Chapter 190

Chapter 40 Theo 288 Mouchers Chapter 40: Theo Ayla and Briggs were already down in the cellar. I was waiting in the lobby for Kingston to come down. Dinner was about what I had –

expected – awkward and tense. I let Dad and Kingston do most of the talking. Leaving that time for them to discuss regular pack business. Now, I just had to get through the five minutes alone with him during the walk to the cellar.

Kingston exited the café with his Gamma, who had driven him here, and headed in my direction.

“Ayla and the others are already downstairs,” I told him. “Follow me.”

I led them through the packhouse to the back exit and turned toward the utility shed. It was a quiet walk. I couldn’t tell if Kingston didn’t want to risk starting a fight out in the open or if he was biding his time. But I highly doubted it was because he had nothing to say to me. His energy was telling me plenty.

I walked us down the stairs and met the others in the investigation room. We needed to talk before we started questioning the rogues. I took the seat next to Ayla at the table. Kingston sat across from us next to Briggs while his Gamma remained by the door. Mina already had everything ready to present her findings.

“Okay,” Mina said after I nodded to her to get started. “I know we’re all ready to get some answers from those assholes stinking up the place down the hall. So, I’ll make this brief for now. We can review any questions later.” She handed files to me and Kingston. “We know Harry was involved with the Waar Pak somehow. Our initial theory that he was helping them develop tactical weapons appears to be correct. In the folders, you’ll find a list of schematics and chemical 0.00%

15.47 Chapter 40 Theo 293 (Vouchers formulations found during my investigation.”

Kingston was looking over the documents. “There’s not a lot here to tell us exactly what any of this was for. Just some possible applications.”

“Yes, that’s about as far as I’ve gotten with that so far,” Mina said. “We‘ Il have to send some of this off to a company specializing in this field to better understand Harry’s research. Due to the sensitivity of the investigation, we’re still narrowing down an appropriate candidate. But we have enough to give us a broad idea of what we could be up against.”

“I’ve deciphered about half of Harry’s journal,” Ayla said. “We know he was just using the Waar Pak for their resources. He couldn’t use some of his prior contacts because of their loyalty to the pack. So we’ve been able to get a starting point from that.”

“Do we know what his plan was regarding the Waar Pak?” Kingston asked.

“He was going to betray them once he... re–established my family name,” Ayla put it delicately, not wanting to bring up his attempt to force her to mate with him. “He was working on fail–safes and counter agents to his work to help bring them down.

We’ve included what we can find in the information that will be sent for analysis.”

“It’s one of our top priorities at this time,” I stated. “Beta Briggs and Gamma Jimmy should have a decision by the end of the week to get started on the research and development project.”

“Have you determined any more about why he was so fixated on Ayla, particularly why rebuilding the Onxycrown Pack was so important?” Kingston asked.

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15:46 Chapter 40 Thes 268/Vouchers “I’m still working on that,” Ayla said. “His journal gets a bit convoluted the further you get into it. His code is evolving as well. The best I can tell is it has something to do with the Blessed One story. However, we kind of assumed that already.”

I gently squeezed Ayla’s leg in support. Kingston had watched her intently through the whole interaction.

“Right now, the most important thing is that we know the Waar Pak is targeting her,” I said. “That brings us to the rogues. I have a task force working our border and providing regular updates. You said you had more information on these attacks and who may be behind them.”

“I do.” Kingston replied, laying the file on the table. “The man behind the attacks is named Arthur Grogan. I’ve been tracking him for several months now.”

“How are you so sure about this?” Briggs asked.

“Because I know him,” Kingston said. “He was Jack’s Gamma.”

“What?” Ayla said. “You didn’t tell me that part, Kingston.”

“Forgive me, Ayla,” he said sincerely. “I wasn’t in my right mind that evening.”

Ayla nodded to him, gesturing for him to continue. I draped my arm around her shoulders.

“Grogan betrayed us,” Kingston continued. “He’s the reason the Waar Pak were able to get into the packhouse. Your father never figured it out and confronted him that night as we escaped. I wouldn’t have thought anyone could have survived what Jack did to him, but apparently, he did. Either way, he must have been working for the Waar Pak ever since. My guess – he’s a higher–ranking member at this point.”

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15.47 Chapter 42 They “That doesn’t tell us why you’re so sure about his identity,” I commented.

1299 Prouchers “He paid my private cabin a visit a few months ago,” Kingston said. “I caught his scent and have been searching for him since.

He’s left other traces along the way. I got close once. Really close to catching him. By following up on one of our own rogue attacks, actually. After he slipped away, the bastard made contact. Trust me, it’s him.”

“And you think these rogues can give us information that can help us find him?” Ayla asked.

“That I’m not entirely sure about,” he replied apprehensively. “There’s likely only one rogue in any group that may have met him, if any. The ones I’ve questioned could only lead me to dead ends. Well, dead bodies, usually. He has a habit of dispatching his messengers once the job is done.”

I looked to Ayla. “Well, it’s good we’ve got the best person to question them.”