Chapter 181

Charles

I waited, hoping that she wouldn’t be too upset. To be fair, all she knew was that Alpha Shadow was a member of the Noir Coven. It would make sense that she was. The gentle hum of the car filled the silence as George drove toward Silverlight.

“That Noir Coven?”

I chuckled. “There is only one.”

“I was hoping you wouldn’t say that…. Is there anyone else who could do something like it?”

I sighed, shaking my head and looking out the window. I understood her question, the frustration simmering beneath it.

“No one I would trust.” To do a good enough job and be sealed by their oaths. There was a long and complicated history between the covens and how they decided what paths they took, whose toes they could afford to step on, and what levels of solidarity the covens had with each other and with groups outside of their network.

Witches believed in blood ties above all else, and no werewolf had remained in the States after marrying a witch either by choice or force. It was a complicated mess, but I was hoping that maybe Grace and Eason’s lineage would help smooth the way a little.

“Someone from that coven is terrorizing the States.”

“At the request and on the dime of your President. Even without that, it’s not as though the States have made themselves friends with anyone, Grace.” I winced at how sharp that came out. “Look, now isn’t the time to get into the politics of—”

“What is that supposed to mean?” She asked.

I paused, hearing the strain in her voice. It tugged at me, yet as much as I wanted to ease her into it, it wouldn’t do her any favors.

Being so shielded was halfway how she ended up in the situation she was in right now, for better or worse. I shook my head.

“Well?” She pressed.

“I don’t think you have the knowledge to participate in a meaningful conversation about witch politics, let alone information politics among the supernatural world.”

I let the words sink in. Hoping against reasonable hope that she wouldn’t get defensive.

“I disagree,” she said.

“Okay,” I said.

“You don’t believe me.”

“I said what I said for a reason.”

“Witches are supposed to be this great technologically advanced powerhouse. Isn’t there another coven or something, a company, whatever, that does the same work?”

My lips twitched. “Again. Not one that I’d trust.”

“Well, your connections to witch covens are different than mine. The Noir Coven isn’t an option. So who else?”

“You think so?” I asked, smiling wryly at this. Gregory caught my eye in the mirror with a chiding look.

I lifted a shoulder. I could be gentle, but she was gunning for the Senate. There would be nothing about that path or that seat when she got it that would be gentle. Expanding her pack’s reach would require her to confront more hard truths than just the Noir Coven’s position in the world.

“Yes,” she hissed.

“Sure. I’ll give you a list. Ready when you are.”

Gregory shook his head. At the least, Grace couldn’t accuse me of ever withholding information from her.

“Ready.”

I rattled off the three other information-based covens who could do the work.

“As a matter of curiosity, why are you asking? What are you trying to do?”

“We apparently have a magical system of some sort that’s our archive, but I want the whole system upgraded so we don’t have such a hard time recovering files or archiving them.”

I smiled. “Do you know who built it?”

“… no.”

“Pro-Tip: find out who built it before you call. They’ll want to know.”

“I will. Anything else?”

I hummed. “Nothing.”

“… why do you sound so amused?”

“Because I know how these calls are going to end.”

She scoffed. “You can’t possibly know.”

“Want to bet?” I asked, grinning. We’ll call it a separate favor. Between leaders, hm?”

“I feel like I’m being trapped.”

I scoffed.“You can’t have it both ways. Either you think I’m full of shit, and you’re confident in what you’re about to do, or you’re unsure on both fronts and are just being stubborn.”

“Stubborn?”

“Stubborn,” I paused.“And a little hard-headed.”

“Hey!”

“I’m telling you what I think is the truth,” I smiled. “I wouldn’t lie to you, Grace.”

She growled. I wondered if, for a moment, she considered what it’ll be like for us going forward.

“Fine. I’ll take your bet,” she said. “I’m hiking the price on this favor you want, too.”

I smiled. “Sure, and I’ll… think of something appropriate.”

I smirked as she hung up.

“Why would you do that to Miss Grace?” Gregory asked.

“Simple: she has to learn.”

He sighed. “You didn’t do this with Devin.”

I looked out the window. “I wasn’t old enough to be a decent parent, and Devin…” I sighed. Thinking of all the way I failed at raising him made my head hurt. “I’m not trying to raise Grace. I’m trying to help her grow. Isn’t that part of being a good partner?”

He sighed again, and I looked out the window. “You remember… what I was like with Tessa?”

He went silent, and with good reason.

I had been, admittedly, enthralled with the rush of having found my mate. Someone I’d been told all my life was perfect for me, gifted to me. I had been so invested in protecting her, in teaching her slowly, easily, and graciously. I had been young, reeling, overworked, and still hopeful. I hadn’t seen the truth of who Tessa was until I found her in bed with another man.

Tessa didn’t have the spine to confront me about anything, to argue about anything concrete. My lips twitched. Well, except for what she felt like was her due. I shook my head, remembering how she’d argued with me that night and so many nights afterward.

I had considered once if it was that my patience with Grace was so much less than I had with Tessa, but that wasn’t it. Grace was older than Tessa had been when we were together. Grace was in a real position of power with real consequences that she was only getting a taste of. I shook my head. I had the scars from that relationship, they weren’t changing the way I handled Grace. Grace was fundamentally different than Tessa, and I wasn’t dealing with Grace when I spoke about politics. I was dealing with Alpha Wolfe.

There was a line between Alpha Wolfe and Grace that I had to be aware of. There was way more at stake for both of us if I let those lines blur for either of us in a tangible way.

I promised to help her rebuild Mooncrest after what Devin had done, and that had nothing to do with readying her to be mine in a tangible way or even our personal relationship.

“… for what it is worth, Miss Grace is nothing like Lady Redwood.”

My lips twitched. “I have a feeling she’ll be back to being Ms. Greystone soon enough.”

His eyes widened, then narrowed. “You suspect the Greystones’ involvement?”

“With this attack? Of course.”

It couldn’t have been any clearer.

“Though, Grace’s quest for a better system might play in my favor more than I had anticipated.”

“How so?”

“It won’t take her long to figure out that no one is going to risk stepping on Astarte’s toes, even if Noir didn’t develop the system in Mooncrest.” I smiled. “She may be stubborn enough to try and get rid of the system and have a whole new one built, but I think the cost will put her off.”

“Human technology?”

“Mooncrest already has a heavily electronic system. She’d be taking a step backward. Either she’ll give up the quest, or she’s going to swallow her pride.” I weighed the two options. “I think she may be in a position to set her pride aside in favor of her guilt and logic.”

“She's learned something new?"

"That her access to information is severely limited inside of the States. She just learned about the Zaibatsu."

Gregory chuckled. "You are playing a long-form game."

I grinned. "I aim to win above all things."

And getting Grace and Astarte to develop a relationship that was beneficial to both of them, would be beneficial to me. Sean didn't need the kind of power Astarte or anyone else among witches wielded.

Noir may be the most neutral of covens when it came to who they did business with, but if they decided to stop doing business with the States in any capacity, it would cut the legs from under Sean and Fenris, especially if they were getting their longevity potions from witches.

Getting his supply chain cut would twist Sean's arm about Grace's drug and clear the way for her to get it to patent without Fenris' interference or force him to get hasty and make a mistake. The short-term discomfort would outstrip the short-term benefits by miles, let alone the long-term benefits.

If Grace proved herself the kind of woman she seemed to be.

I sighed, leaning back. "It's hard scheming."

Gregory outright cackled as we crossed the borderline and slipped into the portal that would take us to Silverlight.