Allure of the Wolf (Seraphine Thomas Book 2) (29 page)

“Chief Thomas, might I have a word?” someone asked me from behind. I sighed and turned around, flinching when I recognized him.

“What do you want?” I knew he was a wolf from his scent, and I remembered him from the only pack gathering I’d been to. He was one of Engle’s enforcers or Betas. I’d seen him near Engle… But he wasn’t one of the one’s who’d gotten in my face then or later.

He held his hands out in front of him and took a step back. “Just to talk. Please? I’m not here to hurt you.” He glanced around and then bit his lower lip before baring his neck to me. “Please?”

“How do I know this isn’t a trap?” I mumbled as I moved closer.

“Because you’re the only hope to save my daughter. I will do anything you tell me to, testify, hand over all the pack documents I have—
anything
if you can help her.”

Shit
. “What’s your name?”

“Freddie Powell. I’m one of the pack Betas. Please, you can trust me. I’m not a spy. I swear it. You’re powerful enough to know I’m not lying.”

The problem was I was still too
new
to have learned how to tell yet. I leaned in and gave his neck a peck before letting him lead me to a semi-private area for
intricate
coupling… Meaning there were little partitioned areas with chains on the walls, but still within full view of the club. I pulled the curtains as best as I could and we moved into the corner.

“Tell me what’s going on with your daughter,” I demanded quietly, out of patience for the night.

“Look, it’s hard to explain without you knowing more about the pack and what Engle’s really been up to,” he muttered, scrubbing his hands over his face. I waved him on and he sighed. “Can I trust you, Chief Thomas? If Engle finds out I told you any of this, he
will
destroy me and then my mate, my daughter, they’re—” He swallowed loudly as his eyes filled with tears. Freddie shook his head and let out a shaky breath. “I don’t know
what
he’d let the pack do to them.”

I gave a slight nod, studying him closely. I might not know how to tell if a person was lying as a wolf but I’d studied with the best in interrogation techniques and I’d picked up a few tricks along the way. He was shaking slightly, his pulse racing, and he was sweating. All of that told me he was lying.

Except
for the fact he wasn’t sitting in the hot seat being grilled. He’d approached
me
. Which told me he was truly scared. “Why come to me?”

“I’m out of time. I was supposed to have more time to figure out another way,” he admitted, seeming about twenty seconds from breaking down.

“Okay, take a deep breath,” I coaxed, realizing this was serious and the man wasn’t faking this kind of reaction. I waited until Freddie did and met his eyes. “I won’t tell Engle or anyone who I don’t need to in order to help your daughter, okay? You can trust me as long as I don’t find out this is some kind of trick.”

“It’s not.”

I stared into the lost eyes of a father—not just a wolf—but a man and
father
who was desperate, trying to ignore the thumping music as I read his body language and sighed. “Then start from the beginning.”

“Engle talked me into coming here from the New York pack years and years ago because there just aren’t enough female wolves there,” he muttered, his cheeks heating up. “Being with humans can be dangerous and we weren’t
out
yet. I visited and I saw my mate, Jessica. I fell hard. She was amazing. She did too. I stayed. Moved my life here and we fell in love. I swore my allegiance to Engle.” His eyes filled with tears then, which he roughly wiped away. “I didn’t know
how
he was getting female wolves until after that.

“I
swear
that’s the truth. I was a messed up kid but I turned my life around long ago. I never went back to boosting cars after I was drafted, got scratched over in Vietnam, and was on a good path. I helped a
lot
in New York after I was discharged. All I wanted was a good home and Jessica. I
love
her, Chief Thomas. Engle had ordered some other wolf to turn her, but she didn’t know that, thought it was an accident. It was her first full moon when we met so he was pleased as could be that she ended up landing him a Beta.

“We were clueless as to what was going on. We mated, had a baby, and
then
we found out how the pack really works. We tried to switch. Jessica tried to get her job to transfer her, but somehow she lost her job.
I
tried and Engle told me not to be stupid, that he knew people everywhere and to stop starting trouble or an
accident
could happen to my family. We were so scared.”

“Understandably,” I muttered, reaching out and squeezing his shoulder. “So you stayed.”

“We stayed but we kept looking for a way out, just more carefully. Vlad seemed on the up-and-up, so when he formed an alliance with the wolves, some of us hoped things would change but then Dorcus seemed to put a fucking spell on him or some shit and he turned a blind eye to everything and we were back to square one. Jessica and I finally agreed that the only way was to hide away enough money so she could get away with Ashley—our daughter—and I was going to stay behind to buy them time and say it was just a vacation.”

“Because he wouldn’t think it was for good if you were here.” I waited until he nodded and sucked in a harsh breath. “Jesus, Freddie. What the fuck
else
is going on that I don’t know about that you were willing to face Engle’s wrath to sneak your daughter out? I knew he was turning wolves. We’re working on that, but she was obviously
born
a wolf.”

“You know about that?” he whispered, his eyes going wide.
“How?”

“Doesn’t matter. I do but I just found out.” There was no chance I was giving up a source. I might not know what to keep quiet about
myself
or my paranormal status… Or even things like talking to the Shifter Council, but I’d been FBI long enough to know that a smart person kept sources and their cards on cases close to their chest. “I’ve been figuring out what to do about it. Tell me what else is going on.”

He studied me closely a moment as if realizing I really would keep what he was telling me confidential before nodding. “Jessica and Ashley were all set to go but then Dorcus died. Engle became paranoid then because Dorcus was doing shit behind his back and he shut down anyone leaving town without special requests. Jessica and I started panicking and I think our stress set off Ashley’s change early. She shifted last full moon which means she’s to be
inducted
this full moon.”

When he didn’t say anymore, I pulled my hand away and rubbed the back of my neck, thinking of how to proceed. We didn’t have much time before someone might find us or overhear us so I didn’t have time to be gentle. “Freddie, you gotta spit it out, man. I don’t know what that means. Is it like a hazing ritual for new wolves into the pack?”

His eyes
filled
with rage and he yanked back the curtain. I watched as he surveyed the room until he found what he was looking for, then he pointed to a woman on her knees in front of a man giving him oral sex. “
That’s
being
inducted
for a
female
who comes of age in our pack.”

“What?”
I breathed as my skin went cold, tingling everywhere as I saw spots in my vision.

“She shows her loyalty to our
Alpha
on her knees before
he
takes her virginity in front of all his Betas and enforcers,” he choked out, closing the curtain again. “Then any unmated male of the dominants can sample her if they want her for a mate. Basically they will go down the line until one of them decides they want to keep her.”

“My
god
,” I gasped as I leaned against the wall, my heart aching as I rubbed my sternum. “And you’ve seen this?”

He choked back a sob and nodded. “Yes. God help me,
yes
. You have to understand. I’m not strong enough to take him. I’d
lose
. Then Jessica would be unmated again and subjected to the same, unprotected. Ashley would have been in the same position.”

“How old are the girls?” I murmured, trying to calculate the crimes Engle had committed in my head as I wrapped my free arm around my stomach. “How many?”

He wiped his eyes and scratched his jaw. “Most are seventeen or eighteen. Ashley’s seventeen. I don’t know how many. I’ve seen at least a dozen, maybe more.”

“When? When is this happening?” I felt numb. That was a long rap sheet to charge Engle with. And even worse Freddie had said he was out of time. This wasn’t something I could fix
quickly
.

“Tomorrow. It’s the first day of the lunar cycle after their first full shift.” He dropped to one knee in front of me, keeping a respectful distance. “I am
begging
you
, Chief Thomas. You’re my last hope now that we can’t get away. You’re the only person more powerful than him. I’ve heard you don’t want to lead the pack and I respect that. I didn’t either but to protect my
family
I would have. I can’t take him and I couldn’t hold the pack for long, not in a city like Chicago. Will you help my Ashley?”

I blinked back tears as I swallowed down the urge to vomit. This was one of those moments I would never, not
ever
forget in all of my life. I was standing at the crossroad and choosing the path I would go down and there was no turning back. There was simply no other way. Not now. Not with a young girl on the line like this.

I nodded as I watched my own tears hit the club’s floor.

“Yes, I’ll take over the pack.”

17

Things moved
very
quickly after that. I swore Freddie to silence, telling him to slip out of the club before me and meet me at my house first thing in the morning. There was a lot to be done and
no
time to do it in. He agreed, practically breaking down in relief. Once he regained his composure, he snuck out of the curtained area before me.

Now I needed a reason that would fool
all
the eyes of the club to get the hell out of there. I just didn’t know
what
.

Thinking now more than ever I would need wolves I could trust at my back and
fast
I supposed it best to kill two birds with one stone. I stepped out from behind the curtain and took a picture of myself, sending it to the Cooney twins.

“A LOT
has happened since I saw you both last. Miss you tons. HURRY to Chicago. Sera.”

I thought that spoke volumes about the message’s meaning more than just a dirty photo. I sent it and found Jesse sulking over a pop.

“Moon mate, I want to play,” I sang, making sure lots of people were watching. He smiled widely at me and followed me over by Simone. I shot her a wink and handed her my phone. “Can you watch that for me, girl?”

“Of course,” she chuckled as she eyed over Jesse and his fine physique appreciatively.

I pulled Jesse into my arms and kissed him deeply before working my way up his jaw and pressing my lips to his ear. “I need to slip out of here without anyone knowing why, so play along and all is forgiven, okay?”

“Yes, Alpha,” he moaned as he lifted my leg and started grinding against me. As if right on cue my phone started beeping for incoming messages.

“Aren’t you popular,” Simone teased, holding it up for me.

I shrugged. “Probably nothing. If they don’t keep coming, it’s not work. Would you check for me?” I shot her a meaningful look.

“Of course.” She unlocked it and did an impressive job of not even flinching at whatever was on the screen. I focused on Jesse, watching her out of the corner of my eye as she scrolled through a few messages. Then my phone
blew
up with beeps. “My dear, your fun is definitely over. You have all kinds of names demanding you
call in
?”

“Fuck,” I bitched, pulling away from Jesse enough to reach for the phone. He didn’t stop though, kissing up my neck and groping my breasts. I pretended to read the messages and nodded. “Sorry, little wolf. My night off just got canceled. Riley’s still free.” His head snapped up and his jaw fell open. “Shit happens.”

“Yes, Alpha,” he grumbled as he pulled away. I gave his ass a good smack and shook my head.

“Damn. I was really going to have fun with that.”

“I’ll see the poor wolf is entertained,” Simone teased, leaning in and bumping my shoulder. It gave her the cover to talk quietly enough so only we could hear. “Is what I think happening from those messages really happening?”

“Probably. Come over to my place first thing in the morning. It has to happen tomorrow and I’ll need help,” I barely breathed. I leaned in and gave her cheek a kiss, letting my voice go back to its normal volume. “How about brunch tomorrow? Early, before we have our lunar stuff? I haven’t had a chance to show you my new place. I could use some decorating help.”