Chapter 120

Cody POV

It was pretty quiet for the remainder of the ride to the pack house. I was thinking about everything that Beta Roger had said and my hands itched to get into the books at their pack house. I was certain that many answers could be found there, but that would be that we had to detain Alpha James some how. He wouldn't just go back home and allow us to search his office and his books after we throw allegations at him in front of the council. This meant we had to find a way to get the council to detain him here, or I'd have to figure out how to get Beta Roger back to the Idaho Falls pack and join him so we could find answers together. The plot was thickening and not in a good way. My gut clenched with the thoughts that ran through my head. Alpha James had been doing things that he shouldn't have for a lot longer than we thought, and it seemed like he was so deep into this mess that he killed his own son over it. I wondered if his mate was also dead because of his dealings, or if he had killed her himself.

When we pulled up to my house, I turned to Beta Roger. "I think we should try to hide you from Alpha James for a little bit. I've been thinking about what you've told me and to be honest, I think he's involved in something pretty bad. I'd hate for him to take you down with him if you're not involved. I need some kind of proof that you're not involved in any of the financials, can you give me that?"

Beta Roger stared at me for a few moments before replying. "You could probably just ask him, but I think if you were to examine the books, you won't find my signature anywhere in them, either digital or actual. I've never so much as seen anything except reports that he printed and handed to me. For the most part, they were statements reflecting that the packs investments were bringing in a profit. I kept my nose buried in pack security, border patrol and training."

"Can I ask how you feel about all of this?" I asked him, not making any move to exit my truck.

"Honestly, I've been uneasy since he killed Ryerson. He was a good kid and I thought he was going to make a fine Alpha. My oldest son will be going to his Beta training in two years, and I was looking forward to him and Ryerson working together. When Ryerson approached me, I did think it had been odd that I hadn't been involved but James was so convincing that it wasn't that hard or cumbersome and that he'd handle it. When his mate was killed, I thought he'd lose it, like many Alpha's do. He didn't though, which was strange. He hid away for a few days, not wanting to see anyone from the pack, and we all respected that. When he finally showed his face to the pack again, it was like nothing had happened. Then he was bringing home Luna Gayle, which had Ryerson pacing like a caged animal in his office, raging about how disrespectful this was to his mother and then he accused him again of killing her. He gave Ryerson a smirk and told him he needed to learn to control his anger or he'd find himself at the end of his claws." Beta Roger paused and sat thinking for a minute. "I remember that day, he sounded like he was talking to the enemy, not his son. He walked out and Ryerson looked at me and asked if I was there when his mother was killed. I told him no. He said that his father had actually been there, that he told him he was there. He said that she was attacked by rogues, he saw it but couldn't get to her in time. I thought it sounded wrong, because we haven't had any rogues near our territory in decades, I'd know. I'm in charge of security and the border patrol. My men report to me daily and we have game cameras in the parts of the woods that are difficult to get to quickly. Nothing had been detected."

"Definitely seems odd," I replied. "How had you not heard of this before?"

"Someone found the Luna in the woods, her throat cut. No signs of struggle in the area. The entire situation was not quite right and it happened during the patrol change of shift, so it's not as if anyone except myself, the Alpha and the patrol on duty would know when that exact change occurred. We varied it each week to make sure we weren't predictable. It's worked for the past seventeen years, without a single attack." I watched as Roger scratched the back of his neck, suddenly looking uncomfortable. "I hate to throw my Alpha to the council, but if he's doing the things you say he is, I'd be doing my own daughters a disservice by not."

"We are pretty certain he is." I reached my hand over and opened my door. "Come on, tonight you can stay in our guest room. I already linked my mate and told her to prepare it for you. I will alert Alpha Gabe that we are here and see how he'd like to move forward, considering Alpha James is in one of the guest quarters in the Alpha's house."

"The Alpha has a separate house?" he asked climbing out.

"He does. The Pack house is left for the single wolves. We have scattered homes all over for those who are married and have pups, and some live in town. We also own the small town outside of the ranch. Actually alot of this area is pack land."

"Interesting," Beta Roger replied. "How do you keep them safe, the ones who live in town?"

"Oh trust me, our security is very strong. We have multiple borders to protect and our pack is large enough but we have erected nearly impenetratable walls around areas were we don't have anyone living. Between that, the bears and the actual wolves in the areas, humans stay away. Alot of it is marked as protected land, so no hunting. We keep an eye on it and so do the park rangers."

"Do the park rangers know? I mean that its pack land? Or about werewolves?"

I shrugged, "Maybe some do. Some are from our pack, it's easier to keep our secrets when our own take on jobs amongst humans. Being a park ranger is desirable for them, since they mostly work alone and it's out in nature. We did have one end up mating with a human and his human mate knows, but beyond that I don't think it's common knowledge."

I head up the steps to the front door, "Come on in Roger, Carolyn is a great cook and I'd wager she's got something tasty waiting for us."

"I won't say no to a good meal," Beta Roger said, ambling up the steps with his duffle bag in hand. "Besides, I think there's some more things we should discuss. Our conversation has blown wide open an ambush of memories for me, that I think may be relevant."