Chapter 136

Grace

George had hustled Eason off to bed just as Eason started slurring his words and had finished eating again. It hadn't even been an hour after our lap-pillow heart-to-heart, but since Eason had given in without a fuss, I wasn't too worried. When I got up this morning, Eason was still asleep, so I wasn't sure if that meant he was in trouble or if he was really more tired than he let on. Either way, I left the house and hoped that I could get through the day without feeling more nervous than I already was.

The first thing on my agenda today was a meeting with Charles to go over Wolfe Medical's financials. I brought the pack's financials to the meeting just to have something to do and to compare. Charles sat across the conference table from me, laptops open and paperwork everywhere.

"Good news," Charles said lightly. "Your sales went up."

I frowned as he turned the laptop towards me to see. Seeing the figures on the screen glaring back at me, a sense of unease settled over me. Mooncrest had been through so much recently – the Blood Moon attacks being the latest in the line-up, but this sudden surge in sales in another part of the country felt out of place. Was it accurate? A ploy? Was it the start of someone moving to make sure that I failed the challenge?

"You look nervous," Charles said. "I've never seen someone get nervous when they're making money."

"It's just strange, isn't it? Do you think it's a response to everything that's happened in Mooncrest?"

He narrowed his eyes, searching my face before his expression softened, and he reached out to take my hand.

"Or it could be a show of support. It could be that there was an outbreak of something there? An accident? Anything."

"I just... I don't know if we've ever sold anything there before."

He leaned forward. "Would you like me to look into it?"

I met his gaze. "Am I being ridiculous?"

"You're still coming down from a real life-or-death situation and an extended state of stress," he said. "To be cautious, antsy, nervous, anxious--whatever you're feeling right now-- is completely normal."

Then, the conference phone rang. I answered it, and Eason came on the line.

"I'm in for your health jail," he groused.

I laughed. "Good."

"Is Charles there?"

"What's wrong?" Charles asked.

"Just confirming that at least part of the news is fake."

I frowned, and Charles grabbed the remote.

"I know you're at you're laptop. We just had a weird increase in sales in another part of the country. Any thoughts on what might be behind it?"

"Where?"

I worried my lip, checking the documents. "Duncan Pack, the north Midwest area by the lakes."

"How much and what for?" I could hear him typing as I rattle off the numbers. "Ah, their oil refinery exploded around the time Blood Moon announced its intent against Mooncrest. Probably a restock of the hospitals in the area. There were a lot of casualties."

I winced. I was relieved that there was a real explanation for it, but my heart went out to the Duncan Pack. They weren't a Senate-level pack.

"Has there been any aid offered?" I asked.

"Nothing public yet... outreach?"

"We're not neighbors, but... could we become allies?"

"Duncan's pretty neutral about lycan-werewolf issues. They're too small to have much sway, but they have a huge stake in our and the human oil resources. You might not curry a steady ally, but you could probably get a favor out of it."

I frowned. "Why?"

"You had a whole section in your speech about witch tech in the werewolf community. Duncan lives off their oilfields... Well, they used to anyway."

"Would you look at that?" Charles said, stopping on a channel. "What a photo op."

I looked up and winced. The news report was about the people being arrested by the Inter-Pack police, detailing the Darrow family's arrest. Kalen was being led away by Inter-Pack Police in handcuffs, while Ethan was shown being taken into custody by the Enforcer Unit.

I couldn't help but feel a mixture of anger, sadness, and frustration. Kalen wasn't going to be punished. He would barely get a slap on the wrist. I looked at Charles as he nodded.

"They got the coverage right, Eason," Charles said. "Ethan's being held at the base while he recovers until we figure out what to do with him. I'd never cockblock you that way. Payback is a bitch, and something tells me you're vicious as hell."

Eason laughed. "Glad you know. I was actually talking about the fact that they're stating Kalen is being taken by the IPP?"

Charles winced. "Nothing I can do about that, I'm afraid. Not directly, anyway."

"This is bullshit," I hissed. My frustration boiled over as I clenched my fists, thinking of that young woman who could have been me in another life and her father and all the sleepless nights we'd had. "You know as well as I do that Kalen will likely get nothing more than a slap on the wrist."

The president's connection to Blood Moon and the WSU practically guaranteed it.

Eason's voice held a calm, reassuring tone. "Grace, we will deal with that some other time. Right now, I think you'll be better off watching the segment on you."

"Me?"

"Oh yeah, you're the talk of the town today. Have been for the past week or so."

I took a deep breath, my emotions still roiling beneath the surface, and turned my attention to the TV as Charles changed the channel again. It was a round table discussion panel. I didn't recognize any of these people, but it was clear that they were talking about me since they had a clip of my speech against Blood Moon playing behind them. I bit my lip, wondering what they were going to say.

One of the panel members, a man, hummed, grinning at the camera. "She's got a spark we haven't seen in a while. I mean, what balls to tell Blood Moon and most of her pack to fuck off."

"Seemed a bit much to me," another panel member said, another man.

The first man scoffed. "You're just upset she looked good doing it. And she's the first female alpha to be targeted by Blood Moon and emerge still in control of her pack. Getting up there in the city square in the middle of a city-wide bomb threat took guts. She takes after her father for sure."

My heart trembled. It was maybe the first time anyone else had compared me positively to my father since this had all started. Charles took my hand and squeezed.

The woman next to him nodded in agreement. "It's a historic moment. Could Grace Wolfe be ushering in a new wave of female alphas across the States? It's about time."

"Hah!" The second man scoffed, waving his hand. "I'll believe her when I see it happening, and maybe not even then."

"You don't think it's significant?"

"I give her standing up to Blood Moon, especially after apparently dumping the pack off in the hands of that lycan, but who cares about any of that? Your feminist agenda aside, can she really pull it off? The magnitude of what she's proposing is immense. And let's not forget, there were rumors that Mooncrest was bankrupt. You don't go from owing money to making billions of dollars in eleven months."

"Maybe she has something more than that challenge ring up her sleeve."

"Or maybe she bluffed her way out of a bad situation."

I winced as it cut to the commercial break.

"Mixed," Charles said. "A little disparaging, but not brutal. Eason?"

"Better than I expected," Eason said. I could hear the grin in his voice. "You expected worse?" I asked.

"That guy is known for being a hard ass. He doesn't believe anything he doesn't see, but he didn't outright say he didn't believe you were serious, and that's important."

I shook my head as the conference door opened, and Amira came in.

"Senator Prospect," she greeted. "I just wanted your thoughts on the informal transfers."

"In formal?"

"The refugees. Not just the ones from the Enforcer outposts, but there are more coming in from other areas. They're being halted at the border since you haven't lifted the lockdown."

I sat back in my chair, gnawing at my lip as I thought about the hijacked police escorts. Had we gotten anywhere on cleaning up the police? Was it safe?

"No," I said. "I want to help, but it's too dangerous."

Charles squeezed my hand and tugged until I looked at him, meeting his eyes.

"Now isn't the time to back down on your morals or sabotage your goals," Charles said.

"You're saying it's safe now? But we don't know if Blood Moon is still just waiting... Still here in the city, wearing Mooncrest police uniforms or working at the grocery store."

The thought made my chest tight.

"We don't, but that doesn't mean you should throw away an opportunity. How about a compromise?"

I bit my lip and searched his face before tightening my grip on his hand.

"I'm listening."