Chapter 10: Surprise Meeting

Alec

I feel a hand on my arm, and that's what wakes me up.

I turn to the side and see a very blurry Carla staring back at me. Her brow is furrowed, and if I had to guess, I'd say she looks concerned.

"What's going on?"

"There's someone at the door," she claims. "A meeting will be held today among the Alphas. They want you to join them in an hour."

I tense a little but try not to let it show. "Did they tell you what the meeting would be about?"

"No," she claims. "But this rarely happens, right? The next meeting was meant to be in a week's time. Why this all of a sudden?"

I get up and start getting ready for the meeting. Deep in my gut, I know exactly who this meeting's being held. I didn't think that they would find out so soon, though.

Carla remains in the room as I'm getting ready. She seems to be watching me intently, for some reason. Again, I don't know when she became so paranoid. Being Luna changed her completely. I try not to make eye contact with her, and by the time I'm done, I head toward the door.

She follows me out and I ask someone downstairs for the car to be brought to me.

"Will you tell me what the meeting is about?" she asks.

"Of course."

I get in the car and head toward the courthouse, which is where we usually have these meetings. I force myself to calm down, and when I get there, my demeanor changes entirely. I stride into the room, and make a show of being annoyed.

"This meeting was held on very short notice," I say as I take my seat. Everyone else is already here, and I can't help but wonder if someone spilled. "I had to cancel plans to be here."

Alpha Fredrick, the oldest among us, says, "We'll make it quick. I'm the one who organized the meeting, and that's because a small piece of information reached me concerning a prisoner."

I now know that this has to do with Delaney Waters for a fact.

"The meeting that would've been held in two weeks would've discussed this prisoner, who's now missing."

The table tenses up. I say nothing while someone else asks, "Missing?"

Alpha Fredrick nods. "The one in question is Delaney Waters, the woman who was convicted of killing Trevor Whittle a few years back."

There's a traitor in my midst, and I'll have to find him or her before more damage is caused. At this point, I don't know how much Fredrick knows. It could be that he has proof that I'm the one who went head with it. In the one who had the court order for her release made with the intention that it would seem like someone 'accidentally' released her instead of someone else.

I had to think of everything, but that might not have been enough.

"You said she's missing?" someone else asks.

"Yes. It seems her documents were confused with someone else's, leading to her release. The meeting we'd have in two weeks would've been about her, as I mentioned, as there are some of us here who found it best to get rid of her altogether."

My face remains calm but inside, I'm raging. I'm glad I trusted my instincts and decided to believe my informer. They would’ve killed her, and as soon as I found out, I knew I had to intervene.

My conscience would never allow me to live otherwise.

“After the terrible crime she committed,” he continues, “I’m sure nobody would’ve had any protests. But now we have to deal with the fact that she’s missing, and I would appreciate your cooperation to find her.”

“But surely this judge will have to be punished,” Alpha Jason exclaims. “How could he have made such a careless mistake? Who is he?”

“Someone from Alpha Alec’s pack,” Alpha Fredrick says after checking through his notes.

“I’ll take care of it,” I reply as calmly as I can. Showing too much surprise will make them suspicious of me. I know how Alphas think. It’s best if I take care of things in a detached way.

“I trust that you will,” Alpha Fredrick proclaims. “In the meantime, we should put a small search group together so we can find her. Also, we’ll need access to your territory, since she used to live there, Alpha Alec. I’m sure you understand the need to catch this woman. Trevor Whittle was your best friend.”

I nod. “I have no problem with that.”

My only hope is that she truly ran away to start a new life somewhere else and didn’t try to visit her mother. I would’ve known by now if she had, though. The woman would’ve contacted me directly.

As far as I know, they never had a good relationship with each other.

“Good. It seems we have an understanding. I trust that we’ll be able to take care of this quickly. Meeting adjourned, in this case,” she says before standing up. “Alpha Alec, may I ask that you stay behind for a few moments?”

I nod in agreement and Alpha Jason and the other people who’d been attending the meeting leave.

Alpha Fredrick clears his throat and says, “I presume that this is a very uncomfortable situation for you. Will you inform your Beta about this?”

“No,” I reveal. “I think it’s best to take care of this without involving too many people. It might cause a panic.”

He nods. “Yes, it might. May I ask for your permission to enquire at the prison? I know that it’s situated in your territory, which is the only reason why I’m asking. Technically, I could investigate freely if I wanted to.”

“I don’t see a reason why you have to ask,” I say while trying to withhold my anger. “You can do as you please. I have no problem with that.”

“Great,” he says. “Then I’ll do just that.”

“Is that all you wanted to ask?”

“Yes,” he says. We start toward the door, walking alongside each other. I covered my tracks well, so I’m not worried about being caught, but there could always be something I missed, and that fills me with nervous energy.

“Please, do send my regards to your wife,” Fredrick says. “I trust I’ll see both of you at my first-born’s wedding this weekend?”

“Yes, we’ll see you there. Again, thank you for the invitation.”

We part ways. I didn’t notice anything that might suggest that he suspects I was involved in this. My father never told the truth to anyone, and neither did I. I’ve been keeping it deep inside of me for years and feeling it fester inside of me.

They have no reasons to think I helped her.

I drive back to my house. I mostly work from the office there, unless when there are things I have to do elsewhere. I loosen my tie, and sit behind my desk. The meeting replays in my mind, and I turn over every word that was said for an accusation somewhere.

I find none.

My father always told me that I had to be careful with the other Alphas. We were friendly to each other superficially, but deep down, we hated each other.

They wouldn’t hesitate to bring me down if they found out what really happened.

I open the drawer closest to me and under all the documents, I find what I’m looking for. Every time I look at it, I feel this deep sense of shame, but I can never force myself to throw it out.

Delaney looks different than the last time I saw her, which was right after I rejected her. Her face lost its youthfulness in prison, and the eyes that were staring back at me were dead. Empty. A new mugshot came out every year, and I never failed to get my hands on one of them.

The door opens unexpectedly, and Carla walks into the office. I slip the picture back in the drawer and leave it open.

“So?” she asks. “How was the meeting?”

I didn’t really think about what I’d say to Carla. Over the years, we never mentioned Delaney, not once. I don’t know how she’ll react to the news.

But I can’t lie to her about it, so I tell her the truth. “A prisoner was discharged earlier this week by mistake, and we have to do everything to find her.”

“What?” she asks. “How could such a thing happen?”

“That’s what we’ll be investigating,” I say.

Carla is shocked, but she doesn’t ask me who the prisoner is, and I realize why. There are many of them across both prisons. Why would she ask for a name when she doesn’t know any of them?

“Wow,” she says. “I’m shocked.”

“Don’t be,” I tell her. “We’ll take care of this. It was simply a misunderstanding.”

Carla nods, and then looks away from me. I have the feeling that she wants to say something, but then she decides against it. “I have a few things to do today. I’ll be back later.”

“See you then,” is all I say.

Once she’s gone, I take the picture out again and stare at it for a few minutes longer.