RANSOM NOTES

         Oli made the arrangements to get the neutral zone cottage fixed. It was more difficult than first thought. He needed to find tradesmen who would work for a Lycan and then assign a security team because of the neutral zone’s lawless reputation. It was all a pain in the butt. What if she was dead? Or they never found her? It was better to find a way to force the Jasper Sounds Alpha to hand over Trisha.

         Oli was completing the work orders when an enforcer entered the study. “Aren’t you supposed to be on front gate duty, Joe?”

         “I drew the short straw. This was delivered to the front gate a few minutes ago.” Joe held out an envelope and a dagger to Oli. “You can give it to Alpha Jonas.” The enforcer seemed eager not to be the deliverer of this news.

         “What’s with the dagger?” Oli took the two items from the dark-haired enforcer with his confusion clearly clear on his features.

         “We figured the mode of delivery might be important. A silver SUV stopped in front of the gate and threw the dagger at the gate. They then drove off.” Someone skewered the letter onto the dagger before they threw the dagger at the door. There was a puncture hole in the letter. This wasn’t unusual for shifter culture. It was a sign of someone drawing the line in the sand and starting a war.

         “I will see that he gets it. Did anyone catch sight of the driver? Recognize them?”

         “No one caught sight of the driver or the passenger that threw it. They never left their vehicle. I believe there is a licence plate number.”

         “Good, get it to me. I have a feeling whatever is going on is about to get interesting.” Oli looked at the tortured envelope. They’d addressed it to Alpha Dean Jonas of the Fort Granger Pack. As the Beta of the pack, it tempted him to open it. After all, it came right after several unusual things had occurred. It could be about any of them or even something new.

         No, there was enough friction between them to go poking around like that. Dean already thought he wanted his position already. That was something Oli didn’t want to think about. But it was his job to back up, support, and assist his alpha. He was making sure Dean stayed where he was by reminding him to cover his interests first.

         The way Dean responded, though, that wasn’t right. He was acting like his fated mate was taken from him. Dean never mentioned or showed anything more than mild interest before this. They’d spent years in the same pack. They’d have been mated by now, if that were the case. Nothing was normal here, and Oli wasn’t sure if this was yet another incident to add to the growing collection.

         The enforcer texted the guardhouse at the front gate and quickly scribbled the licence plate number on a sticky note with a couple of other notes. Oli read it. The plate number clearly belonged to a rental company, three to four people in the vehicle, silver SUV. “Great, if that’s everything, you can return to your post. If the alpha has any further questions or instructions, he’ll contact you.”

         “Yes, sir. Thank you.” Then the dark-haired Joe left the study.

         Oli took this information with him back further into the large room. It wasn’t a traditional office study of a packhouse. It spanned two floors and looked more like an actual library within a rich human’s ancestral mansion would boast in the Victorian era.

         Oli’s desk was by the main door that led to a grand entrance. Dean’s desk was on the second floor. Up there was a secreted door that led to the alpha’s apartments on the third floor. This gave them both easy access to each other and privacy to work.

         The books were all for pack business and some dated all the way to the beginning of the pack’s origin. From maps to membership roles. History of events, births, deaths, and matings. There was even a section on oracle predictions about the pack and its members. Journals and books accounting the day-to-day dealings of the pack. Everything was here at their fingertips thanks to Dean’s ancestors.

         “Dean, uh, I know you’re busy, but this is important. It just arrived at the front gate, and it’s addressed to you.” Oli put the envelope, sticky note, and dagger on the scarred wood of the old desk. Dean changed nothing when he took his uncle’s place as the alpha.

         His uncle acted more than his father after his father’s betrayal. His father left his mother with a pup and never mated with her. He never was a father in any fashion. Dean’s uncle was present, and he too never mated. Produced no pups either. Dean was the closest alpha to step in when his uncle fell in battle defending the region from hunters.

         “Now what? Can the day get any worse?”

         “Don’t jinx it. Knock on wood.” Oli joked and then knocked on the surface of the desk for good measure. Dean glared at him. He was still annoyed with Oli, and it would take more time for this morning to blow over.

         “A throwing dagger. It’s definitely a shifter communication. Humans don’t do this.” He studied the small dagger for any detail that would tell him who it belonged to. He frowned clearly. Like Oli, he came up with nothing as well.

         “I already have someone tracing the licence plate number. It belongs to a local rental company out by the local airport.”

         “Good. No one recognized the wolves in the vehicle?”

         “No, no one got a good look at them.” Oli responded. “They lobbed the thing into the front gate and left as quickly as they came.”

         “Then there’s one thing left to do. Open the message.” Dean opened a desk drawer and took out several things. A pair of tweezers, and a box of latex gloves.

         The scents on the envelope were a bust. Too many people touched it. But the letter itself, that’s where a foolish wolf would leave their scent. Dean wanted the scent unpolluted by his or anyone else’s scent.

         With one hand in a latex glove, he used a claw to slice open the envelope carefully. He left the letter in the envelope and set it down. The second glove went on his other hand, and he took the envelope in his have and removed the letter.

         He unfolded the paper and read the message aloud. “The first alpha to bring the deed to the Elderwoods will get the Lycan.”

         “What, who sent that? Are we supposed to assume it’s for the back forty?”

         “The co-ordinates are here, I believe it is. As for who sent the note, there’s no signature or anything.”

         “I don’t get it. Is it James trying to get two for the price of one?”

         “I don’t think so, but I think we need to look into this more. It’s break though. We know she’s alive.”

         “A lot that does us. Thinking about the wording in the note, whoever wrote it must have lived around here years ago, and is back again. No one calls it Elderwoods anymore. That’s Jordan’s Run, and it’s been Jordan’s Run for at least twenty years.”

         “True.” Oli’s phone rang, surprising the two males. “It’s Keith. I don’t know why. Should I answer it?”

         “Yeah, go for it. Put it on speaker.” Dean leaned back in his chair. With the late night he had, and the morning wasn’t any better. He needed to go for a run and let everything evaporate for a few hours. But it looked like that wouldn’t happen anytime soon.

         “Hey, Keith, what’s up?”

         “Well, James is throwing a fit after your alpha sent over an extortion letter to him.”

         “What are you talking about? We didn’t send any communication to you. What did it say? When did you get it?”

         “We got it less than an hour ago. It’s demanding the deed of the land in question for the Lycan, Kiera Samuels. Or that’s what James here is ranting about.” They could hear yelling in the background. Clearly, the voice belonged to James, and he must be in another room of the building Keith was calling from.

         “Keith, we didn’t send that. We’re here with the same note in our hands, it seems. They must have posted it on our front gates just before you must have received yours.”

         “I don’t think that’s going to help this. I think it’s gone too far. He’s ready for war, Oli.”