10:27 am
Chapter 171
Chapter 171
Ragnar
Alex. in addition to being the Alpha King, has a particular set of skills. I’ve seen him at work, and he is motivated to use this particular set of skills on a grand scale to get what he wants. Finding someone with the proper equipment was not easy.
“This is Felix Russo. Felix, Alexander Highbourne.”
“Isn’t that you on Live TV?” Felix laughs, pointing at the ninety-something-inch TV that takes up most of the wall space behind his computer setup.
Sophie had a cute step-up compared to this one. This guy has computer and gym equipment all over the place. It’s a mess in here, it smells like stale corn chips, and there are takeout containers overflowing a trash bin that he probably filled when he was told we were on our way here.
“Move,” Alex growls at him and shoves him off the gaming chair he’s sitting in.
Immediately, he turns the TV off and gets to work. I make myself scarce by looking around. He has toys all over the place. Statues of what I’m guessing are cartoon females from inappropriate cartoon shows. Some of them only have ribbons barely covering their privates.
“How old are you, Felix?” I ask, turning around to face him.
“Twenty, sir.” he says, keeping his head down. “I’ll be twenty-one in a couple of weeks.”
I walk around him, taking in his appearance. He definitely looks like he’s about to ascend. He’s not wearing a shirt, and his shorts are a little too fitted for his build. His buzz cut is choppy, which means he cuts his own hair. He’s probably uncomfortable in his skin. I remember when I turned twenty-one.
I couldn’t stop exercising, eating, and all I wanted to do was stand under the cooler box I installed in my doorway. My muscles and bones were preparing for the shift, and my body felt like it was burning up because of my affinity. I step closer to him and place my hand on his head.
Felix is the son of one of Zara’s students. He’s a general now and lives in Germany with his mate and three other children. Felix is here in the capital for school. Which is how we found him.
“Your father has a flame affinity, yes?” I ask. He tenses up and nods. It’s not as strong as mine, but it gets its point across just
the same.
“Yes, sir.”
“Ice your neck, I motion him to the kitchen. “Ice baths before bed so you don’t sweat through your sheets
“Thank you, he smiles and turns around to go into the kitchen.
“Here, Alex calls me over.
The TV turns on, and on the LIVE stream, a QR code appears, and the news reports call the man on screen an imposter outing him as a Shadow Wolf The screen breaks up into several smaller ones showing videos of him taking Alex’s blood and shifting in front of him.
“Where did you get that footage? I ask
“It’s my system,” he smirks. The QR code is confirmation for my guards We should go I set up a meeting location You have guards with you, right?
1/4
10:27 am
Chapter 171
“Always. I confirm.
The other screens are showing how this is affecting everything on social media. People are commenting on and sharing the provided links.
“Wow, this is an amazing system. Felix says. “I can keep spreading this. I have twenty-three million followers across multiple platforms. Do you I have your permission?”
“You fuck with anything else, and I don’t care how old you are, kid, or whose race you belong to. You’re dead, Alex growls.
“Yes, sir,” he smiles and takes his place back at the computer with the ice pack on his neck.
“Be careful, Felix,” I say.
“My King, if you need anything else from me, you know where I am,” he bows without getting out of his chair. He spins around and immediately gets to work.
“Was that you at that age?” I ask when we get in my car. He sighs and looks over at me.
“No, I’ve had a mate since I was sixteen. She’s the one who taught me all of this,” he says and pulls out his phone.
He takes something out of his pocket and starts putting on the phone he asked to get this morning. He takes a deep breath, and after a couple of minutes, the phone begins to ring. He looks over at me and lets out a sigh of relief.
“Code?” a woman’s voice comes through.
09173657,” he says quietly.
“We’re coming,” she says, and the line goes dead.
He sits back and puts a location into my GPS. I head in that direction and text my guard to bring in backup.
“Open up the feeds and see what they’re doing.” I say. I hand him my phone, and he does as I ask.
“I’m really sorry about everything, Ragnar. I didn’t know any of it was going on until my dad passed away the year after we came back from Africa. When I tried to confront Xavier about it, he swore he didn’t know anything about it. When I gathered evidence, he tried to kill me. I should have come to you for help. I just didn’t want to reopen that wound, man. I know how bad things got for you after Clarity was murdered.”
“Do you have more information?” I ask.
“Yeah, a whole lot more. Sophia gave me access to the files, and it goes deeper than that. They had several accounts and attorneys. The one she has is the first, and it’s still active now. Once I get home, I can gain access to more to try and stop it The rogue is right; this could mean an economic shutdown. A whole lot of people are going to be pissed.”
“How did this even happen? What are they dealing?” I ask. He swallows hard and lets out a heavy sigh.
“Kids,” he answers.
“Kids?”
“Highborn kids like the boy that gave us access to his computer, like Sophia and your little sister. If they weren’t part of what they are, they would already be on the market. They raise these kids and then marry them off to up-and-coming alphas to change their bloodlines. It’s why we have omegas like Sophia now. She’s not the only one
“What? The wolves are doing this?”
2/4
10:27 am
Chapter 171
“Yes, these shadows have no idea what it is they just walked into.”
“Who is running this if not you or Xavier?”
“Have you ever heard of Maurice De Laurent?”
“Yeah, he’s the founder of-” I pause and glance over at him. “Alpha Tech.”
“He’s our target. And you’re not going to fucking believe me, but Xavier’s father is his right-hand man.”
“My father killed him,” I shake my head.
Mi vouchers
“No, he did not. I don’t know who that was. He’s not in any way related to Xavier. They’re not even the same breed. Xavier is like them. Some kind of abnormality. The shadows were having trouble gaining access to his material because of whatever alterations were done on him.
“He has a tattoo on the back of his wrist. 002. Which means he’s not the first. My bet is that the heir to the Rogues is Sophia’s grandfather on her mother’s side. It’s why they were breeding him the way they were. Zara’s Lycan genetics fucked up whatever plans they had for Sophia. My guess is that’s why they kept her around for so long and why they fought you to get her back.”
“How do you know all of this? Did you tell him?”
“No, I don’t trust him in the slightest. It’s why I asked you to have Sophia remove him from our work. With her DNA inside of him, she can control him, and because they’re related, he’ll feel protective of her. You saw the way he reacted when she let him out of the cage.”
“They have eight teams on them, and now that she knows how dangerous he is, she’s going to keep him from shifting. I kind of don’t want him near her anymore.”
“Sophia has always been able to take care of herself. You’ve seen exactly what she can do. So have I. My mate has always kept a close eye on her. I told her to before I went to meet with Xavier.”
“Do you feel it too?” I ask. “When your mate is unfaithful.”
“I would if she were,” he says confidently. “She never has. Allison and I speak in code. There’s no doubt in my mind that she knew it wasn’t me from the moment she showed up. She’s been waiting for what happened a moment ago. I would like to ask you not to interfere with what is about to happen.”
“If they caught him, you can’t kill him. We need the others,” I remind him.
“We have the others. Two of them. You know exactly what needs to happen. If you don’t have the stomach for it,” he takes a deep breath and turns to look at me with a serious expression. “Look away.”
3/4
