Reclaiming Herself—Completed

Chapter Four

Patrick.

With heart pounding and senses on alert, Patrick and his forces snuck around the pack house. It was quiet, as it should have been. They had arrived at the pack at precisely 11:42 at night in order to be in position exactly at midnight. Patrick had calculated everything, down to the minute to ensure a successful mission.

Saving these people from monstrous alphas was his calling. It was the reason he became an alpha. He had seriously considered stepping down after his father passed, but then another pack took advantage of the transition period. His sister, Melody, was made into a s*x slave for over two months before he could save her. She never fully recovered and took her life shortly after meeting her mate. It had been a very dark period in his life. Patrick never wanted anyone to go through the experience his sister had, so he decided on the same night that he’d found her in her bathtub that he wouldn’t stop until every evil son-of-a-b***h laid dead at his feet.

He felt his rage beginning to boil as he and his warriors crept up to a window. Covering the glass on their side with a piece of cloth, one of the warriors quietly broke it. They couldn’t stop the falling glass from shattering on the other side, but he hoped that with the lack of guards in place, no one would hear them enter.

Patrick slipped into the house, careful to avoid cutting himself on the sharp edges and swiftly scouted the room. It was dark and completely empty. He signaled his group to enter, and they filed behind him as he crouched next to the door. Peering down the hallway, he saw that it was clear. Patrick glanced at his watch: 12:04. The guards should have been walking to their posts. He heard footsteps. He then ducked back into the room and waited for the guard to pass. As soon as the man walked in front of the door, Patrick and another of his men grabbed him, covered his mouth, and sent him into the land of unconsciousness. One of the male warriors, the one who most resembled the guard, changed into his clothes and then resumed the guard’s route.

Many rescue missions ago, one of the men who had been enslaved asked to have a part in these missions. He wanted to be in the nitty gritty and after multiple convincing arguments, Patrick finally gave in. The man had specifically wanted to get inside the packs and collect intel for more successful missions. It was a uniquely difficult job because not only did he have to get inside of these horrible packs, but he had to live long enough to get his alpha the necessary information. After a trial run and many, many practice runs, Patrick let him. Three missions ago, they tried it out, and it had been the most successful endeavor yet. Because of how well the missions had gone, Patrick had found several volunteers to complete similar missions. Matthew had taken over this aspect of their missions and had sent out more sleeper slaves, as he’d called them. They had sent them all over the state in order to collect information on other alphas and possible black market dealings. He hoped that tonight would be no different from the success they’d encountered before, and that as long as the men wanted to do it, Patrick would let them. The trick was getting in, passing the intel, and then getting out the day before the attack. So far, everything was exactly as Patrick’s inside man had said.

He and the rest of the group went the opposite direction of the ‘guard’ and quietly opened each door they passed. They found a few startled slaves and deescalated the situation immediately by explaining why they were there. One of them showed Patrick where the alpha’s office was, which was precisely where he wanted to go.Patrick sent his warriors off to dispatch anyone who would stand in their way and to find the alpha in charge. He then spent his time rummaging through the office, finding bills of sale and the pack’s bookkeeping. It was very well organized and thorough; however, it lacked real names and leads as to where these sales were taking place. Patrick accidentally found a very graphic picture book of the alpha with women who were clearly terrified. This only fueled his rage.

Patrick startled, his ears perking up at the sound of yelling and shouting. A scream sounded, and he dashed through the doors and into the main foyer. He found his warriors fighting, but they quickly took down their enemies. Matthew dragged a naked man down the stairs, who was already blubbering.

The man was greying with a bald spot already in the middle of his head. He had fine lines and the beginnings of wrinkles on his eyes. He matched the man in the pictures Patrick had found.

“And who might this be?” Patrick asked, choosing to have the confrontation in the middle of the gory, blood-soaked entrance hall.

Patrick couldn’t deny that though he was a simple man, he did enjoy a dramatic scene or two to interrogate evil, rotten men.

“Uh…” the naked, aged man started, dumbfounded.

Matthew shook his arm roughly. “Speak when Alpha Patrick addresses you.

“Alpha Roger Knotts of the Half Moon Pack,” he replied weakly.

Patrick folded his arms across his chest. “Care to explain what’s exactly going on here, Alpha Roger Knotts of the Half Moon Pack? You have incriminating evidence of black market deals.”

“I–I can’t possibly.”

Patrick held up the book with all the records inside.

“That’s, uh, not enough. There’s no real evidence in there,” Roger said, a smirk on his lips.

“But this will come in handy,” Matthew said, holding up a black journal. “The New Council is going to love this. It explains your code and how you’ve been selling people for years.”

Roger’s face blanched. “Please! Spare me. I’ll tell you everything!”

Patrick was disgusted by the vile, quivering man before him. The alpha was on his hands and knees begging him for his life.

“Give me something worth saving your life, and I’ll consider it,” Patrick replied.

The alpha seemed to think for a moment before saying, “Uh, uh…The Silver Sliver Pack! It’s all him. Their–their alpha is behind it all. Yeah, it’s Rishard. I’ll, please, I’ll tell you everything I know if you spare my life.”

Patrick tilted his head to the side and considered it. He certainly did want to know if there was a ringleader. All these packs had been much too organized to have single-handed created their own operations.

“Fine. I’ll keep you alive until you cease being useful. Matthew, chain him, muzzle him, and throw him in our dungeon,” Patrick commanded.

The other alpha turned pale and started to sputter a reproach, but Matthew was on him in a second, strapping a silver muzzle onto his face to keep him from shifting. He had chains on a moment later, and two warriors were escorting him out by the arms. Scum didn’t get to walk out with dignity.

“That couldn’t have gone any smoother,” Matthew smiled, clapping Patrick on the shoulder.

“Yeah,” he replied absently. “Almost too well.”

“What’s bothering you?” Matthew asked.

“I know about the Silver Sliver. My father used to visit them all the time. They’re always so highly praised. Could Richard really be behind all of this? I need to look into this tonight.”

Matthew looked astonished. “What? No! Tonight we celebrate! We induct those who’d like to into our pack! All we’re going to do tonight is drink and party and f**k!”

Patrick shook his head. “You all can. This doesn’t add up to me, and I need to get to the bottom of it.”

Matthew looked defeated, but he knew better than to argue with his alpha. Patrick decided to leave Matthew and the other warriors in charge of spreading the good news about the people’s freedom and possible pack change. He left the room and made polite small talk to a few new members while making his way to a car. Taking one other warrior with him, he drove back to his own pack house and went straight to his office. He had research to do.

Once everyone else had arrived at the pack house, the party started in full swing. Matthew had reported that all but just a few had joined the pack and everyone was celebrating and getting to know the new members. Matthew had personally inducted each new member. Most were shy and still in disbelief. A few had offered their services, whatever might be wanted, for their freedom. Patrick’s heart always broke for these people. It didn’t matter how many times his pack members told the people otherwise, the first couple of weeks were always telling of their trauma.

Patrick sighed as he leaned back in his chair. He’d spent hours pouring over the records he’d collected at Half Moon. It was painfully obvious now that someone was pulling the strings, and Patrick had a hunch that it could be Richard Degrano. He and his father had been friends back in the day. How could such a great alpha fall so far? However, he wouldn’t believe it until he had the proof. Patrick still had to tend to the relationships he’d built with the other alphas. They were finicky things, and an accusation like this could quickly divide the region of alphas. Patrick didn’t want to start any unwarranted wars if he could help it.

He finally fell asleep, slumped on his desk, but not before creating a schedule for the next day where he would interrogate Roger and get a few answers.