“What do you mean?” I whispered, my heart gone cold. Was my pack in trouble?
“If the plan he has doesn't move forward, he’ll take drastic measures. I’ve been trying to protect you all. The rest of the pack is a lost cause as far as Manticore. They will never get the big picture. But I can help you. Just tell me you’ll be on my side, we can work with Gideon and he’ll spare your pack. I can work something out!” He said, his eyes telling me that this was the truth.
“And Celeste?” I asked, my voice low.
“She’ll be removed, one way or another.” He was talking so seriously that I felt my body break out in a sweat. Was he threatening to hurt her?
“Never threaten my ma-” I stopped myself, clearing my throat. “My pack.” Elijah’s eyes looked confused, surprised for a moment. Then, they narrowed.
Gideon is moving forward with his plans. You need to make a choice, right now. You go against him, he’ll go after your pack, and you. Everything you have will be destroyed. Or, you can come with me, we can work with him. We can take Manticore Tech to new heights.” I set him down slowly, my mind reeling.
“You want to win? Then stop pretending the game has rules. Look at Harringday. They will always win. They don’t play fair. Lockwood hides behind its ethics. That’s why you’ve been stuckin the same place for years.” He went on, and I realized I had a choice to make.
“You can’t win, Dante. The game was always stacked. You have a chance. Join us, we can take over everything. You can get back at her, take back all of what she took from you and more.” I swallowed, realizing I had no idea what we’d been up against. Elijah looked at me, imploring me to come to his side.
“They don’t have what it takes. You cannot succeed being ethical in the Eastern Province. But you and I, Dante, you and I couldlead. Liam and Vigo, they are too soft. With you and I leading Manticore Tech, we could run the Eastern Province before anyone realized what happened. I need your decision, Gideon is waiting on a call from me. He knows something is up.”
He held out his hand.
Time was slipping away, and with it every safe path I could see. The choice he laid out was nothing less than a clean, brutal ultimatum: refuse him, refuse Gideon, and my pack would be hunted down - silenced, erased. Our company would be squashed, never able to catch up.
But if I worked with him, we could succeed beyond what we ever thought possible. We’d have Gideon on our side, taking us to new heights as we broke all the rules holding Manticore back. But Celeste would be destroyed.
My mind raced as I realized what he was asking of me.
My pack, or her.
My life’s work, or her.
Everything, orher.
My fingers hovered over his, the weight of the decision pressing into my bones. For a long breath, I felt the world narrow to that single moment. Then, steadying myself on the thing that mattered most, I reached out.
I took his hand. “You have yourself a deal.”
Chapter 33
Liam
The guesthouse was quiet. Pack Valence was out of town, which made things extra calm. But we were all on edge regardless. We had the proof we needed, and now we had to execute our plan. But despite all this, I felt the strange pressure of something coming, a type of dread in my intuition that was common for alphas and our heightened senses.
Then, I knew for sure that something was wrong. I felt an angry panic coming from our pack bond, far away, but present. It was Dante. Something was bothering him.
Then, my phone buzzed once against the table. Dante’s name flashed, and I looked at it. I knew he was still working on finding out if Elijah was involved. Now, his text sent a shock through my body.
My instincts immediately flared as I barked out to the pack. “Everyone get down here now!” I yelled, and Vigo came racing down the hall. Celeste was upstairs. I had to get her to safety; nothing else in the world mattered more.
Chapter 34
Gideon
Celeste hadn’t been answering her phone for the last few days, and I finally figured out why. She had lied. Now that the pack had her documents, everything they needed to ruin her, I wondered why she’d taken a few days off. Was she suspicious of them? Could she be catching on?
I checked the spyware I’d set up on her laptop. There was a notification that she’d used it from a new IP address, which was conveniently located at the home of Pack Valence - a pack she used to date, one I'd hoped would take her off my hands. I looked at the screen, wondering what she was doing. Perhaps she lied to cover up the fact that she wanted to go screw her ex-boyfriend.
I checked their social media, and it looked like they were on vacation, but not with her. I could only imagine that she wantedto stay in their luxury mansion to avoid work. Either way, I needed the Lockwood boys to release those documents to the press soon, or I’d have to take matters into my own hands.
I sat back at my desk, irritated at the new development. Nothing was moving fast enough. Nothing was under control.
