Page 41 of Dark Auctioned Mate

They went into a small building on the outskirts of pack territory that Silas had designated as the meeting point whenever they needed to talk about the mission. The walls were covered with maps and intelligence reports laid on the table. Silas stood behind a round table in the middle of the room, his expression dark.

“What is it?” Rael asked, but the atmosphere in the room informed him it was not happy news.

“The rumors are back again,” Silas announced. “And they’re worse than before.”

Rael’s jaw tightened. Three years ago, someone made severe allegations that the Weston Pack was involved in the trafficking ring. They had months to prove their innocence, and they had done so, in collaboration with allied packs to clear the lies. It had almost ruined their reputation, alliances, and all they had built.

“How bad?” Rael asked.

August pulled out a folder and dumped papers on the table. “Bad. Our contacts from three other packs say there are rumors that we are not trying to shut down the network, but that we are actually running it. That the rescues we have been making are just a cover, and that we are actually running the auctions.”

“That is insane,” Javi snarled. “We’ve rescued dozens of women. We have been working our asses off to destroy this network—”

“And somebody knows it,” Rael sighed. “Someone knows we are close, so they are trying to discredit us before we can bring them to the light.”

“I agree,” Silas nodded, crossing his arms. “The timing is suspicious. Just as we are getting down to business, the rumors kick off again, twice as hard.”

Rael examined the reports. The rumors were going around in various places, like pack gossip networks and shifter business circles. “Whoever it is has resources and access.”

“There’s more,” August leaned forward, pulling out other pieces of paper, bank statements, and transaction records. “The financial angle.”

Rael glanced through them, his stomach sinking as he looked at one page after another. “Someone has been making it seem like pack funds are being funneled into offshore accounts.”

“Not just any offshore accounts,” August shook his head. “The same shell companies we have been following as part of the financial infrastructure of this trafficking network. Somebody has left a paper trail that makes it appear that it is we who are laundering money through these organizations.”

“How sophisticated is the forgery?” Silas asked.

“Very. Whoever did this is an expert. They backdated transactions, forged false invoices, and email communications. To an outsider, it would pass as perfectly legitimate.”

A rush of anger spread through Rael. “I cannot believe they are going through all this trouble, making up facts.”

“And it is working,” Javi said bitterly. “Two of our allied packs already began to question their association with us. They have not yet severed connection with us, but they’re on the edge. If this continues to spread, we will be—”

“Isolated. No allies and a target on our backs from every pack that thinks we are involved in this disgusting operation.”

The room fell quiet as everyone took in the extent of the danger rising on the horizon.

This was no longer merely a matter of their reputation. This was about survival.

“The Riverdale Pack is solid,” Silas spoke up finally. “Alpha Marcus wrote this morning. He does not believe the rumors, and he is working hard to dispel them in his pack, but he said that they were spreading at a rate he could not control.”

“Then we must find the source,” Rael looked at Silas. “There is somebody who is running this ruse. Provided we can tell who and can prove they are lying—”

“We are trying,” August murmured. “I followed the money trail as far as I could. The shell corporations are also incorporated in three separate countries, with stringent privacy protections. The email addresses used to send the forged mail are bounced off proxy servers. The person who did this knew how to cover up their tracks.”

Rael groaned and paced the room, his mind racing with possibilities. “What about the rumors themselves? How are they spreading? Is there a pattern?”

“That’s the interesting part,” Silas said. “They are not just spreading anywhere. They are going after specific packs, the ones that have business ties with us, that we have done business with on past missions, and that would be of use to us if this blows up.”

“Strategic,” Rael murmured. “They are trying to alienate us from our allies.”

“Meaning they have knowledge of our network, Javi added. “This is somebody who has inside information about who our allies are and what sort of relationship we have.”

The implication hung in the air. If someone in their pack was feeding information to their enemies…

“We must be careful,” Rael stopped pacing. “If there is any leak in the pack…”

“I am on it,” Silas's lips flattened into a thin line. “But, in the meantime, we must address the immediate threat. Riverdale Pack is with us for certain, but we cannot lose the others.”