My Son 184

Chapter 184 

1 drummed my fingers against the desk with a frustrated sigh. There was no reason my businesses in the city should be failing. It was clear to me that the Red Blood pack was behind it, but how they were doing it, I had no idea. They were one step ahead of us on every front. It was clear they were playing the long game. They had a plan. One that even my best warriors couldn’t seem to see. It was infuriating. There was nothing I could do to defend against would have to go on the offensive soon or I would lose everything I had worked so hard to build. I, of course, could rebuild, but I didn’t want to. 

“Hey, did you see the accounts for Woodland’s is down over 20%?” Sawyer asked as he walked into my office without knocking. 

“Yea, I’m looking at it right now.” I sighed. 

“We need to do something to stop it from dropping anymore.” He urged. 

I felt bad… Ever since Caleb had disappeared again, he had thrown himself into work in the most unhealthy way. He was doing the work of my Gamma, a doctor, and a beta, which shouldn’t be his responsibility. I had invited Heather to step in as Beta, since it was her right, but she had declined. She was barely hanging on. I made sure that I stopped by at least once a day to check on her, and make sure she ate, but there isn’t much anyone can do for a broken heart, except to be there as they pick up the pieces on their own time. So, I was trying to be there. 

Heather had said, that she didn’t think the mate bond was broken, she still on a low–level felt her bond with Leon, which was reassuring, but I wondered what horrors they were doing to him, since he was completely at their mercy, and they had already used him as bait. 

“And what do you propose we do?” I asked tiredly. I had used 

everything in my arsenal. I had no idea how I was supposed to fix this. 

“I don’t know.” Sawyer replied in exasperation. “Fire some people. Put more money into marketing. Sitting back is just giving them the opportunity to take more!” 

“Sawyer,” I said as patiently as I could muster. “They are going to keep attacking our profits until we take them out. Any effort we put toward our finances is going to be fruitless. We have to just wait this one out, and things will recover once we win the war.” 

“How can we take that chance?” Sawyer demanded angrily. 

“Because if we lose this war, we lose those profits too. Right now, we have enough. We can still pay our people even with our losses for a long time. We can still fund our economy, especially if we focus on local places within our pack community. We just won’t have the large income coming in that we are used 

to.” 

“But holidays are coming up… The pack games… You’re wedding… Christmas… The Luna Ceremony… All of these things are big and expensive. What is your plan for those?” 

“Alana and Grace have the budget for each of those things. I figured out how to make it work for the holiday season, then there is a very small budget for all other celebrations after that, as well as we have discussed saving what we can from those celebrations to use in the future. Alana is very organized, and Grace is lucky to have her to help.” 

“Yea, a little weird that the person you chose to be Grace’s personal servant has now become her friend and is working admin for us.” Sawyer grumbled. 

“That was always the plan.” I confided. “I always planned for Alana to be a safe person for Grace. And Alana is professional enough to kno working vs when her and Grace are on their own time. But I picked Alana for that reason. I might not have known that Grace was going to be my mate, but f 

en she’s 

trusted Alana’s judgement of her, she just didn’t know I was doing that…” 

“Wait… Did you do that for your other brides too?” Sawyer asked in surprise. 

“I did. I didn’t use Alana every time, and with Grace really didn’t need Alana’s help in that department, but the only person who I brought home that Alana got close to was Grace which I find telling.” 

“You don’t think Alana is close to Grace for personal reasons, do you?” Sawyer asked hesitantly. 

“Like to give info to the enemy?” I clarified. 

Sawyer nodded and swallowed hard. 

“No.” I answered. “I’ve known Alana nearly her whole life. She grew up in this house. She’s not that kind of person. We may have a mole, but I’m certain it’s not her.” 

1/2 

Chapter 184 

“That sort of confidence is going to get us all killed.” 

I rolled my eyes. Did I think we had a mole? Yes, absolutely. Did I try to keep most meetings to the bare minimum of knowledge needed? Also jen me did that mean we were safe? No. Not at all. 

“Stop stressing about things out of our control. Until you can prove the mole to me, I don’t want to talk about it. There’s been less getting out since pre made our meetings smaller. Alana only just joined. I highly doubt it’s her.” 

Sawyer looked around the room. I knew he wasn’t happy with my answers, but they were my answers, 

nonetheless. 

“Wait, where is Grace? She’s usually attached to your side.” 

“Oh, she’s been at the school all week.” I answered easily, turning back to my laptop. “She wanted to make sure the kids all settled in okay to the new routines, especially the ones who have moved into new homes. She was really worried about how they’d be treated, but there haven’t been any issues to my knowledge. I think now it’s just she’s using it to learn a bit in a way that she also feels helpful.” 

Sawyer nodded absently. “Speaking of the kids moving out,” Sawyer said suddenly sounding kind of nervous. “I think you should give Maizie a room here. She’s almost 18, and I don’t think she should have to uproot her knew life like that.” 

Was I surprised at my brother’s request? Not really. But did it take me aback a bit? Yea. 

“Grace and I have already agreed to keep the oldest kids with us.” I told him. “Both Maizie and Michael aren’t going anywhere. We just haven’t told them 

yet.” 

He breathed a sigh of relief, and I could only guess why he cared. Not that it mattered. What mattered was that the kids felt safe, no matter what was going on outside these walls. And it was our job to make that happen. 

Chapter Comments 

LIKE 

POST COMMENT NOW 

<SHARE 

“He’s my dad.” 

Those three words had repeated over and over in my head since the first time I had heard them. How does one respond to that sort of confession. Her ch tell him I understood? That my dad had ignored me for most of my life, and that his dad had kept me locked in a cell for years. That I understood ki cruelty, probably better than anyone. How could I say any of it and not make it about me? 

Now, we were walking back toward the packhouse, and my heart was going to beat out of my chest. I needed to talk to Rhys… And I needed to talk to him before one of his guards told him what happened, and he made a rash choice to hurt a kid. Not that I think he would mean to, but without all the information, he would be harsh. I hoped the Rhys that I knew would understand. He had to… 

“Listen,” I grabbed at Michael’s wrist before he could knock. He was putting on a brave face, but I knew he was terrified, I could feel him shaking beneath. my grip. “I am on your side in this, okay? Rhys will get it, but if he starts to get mad, get yourself out of the room, okay? I will keep you safe, but you have to trust me.” 

Michael swallowed hard but nodded all the same. I felt scared too. I had no idea how Rhys would actually react, I was just hoping it was my Rhys and not the Alpha King Rhys in there right now. 

I knocked. I mean, I was the adult here… Michael was only 16, and he was doing what he had to to keep his family safe. At 16, sometimes, there feels like no other options. But me and Rhys, we would be an option for these kids. I would not let them walk the path alone like I had to. 

The door creaked open, and I was met with Sawyer’s dark eyes. 

“Oh.” I squeaked, “Sorry, are we interrupting something?” 

“No,” Sawyer gave me a small smile. “No, I was just leaving, I have to get to the clinic, unless you need me to stay?” 

“No, that’s okay.” 

He nodded at us, but gave a curious look as he slipped out of the room. I watched him walk down the hall before entering Rhys‘ dark office. 

“Grace? Michael? Is everything okay?” Rhys asked immediately shutting his laptop so he could give us his full attention. 

“Yes and no.” I answered, taking the seat across the desk from Rhys and gesturing for Michael to take the seat next to me. 

“Okay…” Rhys answered, looking back and forth between the two of us. “Care to explain?” 

I nodded and squeezed Michael’s arm to reassure him. “But I need you to promise not to lose your cool and think through this first, okay?” 

“You’re making me nervous, Grace…” Rhys said. 

“Promise me you’ll keep your cool.” I repeated. 

“Okay… I promise to keep my cool…” 

“Okay, so today, Michael came to me and said that he and his family are in trouble.” 

Michael looked at me in surprise, but I needed him to also keep his calm. We needed to bring Rhys in on this, but that also didn’t mean he needed the whole truth. I knew how to spin it to make him see the truth… At least, I thought I did. 

“Family? I thought your family was in the program?” Rhys questioned, his eyes narrowing in immediate suspicion. 

“They are,” I answered before Michael could. “At least, some are. Today, he came to me because he’s scared. He’s been meeting his Dad at the border every couple of weeks in an attempt to protect them 

Rhys sucked in a sharp breath, but I just continued. “Today he found out his youngest sister, Claire, who has some mental disabilities, was admitted into the 

program.” 

“How were you trying to protect them Rhys asked. I could tell he was trying to keep the anger from his voice, but I knew he already knew the information. 

*I was giving the information, sir,” Michael said quietly. It was clear he was ashamed of what he was doing, but he had felt that it won the con 

“No, tell him the truth.” I said firmly, cutting him off. 

“What?” Both Rhys and Michael said at the same time. 

“Grace, that was the truth.” Michael said uncertainly, looking back and forth between Rhys and I. 

“No. You left out a very important word.” I responded, and waited to see if he would get it. The look on his face was still dumbfounded, so I continued “Partial, you gave them partial truths.” 

“So, we give you a home, and safety, and you chose to betray our trusts?” Rhys asked angrily. 

“Rhys,” I warned. 

“No.” Rhys cut me off. “Grace, he’s dangerous, and he’s been in on all of our meetings!” 

“And he protected our most important info!” I shouted back. “He did what he thought he had to. That is something to be honored and not looked down on We all do things we aren’t proud of when it comes to protecting our families. To survival. You can be mad that some information has gotten out. You can be mad that he should have come to you first. But just because we gave him a house, and tried to include him, does not automatically mean he feels safe! 

“Grace” Rhys tried, but I cut him off. 

“No. You don’t get to do that. Because that guilt of being safe while those you love are not, and not only that, but are actively in danger is something that is indescribable. You don’t get to judge him.” 

“Are you finished?” 

I gave him a look but gestured for it to be his turn. His dark eyes were angry, but he was much more in control than I had anticipated. 

“If you don’t want me to punish him, then why did you bring him to me?” He asked, barely keeping the growl out of his voice. 

“I’m so glad you asked,” I smiled a little mischievously, “With Michael’s permission, I want to use it to our advantage.” 

Chapter Comments 

LIKE