Ambushed From the Inside

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

David’s POV

When the meeting concluded, my dad and I stayed back in his office. Although we knew about some of what was said in the meeting, there were some aspects of the conversation that were completely shocking. Dad locked the door, and ushered me to take a seat across from him. We sat in silence for a few minutes, allowing the weight of the meeting we just had to settle in our minds. I always knew Katie was special, just how special she was, came as a shock. My dad and I locked eyes with each other.

“Wow,” is all I can say. My dad is a better actor than I could have ever imagined.

He nodded his head. “Honestly, even though the elder gave us all the information that he did earlier, there were some aspects of that conversation that absolutely blew me away.”

“Are you actually going to pass down your title to me when I turn 18?” I ask curiously.

Again, he nodded. “It’s logical. You will turn 18 the day before Katie does, so I don’t see why we can’t both pass our titles down to the both of you. We will more than likely set it a week after your birthday.”

“As great as that sounds, I don’t think Hank is going to be as gracious about it.”

“What do you mean son?”

I thought for a minute of how to put this delicately. He raised his brow. “I don’t think he is going to be as gracious because I refuse to make Heather the Gamma.”

My dad’s eyes grew wide. “Why wouldn’t you make her Gamma?”

Seriously? “Really Dad? I can’t stand Heather, and that is no secret. She is shallow for one. Two, she is self-centered and has no regard for anybody else’s feelings except her own. Not to mention the fact that she is the sole reason I am not fully ready to take on the Alpha title.”

My dad thought on my words for a few minutes. “I never knew that Hank and his family were disliked by so many people. If I had known about that, I may have made some different decisions in the past.”

“What’s done is done. There is nothing we can do about the past, but going forward, I will not make the mistake of making her my Gamma just because Hank is her dad.”

“That’s a wise decision to make. If you don’t believe that you could have a good, solid working relationship with her, then you shouldn’t force yourself to try.”

“Don’t get me wrong, if the laws were different and I didn’t have a choice it would be one thing, but the truth is, I have a choice, and I know that it would not be beneficial to the pack, or to me, for her to be put in a position of power.”

My dad nodded. “If that is how you truly feel son, then it is your responsibility to pick your ranked members. I would suggest that you pick a back up though in case Katie does turn out to be your mate, because then you would need a Beta too.”

“Lucky me.” He tilted his head to one side at my response. “I have already been searching. I can tell you though that the men I have been talking to are not from our pack.”

His eyes widened, and he looked like a deer in headlights. “You are pulling people from other packs?”

I nodded. “This is something I have been thinking about for a long time. As much as I love our pack, no one outside of Katie, has ever really shown me that they have leadership potential.”

“Who are you looking at pulling, son?”

“Andrew, from the Midnight Howlers pack, and Brandon from the Blood Moon pack. Andrew and Brandon are both the second born sons of their families. Beta’s and Gamma’s respectively.”

Saying my dad was shocked was an understatement. “Have you already spoken with them about this?”

I nodded. “I have, and both have already spoken with their families and their Alpha’s, and have already received their blessings to take on their roles here when I take over as Alpha.”

My dad just nodded. “Those are both strong packs, and I know that I have become lax over the years, maybe it would be a good thing to get our pack back to where it needs to be. I am just shocked you have already chosen a Beta when we are not sure about Katie yet.”

“I’m pretty sure about Katie, Dad.” I smiled, and so did he.

As we ended our conversation, I left the office and walked out to the pier. I leaned onto the railing as I watched the sunset sparkling down onto the lake as the sun disappeared over the mountains. My thoughts were running wild with all the information thrown at me today. We knew from the conversation with Elder Graham that Katie and her mom were part of the royal family. What we didn’t expect was for them to be princesses, and Marge to be next in line for the throne. I didn’t have any idea what it was that happened to me when they mentioned having to leave and I thought they were taking Katie away. It got really hot, really quick. It’s like fear took over my body and I couldn’t breathe. When it comes to her, I don’t know how to explain it. I just want to be around her all the time to keep her safe. I honestly think that is the reason everyone thinks we are going to be mates, myself included. According to my dad and the Beta, I have been like that since we were little.

One thing that was said in the meeting, that was news to all of us, was the fact that Marge didn’t trust Hank. I knew that neither Katie nor I trusted Heather, and Shelly has always been kind of out there, but Hank has always been good to me and my dad. Albeit there were some things that would happen that were strange, and made us question sometimes, but he never blatantly did anything to us that would make us feel like he’s a danger. I couldn’t help but think about what Katie said in regards to seeing two women out by the lake. What would they be fighting about? Mom always kept things to herself if there was an issue, she didn’t want anyone else fighting her battles. I wonder if whatever her and Shelby were fighting about is what got her killed.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

“AAAAHHHH!!!!!!” I spun around to see Katie walking toward me. “You about gave me a heart attack, woman!!!!” I said trying to catch my breath. Katie was doubled over laughing.

“Where were you at just now? You looked like you were a million miles away.” She asked wiping the tears from her face from laughing so hard.

“Just thinking about the conversation, we all had this morning, it was a lot to take in.” I said turning to face her. She blushed.

“I’m nervous about all this,” she said diverting her attention to something more interesting on the lake. “I’ve never been all that important, and now I’m one of the most important people in our world.”

I looked at her like she grew three heads, “Not important? What do you mean, not important? Katie,” I said as I turned her to face me, “you are one of the most important people in my life. You are important to your family; you are important to this pack. You are very important. What do you mean by not important?”

She diverted her gaze from me again. Where was she coming up with all this nonsense?

“I heard an elder talking on the phone earlier saying there was nothing special about me, that I wasn’t important to whatever and whoever it was he was talking about.”

I tilted my head to see if she was serious, and as soon as I did, I saw tears streaming down her face. “Katie, come here.” She gives me her hands and I pull her into a hug. “You are very important! Not just to me, but to the whole world. It doesn’t matter if people know how important you are or not. The one’s closest to you know exactly how important you are, and that is what matters.” I stood there a little while just holding her. She never has thought herself to be better than anyone else even though she is.

The sun had set, and the remnants of daylight were starting to fade, so we walked back to the packhouse to get ready for dinner. As we stepped through the door, I see Heather flirting with one of the guards while his back is turned to his post. Heather spots me and walks away, as I walk up to the guard.

“Jerome!” I called getting his attention.

“Sir!” His face pales as he sees me.

“Why were you not manning your post?”

“I…I…I was, sir.” He defended.

“Oh! Really, well, do you have an ability that I don’t know about? Like being able to see out of the back of your head?”

“No, sir…”

“Well, then explain to me how you were manning your post with your back turned?” I quirked an eyebrow waiting for his response.

“I was only turned away for a minute.”

“During that minute anyone could have slipped past you. Heather is notorious for getting guards in trouble, remember that.”

He bowed his head, “Yes, sir.”

Jerome turned back to his post and resumed his guard. Something is going on with her.

“Katie.” She turned to look at me. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but Jerome, isn’t the same guard we saw her flirting with at the gate this morning, is he?”

Katie shook her head. “No, he’s not. I want to say it was Ethan, but I can’t tell him apart from his twin, so it could have been Matt.”

“Why is she being such a w***e all of a sudden? I know she sleeps around, but wow, two different guards in one day?” Something is definitely going on with her, she usually hangs on for a day or two before she jumps to another guy.

We made our way into the dining room. Katie made her plate and sat down at the table. As I sat down beside her, she dug in. I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t hear Katie calling my name until I was met with a slap to the back of my head, Gibbs’ style.

“OUCH!!! What was that for?”

“Why are you ignoring me?”

“I wasn’t, at least I wasn’t trying to. I was thinking about something, and you slapped me.”

“What are you and your dad going to do about your birthday? It’s just over a month and a half away.”

“I honestly don’t know, especially now that big surprise has come up. Mom usually took care of the plans.”

“I am hoping we can find out who killed your mom before anything else happens.” I nodded in response.

After dinner I walked Katie back to her room. We said our goodnights, and as I was walking up to the third floor to go to bed, I heard voices. One was the Gamma; I would know his voice anywhere. The other sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it.

“What do you mean there is an issue?” The unknown voice asked.

“The contact told me that he may have been made. He didn’t give me any details over the phone, he wanted to meet.”

What are they talking about? I started acting like I was out of breath as I finished making my way to my floor. Both of the men straightened up and flashed smiles and nods in my direction.

I absolutely HATE not being able to trust people I share a house with.