Chapter 21

" D irector Hunter is dead," Aiden informs us, his face stoic as my mouth drops open in shock at his declaration.

"Wait, what? How?" I demand, leaning forward in my chair in the busy coffee shop, not caring that we could be overheard by humans. I just need to know who stole my kill. It may sound dark, but that bastard was behind the kidnapping and murder of shifters, and the reason shifters were being unfairly prosecuted. Not to mention, he wanted to put harsher restrictions on our movements. I'd later learned that Hunter had an ulterior motive. While he believed all the crap he spouted about shifters, he truly wanted a Shadowborn. Not as an assassin, as most would think, but because he wanted to be a Shadowborn, and since shifters produce more Shadowborn than any other supernatural race, it was fair game on shifters.

When Alpha Mortlock had received the call this morning, we debated for a long time about whether I should meet with Agent Aiden. While we trusted Aiden and Ryan, they still belonged with ASP, and after their blatant and illegal abduction of me, our trust is a little thin. When he suggested meeting in the coffee shop—a neutral, open place with plenty of humans around—I argued that we should hear him out. The pack was outraged with what they had learned, and I was humbled when I'd found out that they were ready to mount an attack on ASP to get me back. Thankfully, due to the link I had with my mates, they knew I wanted them to hold off on rescuing me, which they'd passed on to the pack. I dread to think what the outcome would have been if they had.

If they had, Em might have survived. I can't help but wonder if he could have been saved if they had ignored my insistence that they hold off, and another wave of grief falls over me like a storm cloud. I can't think that way, there would have been casualties if Moon River had attacked the ASP headquarters, and Em never would've wanted that. I know being locked away the last twenty years had been difficult for him and that I was the reason he was locked up in the first place. The idea that he died trying to save me, completing his task from twenty years ago, is quite fitting, and I know it's something he would have wanted, even if I'll take that guilt to my grave.

A wave of compassion and concern reaches me through the bonds, and I feel the guys gather closer around me in comfort. Mortlock, who's sitting to my left, frowns as he sees the guys' reaction, and he meets my gaze with a hardness that shocks me.

"We can leave if this is upsetting you, Ari." A wave of his power follows his words as he looks over at the ASP agents, and I see the moment they feel it, their eyes glowing slightly in response. I realise then that Mortlock's anger is not at me, but as an alpha protecting one of his pack from a threat. Warmth blooms in my chest, and I reach over to place my hand on top of his, waiting for him to drag his eyes back to mine.

"Thank you, Alpha, but I'm fine." I wouldn't usually address him so formally, but since this is an official meeting, I thought it was best to keep up appearances.

Mortlock's gaze softens as I speak, and he squeezes my hand slightly before turning back to Aiden and the other agents. Ryan's face is tight and pinched as he sits back in his chair, and I wonder what's crawled up his ass. I know he's never been a fan of me, but I thought I'd earned his begrudging respect.

"Alpha Mortlock, Ari, let me introduce you to Agent Thomas, she will be taking charge of ASP in the interim." Aiden's voice distracts me from my musings, and I realise why the agents are acting so stiff and formal when Agent Thomas takes a step forward. She doesn't bother sitting, preferring instead to stand and look down at us, her hands clasped behind her back. None of them have uniform on, so they blend in within the open setting, but there is no mistaking her as a normal civilian by the way she acts.

"Alpha," she addresses Mortlock, giving him a curt nod before turning her sharp gaze on me, and if looks could kill, I'd be in deep trouble. "So you are the one Hunter destroyed our organisation over."

Low growls fill the air as my mates react to her slur. Humans look around the coffee shop, trying to identify the sound, and I even hear a few mutter about thunder. Killian pushes up from his chair, his teeth bared as he leans over the table towards Agent Thomas. The others curse and shift positions in their chairs in case they need to jump up and stop him, but I wave them away. I trust Killian, he's not the man he used to be.

"How dare you insult my mate." His voice is low, his eyes locked on her as he defends me. Reaching out, I clasp his hand, stroking my thumb over his palm in a calming gesture.

"Kill, it's okay." I can feel his indecision down the bond. He wants to defend my honour, but he also knows I'll be pissed if he makes a scene in a human coffee shop.

"Killian, my friend, it's not worth it." Mortlock's steady voice cuts through the tension, and Killian finally looks away from the agent before nodding his head in agreement and returning to his chair, but not before pulling me closer to him, his inner wolf demanding that he protect me. "Ari did nothing wrong other than exist," Alpha Mortlock states, addressing the woman, his words clear and leaving no room for disagreement. There is a pause as her steely gaze moves from me to the alpha.

"We will be undergoing a full investigation of what has been going on under Hunter's leadership." Her words are clipped and to the point before her eyes narrow on me again. "If I had my way, I'd be bringing you in for questioning, however, testimonies from agents have saved you." An unsaid ‘for now' hangs in the air, and I know I'll have to keep an eye on her in the future. "I shall leave Agent Cross to answer any questions you may have. I'm sure we will cross paths again, Ari." Narrowing my eyes on the woman, I hold her stare until she looks over at Mortlock, giving him a curt farewell. "Alpha Mortlock." Bowing her head briefly, she straightens her pantsuit before stalking out of the coffee shop, her entourage following her, leaving only Aiden and Ryan sitting awkwardly in their chairs.

"What a bitch," Alex mutters, his eyes narrowed on the door Agent Thomas just walked through.

"Tell me about it," Ryan replies, sliding off his suit jacket and unbuttoning the top button of his shirt now that his superior has left. Seeing Aiden's disapproving look, he shrugs. "What? You think it too."

Smothering a smile, I rethink my impression of Ryan. He may be an ass, but he says it how it is, which is refreshing.

"Agent Cross, what can you tell us? Is Ari in danger?" Mortlock inquires, shifting the focus and getting down to business, looking at how he can protect his pack.

"Please, we can drop the formalities, Alpha? I'm Aiden and this is Ryan," Aiden responds, gesturing from himself to his cousin, who is watching the humans around us with interest.

"In that case, call me Mortlock," he replies with a nod of his head. "Now, what can you tell us?"

Aiden pauses as he looks over at me, and I get the impression that while he's talking to all of us, it's me he's really addressing.

"After Emmanuel, formally known as Em, killed the witch, Ari was able to escape." He tries to hide it, but I can hear the note of pain in his voice. It's not just me mourning Em. I'd forgotten that Em was working with Aiden and Ryan, so they would have known him well. "As you know, the Butcher stabbed Emmanuel, but before he died, he called on the last of his power to…shadow himself over to Hunter," he explains, stumbling over how to describe the ability, looking at me to confirm he explained it in a way that made sense. Heart aching, I nod my head, it makes too much sense.

"How did he do it?" My voice is quiet, but they hear it and understand what I'm really asking. How did he kill Hunter?

"He pulled the knife from his chest and stabbed Hunter with it. He died shortly after," Ryan answers in his usual blunt manor, but surprises me when he leans forward, lowering his voice. "There was nothing you could do, it was a fatal injury."

Leaning back in the chair, I nurse my coffee, mulling over the information they've given me. None of it's a real shock, other than Hunter died, but I find a sense of satisfaction knowing Em managed to take him down. While I'm pissed that I wasn't able to do it, Hunter had tormented Em for far longer than he had me.

"What happened to the body?" I ask Aiden, who glances at Ryan. They seem to have a silent conversation before Ryan answers.

"We were going to ask you what you would like us to do with it."

"Can we take him back with us, bury him in the pack forest?" I request, glancing at the alpha for permission, then smiling at his nod. Em had been locked away for over twenty years, he would want to be buried outside. Plus, with his earth magic, I figured he'd want to be around nature.

"He would've liked that," Aiden says softly, and we pause for a moment in respectful silence. I know none of the guys ever met Em, but they know he meant a lot to me, even when I thought he had betrayed me by working for the organisation that killed Tori .

Thinking over everything I've learned so far, something sticks in my mind, and I lean forward, placing my coffee back on the table between us.

"The witch. Who was he?"

"We don't know." Ryan's curt response makes me frown and glance over at his more open cousin.

"What do you mean, you don't know?" I'd aimed the question at Aiden, but surprisingly, it's Ryan who answers.

"Exactly that, there's no record of him. We've only seen him around a few times, and he was always heavily guarded. But there was something off about him," Ryan explains with a shudder, like even the thought of the witch was enough to disturb him. Leaning forward, he drops his voice, shaking his head as he clarifies, "A normal witch shouldn't have the power to do what he did, to neutralise not only a shifter, but any supernatural."

Aiden nods and takes over from his cousin. "Retaining supernaturals is dangerous, and we have rooms designed to hold different supernaturals based on their skill set, but never to completely take away and nullify their powers." A shudder runs through me that any one person has that amount of power, and I can tell from the shifting of the guys around me that they feel the same. "He was brought in about a year ago and has been working with a special task force. That's all we know about him, but we do know there are more like him."

Everyone falls silent as they digest this. Not only is there someone who can take away our connection with our wolves, but there is more than one of them. My mind, however, is caught on something else he said.

"This special task force…is that the one that killed Tori?" I ask, remembering the words the agent said when they shot her. I hear those words in my sleep.

Target number four has been neutralised. The words echo through my head as I relive the bullet piercing through Tori's forehead .

"Ari." A hand on my shoulder brings me back to the present, and I lean back into the comfort of Garett's gesture.

"I'm okay." Glancing over my shoulder, I smile at him, waiting for him to smile gently in return before I turn back to the agents. Aiden's wearing a sympathetic look, while Ryan just appears bored, and it's his total lack of empathy that makes me snort. I nod to Aiden to start again.

"We believe so. We're still going through the records, but there's a list of high priority targets that were being watched. There were also instructions that if the opportunity arose to…neutralise those targets in a way that wouldn't tarnish ASP's reputation, then they were to take it." He struggles to word it in a way that doesn't upset me, but also accurately conveys what he's saying.

"Like during a raid." I can see them justifying the death of a witch during a raid. It was an unfortunate necessity, a dangerous witch who was trying to hurt the agents . Except she wasn't, she was trying to escape unscathed, but that's not what the general public would think if this was ever brought up, but those who were there know the truth.

"Why was Tori a target? Who else was on the list?" Alex questions, and I throw him a grateful look. I should've thought to ask that, but I'm just thinking that I'm really fucking glad we didn't let Tori come with us, making her stay behind at the pack.

"You were number one, but yours specified only to kill you if there was no other way to bring you in." Blowing out a breath, I lean back in my chair. Of course I was target number one. I'm not surprised, especially after what I learned about Hunter. He would have stopped at nothing to get me. "I wanted to bring the other files to see if you recognised any of the other targets since we didn't know them, but my request was denied." Frustration is evident in his tone, and I can guess who that order came from. "In Tori's case, at first, I thought it was because of your association." A familiar sense of guilt starts to rise, but as if sensing it, Aiden shakes his head. "However, none of your mates, except for Seb, were targets, so it didn't make sense. The only documentation in her file marked her supernatural status as ‘unknown' and branded her as highly dangerous."

A stunned silence falls over us as we share confused looks, our focus settling on Seb, who leans back in his chair. His trademark smile is gone, and his worried eyes meet mine.

"What?" Killian surprises me by speaking first, his growl low and threatening, as if daring anyone to try anything. Looking over at the alpha, I see his brow furrowed as he clears his throat to gain attention.

"Seb was a target?"

"I'm not a threat to anyone! Why would I be a target?" Unable to contain himself, Seb stands and starts pacing among our chairs, but never far out of reach. His worry is palpable. Mortlock and Killian scan the area and watch his route with a determined gaze, so I know Seb won't be in any danger, his every move monitored. It's Killian's behaviour that surprises me the most. I know he cares for Seb like an annoying little brother, but he's acting like he's an alpha and Seb is one of his wolves.

Interesting, but I don't have time to think about that now , I think to myself, turning my attention back to the agents.

"Your file instructed to observe only. The only instance they were to bring you in was if you started to display ‘unusual behaviour.'"

At the words ‘unusual behaviour,' I share a look with the other guys. Eric's face pulls into a frown, and I know he's thinking the same thing I am—Seb's unusual power bursts. What did ASP know about them? Were they behind them?

"What happens now? Will the attacks on shifters stop?" Garett asks, sipping his coffee, his body language relaxed, but I can tell he's worried from the tension around his eyes. Reaching out, I grab his hand, squeezing it before turning back to face the agents.

"There's evidence all over the organisation of internal corruption. Director Hunter will be branded a traitor, and all ties with Shadow Pack have been dissolved. A public statement is being prepared," Aiden explains, and I can't hold back my snort, shaking my head. Of course they are cutting all ties, no one is prepared to take responsibility. I'm not the only one to feel this way, if the rude noises from the guys around me are anything to go by.

"ASP is dead now. As soon as the public hears about us, they won't trust us. The organisation will fall," Ryan states bluntly, and I rock back in shock. Is that really what it will come to? I don't like ASP, but they are necessary. Without a governing body or anyone to police the supernaturals, crime rates will soar.

"ASP was flawed, but it still protected us. What will happen without it?" Alpha Mortlock questions, voicing the question that's on all of our minds.

"Something new will rise. There is already talk of a new organisation." Aiden tries to reassure us, but I don't think it will be as easy as he thinks.

"There is a lot of distrust among the shifter community, you'll have your work cut out for you," Eric responds, pulling the agent's attention onto him.

"I know." Silence follows his words, and I lean back in my chair, glancing out the window as I watch the humans hurry about their lives. I know this is a good thing, that Hunter can't torment us anymore and that the group of elite agents has been disbanded, but I can't fight the feeling that something bad is going to happen.

"This won't be the last we hear from Shadow Pack, they will be planning something, Terrance is still out there." The guys shift around me and search the café for any threats.

"We won't let him hurt you," Killian reassures me, and I nod before standing and walking over to his chair, then climb into his lap. Humming with pleasure, he wraps his arms around me and rests his chin on top of my head.

Alpha Mortlock watches us with a smile, and I'm reminded that they are old friends. Nodding at me, he turns his attention to the agents .

"What's going to happen regarding the other witches?"

Aiden and Ryan share a look, which makes me nervous. If there's no ASP and they haven't sorted out a new governing body, things might get messy for a little bit, especially if there are rogue witches running around with more power than they should have.

Aiden clears his throat and looks directly at me. "I was hoping to talk to Tori, see if she knows anything, if she's heard any rumours of witches with powers stronger than they should be."

Frowning, I shake my head, my first instinct to say no, to protect my friend who has been through so much. I know she would want to help if she can, but she's still traumatised about everything that happened.

"I'm not sure, Tori's been through a lot, I would have to ask—" I'm cut off as Mortlock and Ryan's phones go off at the same time. A sinking feeling settles in my stomach. Something is happening, something bad.

"Isa?" Mortlock answers with a frown. Why would Isa, the pack gamma, call? Unless the pack's safety was compromised, she wouldn't interrupt us. "What? We're on our way." His voice suddenly changes, and I can hear the alpha power in his words. I catch Isa's response, and just before he hangs up, he turns away and I hear his desperate words whispered down the phone. "Please keep Lena safe."

"Fuck," Ryan swears into the phone, pushing out of his chair as he gestures for us to follow him out of the coffee shop. "Understood," he replies curtly before hanging up.

"What the fuck is going on?" Killian growls, his wolf prowling under his skin, his control fraying under his frustration.

"Shadow Pack is attacking Moon River." Alpha Mortlock's tone is grim as he hurries from the shop, and we follow behind with curses.

"That's not all," Ryan calls out as he and Aiden hurry after us. "ASP isn't going to help, we've been ordered back to headquarters."