Chapter 34
~Lucie's POV~
I should have known that the smirk on Beau's face meant trouble. I had seen him make hundreds of entrances, but broadcasting to the entire pack that he was a rogue? It didn't seem like one of his smartest ideas. Though I had to say, Aimeri's entrance was probably the best I had ever seen; then again, I hadn't seen many entrances powered by magic before. Most witches that I knew tended to be more... reserved. I was cast out of my thoughts by the increasing sound of the crowd around me. Vulgarities were shouted around me, most focusing on Beau's declaration of being a rogue, but what really shocked, however, was the outcries revolving around Casey. I watched as Casey first tried to calm the crowd himself, using only a normal authoritative tone. But, as was per usual, Casey soon abandoned trying to resolve the issue calmly and switched to one that I knew he was far more capable and comfortable using. The Alpha Voice.
"Quiet!" The power of Casey's voice shocked even me, as it not only silenced the crowd into submission, but also because of the force of it had shaken the ground beneath my feet.
"You may not be happy about the fact that Beau is a Rogue. You may not like the fact that I am employing a Rogues help protecting this pack and it's Luna. But you should know that I did not make the decision to have Beau and his men help us, lightly. Your Beta and I thought this over and decided it was our best decision regarding the safety of this pack. While Beau and his men are here, you will show them the utmost respect. They are my guests and will be treated as such. But Aimeri?"
"Yes, Alpha Shadowswood?"
"If you ever pull a stunt like this without my approval again, I will allow my pack to do with you as they see fit."
"Uh hate to break it to you, your majesty, but I don't have to follow a word you say when it comes to your Alpha talk. I'm a witch remember? I'm only here because Beau requested I be, and because of your lovely Luna. Don't let my childish ways fool you. I'm over a five hundred years old." I nodded, knowing very well that this was true. Most people always assumed that because of Aimeri's childish ways, he was young. But in reality he was one of the oldest witches I had ever met.
"You already informed us on that small fact, Aimeri,"
"Doesn't hurt to remind the folks around us, especially the ones with fleas up their ears," I heard several growls at Aimeri's statement, though in reality it was quite amusing.
"Listen to your Alpha. You must respect the men you have met here today and the ones that are still on their way here. They are here out of respect for me. They are not here for money, nor are they here for fame. They are here for the respect that I garnered from them years ago when I helped Beau in his Rogue hunting business. Did he forget to mention that? That the area that he specializes in is the tracking, recording and disposal of Rogues that are a threat to Pack and Human life? If you will not respect these men because of what they are here to do, then respect them for what they have already done; protecting everyone here from the foes you so desperately want to make the men before you out to be. Do you all understand?" My voice and tone left no room for negotiation. Power seemed to ooze off of my words, much the same way it did when Casey talked. It almost shocked me for a second before I remembered that this was not the first time that I had been able to do something like this.
Casey grabbed my hand, warmly drawling gentle circles in the palm of my hand affectionately. I smiled up at Casey, who seemed to beam back down at me, proud of me for the speech that I had just delivered to our pack.
"You are all dismissed, you may return back to your homes at once. There will be a pack meeting that all are acquired to attend unless previously discussed with me or the Beta or Luna. Understood?" An almost collective yes ran through the crowd and after a nod from Casey the crowd began to thin around me. Once almost everyone had left, Taiden made his way over to Beau who was still standing almost suspiciously far away from me. His body was angled away from me and everything about his body language screamed that he wanted to be as far away from me as possible. A sign escaped my lips before I could stop it, gaining the attention of many of the people who were still around me. Casey peered down at me from his spot not even inches away from me. Maybe it wasn't me who Beau was angling himself away from. Maybe it was just Casey.
"Boss, Morelli says that they've finished the job,"
"What were the stats?" Beau had switched to business mode, his face void of all expression as he waited to hear the results of the mission he'd given to his men.
"Yeah, he said that the mission was a 0-3. Three pack members died because three friends decided to try to play hero and go against the orders Morelli gave them." I was surprised at the response that Taiden gave, expecting to hear only the brute essentials not an explanation of why the deaths happened.
"Did Morelli say what kind of consolation he gave the pack after he filled Alpha Barrett in on what happened to his pack members?"
"Actually some guy named Huxley did it apparently. I guess Morelli said he knew how to 'deliver the news' about the collateral damage." Casey's hand stilled in mine and then suddenly he tore away from me, his hands balling into fists as he stared down Beau in what seemed to be anger. Was it over the fact that he called the three wolves that died, collateral damage? I could assure him that that was one of the nicest ways I had ever heard fallen wolves called my entire life.
"Huxley? As in Cavan Huxley?" There was so much hate displayed on Casey's face that I knew that whatever this Huxley character did to Casey wasn't something that Casey could have easily forgotten.
"Yes Cavan does work for me? Is that going to be a problem?" Beau's voice was icy cold as he sized Casey up the way that I had seen him do a thousand times before. Sometimes it seemed like pissing Alpha's off was Beau's forte, but this time I knew that Beau might have just gone too far.
"Cavan Huxley killed hundreds of people. The former Alpha and Luna included. Not to mention his own bloody parents! Do you know how many Packs suffered because of Huxley's stupid mistakes? How many packs that, because of this once instance, he almost completely dismantled? The Alpha and Luna and Beta of each pack in this region was there. Every five years, a pack hosts a gathering of every alpha in the region to re-negotiate treaties, land boundaries, discuss techniques of dealing with local humans, etc. That year it was the Rushelli pack's turn to host the event. Nearly every member of the Rushelli pack was killed that night. The impact of that night is still being felt today. He is responsible for what happened to this pack and so many more." I felt my heart skip a beat in my chest. I had even heard about that. When hundreds of werewolves die because of something that the Hunters and Huntress didn't mastermind, we look into it.
Suddenly the name clicked in my head. Cavan Huxley. I knew him. But I doubt that anyone here knew that I did. After the investigation we had tracked down the man responsible. Some wanted him to join our ranks, others wanted to know how he did it. I had just wanted to know why. I had been in charge of interrogating Huxley. We hadn't called him that, it was risky throwing around names in my business, instead we gave assets numbers or code names. If you knew the true name or something it meant that you were either very high up in the organization or that you played some part in the endeavor itself. His number was still deeply engraved in my memory. He was someone I could never forget. He was number 853.
~☾~
Two years ago
"Cavan Layne Huxley. Such a pretty name for such a handsome man," your approach to with the target was everything. You could start off by complimenting them, pretending you admired their work. You could start off twisting the facts you already knew about what happened, hoping to get them to admit to what you suspected they did and throw out things you didn't know in the process. Or you could list everything you knew about what they did off, trying to get them to feel proud about what they did in order to persuade them into working for you. Each method had its own risks and its own gains and depending on what you wanted from your target, the approach you made and your method of gathering the information you needed or the prospect you desired, mattered. If you used the wrong approach, a new person would have to be sent in to get what was desired of the target or the target would be terminated, imprisoned or very rarely just released.
Huxley remained silent as he stared pointedly away from me, focusing on the wall beside my head. He sat rigid in the chair, his entire body tense as if he was ready for an attack at any moment.
"We know what you did Huxley," his rigid frame that I had noted only moments ago was dispensed of in a hurry. Instead Huxley launched himself in my direction, causing me to un-holstered the knives that had been concealed on both of my thighs he dress that I was wearing. My black trusty leather fingerless gloves gripped tightly around my prime silver knives that had a gripped handle.
"You don't want to do that, boy," demeaning my targets wasn't something I usually did, but then again this wasn't a normal situation. If it was, he would have been handcuffed to the table. He had been here as a guest, and henceforth was granted the privilege of not having to wear the silver handcuffs that we forced all werewolves we deemed as threats to the Hunters. This was supposed to be an inquiry into why he did what he did, and if his reason aligned with the Hunters mindset he was going to be offered a position within our organization, one that would be tailored to his... specific qualifications.
"Who else knows?" His voice sounded almost dead as it echoed in the room, bouncing off the special soundproof walls around us.
"Not many know you by name. Some just know who you were in stature, none of the specifics. Apparently they want to protect your family name, since apparently you thought it was best to kill everyone else but you." His eyes widen. My bluntness was something that was dangerous at times when it came to people that I despised. I had no respect towards them to garner them the luxury of sugar-coating their mistakes. But then again I could count on one hand how many people that really was.
"It wasn't like that!"
"Then tell me how it was Huxley. Was it to dismantle packs as a whole? To decimate what packs stand for?" It was an honest question, one that I hoped he didn't see through.
"No! I didn't mean-,"
"You didn't mean? If you didn't mean to then I guess my work here is done. What you did was a happy accident for the Hunter's cause." Saying that left a bad taste in my mouth, as did much of what I was trained to say in situations like this.
"No! That's not what I mean either!" My raging heartbeat started to slow at his words. Maybe I wouldn't have to order another dead drop today after all.
"Then sit down and explain yourself, or I will have to use these on you." A painful look filled his eyes and he nodded and set his chair back up and sat back down in it.
"It wasn't supposed to happen the way it did."
"More,"
"The bomb was intended to kill only my father and his best friend. They both used their Alpha title as a justification to doing whatever the hell they wanted. The way that my father's best friend Diegan treated Orphan's and the pack members that disobeyed him.... The way my father treated the women of my pack... what they did wasn't right and I needed to put a stop to it without people knowing it was me that did it." With the explanation he just gave, Cavan Huxley was not the person my father wanted. He might have intended to kill two wolves, yes, and he may have killed over a thousand instead, but what he lacked was a drive to kill more. By the looks of it, what he did was killing him inside, and that was exactly the kind of person we didn't want working for us. The one that burdened by killing so much that it hindered everything else they did.
"I'll call for you to be released at nightfall," as it turned out this just happened to be one of those cases where they were let free. Lucky him.
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