Chapter 147

Grace

Sitting at my office desk at Wolfe Medical, I was surrounded by stacks of documents and the gentle hum of activity that characterized any workday. Amira had come in just after I arrived with more transfers to review, as well as a few reports from the procurement department of Wolfe Medical. Margaret and Seraphina were back in the lab reviewing research about the new formulation, and I wished I could be down there with them rather than swimming in paperwork.

On the bright side, Eason had provided an exhaustive analysis of where Mooncrest stood in relation to the nine requirements necessary to become a Senate-level territory. He even had a checklist at the top of the documents and trackers that looked more orderly than unnecessary. They seemed to be pulling information from somewhere and would update themselves, luckily.

Currently, we have a population of just under fifty thousand people, a land stake of about five percent of the required amount, a laughable amount of assets, one ally, one four-year-old potential heir, a GDP of almost seventy-thousand dollars without including Wolfe Medical, a history of contributions that would probably be called a cop-out, and no hope of passing an Inter-Pack Police audit given the mess the pack was still in.

I sat back. I wanted to concentrate. I wanted to read all the little notes and ideas that Eason, Amira, and Charles had all been adding to the document. I wanted to engage and do, but my mind kept wandering to the safety of my children. Kelly had taken Cecil and Richard to the museum today, and the anxiety that bubbled within me was hard to quell. Those photos had been taken recently. Whoever it was that was watching my kids was still in the city. It felt like Mooncrest would never be as safe as I once thought it was. There was danger lurking in every shadow.

I almost wished I had just remained married to Devin, and that was a harrowing thought.

I shook my head and yanked my thoughts away from that. Easy, maybe, but happy? Had I ever been happy like I was with Charles? Truly happy? The sex was one thing, but had I ever felt safe to ask questions even if they made me feel stupid? Had Devin ever encouraged me to... challenge myself? To better myself?

I scoffed. Clearly not. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here floundering now.

I looked down at the two challenge rings, wishing I could read them but knowing it wouldn't matter if I could. I knew what they said, and I had committed to this path, to the challenge I had laid before Alpha Shadow, and my resolve couldn't waver now.

I forced my thoughts back to the documents, scanning the lines and making notes in the margins. I could tell from the timestamp on the comments that Eason hadn't been resting the way he probably should have while we were away, but I was grateful that he and Amira seemed to believe in me so much.

I didn't remember being able to collaborate like this when I was in college. I almost smiled as I felt oddly old, knowing that had I been able to collaborate like this ages ago, things would have been so much easier.

I thought of Seraphina and her repository journal: so much easier than a gigantic, clunky binder or a single computer.

I sent a message to Eason.

How long have you been using this kind of system, and what are your thoughts on rolling it out to the library system?

Eason's icon popped up in the shared document. I watched his cursor jump to the outreach and development section under the eighth pillar. Then, words started to appear.

Update library system - reach out to the nearest witch coven with a reason to trade. Access to the caves? Access to the preserve? Check magical viability.

Establish a community college? - specializing in? Trades? Multi-cultural?

I shook my head, watching more and more words appear as his cursor jumped around the document. How he could just go like that, I had no idea, at least not with this kind of stuff. If this was pharmacy--

Wait...

I scrolled down, wincing as he jumped around some more, putting words in faster than I could read them, let alone type them.

I started my own section under outreach: check into other species' pharmaceutical needs. Human medicine shortage first.

Then, my phone chimed with a reply.

They had it at Northfall.

I glowered at it, even as the statement stung me. Eason didn't even have records at Northfall. Was there a way to fix that? I paged Amira as Eason continued to jump around in the document.

Amira leaned in. "You rang, Senator Prospect?"

I chuckled. "You know a bit more about the pack's registry system, right?"

"I may have taken some extra time to study it."

"Is there a way to restore deleted records?"

She tilted her head. "Probably. How long ago are we talking?"

I winced. "At least five years."

She bit her lip. "I'll look into it."

"Thanks."

The clock on the wall ticked relentlessly as I went back to adding to the plan things I could do. Synthesizing human medication was probably the least of it, but what about a human-viable version of the longevity drug? It was really only humans and werewolves who had a sort of cap on our lifespan that was so unfairly short.

At the same time, humans made up a large portion of the population. Would they slow down if they lived longer in general?

I took notes on some other avenues for outreach. With every sentence I added, I felt a little more certain of the plan working out.

The shrill ring of my phone pierced the heavy silence in my office, and I answered it.

"You've got some balls, Grace." My heart lurched as I recognized the voice.

It was Alpha Shadow. I glanced toward the door. Amira was nowhere in sight. I fiddled with the settings on my phone to record the call.

"How did you get my direct number?"

"That's the least of your problems," he said, his tone tinged with cold confidence. "Cute kids."

My phone chimed. I opened the message. The photo he sent was of Kelly and the kids, their faces filled with wonder as they explored the museum. Cecil already had paint on her clothes. My heart lurched. He was there in the building with my kids, but then I saw a figure in the background, not too far behind them. I recognized the man as a Lycan Enforcer, though he was wearing regular clothing. My breath hitched, and I felt a modicum of relief, knowing my family was under some protection.

"They are," I said. "And I swear you're going to wish the challenge was your only problem if you get any closer to them."

"I think you'll be the one wishing that. Strangling your little mutts would be the work of nothing."

"What do you want?" I demanded, my grip on the phone tightening. "The challenge is set, Alpha Shadow. We had a deal."

He chuckled darkly, and it sent shivers down my spine.

"I meant what I said. I'd never make a deal with you, but I was persuaded to keep up pretenses," he purred, each word dripping with malice. "But you've underestimated me if you think I'll just let you waltz your way into the Senate and make a fool of me."

My blood ran cold.

I steeled myself. "You didn't need my help making a fool of yourself, and it's hardly a waltz."

The line fell silent for a moment, and in that tense pause, I braced for the storm that was surely brewing on the horizon.

I paused. "Or maybe it is a waltz... After all, you wouldn't be so keen to intimidate me if you didn't think I can do it."

I smirked. "If you didn't know that, I can do it. What? Did you go back and do the math?"

I sounded confident, but I felt a little ridiculous. I was right, but how could a terrorist psychopath believe in me more than I did? I definitely needed that therapy as soon as possible.

I stared at the photo on my phone, my heart pounding in my chest.

"So, what do you want?" I asked. "Other than to prove you're a coward and you actually have no honor.

His response came quickly, coldly. "I want the Darrows free and for you to publicly retract your challenge."

I narrowed my eyes and clenched my hand around my phone.

"If you'd noticed on the television, I don't have either of the Darrows."

"Not directly, but you have the ability to get them free. Call your master, get Ethan released, and withdraw your charges."

I opened a new message to Charles to tell him about the call before answering.

"I know the president pays your salary, so is this really about Kalen, or is this about Ethan, who you can't touch?"

I stared at the phone, waiting for Charles to reply and hoping he said something useful.