes softened, and he nodded in agreement. He knew this was more than just a pack problem for me—it was personal. Deeply, bone-achingly personal.
We sat in silence for a few minutes, lost in our thoughts about how this horrible mess might end. Dad broke the less than peaceful lull with a question I wasn’t ready to discuss. “How much closer are you and Liza getting to mating? Have you made plans for your mating ceremony?”
Damn it. I wasn’t in the right mindset to discuss my eventual mating with Liza, even though it was pertinent to the situation.
Dad didn’t seem to care or notice my reluctance. “I should not have to remind you that you’ll be taking over soon, and when you do, you’ll no longer be a private person. You’ll be the alpha of this pack, and it’s important that you establish yourself as a leader. The pack won’t follow a leader who’s unattached, unmated.”
Oh, for fuck’s sake, I knew that all too well. It’d been all my parents had been able to talk about.
“If you plan to mate this girl, now is the time to do it.”
I sighed. I wanted to tell Dad that he was wrong and that timing wasn’t everything, but deep down, I knew he was right. As soon as I’d handled Castro, I would have no choice but to start planning my mating ceremony. There’d be no more excuses.
Dad’s dwindling health and fading strength were certainly factors that meant Liza and I needed to mate sooner rather than later. Soon, the alpha power would be gone from him. He needed to pass it on to me before he wouldn’t be able to anymore. I hated to think of the repercussions of having an all-out fight fest forcontrol of the pack. It was better if the power was passed on to me.
Although, I had no idea when that would be. In the meantime, we had enough to keep us busy. We needed to conduct a full-out search for Sylas and hope he had information on Castro’s whereabouts. We had to find him before anything else could happen.
Dad pushed away from his desk and stood up, then walked over to me and dropped his hand to my shoulder. “It’s possibly more important than you know, Ty.”
Not at all, but I wasn’t about to argue with him.
“We can’t ignore that I’m getting older and losing my power and stability.”
Yeah, I knew, but I squeezed his hand. “We’ll worry about the mating ceremony once we know Castro can’t get to Liza.” Her safety was of the utmost importance to me. “My primary concern is to keep my mate protected and out of harm’s way. That’s all I care about right now.”
