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Which is why we needed the leverage. Blackmailing him to leave Demi alone was a solid option, but it didn’t sit right with me.
Anton had the world at his fingertips, ripe for the taking. If the rumors were true, he’d be announcing his run for governor at his charity gala at the end of the month.
He didn’t deserve any of it. Not the fame. Not the money. And especially not the power.
Spiteful as it may be, every cell in my body wanted to see him rotting behind bars. Knowing he’d wake up every sunrise and think about who put him there would fucking delight me.
“There’s a reason they do the process this way,” Thane muttered, mostly to himself, as if he were trying to convince his Alpha to stand down.
“Doesn’t make it any easier. I don’t want her in there.” Knox had been starkly against the idea of going to the OMA, not because he didn’t crave to have Demi as his mate, but because his job required him to always see the ‘what ifs’.
It helped that Kimber was in there, but while I trusted her, I could admit it was a little awkward. Knox was semi-estranged from his family, and in a roundabout way, that was partially my fault.
His younger sister, Kaylee, had set her sights on my pack before her brother became one of us. While we’d been vetting Knox as a packmate, making sure he’d be a good fit, his sister had misread our frequent visits. Though none of my packmates had given her any special attention, she’d become infatuated, and when Knox joined our pack, it made her dream of having a relationship with us impossible. Her hopes of becoming romantically involved were dashed, shattering her crush.
The decision had created a rift in their family. His parents had been disappointed while Kimber flocked to Kaylee’s side, helping her nurse a broken heart.
Knox had kept his distance ever since.
I’d always thought that divide was perpetuated by both sides. But seeing Kimber today had changed my mind on the situation. It was clear she wanted a relationship with her brother. Perhaps it was time to encourage Knox to let bygones be bygones.
This was a huge first step in mending fences.
“We can trust her, right?” Eli’s cheeks puffed as he blew out a stressed exhale.
Leo turned sharply toward the doctor. “Who, Demi?”
Pinching the bridge of his nose above his glasses, Eli shook his head. “Bloody hell. Of course not. I meant Kimber. No offense, Knox.”
“None taken. I trust her, but I know some of you may have your reservations.”
The FBI had questioned us about her involvement in setting up our first meeting at the OMA, insinuating that she could’ve been involved in leaking information about where Demi was located as well as when her appointment was. Anton had somehow gotten his hands on that intel, but none of us had truly thought Kimber was to blame.
Someone, somewhere, worked as a mole, passing valuable information off to Anton and then using their access to delete vulnerable Omegas out of the system, essentially turning them into ghosts. Both Felix and Knox had used their considerable skills to try to track the IP address, unfortunately, with no success. Whoever was accessing the system was using multiple overseas VPN tunnels to obscure their connection, making it nearly impossible to trace. Undeterred by the challenge of foreign jurisdiction, Knox had already put his buddies at the station on the task of trying to untangle the web, as well as putting in a request with the FBI. With their extensive resources, we hoped they’d be able to make progress where we’d stalled.
There was nothing more frustrating than being unable to protect Demi. Unseen threats were stacking against us, and all I could do was prepare myself for the inevitable fallout while making plan after plan on how we could keep our mate safe.
For an Alpha who thrived on control, the entire situation left me disgruntled and ill-at-ease, both things I tried to hide from my Omega.
“Kimber is harmless,” Thane said, never taking his eyes off Demi. He stood beside me, one arm crossed over his chest, supporting the elbow of his bent arm as he scrubbed a hand over his shadowed jaw. “She doesn’t have a shady bone in her body. Besides, her interrogation came back clean. It couldn’t have been her.”
“Thanks for having my sister’s back. And mine,” Knox murmured.
“Always, brother.” Thane reached over and fist bumped our packmate.
“While I agree Kimber is innocent, the problem remains that someoneisn’t. And right now, we have no idea who’s responsible,” I grumbled, capturing the attention of all my packmates. Though everyone except for Leo was an Alpha, they deferred to me. It was a heavy responsibility, but one I usually welcomed. “As soon as this is over, we need to decide what to do about Pack Silver. I won’t leave Demi’s safety to chance, living on a hope and prayer that they don’t come after her a second time.”
“Agreed.” Thane nodded and clamped a hand down on my shoulder. “Besides, I don’t want her constantly looking over her shoulder. You should have seen the hope in her eyes when I told her we would take her on a date once we were officially courting.”
“Fuck. Does anyone else find it tragic that she gets so excited over such simple things?” Hades questioned roughly.
“I want her excited to date us, but yeah. It does, because it’s one more sign of how sheltered and abused she’s been these last five years.” Thane shoved a hand through his hair, tugging at the golden strands.
“If our girl wants to date, then we date. Demi gets whatever she wants.” Knox shook his head. “That’s the only reason I’m here right now. My instincts are screaming at me to take her home and lock her away until Anton, Huck, and Reed no longer pose a threat, but I won’t have our woman feeling like we don’t want to be with her. That can be just as damaging.”
Knox was right, as usual. Demi’s emotional wellbeing was as important as her physical safety.
The six of us lapsed into silence while we watched Demi answer more questions that Ava quickly typed into the computer. My Omega stretched, looking tired, but I didn’t interrupt. She knew we were here, watching, and if she wanted our interference, she’d let us know.
