“True. Do you think I should be worried, though?” I asked, concern for Liza tightening my chest.
“Only time will tell. You’ll have to keep a close eye on her, Tyson. We can’t know what she’s capable of, and any information falling into the wrong hands could put her in even more danger. I know I don’t have to say it, but just be there for Liza. If this is troubling us, imagine what she’s going through. Watch what you say to people, be cautious, and pay extra attention.”
“Thanks, Dad.” I was grateful for his guidance. Even though we were all in uncharted waters, at least I knew I could rely on my father. He had several decades of alpha experience under his belt, and his advice was priceless.
I ended the call. My mind raced with theories of Liza and her potential powers. If her powers could match or even exceed mine, would the dynamic between us change? Liza was so much more than my mate. I considered her to be my partner in all things and trusted her completely. I’d hate it if our powers interfered with that dynamic. But I figured as long as we worked it through together, we’d be fine. With all the obstacles we’d overcome to get this far, we’d be more than fine.
I cracked my knuckles and stared out the window. Every time Liza experienced one of her rage episodes, it seemed to get more and more out of control. It got more difficult to reason with hereach time. We hadn’t been mated then, so I hadn’t been alpha and hadn’t thought of it in terms of the leader of the pack. But now that I was the alpha, I had to consider if her abilities could be a liability to the pack. What if she continued to draw crowds, making it near impossible for us to even leave the estate? It made us vulnerable. These strangers didn’t just want a glimpse of the omega, they wanted a fucking piece of her. I rubbed my forehead, trying to stave off the headache starting to bloom. There was too much to consider.
A staff member knocked and appeared in the open doorway. “Sir, Isaiah is here to see you.”
I nodded. “Let him in. I’ll meet with him here.”
A few moments later, Isaiah entered the dining room, an apologetic expression on his face. “Sorry to bother you so late, Alpha, but I have an update on Castro. I figured you’d want to hear anything as I found it. I’ve made extensive inquiries into the underground, specifically related to trafficking. Fortunately, I have contacts, and I created algorithms for the dark web using key search words. I also used reverse image searching with the pictures of Liza I found on Cecily’s laptop. So far, I’ve found nothing. I can tell you with utmost confidence that there are no signs of any dealings in the underground related to trafficking, so it seems he was most probably bluffing about selling Liza.”
Relief crashed into me like a tsunami. I let out a long breath. One less thing to worry about. Out of all the pressing matters, Liza being kidnapped and sold to the highest bidder was the one that had kept me up at night.
“Thank you, Isaiah,” I said, hoping my tone conveyed my gratitude. “Please continue to dig, and keep your ear close to the ground. Castro is a sneaky motherfucker, and there’s no way he’d just give up. I really wouldn’t put it past him to have some trick up his sleeve we might not see coming.”
Isaiah nodded and left the room, leaving me alone with my thoughts once more.
The quiet of the room was broken when my phone pinged, pulling me from my speculations on Castro. It was an email from Ted.
Good evening, Ty. Just a quick reminder to look into the deal with the LLC.
I cursed under my breath. The matter had completely slipped my mind. I had been focused more on Liza’s potential alpha-like powers and how they might affect the pack, all the out-of-town visitors willing to do anything and everything to get a glimpse of the omega. Earlier in the evening, someone had had the gall to attempt to bribe one of my security team. Fortunately for Liza and me—not so fortunate for the members of the public—my team was honest and well-paid, so they weren’t swayed by money or sex.
Determined to rectify my earlier business oversight, I headed upstairs to my office and typed Russell and Sons LLC in the search engine of my laptop.
I done a cursory searched when I’d received the offer and hadn’t found an awful lot, but I’d only searched Russell and Sons. Apparently, adding the LLC made all the difference. The first result listed a man named Mason Russell as the owner of the company. A deeper dive told me the original owner had died two years ago. How the fuck did a dead man make business deals from the grave? Did he float up to the nearest psychic and ask them to type offers up on his behalf? Something didn’t pass my bullshit test, something most assuredly was off, and it wasn’t the filet mignon, so I decided I’d report the company for potential fraud and emailed Tim, letting him know what I’d found.
Still a nagging in my gut, an intuition that had never let me down, persisted that there was more to the story. Why was this company interested in purchasing a building from KellerEnterprises? My curiosity getting the best of me, I sent an email to the address provided on the buyout offer, hoping for a response. If someone was trying to fuck with me, I wanted to know who and why.
To Whom It May Concern,
Thank you for contacting Keller Enterprises. We appreciate your interest in our property. In order to move forward, we require additional information regarding your company and manufacturing processes.
I’ve been unsuccessful in finding this information in my research. Kindly respond with all pertinent information and any details you’re willing to provide on your company’s product line.
Thank you,
Tyson Keller
The night wore on as I responded to several more emails. Exhaustion crept up on me, and I finally called it a night after I found myself nodding off in front of the computer and waking to a screen full of letter Cs.
I made my way to the bedroom, tiptoeing in and closing the door with a quiet snick so as not to wake Liza.
Once my eyes adjusted to the dark, I quickly noticed Liza’s absence from the room. A soft breeze drifted through the open balcony doors, and I followed it outside, finding her gazing at the moonlit sky, her eyes unfocused.
“What’s on your mind?” I didn’t like her quiet demeanor.
She was focused on something in the distance. “I wish I was born normal,” she said.
I pulled her close, laughing softly. “You are perfectly normal, Liza.”
She shot me a disbelieving look, causing me to chuckle again.
“Normal is boring. Don’t you think?”
