Chapter 36

36

KILLIAN

A knock on the door breaks my wallowing, and I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose and praying for patience. My fuse is short after coming back from my trip to the dungeon, and even Edmund is staying well out of my way.

If I hear one more sob story about how funds were merely temporarily diverted away from the pack for some imaginary emergency situation, I'll kill someone. It seems these councillors are a forgetful bunch, and those in charge just conveniently forgot to put the money back. But it's all going to be resolved now, like that makes it all okay.

It seems like with the council concerned with lining their own pockets, they turned a blind eye to whatever fiscal shenanigans the wolves that were supposed to be under their watch were up to.

I'm dismayed to see the number of packs where the leadership has taken advantage of those working hard for them.

I'm going to pull my hair out if one more person sits in front of me and pretends like they haven't abused their pack's trust and shouldn't face any consequences for what they've done. But I'll bide my time and deal with them all in turn.

The only silver lining has been the good stories I've gotten to hear. It's been heartening to see some of the head alphas coming forward, praising the strong alphas under their remit.

From what I can tell, the heads of each region are a selfless bunch, and while their hands have been somewhat tied by a self-absorbed council ignoring many issues, they themselves have taken on the additional workload of caring for all the packs without any financial benefit.

The only perk they have is a direct line to the council, which they use more often than not, to fight the injustices they see, some of which relate to the council itself. I've seen some instances where the council has taken action, but the sceptic in me thinks that probably has more to do with not wanting to draw further attention to their various schemes.

It's a mess. Worse than I thought, with some of the wrongs being on a much larger scale than I anticipated. I love my father, but it appears as though some of this began to happen under his watch. I don't blame him for being distracted when there was a threat against his family, but it's hard to reverse decades of institutional abuse.

"Sir?" Edmund calls tentatively, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Yes, please enter," I reply, bracing myself for whatever elaborate tale I'm about to be subjected to next. When I see a familiar face being led through the door by Edmund, I'm surprised. This isn't a meeting I expected to have.

I haven't had any dealings with Charlotte's father since the party at Alpha Steel's, and yet here he is, all alone, and for once, his mate is nowhere to be seen.

"Alpha Webster," I say, standing to greet the man. "Please, take a seat."

He smiles, a warm, genuine smile, and drops his portly frame into the chair opposite me, rubbing his hands back and forth along the carved wooden arms.

"I wasn't expecting to see you here," I admit, curiosity piqued.

"I wasn't really expecting to be here myself," he says. "But some days, I have to remind myself I am still the alpha of my pack, and while my mate has certain delusions of grandeur, I myself am a pretty simple man."

His modesty is not put on. Though I doubt he's anything but simple, he does strike me as being straightforward, which is a trait I greatly admire.

"I look after my pack well, and I don't spend lavishly, unlike my mate." He frowns, considering his next words carefully. "And despite outward appearances, I love both of my daughters equally."

Alpha Webster doesn't say unlike my mate , but that's clearly what he's getting at.

"My son, as first born, will take over the pack when I retire, which is thankfully, getting closer every day. And Elodie has a head on her shoulders. Much as it seems like Cressida has her under her thumb, if you look closer, you'll find that generally, Elodie is calling the shots in her own subtle way."

Like the proud father he is, he smiles as he talks about her.

"Elodie picks her battles carefully and will go along with Cressida's plans so long as it suits her. When it doesn't, she has a way of making Cressida think it was her idea to change her mind." With a wink, he adds, "Something she may have picked up off her old man."

While he loves his mate, it's very clear he's more than aware of her shortcomings.

"And what of Charlotte?" I try to keep the eagerness for information from my face. "You worry about her?"

I'm itching to know everything about her. Considering I doubt she's talking to me right now, this might be my only way.

"Charlotte is the apple of my eye, probably because she hasn't got it all figured out yet, even though she probably thinks she does. She very much reminds me of myself." With a sigh, he rubs his hand over his chest. "She's determined not to become her mother, for obvious reasons. And since they've grown apart, she's not sure what to make of Elodie, who's more of a politician than any of us."

I can see that.

"Charlotte wears her heart on her sleeve, and all she's ever wanted to do is to live her own life, on her terms, and help people. But it'll take a strong wolf to keep her in line, and to deal with our family. Cressida will pounce on any weakness."

By our family , he means her sister and her mother, because by all accounts, Alpha Webster is a good man, and his son seems to be leading the pack in the same direction.

"Noted. But you still haven't told me the reason for your visit. Are you here to make a confession?" I ask, still wondering what has brought the man to my office today.

Is he going to demand to see her? Or is it something else entirely? Is he here to deliver bad news about the pack, or about him personally?

I'm both curious and dreading finding out in equal measure. How will I tell Charlotte?

Alpha Webster takes in the opulent surroundings, looking comfortable in this place, but not particularly impressed or intimidated by it. He doesn't strike me as a greedy man, but then, I've been constantly surprised today with the admissions being made.

"I have no confession to make," he says, emphasising the ‘I'. "But I would suggest that Cressida's father possibly has a lot to answer for and might be somewhere for you to start looking in relation to what happened to your father."