Page 216 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha
“Thatisthe loophole,” I said, fury making my voice little more than a growl. “But no alpha worth his salt would take advantage of it.”
The council didn’t have a response to that.
“We need to speak with the Kings’ banker and see what they can tell us,” Bryn said. “And we need to go through everything Troy and Gregor owned. There must be information on this account somewhere.”
I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. This was turning into a much bigger nightmare than I’d thought. If Troy had used a human bank account, it would be very complicated to gain access to it.
“Don’t any of you have ideas about what the Redwolfs were planning?” Tavi asked. “It’s been seven years—you must have some kind of theory?”
The councilmen exchanged looks. “Well,” Colby began hesitantly, “it’s possible they were trying to expand King territory, but not from neighboring packs.”
“Wait, wait.” I held my hand up. “Are you saying they were after human land?” That was a disaster waiting to happen and much more trouble than it was worth. Humans were physically weaker than us, true, but they had guns and tanks and heavy machinery—all of which made them a significant threat. Gregor hated humans, anyway, so why would he be interested in living among them?
Colby shook his head. “No, not human land. I’m talking about land from other realms. From other shifter species.”
We stared at him in puzzlement. “You lost me. Wolves are the only shifter species,” I said.
Colby sighed and rubbed his forehead. “From what I remember, this was a little above my head.”
“I’ll try to explain it as I understood it,” Grant said. “Around the same time we learned about this tax account, Gregor started collecting old maps of the Idaho panhandle and ancient texts on wolf legends. We have no idea where he got these documents or where he stored them. They’re not in the pack library or his personal library because we’ve had those places checked thoroughly. We asked Gregor about the books, but all he would say was that they held information that would bring the Kings to new levels of greatness.”
“What the hell does that mean?” I asked. “How would old texts and maps help him?”
“Well, there is a very old fable about an ancient version of our world.” He glanced at Dana, who had been sitting in quiet disapproval since the others told us what they knew. “Dana, please, you know the story best.”
She heaved a long, exhausted sigh, but she spoke. “Everyone knows pack mothers started the wolf shifter species, but this legend states that hundreds of years ago, the world was populated with more than just wolf shifters. Dragons, bears, birds, foxes, and big cats lived alongside us, and each species had their own pack mothers who brought them into existence.
“Each shifter species had their own territory to rule over, but over time, some of them became greedy. Dragons descendedfrom their mountain caves to seek out treasure and hoard wealth, leaving nothing for the others. Smaller species like the birds and rodents were hunted while in their animal forms, powerless to stop it. Bigger species like the cats and wolves became increasingly territorial as their populations grew.
“Wars and deep blood feuds broke out, and before long, all shifter species were getting closer and closer to extinction. To stop their children from killing each other, the pack mothers came together and used their magic to open portals to new realms. They created one for each species and separated them forever. We wolves were the only ones who remained in the original realm.”
Tavi, Bryn, and I exchanged glances. It appeared none of us had heard this story before, but it sounded far too crazy to be real. No wonder Dana had called it a fable.
“What does that have to do with the Redwolfs?” Tavi asked.
“I don’t understand why everyone is struggling so much with this,” Dana huffed. “It’s clear—Alpha Gregor believed that if he opened those portals, he could travel through different realms. When he arrived, he could use the might of our army to expand our territory.”
Silence followed her words, then Bryn spoke up. “You supported this?”
Dana’s lips twisted with annoyance. “I supported the spirit of it. Everyone seems to be forgetting that we areKings. We are meant to have kingdoms. If Alpha Gregor believed he could make it happen, why should I care if his methods are unorthodox?”
“He was screwing over this pack in the pursuit of something impossible,” Bryn argued. “And what did it amount to? Hundreds of thousands of dollars stolen? A divided council? You should care a lot, Dana.”
She scoffed. “He was working in service of the greater good.”
This conversation was getting so frustrating. I hated sharing blood with a man who’d been crazy enough to believe such a story.Dragons? Really?It was far more believable that Troy had used the money to build himself an army of ferals.
“I can believe that Gregor and Troy would want to get more land,” I said. “I simply can’t wrap my head around the possibility that they would believe in some ridiculous bedtime story. There’s no proof that those events ever happened.”
“It’s one of those things that can only be proven when achieved,” Ross replied with a shrug. “We didn’t say it was reasonable for them to believe it was possible.”
“But we have to admit it’s possible that they believed the story was true,” Bryn said. “If Troy and Gregor believed in other realms, that would explain the ancient maps and books Gregor collected. He needed some intel on the locations of those portals.”
This was all so ridiculous. I was on the verge of storming out, taking my mate and sister with me. But Bryn was right. We had to consider every avenue to track down this money.
“Do any of you know how a portal could be reopened?” she asked. “Or even where the closest portal is supposed to be?”
“Of course not,” Dana snapped. “We didn’t give it any thought because we don’t believe it’s possible. There are so many mythsabout the ancient world that most wolves don’t know. None of them have been proven true, and there’s no reason for anyone to take them so seriously.”
