Page 22 of Fall of the Alpha

22

THE BETA’S GROWING FEAR

Grigori

“I just can’t imagine what they’re going through.” Liana sniffed tearfully, bringing a handkerchief up to wipe away the tears welling in her eyes. The overt display of distress might draw more sympathy if it wasn’t accompanied by Kenet reaching out to put his hand over hers—her free hand that had been left between them on the couch as if she’d been waiting for him to do exactly that. She turned her head to him, giving him a rueful smile. “It’s been so hard on both of us.

Yes, Grigori could see how hard Alek’s kidnapping had been on them as Kenet squeezed her fingers.

“We didn’t see anything, though.” Kenet shook his head mournfully. “We had no idea anything was about to happen. We were just walking down the street after eating, then I started to collapse, and everything went black.”

Liana sniffled again.

“The same for me. We had no idea the food was drugged. It came out of nowhere.” She started to cry again, and Kenet let go of her hand to scoot closer and put his arm around her shoulders, making a soothing noise that grated on Grigori’s nerves. Kenet was a Beta, but the sound was reminiscent of an Alpha’s purr in the way a kitten might sound like a lion’s distant cousin at times.

It made him want to stab Kenet in the chest. Unfortunately, quite a few people knew that the two of them were here. Unlike Redmond. Their parents had been most reluctant to grant Grigori the interview, especially since he’d said he wanted to talk to them alone. Only Paldon’s intervention had persuaded them.

Another reason to grind his teeth.

This was the first time Grigori had been able to talk to the two of them himself, but so far, it was proving as fruitless as not talking had been. Other than being sure the two of them were now fucking, he hadn’t learned a single thing.

“Any idea why the two of you were not taken?” he asked.

Obviously, it was because neither of them was important enough, but he was curious if there might be any other reason. Something Alek or Bella had done or said differently from them.

Both Liana and Kenet shook their heads.

“We were all on the street together. Bella was next to me, and Alek was next to Liana. Alek and I were walking on the same side. It was clear who was with who.” Kenet shook his head, his voice choking on his words. “I wish they had taken me instead of her… I can’t imagine… I don’t want to think about…”

“Don’t,” Liana encouraged, putting her hand on his thigh, twisting slightly to look at him imploringly. “There’s nothing you could have done and certainly nothing you could do now. We don’t know why Bella was taken and not you… so you can’t have changed it.”

Grigori had to brace himself against gagging, keeping his expression impassive despite the disgust he felt for the disingenuous pair. They kept reassuring each other that, of course, it wasn’t their fault, which likely assuaged any guilt they felt about hooking up with each other in the aftermath. They would likely describe it as ‘coming together in the face of tragedy.’

The insult to his son, not to mention their utter uselessness, convinced him he was going to have to arrange for an accident for them both. It didn’t matter that Alek hadn’t turned out the way he was supposed to; he was still Grigori’s blood, and any insult to him was an insult to Grigori. He wished he could take care of them now… but it was better if it happened far away from him, so no one had even the hint of suspicion on him.

Paldon was already distancing himself from Grigori, as well as the other supporters who Grigori had thought he could count on. Alek’s disappearance seemed to be seen as a weakness on his part, rather than on Alek, where the blame properly should be placed. If Grigori didn’t need his son back to show that he still had control, he’d wash his hands of him right now and just deal with Brianne’s wailing about it.

Or he’d shut her up permanently, too.

The need to hurt someone was growing stronger with every passing moment.

“Very well, thank you for taking the time to speak with me,” he said sourly, not bothering to hide his disappointment. They’d likely take it as an indication of unhappiness that they couldn’t help—which it was, but it went far deeper than that.

Examples needed to be made of them.

And he needed to get Alek back.

He was never going to be able to overthrow Paldon when others were looking at him askance for his son being taken. Somehow, he was getting all the blowback from the incident, even from those who knew that Bella was Paldon’s daughter. As the so-called information keeper for Zone One, his inability to find them was undermining his powerbase with the powerful families of the Zone.

“We’re so sorry we couldn’t help more.” Liana sniffed delicately.

Grigori just barely managed to keep from rolling his eyes as she and Kenet got to their feet. The only satisfaction he got was knowing that their days were already numbered. He’d give them a few days, so no one would tie their visit to him with their untimely accidental deaths, but it was going to happen and soon.

Showing them out, rather than closing the door behind them, he followed them into the halls. He needed to find Paldon and talk to him. Things were moving, and for the first time, he felt like things might be spiraling out of his control. Once again, Malachi was throwing chaos into his life, changing the plan, wrecking his future.

Grigori cursed Tatiana for saving the wretched Alpha’s life. She should have loved Grigori instead; then she would have been safe. He would have treasured her, cared for her forever. Not let her die like Malachi had.

Taking a deep breath, he willed himself to calm. Liana and Kenet had gotten under his skin. Knowing he was losing his carefully curated power was making him anxious in a way he hadn’t been since he lived in the territories. What he needed to do was get control of himself; only then could he regain control of the situation.

Holding his head up high, he strode out into the street, sauntering as if he hadn’t a care in the world. If anyone saw him, no matter what they knew about the situation, all they would see was that he was holding himself with confidence. They would question whether or not they had the right of it—after all, if he looked calm and in control, then things couldn’t be so bad.

That was how he’d gotten himself to the position he had, and he intended to keep it.

He ran into a roadblock at Paldon’s home.

“What do you mean, I cannot be admitted? I need to see Paldon!”

“I’m sorry, sir,” said the guard, not sounding at all apologetic. “The First is not at home.”

Grigori immediately ran through Paldon’s schedule in his head. He always knew where the other male was; he had his meetings memorized. There was nothing, in no small part because Paldon had canceled everything that was not absolutely necessary after Bella had been taken. If something had changed, Grigori should have been notified about it immediately, if not from Paldon then from one of the males who were supposed to be watching Paldon for him.

Again, the feeling of spiraling out of control gripped him, but he pushed it away. He needed more information, that was all.

He took a deep breath.

“Is Carina here? My mate would be very disappointed with me if I did not at least pay my respects to her, even if Paldon is unavailable.”

“The First’s mate is also not at home.” The guard looked down his long nose at Grigori.

“When will they be back?”

“I’m sorry, I’m not at liberty to say, sir.” Again, there was a complete lack of remorse in his apology, which made Grigori grind his teeth.

Liana and Kenet were fucking.

Paldon and Carina were missing.

His son had been taken.

His spies were fucking useless.

Grigori was spinning in circles with no information… which was a good way for an information keeper to end up dead. But he hadn’t come this far only to fail now. He still had his resources and his own skills.

“Please tell them I came by,” he said stiffly, and the guard nodded. Grigori made a mental note to discover this particular guard’s name. He could have an untimely fatal accident as well.

Paldon had several much more cooperative guards who were well paid to assist Grigori when he wanted entrance. He couldn’t help but wonder where they were.

Suspicions were rising up within him. Had Paldon somehow found out which of his guards were spying on him? And where was he? Who was he meeting with that he didn’t want Grigori to know about?

Something churned in Grigori’s gut, and it took him half a block to finally recognize the emotion.

Fear.