Chapter 53
CARSON Closing my eyes, I tried to calm down. Anger swirled around me like a volcano, ready to explode. After a few moments, I opened my eyes. I pressed pause on the video and stared at the people in the cells. All I wanted to do was kill them, not only for me and my pack but for Leah. I looked at Zain and Jenny, who seemed to have moved away from me. They were now in front of my desk when I looked at them. Confusion written on their faces, I knew I had to tell them what Lynx had read. “Lynx can lip read,” I gritted out, looking between them. I told them what Lynx had said, which only made the anger in the room get more intense. “They want to do what?” Zain growled, staring back at me. “We will fight them. There has to be more to this. Why act now to get your title?” That was a question that I needed to know, but something told me I wouldn’t get it. I said nothing but looked at Jenny, who seemed to be in her own world. “Jenny,” I called out, making her shake her head. “What’s your take on all this?” Jenny looked at me and sighed. “Zain’s right, why now?” she asked. “They could have taken your title from you after your father died. You were more vulnerable back then. Why now?” I stared at them, trying to piece together the whole thing. Lynx moved around in my head until he stopped. A low growl rippled through me. “Mate,” he murmured. “It all started with our mate. Ever since we learned about her and more after finding out she was our mate.” My heart sank. “Leah,” I whispered out loud, which made Jenny and Zain look back at me. My eyes met theirs. “Lynx said it all started when our mate came here.” Jenny shook her head. “But the old gamma didn’t know about Leah being your mate?” she said, but then huffed. “My father must have told him clearly. But why? Why would this all start with Leah?” That was the million-dollar question. “We need to figure out why,” Jenny said, sounding hurt. “My own family wants to kill my child, and I want to know why.” I stared at her. “She is worried, scared, and angry,” Lynx murmured, approaching the surface. “She wants answers. It involves her child, but her parents are involved too. She is lost, but her wolf wants to kill.” I didn’t know what to say to help Jenny. My eyes went to Zain, who was staring at Jenny. Jenny looked at us. A lone tear slips past. “What should we do?” she asked. Letting out a breath, I knew we had to come up with something. We needed answers, and there were some places we needed to look. My eyes stayed on them while I spoke. “This is what we going to do,” I gritted out. “I’m placing everyone under house arrest for two days. I will state it is to do with the investigation.” Zain scrunched up his eyebrows. “Why?” I stared at him and frowned. “We don’t want anyone else going back to the old gamma and Paul,” I muttered, making Jenny tense at the mention of her father’s name. “While everyone is in their homes, I want to search their homes and places they frequent. There has to be breadcrumbs to all this and we need to know.” They both nodded. I moved up and opened the pack link. “All pack members are now in official lockdown,” I said through the pack link. Lynx was close and even let some of our aura through. I could hear some whimpers, but I needed to do this. “No one is to leave their homes until I say. You have one hour to be in them. I will let you know when you can all leave.” “Why, alpha?” someone gritted out, making me growl, which only made me hear more whimpers through the link. I could feel the confusion and pain coming through. Most were suffering from the attack, but most were confused about what was happening. “I told you all earlier that I would investigate,” I said. “That’s what I am doing. No one is to enter or leave the pack grounds until I have done. I am trying to figure out what the hell is going.” 1 A few murmurs came through, but I closed the mind link before I got caught up in what people were going to ask me. I looked at Zain and Jenny, who nodded. “Me and you will look in your parent’s house,” I said, looking at Jenny. She nodded. My eyes went to Zain’s and sighed. “You take the old gamma’s place,” I said. “Find someone we can trust with this. No one should know what we are doing until we have something concrete.” “I know of someone,” he said, turning around and heading to the door. “We will meet back in the office in three hours,” I said, making Zain stop and look back at me. “And Zain, if you find anything, let us know. We will come to you.” Zain nodded. “You do the same,” he said, opening the door and heading out. The door closed behind him, leaving only me and Jenny. I stepped around and looked at her. “We will find something,” I said, placing my hand on her arm. Jenny looked at me, defeated. “Okay,” she whispered. We both walked and headed toward the door, only for Jenny to stop me. “I’m scared of what we will find,” she said, making me look at her. I felt for her, this has to be hard not knowing what her parents’ true intentions, especially when it came to her daughter. Lynx was close. He stayed quiet. He knew we had to find something to help us. But his anger was there, so was pain. He missed Leah and so did I. We wanted her back, but there is no point in her coming back until we know more. I sighed and gave Jenny a small smile. “One step at a time,” I muttered. Jenny nodded. I opened the door, only to receive a mind link—Josh. “I’ve arrived,” he said when I opened it. “I’m going to be heading into the house now. Lucian is in the window, motioning me to come in. I took the long way around and made sure no one followed me.” “That’s good,” I said, feeling slightly relieved. “Mind link your mate. We found some video footage. Paul and her mum have escaped the pack with the old gamma and a rogue.” A loud growl rippled through the link. “We should come back—” he said, feeling agitated. “No!” I commanded, making him groan. I explained what we found out and what we were doing. “Fuck,” he muttered. “I need to be back there with my family.” “Josh,” I said, looking toward Jenny, who seemed to staring at me. “Stay with Leah. Jenny will be fine, and so will the boys. I have them in the pack house and they won’t be leaving until we have everything dealt with. They are under my protection.” The link went silent, but I sighed. “Josh, Jenny, and I need you to be there with Leah,” I said. “Just mind link Jenny to tell her you are there. She will be fine, I promise.” Closing down the link, I kept my eyes on Jenny, who opened her mouth but closed it when her face went blank. Lynx was close but said nothing. After a few moments, Jenny looked at me and nodded. “He’s arrived,” she said with a small smile. “I want him here, but—” Jenny stops and looks at me for a moment before she sighs. “He needs to be there for Leah,” she said. “He can explain everything and even get her prepared for what may happen. He is even there to protect her.” I nodded, even though I wanted to do it myself. I should be there with her, not Josh. But my pack is my primary concern. How was I going to have Leah back when we knew there was a threat to her life? “Come on,” I said, opening the door to her. “Let’s get searching.” We both walked out of the office and left the pack house, heading straight to her parents’ home. I just hope we find something that could end all this, or this was going to be hard for all involved.