Chapter 98

Grace

My hands shook as I answered.

"Grace?" I almost deflated at the familiar sound of Gabriels' voice on the other end. "Are you there?"

"Yes... I... Sorry. I'm just..."

"Under a lot of pressure. I saw it on the news, and I wanted to check in on you if you needed anything."

I sniffled. "You have a set of movers you could ship to me, kidnap my brother, and get us out of Mooncrest within a week?"

I let out a watery laugh.

"Is that what you've decided?" Gabriel asked.

I winced, remembering what he told me about Silver Eclipse.

"I'm not... I can't..." I blew out a deep breath. "I don't need you judging me too. I've gotten enough of that from Eason."

"I'm not judging. I'm only asking."

My jaw trembled. "Sorry. I... I'm in a bad spot."

"I understand," Gabriel said. "Can I offer... perhaps a different perspective?"

I winced. He sounded like Charles.

"You have more... experience with people like them than I do, I guess... Are they really going to give me a week?"

Gabriel tutted. "You have the oddest penchant for being insensitive, you know?"

My face burned with embarrassment. "I'm sorry. I..."

"Work on it," he said. "Don't just apologize and act like that's enough."

"I don't need a lecture."

"Apparently, you do," Gabriel said. "If I was more sensitive about it, I would have hung up."

I set my jaw. "So why haven't you?"

"Because I don't want to see you dead."

My blood ran cold. "W-What?"

He sighed. "Blood Moon and Wolfsbane are basically two sides of the same coin. As you said, my experience gives me a better understanding of their tactics than you."

"Every other alpha that they've forced to step down--"

"Is dead."

"That's not true."

"Have you heard from them? Seen them in the news? Social media? Passing conversation?"

"W-Well, no, but--"

"Dead."

"You can't just assume that!" I said, my voice turning into a panicked shriek. "I--"

"Grace." His voice was firm and biting. "You can listen to what I have to say, or we can end the conversation. I don't have a mover, but if you're so sure that running is the answer, then I'm sure you can grab the necessities and leave."

I set my jaw. "It feels like you're judging me."

"It sounds like you're projecting."

I set my jaw. "If you're so certain that every alpha they've threatened before who stepped down is dead, then what's the point? Why don't they just k-kill me outright?"

I shuddered at the thought.

"If you give them the chance, they will." He sighed. "Look. I wouldn't usually--"

"Be an asshole?"

He snorted. "If you think this is me being an asshole, I fear for the future of our relationship, Grace. I was going to say that I usually wouldn't be so harsh, but you're on a ticking clock, and it sounds like you've already started burning bridges that you desperately need right now. So here's the truth: this is all a ruse. Wolfsbane has done it so many times. Blood Moon has done it so many times, and most of the time, it works. It's when it doesn't work that you've made some progress."

"I don't understand."

"Blood Moon set their sights on Silver Eclipse all of a year after I took over, just as I was on the cusp of breaking into a new pack tax bracket. I called the Inter-Pack Police, I called neighboring packs, I called everyone who should have answered, and no one came. People deserted. People were pissed. They blew up half my ports in a week-long attack, just like they're doing to you."

I shut my mouth.

"So yes, I have more experience in this than you do. I am telling you that given half the chance, they will kill you as soon as it most benefits them."

"No one?" I whispered, horrified.

The President has more to gain, waiting for her to cut loose or hoping Blood Moon will just off her beforehand...

"Blood Moon has... connections to the President?"

"They're little more than managed terrorists. I wouldn't be surprised if they were on his payroll. I thought you would have figured that out by now."

"How was I supposed to guess that the President had terrorists on payroll? He's supposed to protect everyone."

"Cute," he said. "Keep that hope alive, Grace. That optimism, but get ready for the hard dose of reality coming your way. You back down, you bend? Blood Moon, the media, and the President will drag you and your family through the mud, and you'll be forced to remain on the run for the rest of your and your children's lives until they can kill you."

"Why?"

"Because missing people make better examples than living ones, and the dead don't talk about what wasn't done for them."

I shuddered and closed my eyes. "I-I... I can't do this."

Had I known years ago that I would be here, I can't say I would have ever gone back to school. I don't know what I would do other than avoid Devin like the plague. I winced at the thought. As horrible as everything I had dealt with while married to Devin was, without him, I wouldn't have Cecil or Richard. I wouldn't have met Charles either.

Maybe the drug would have been done already, but would I have already been dead?

Would I have ever come back to be alpha, or would Eason have just kept running it in my absence?

I winced. As terrible as it was, I knew the answer to that: I would have let Eason keep running the pack and just hidden away in the lab.

My apologies. You are a coward.

"And even if you went on the run, there's a good chance they'll blow up your city anyway."

His voice yanked me out of my thoughts.

"What?"

Gabriel sighed. "We're really going to have to talk about why you don't know much about your father's reign as alpha, but when Blood Moon threatened Mooncrest, it was right around the time of the first iteration of the Silver Flu Vaccine. Do you remember how old you were when that was?"

I swallowed. "Hi-High school, I think."

I remembered there was a span of time when he seemed to be busier than usual, but I didn't remember hearing about a threat. We spent a lot of time in City Hall when we weren't in school, but I don't remember anything else about that time.

"Alpha Shadow gave your father an ultimatum: step down as Mooncrest's alpha, or he'd blow up the city. Your father told him, and I quote, to fuck off."

My eyes widened as a laugh escaped me. That sounded more like something my mother would say than my father.

"By the end of the week, the Silver Flu vaccine was completed and patented, and they started distributing it not just to Mooncrest but to other packs. Blood Moon called off the attack for the good of the States. Soon after, your father was awarded a Presidential award."

I blinked. "Why..."

I went quiet. The timing was too obvious. Blood Moon had chosen to attack my father then because of the vaccine because it would have made Mooncrest far too important to the States to do anything to him later... just like my longevity drug could change Mooncrest's standing in the States forever-- change my importance forever.

"The patent..." I whispered. "This is because of the patent."

"You're learning," Gabriel said. Something rustled on the other side. "I have to go, Grace, but think about what I said. I'll check in on you later."

I hung up and looked up. The driver wasn't the usual one, but his alternative. The train lights flashed as it rattled past.

Could I trust that Gabriel was telling the truth?

If I went to the Clan territory, would they chase me then, or would they just use it against my image?

Would Eason come with me?

Would he even be alive at the end of it? What about Amira and her boyfriend? Would they be run out of Mooncrest? What about the longevity drug? I listened to the train rattle past, at a loss of what to do or think.

Could I live on the run with Cecil and Richard? Constantly looking over my shoulder? No, I couldn't. I knew myself well enough to know that much, but if I stayed here, then what would I do?

What could I do?

I wasn't a social media guru or a public relations magician. I didn't know how to talk to a terrorist. I wasn't cunning enough to outwit one, either. I opened an internet tab on my phone to search for the Blood Moon threat to Mooncrest when my father was alive.

There was an old, grainy video. He looked exhausted. His suit was askew, based on the date it was after he'd told the world that the city was locked down.

"I don't care who you are," he'd said. "I don't care what your goal or aim is or who you have backing you. Right now, you're just pissing me off. My pack is in danger, the whole of the States is in danger from this fucking illness, and you think is the time to play your sadistic games? Fuck off! If my kids get sick because of this shit, you'll be lucky if I find you first."

I sniffled as my father stepped back from the podium and went back into City Hall. I could see my younger self walking past the front doors.

I looked up at the passing train.

A deadly Flu, two children, a terrorist attack...

A breakthrough discovery, two children, and a terrorist attack...

"Fuck off," I whispered, blinking back my tears.

"Alpha Wolfe, did you say something?"

I looked up, meeting the gaze of the driver through the mirror.

"Take me back to Wolfe Medical."