Chapter 129

Grace

I shuddered at the admission. The words rattled through me as words and numbers flashed through my mind, looming over me.

Charles let out a low, soothing rumble and rocked me. "It's alright. We can talk about it. Just breathe."

I couldn't, though. My breathing kept catching, hitching as if I was having a panic attack. I could feel whatever he was doing with the rumbling working, but it wasn't enough to stop my panic.

"Grace," he whispered. "What is it?"

"I've ruined everything," I said. My words tumbled out faster, punctuated by the erratic rhythm of my breathing. My thoughts were racing. At least before, when I thought about running, there wouldn't be this to haunt me, but now I had just signed the end of my family's legacy. I felt my chest tighten, and each word seemed like a tremendous effort.

"I've ruined everything," I repeated, my voice shaky. "All this time, I've been adamant about not running, about not backing down. And now, by challenging Alpha Shadow on live broadcast like that, I've set myself up to fail."

My heart felt like it was in my throat. "I was just supposed to be stalling for time. Now, I've just made everything worse. They're going to know that I don't know the first thing. It's impossible! I thought he would just back out. I never thought anyone was really listening to me!"

I paused, my breathing uneven and shallow, my anxiety closing in.

Charles said nothing, holding me close and pressing me to his chest until all I could hear was the steady thrum of his heart.

"You're panicking because they were listening to you," Charles said. "That's what you're saying?"

He pulled back and cupped my face. "But that's not true."

"B-But I--"

"You haven't slept in days. You've been running on high alert, and you just stalled a terrorist, knowing that there were bombs beneath your feat, Grace. Give yourself some time to process--"

"But there is no time!" I cried, pulling away from him.

The door behind him opened, and Amira came in.

"I said by the end of the year! What is that? Eleven months and some change? I haven't even gotten the pack to actually break even yet!"

I dragged a hand through my hair. "Alpha Shadow knew that. He was expecting me to back out, and it just made me angrier."

"Your stubbornness and rage saved a lot of people," Charles said, smiling wryly as he unbuckled the armor he was wearing, revealing the tight black shirt underneath. I glanced at him, taking in the chiseled planes of his body.

"Are you trying to distract me?"

He hummed and slipped out of the shirt, revealing a black tank top beneath.

"Is it working?"

"It--" I set my jaw. "This isn't the time."

Amira scoffed. "I already told Daniel not to undress until I get home. It's always the time."

My face heated as Charles undid the holster at his waist and set it on the table.

"Fine," he said. "Don't let yourself decompress first. You seem like the type to need to panic first and relax later. Why don't you tell me why you're so convinced that you've ruined everything?"

"When I fail, I'll have to step down!" I cried.

"What if you succeed?" Charles asked lightly.

"That's impossible!"

He shrugged and looked at Amira. "You came in for something, hm? Not just the free show?"

She grinned and came across the room to open Eason's laptop to a screen I could barely make sense of.

"What is this?"

"In a nutshell: Eason's Public Relations Super Computer." Her tone was wry as she clicked around. "He didn't tell me how it works, but he gave me enough to run some reports. I don't know enough about it to know good or bad or figure out the next steps, but you're trending, and that's usually good."

I winced. "Eason's used that word before, and I didn't like it then."

"He told me there's no such thing as bad press," Amira shrugged. "Just a bad spin and you have a lot of press."

She pulled up another page, and I saw clips of myself on multiple little screens. There were graphs and charts whirling around.

"Specifically, you going off on Alpha Shadow and the conversation you had afterward declaring your intent to make Mooncrest a Senate-level territory by the end of the year. As far as I can tell, some people are impressed by your boldness, saying that you're exactly what the Senate needs. But others are skeptical, worried that you may have put our city in even more danger."

I couldn't help but let out an exasperated sigh. "And all this is only going to get worse when I fail."

"Why are you so sure you will?" Charles asked, sliding his chair closer so I could feel the heat of his body up against mine as he clicked around on the screen.

"Because I will. I don't know the first thing about politics."

"You didn't know the first thing about business, but you're learning," Charles said. "And making Mooncrest a Senate-level territory is a pre-cursor to politics."

I shook my head. "I'm on live broadcast making a promise I can't keep to the terrorist, to my citizens..."

"I'm a little fuzzy on the details, but aren't there like guidelines for becoming a Senate-level territory?" Amira asked.

"Yes," I said. "And one of them is having enough money to be self-sufficient as determined by some random formula by the Werewolf States Department of Treasury and the Inter-Species Federal Bank.'"

Charles chuckled. "Your bills are paid. They won't hold that against you."

I scowled at him. "They might not, but you know that Mooncrest doesn't even have a banking account with the Inter-Species Federal Bank, and we have such a small endowment with the Treasury that we don't even have a manager?"

Charles smiled. He glanced at Amira and turned the laptop towards her.

"Really?"

"Yes. It's literally a step above having a regular bank account."

I winced, trying to think back to all the stuff I found about Silver Eclipse after meeting with Gabriel and him telling me his plan. The man had been an economic powerhouse, drawing people to Silver Eclipse with the promise of safety and jobs. I remember looking into it and knowing for certain that Gabriel was an ally I needed if I wanted to get Mooncrest in a good position. He knew how to make money hand over fist and keep it.

"What else?" Charles asked. "I guess you talked to Gabriel about this."

"About his plans," I hissed. "Not mine! I don't have any plans. I can't. It's massively out of reach. Even if I could somehow get the drug to be successful enough to get us moved up a tax bracket and get a real account with the Treasury and the ISFB, there are still all the other issues. Mooncrest doesn't have allies in the States."

"You have Gabriel."

"One does not constitute allies."

"So, ask Gabriel to introduce you."

"I don't have that kind of presence. And that's not even the hard part."

There was still the issue of population. I wasn't sure, but we would have to at least double our population and our land stake for sure. Maybe more, as I wasn't entirely sure how much of a land stake Mooncrest actually had.

"If not just the politics inside the States, then it's the politics outside. We'd have to have resource stakes in other territories."

"You're a medical provider, Grace. There's plenty of draw for it outside the States."

I huffed. "I'd have to develop something specifically beneficial to a group that would have enough merit in the eyes of the States. Lycans don't really need medication, and vampires tend to hate werewolves in general."

"They hate lycans more."

"And I'm half. What's your point?" I groaned.

"What about humans?" Amira asked. "Could the longevity drug be useful to them?"

I groaned. "Maybe, with tweaking. I don't know enough about human physiology to know for sure, but it's possible I'm sure. They use witch technology, so there's a chance that they'd be receptive to werewolf medicine."

"It'd be cheaper," Charles said. "Than witch potions, and if you could reach the same level of efficacy, then you could help with the demand for medicine..."

I frowned and looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"Human pharmaceutical companies have been shutting down left and right because of the Inter-Species Ordinances... it's why they're phasing out gas cars: pollution. There's a major crisis for medicine over there, but witches can't fill it."

I blinked. "Because... they can't make anything without magic."

Charles nodded. "Werewolves straddle the line far more than lycans."

I bit my lip. "We have medications that are formulated without magic and meet the Inter-Species standard... But I'd have no idea how to contact someone or who to contact about transportation or distribution."

"Big picture, Grace. Let's not get bogged down in the details. What else?"

I threw up my hands. "I--"

My phone rang, and I snarled as I saw Fenris' number on the screen.