Chapter 40
Shortly after her conversation with her dad, Aubrey received a text from Barry, requesting that they meet urgently at Freddy’s. She informed her father and he arranged for three of their clan members to go to the restaurant and pose as customers, while keeping a close eye on Barry in case he tried to do something stupid.
When she finally met up with him at Freddy’s, he was sitting at a table beside the window, looking uncharacteristically disheveled and flustered. Aubrey instantly knew something was wrong and her senses were on high alert.
“What’s up, Barry?” She asked, trying to sound casual as she sat on the chair in front of him. “Is everything alright?”
“Listen to me, Aubrey, you’re in danger,” he said in a stage whisper. “I need you to be straight with me right now, because that’s the only way I can protect you.”
Aubrey tried to hide her alarm. “What do you mean? What’s going on?”
Barry looked around quickly as if to make sure nobody was looking at them before he continued speaking. “I don’t have time to give you a back story but all I can tell you now is that someone is on to you guys. They know about your werewolf lineage and they’re coming for the Alpha of your clan because he is the final link that ties up years of research and testing.”
“I don’t underst—"
“Don’t bullshit me, Aubrey,” Barry said desperately. “This is real and it’s happening. I know you’re a werewolf, so stop wasting time denying it and listen to what I’m saying to you. They have Eric and they will kill him tonight if he doesn’t tell them who the Alpha leader of your clan is. I’m not supposed to be telling you all this, but I am scared too, and I don’t want to lose everything I own because of this werewolf thing.”
Aubrey wasn’t sure if she should believe him, but the fact that he knew about Eric’s kidnap could mean something. At least, he wasn’t denying that he knew the people responsible for Eric’s abduction, so that meant he had some insider information about where her mate was being held.
“So, what do you want me to do?” she asked tentatively.
“Tell me who the Alpha is. That’s all they need to know, and they’ll let Eric go.”
“Why should I trust you?” Aubrey asked suspiciously.
Barry sighed and ran a hand over his tired face. “Look, Aubrey, my life is in danger too. If you don’t tell me who the Alpha is, I die, you die, Eric dies, and many of your kind will die too. We can prevent all of that by just surrendering the Alpha to them.”
“Who are these mysterious people you’re working for? Why are they looking for an Alpha?”
“As I said before, it’s a long story and I really don’t have the time to go into the details right now. I only came here for the information that I know you have.”
She sighed. “First of all, there are more than one Alphas in a clan. Every pack has Alphas, so you need to be specific about which one you’re looking for. Besides, why should I even give anyone up when I don’t know why you want to know their identity. What’s the real gist? You can’t tell me you don’t know.”
Barry glanced around the restaurant quickly again before speaking. “Apparently, the government is doing some underground research on how to combine werewolf DNA with human DNA to create their own army of shapeshifting werewolves that will be enlisted fully in the military. Imagine an army of highly trained soldiers that can go to combat and fight with sophisticated weapons, and also change into werewolves at will. It’s revolutionary and completely unlike anything that has ever been seen in human history.”
“That’s insane!” Aubrey exclaimed, shocked.
“Keep your voice down,” he whispered loudly. “I know, but that’s what’s up.”
“And how are you connected in all this?”
He hesitated. “Let’s just say, I know one of the people at the helm of this project.”
“Your dad?”
His eyes widened in surprise. “You know him?”
“Heard of him.”
Barry exhaled tensely. “Listen Aubrey, I’m an unwilling participant in this awful drama. My father shows up out of nowhere after many years of disappearing from my life, to tell me he has been working behind the scenes on this crazy project and he wants me to deliver the final missing puzzle to tie it all together.”
“Why did you agree to work with him if you think what he’s doing is crazy?”
“He literally has my balls in his hands. Everything I own belongs to him. He has been financing my career and businesses from the shadows, and now he wants his ROI which is me finding out the identity of the Alpha.”
Whatever Aubrey had been expecting when she agreed to meet with him did not compare to this present reality. She was shocked, angry, and confused all at once. Her father was the Alpha leader of the clan that Barry’s father and his cohorts were looking for, but not in a million years would she give him up even if it would lead to the release of her mate. It was a tough situation, but how could she choose between her father and Eric?
If she gave up her father, she would forever carry that guilt for being the one who sacrificed him for a selfish reason. But on the other hand, Eric was her mate and if he died, she would be doomed to a life of loneliness and even if she fell in love with someone else and married, it would never be quite the same as spending her life with the one she was fated to love.
Feeling helpless, she stood up to leave. “I’ll call you,” she said to Barry.
“Come on, Aubrey,” Barry said earnestly. “Just tell me who it is right now. Time is running out. We are all in danger and I’m not kidding about that. This is serious.”
“I know it is, Barry,” she said icily. “Wait for my call.”
She walked out of the restaurant with her head held high like a regal queen, but with a heart so heavy she wanted to lay down on the carpeted floor and weep. Nevertheless, she needed to be strong. The fate of her mate and possibly her entire clan now rested on her shoulders, and she needed a clear head to plan her move. Whatever she did in the next few hours could save her clan or be a death sentence for the ones she loved the most.