Chapter 3

• Mack’s p.o.v.
• We are in the Alpha’s office when the guard at the gate links me, “Alpha Bradley asks permission to enter the territory, he is here to gather his Mate’s belongings.” I hear and when I tell Dominic who is at the gate I get the order to make sure he comes to the Pack-house first. I tell the guard that the order is given by one of our Alphas and after ten minutes there is a knock on the door, I get up to open the door for Alpha Bradley.
• I look a little surprised when I see the former Mate of one of our Assassins, but I don’t say a word as I step aside to let them pass, “Alpha Dominic, Alpha Dillon, Alpha Dax.” Alpha Bradley greets them as he hands Dominic a few papers, “These are the transfer papers for my Mate and her Daughter, I have brought a truck along to move their stuff out of her former Mate’s house.” He says as Commander, my Lycan, pushes forward.
• The look Dillon gives me tells me that none of them knew anything about this and I quickly link Diego to ask him about his former Mate and her plans to move Packs. “She never mentioned it to me and I can guarantee you she would have thrown it in my face.” He responds, but when I inform him about his Daughter I hear him whimper through the mind-link and I quickly inform Dominic to send them from the room.
• “Why don’t you start packing up the truck? I will sign the papers and I will make sure I have their files ready when you leave.” I see the female smile but something about it bothers me and I know Dillon has noticed it too. I watch them leave the Pack-house before I step back into the office and Dillon immediately asks me what that was about, “I doubt Diego’s Daughter is aware of the transfer, Luna Elyse mentioned something about the Spring Ball the other day and his Daughter designing a few dresses.
• Diego told Luna Elyse she had cleared her schedule so she would be home to make any adjustments, how will she do that if she isn’t here?” I explain and we all know that if she promised Luna Elyse to design those dresses she will, Luna Elyse always speaks very highly of her and even former Alpha Max gets a soft look in his eyes whenever her name is mentioned.
• Kay gets out of his seat to stand in front of the window and as he stares outside he say, “Diego mentioned she is out of the territory for some fashion week and if I remember correctly she will return in a few days. Something isn’t adding up.” He growls as he turns around. Normally when a Pack-member decides to transfer to another Pack we are aware a few days before it will actually happen, but in this case no one knew anything about it.
• Alpha Max stepped down five years ago to spend a little more time with his Mate, but Luna Elyse still fulfills her duties as a Luna because Dominic, Dillon and Dax haven’t found a Mate yet. In those five years we heard a lot about Maleah D’Angelo, Diego is so damn proud of his Daughter for making a name for herself and in all these years she never made any hint towards leaving the territory. Kay is right, something doesn’t add up.
• Levi walks back into the office with their files, but Maleah’s file holds no contact information and I am surprised to see that her Mother’s number is put down as the emergency contact. “We can’t verify it with Maleah, only her Mother’s number is in here.” I say as my eyes fall on a very rare occurrence, Maleah is Wolfless. “What does that matter?” Commander asks me and I have to admit it is strange that it is mentioned in her file.
• “Did your Father ever tell you why Diego wanted Maleah’s Wolfless status entered into her file?” I ask as I look at our three Alphas, a moment later former Alpha Max walks in with Luna Elyse right behind her and Dax asks their Father the question I just asked. “Her Mother made a big deal out of it and wanted it written down in her file. I never got a clear answer as to why she wanted that and she insisted I do it with her present.” Max answers.
• “She wanted to make sure he wrote it down, but why?” Commander asks me and for a moment I let his question run through my mind, but the only reason I can think of is a reason that pisses off me and Commander. “Okay, Son. Calm down, what has you and Commander so pissed off?” My Dad asks and I wonder when he walked in to the office. I take deep breaths to calm myself down, I need to say this out loud in a calm manner or Commander might snap.
• “Commander asked me why she would want to make sure it was written down and the only reason I can think of is a disturbing one.” I answer and I allow the others to think about it as well. Dominic’s eyes snap towards mine and I think it is safe to say he thought of the same explanation, it doesn’t take long for the rest to stare at me as well.
• “I think she did it to force Maleah into a Mate-bond at some point. We all know there are Wolves and Lycans that would do anything to get their hands on a Wolfless Mate, just to make sure they have all the control in the relationship and to be able to cheat on their Mate.” I say and I am right back where I was a few moments ago, myself and Commander pissed off as hell.
• I can see that Dax is getting a mind-link and the look on his face doesn’t predict much good. “Mack, take four Warriors with you and head to Diego’s house. Maleah just arrived and she asked for them, also we are not to sign her transfer papers.” He says. I tell him we will protect her from Alpha Bradley, but smiling he shakes his head, “She asked for the Warriors to make sure she didn’t kill anyone.” He responds and I run from the office as I link four of our Warriors to join me.
• “How the hell is she planning on killing anyone? She is Wolfless and she will be facing an Alpha. Diego could use his Assassin aura to control him, but how she is planning on harming or killing an Alpha is beyond me.” Commander says in my head. I hear a car drive down the dirt road and we arrive at the house at the same time. Her violet auburn hair sways around her head as she jumps into Diego’s arms and I see the disgusted look in her Mother’s eyes when she tells Diego she isn’t going anywhere.
• Commander pushes forward the moment she looks at me and I know I need to keep control of my expression, I don’t want to alert her Mother to the fact that Commander and I have an interest in her Daughter. I smile when she demands that Alpha Bradley’s men places her furniture back into her room, but I am stunned to silence when I feel her aura seep out of her, “Fuck, her aura is almost as strong as ours and something tells me she isn’t pushing it out full force.” Commander mumbles.
• After Maleah has disappeared into the house it only takes a moment before Diego tells Alpha Bradley they are free to go and he doesn’t forget to mention those were Maleah’s exact words. “Your Mate’s papers are signed and her file has been retrieved from the archive. You can get them in the Alpha office, after that make sure you leave the territory immediately.” I say as I look at Alpha Bradley.
• The Warriors follow them towards the Pack-house and once I am satisfied with the distance between them and the house I turn to Diego, “Dinner on the Alpha floor tonight and bring Malah with you. No excuses.” I say, but the look in his eyes tells me he is as surprised as the rest of us. I walk back to the Pack-house deep in thought and I take my time getting back there, still in awe at Maleah’s strong aura.
• The moment I step into the office I see our former leadership sitting around and the current leadership is staring at me, “Okay, why did Alpha Bradley look as if someone kicked his ass?” My Dad asks and everyone chuckles. I grab a bottle of water from the small fridge in the office and I walk over to an armchair to sit down, before I tell them anything.
• “I told Diego to bring Maleah to dinner on the Alpha floor. He is as clueless as the rest of us, but Maleah is not Wolfless.” I say before I chuck down the water. “I don’t have any answers, but I will tell you what happened.” I say before I start to tell them about Maleah and how she handled her Mother and Alpha Bradley, “She didn’t release her aura full force and I bet if she did it would be stronger than mine.” I say as I look at my Dad.
• I hear gasps all around me because we all know it is nearly impossible to have a stronger aura than mine, but I am not afraid to admit it was amazing to see the look on Alpha Bradley’s face. “If Alpha Bradley ever shows up again or comes over for whatever gathering we have, I want you to place Maleah in the seat across from him. I almost laughed my ass off when she released her aura, I bet you he will run the first chance he gets.” I say laughing.
• My Dad and I come from a long line of Assassins, going back for centuries and Dad once explained that in our bloodline at least one of the Wolves or Lycans in a mated couple was an Assassin by birth. I have no idea what Maleah’s bloodline is like, but I think it is safe to say that in her bloodline a lot of mated couples were both Assassins by birth. There is no other explanation for the strength of her aura, but what will be the most convincing hint is the age of shifting.
• Assassins from an almost pure bloodline are known to shift between fourteen and fifteen years old, other Assassins shift at the age of sixteen as every other Wolf or Lycan. I know from Diego’s file that he shifted two months before turning sixteen and that should have been warning enough for us to question her being Wolfless.
• “Alpha Max, do you know how old Diego was when he shifted?” I ask him, but I keep looking at my Dad because I want to know if he understands where I am trying to go with my question. “Son, you have to be joking.” Dad exclaims but he knows the look on my face and when Max tells me he has no idea Dad asks me to explain it to the others.
• I tell them how the bloodline of Assassins work and the more I tell them the wider their eyes go, “If I have to make a guess about Maleah I would say she comes from a very pure bloodline, but only Diego and Maleah can confirm how pure that bloodline is.” I finish my explanation and I am met by dumbfounded faces, seems that no one ever learned all there is to learn about Assassins.
• Dad explains that if a bloodline holds mostly mated Assassins their offspring will grow stronger with each generation, that their offspring will shift between the age of fourteen and fifteen and in very rare cases at the age of thirteen. “The purer a bloodline the bigger the changes are of having offspring with multiple abilities, the most common abilities are masking your scent or the fear aura.
• I read about Assassins that had both abilities, but there have been Assassins with abilities I have never seen before. The ability of hearing is a bit more common, it is an ability to hear from a longer distance and can be very handy for an Assassin. The ability to sense a Wolf or Lycan is a rare one, it only appeared twice in recorded history and one of those cases was a Royal assassin.” Dad says and I have to admit that I didn’t know this about Assassins.
• We talk a bit more about Maleah and her Assassin background before Luna Elyse walks in and sends us all to our Quarters to freshen up and change into some other clothes, as we walk to our Quarters I ask Dillon if they found anything to support the rumors. “Not yet. We still have Scouts out there to find out if John Clarkson is really planning to go after Diego.” He answers me.
• A week ago one of our Scouts returned from another investigation when he told us about rumors in Marshka about John Clarkson who wants to kill Diego for killing his Cousin, a killing that was sanctioned by the Council of Elders and our Queen. We sometimes get an assignment from the Council of Elders to eliminate a Wolf or Lycan, someone that has broken the Law and needs to pay for his or her crimes.
• Our Pack is known as a Pack of outlaws, a Pack filled with killers, a Pack that doesn’t abide by the Laws. It is true that we don’t follow all the Laws and the Council of Elders have tried to pin a lot on our Pack for a very long time now, but so far they have been unable to make any charges stick. We don’t leave a paper trail of our assignments and each of us always has a solid alibi.
• The Council of Elders has even been trying to pin murders on our Pack that we didn’t commit, not that I disagree with whoever took those Wolves and Lycans out. Each kill was justified in my book and I hope that whoever it is will be able to keep doing their job without getting caught.