Chapter 47 Chapter 47: The Important Details

Chapter 47 Chapter 47: The Important Details
Alaric Stone's POV:

As I continued to sit there in the chairs that were set lower than they should have been, I noticed that Corvin studied me for a moment longer. Then, and only then, did something barely perceptible change about Corvin's posture. It wasn't warmth. It wasn't even respect. It was more or less recognition.

The kind that passes between two people who both decided the permeable is over. We both know that neither of us is to be trifled with. According didn't say anything as he finally broke eye contact with me and looked down at the folder that was positioned distinctly underneath his hands. He opened the top layer of the folder before looking up at me whenever he spoke.

"Tell me what you needed to say."

That was all Corvin managed to say. He left it with that. This was the first time that I leaned back, ensuring that he finally saw me doing so for the first time. However, when I moved, I didn't do so for comfort. I did so in a manner of ownership. I wanted him to know that the chair in which I sat, despite the fact that it was set lower, was mine because I was the one sitting there.

"The Ryker Line," I spoke in a specific tone. "You're going to register a claim on it."

Corvin's hand stopped moving atop the folder. His eyes came up for the first time with something that seemed to live behind them. It wasn't exactly surprise. I knew that wasn't Corvin's style. Corvin never got surprised. That is what made him so good at his job. However, there was a bit of interest there, the way a hunter's dog lifts its head when it catches the scent that matters for the hunt.

"Ryker hasn't had a registered air in about seventeen years," Corvin stated in that moment.

His tone was set exactly the same as his previous statement. He had measured everything carefully up to this point. And I knew in the back of his mind that he was testing whether I knew what I was stepping into, and by that, employing his services.

"I do believe you mean ten," I stated, my tone just as still.

I didn't do so in a correcting manner but more of an informative one. Right then, that is when Beta Finn shifted right beside me. He didn't know this little bit of detail. I hadn't told him the number, as I hadn't told him about the timeline. I hadn't really told him anything about the girl at the Copper Café who didn't know her own name. She wasn't even aware that her last name wasn't her real one.

That was fine with me, and I didn't have a problem with it. It didn't matter to me that she didn't know her own name. Beta Finn would learn it now, and I knew that he had no issues keeping his mouth shut because that's what Beta Finn did when the air in the room went cold. He would remain silent. The only thing that was required of him was his current presence.

All the while, Corvin's gaze never once left mine. "The uncle has standing. According to everything I have here, it shows he has been searching."

"The uncle can keep searching for all you need to know," I stated in return. "I'm not here about the uncle."

At that precise moment, silence filled the entire space. The kind that has edges thick enough that you would have to cut through the middle of it.

"So you're here about the girl then," Corvin said in return.

His tone was still just as flat. It wasn't said in the manner of a personal judgment. It was more so set at that of a fact, kind of like the ones that were laid out on the desk between us, like one of the open documents that was set before him.

"She carries the bloodline," I said as I continued with my statement. "However, there is something that she doesn't know. Her aunt buried the truth. She even went so far as to change her name, feeding her lies so she never looked back. I found it all out anyway."

It was at that precise moment that I noticed something move behind Corvin's face. It was an expression that I couldn't tell if it was admiration or a moment of caution. With men like Corvin, they wore it as if it were the same. It was much like a poker face. You could never tell what cards he was holding during the game.

"The recognition needs to reflect a betrothal claim," I added to my former statement. "I wanted it to be binding. Ancestral, even so that it cannot be questioned. Make it predate any other standing claim on the bloodline, including the uncle's legitimacy. Make sure that it is dated to carry the legal weight in pack law."

Corvin continued to look at me as he remained silent for quite a decent amount of time. His thumb rested on the edge of the folder, ensuring that he didn't move it during the entire time as we continued the death stare between us both.

"You're asking me to forge a bloodline claim," Corvin finally broke the silence.

There was an exact accusation in how he said it. It was more or less stating the facts. It was just the word which was set down carefully the way you'd set down a sharp-edged blade, ensuring that it didn't touch anything else other than where you meant it to be laid.

"I'm asking you to register one," I spoke up right then. "What you do to make it hold is your skill set. I don't care about the method. I only care about the seal and that it is done."

He continued to study me for several moments longer. Thinking about everything that I have said so far. I wasn't about to interrupt him. I wanted him to think about the intensity and the meanings behind everything.

"There will be a fee," he interjected at the last possible moment.

"There is always a fee," I responded immediately with no hesitation.

It was at that precise moment that Corvin reached over for a pen. It was one of those business-style pens with a cap. The ones you get in those wooden boxes that are custom-made. He didn't open it, nor did he bother twisting the. He just held it delicately in his hand.

I watched how he held it in his fingers. About how they were wrapped around it the way a man holds onto something he hasn't decided to use just yet.

"I'll need all of the details," Corvin said, continuing his intense stare. "This includes her full name, any known aliases, along with the current location. Be sure to include bloodline markers if you have them. In the name of the pack the claim will be registered under."

"The Black Stone Pack," I spoke in that moment. "Be sure to list Alpha Alaric Stone as the Claimant for your references."

After I said all that, I chose to remain silent.