Page 288 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha

“My Isaiah was one of those who went missing,” she said slowly. “My mate and I…we always let him play in the woods with his friends. But one day, he never came back. When Gregor put a stop to the search parties and declared the children dead, my mate didn’t give up. We’d waited so long to have children, and Hugh Junior was our little miracle baby. He was our one chance at having a family, so when we lost him, it was too much. Hugh disobeyed Gregor’s order and went out to find him. He promised he wouldn’t come back until he found our boy.” She stopped, pressing her hands together so hard that they shook. “Hughcame back to me a week later. A Wargs hunting party had found him while he was out there searching for our son.”

Her words silenced the group. Even Jasmine was cowed. I couldn’t believe I’d forgotten that Gladys had lost not only her son but her mate.

“I’m so sorry,” Tavi said. She was the only one with the courage to speak, and for her—someone who had lost her family and so much more to Kings men—it was huge to apologize for the retaliatory actions of her home pack.

“Thank you,” Gladys said. “I used to hate Wargs, but that rage faded years ago. I’ve lost a lot, but I know that no pack has had an easy life. I know Gregor or Troy sent killing parties to hurt Wargs, and I know my mate had crossed too far into your territory. In my old age, I know life isn’t perfect, but violence never solves anything. It’s important to hold the people you have as close as you can because they might not be there tomorrow.”

“I’ll say this…” Jasmine said gently. “If Night is looking into your missing children, he’s the best person for the job. He’ll find an answer.”

Her words almost knocked me off my feet. When I looked at Tavi, I saw that she was equally taken aback. That was the very last thing I’d expected Jasmine to say. Wasn’t she planning on replacing Night with someone else?

“I hope you’re right,” Gladys said, a faint smile tugging at her lips. “Even if all he can tell me is that Junior perished, at least I’d finally,finallyhave an answer.” She sniffled, and as she started to tear up, we all stopped what we were doing to gather around her and offer our strength. Those who had lost pups or siblingsduring that time came the closest to Gladys, and even Janet and Inez dropped their issues. There wasn’t a dry eye in the group.

I wasn’t sure if we’d ever find answers for Gladys or for Samuel Granby, who had almost been taken—or for anyone else who had suffered because of the disappearances—but I saw how Gladys’s story had softened everyone’s hearts. What I was experiencing now was the power of a wolf’s basic desire to pull together and be one pack. I’d do anything to keep this bond strong, and that meant I’d do anything and everything I could to help Night find out what happened to those children.

106

NIGHT

After I left Bryn, I went for a jog and met up with Dom, Kai, Frankie, and Vince. We went back to the office in the alpha cabin. I intended to go through everything that seemed relevant to the missing pups or hidden bank accounts, and I wanted as many men on the task as possible.

Kai and Frankie had requested a break from hunting down Troy. I was happy to have them back with me because their minds were as useful to me here as their tracking abilities. Wayne, I was sure, was happy to have his granddaughter nearby. Maybe with her around, he wouldn’t be so eager to oppose everything I did.

“I have a meeting with the Kings Council in a few hours,” I told my men, “but I want you all to help me look through all these documents. Anything that seems relevant to missing kids or hidden accounts, anything that directly references Troy, anyone he associated with, or a portal—I want it all, even if the references are just in passing. The only problem is that nothing here is organized.”

Dom smirked. “What? You and Bryn didn’t go through reams of paperwork and alphabetize everything?”

I smirked as the others chuckled.

“Since you’re so eager to make those kinds of suggestions, maybe I ought to make that your job. Think you could handle it?”

Kai let out a low“ooh.”Dom chuckled. Neither of us was serious. This paperwork was enough to drive even the most meticulous organizer insane. Admittedly, Bryn and I had neglected it these last few months while we got comfortable in our new roles. But I didn’t have the luxury of letting these documents collect dust any longer.

“Alpha Night?” Frankie started, running a hand through her short chocolate-brown hair. “This portal thing…do you think there’s any merit to it?”

“Do I think there’s any merit to a doorway that leads to worlds that hold other shifters? Hell, no. But Troy is crazy enough to believe it’s real, and I’m sure we can use his superstition to our advantage.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Oh?”

“Absolutely. Months of searching for him has led us nowhere, but somewhere in here”—I gestured to the bins of paperwork around us—“might be something that could draw Troy out of hidingorinformation that will lead us to where Troy’s hiding.”

“Ah.” She nodded. “Understood.”

“Great.” I clapped my hands. “If that’s all, let’s get started.”

We got to work. Each of us took a corner and started going through documents. I found more complaints and disciplinaryreports from the past years and tried to go through them with a fine-toothed comb. Any piece of information could point us to where Troy was hiding.

Two hours into our search, Vince approached me.

“Hey, Vince,” I said. “You find anything?”

“Not really, but I did have a thought.”

“All right, let me hear it.”

“Wouldn’t it be useful to speak to members of the Kings about this?” He spoke slowly, cautiously. “One of them could help us make sense of some of this stuff, or have pack knowledge that’s useful to what we want to know.”

“That’s…not a bad idea,” I replied. My mate was out there asking wolf parents if they and their families felt safe. Why shouldn’t I be doing the same? “I didn’t think of having a King as part of my inner circle. We’d need to be absolutely certain that they’re on our side, though. Do any of you have Kings in mind that we could start vetting?”