Chapter 195 195
Damien POV
We moved straight into action. Nightfall meant nothing time was a luxury we didn’t have. Lucas and I hadn’t stopped since the moment the house fell quiet, working shoulder to shoulder with my IT division to tear through every known business my father was connected to.
And then the ones he’d tried to bury.
There were many. Far too many for a man supposedly enjoying a peaceful retirement.
As I’d said before, my men are the best. And the opportunity to dismantle their former Alpha seemed to sharpen their focus rather than distract it.
I kept the team deliberately small. I didn’t want the pack discovering what we were doing not yet. Panic spreads faster than truth, and I couldn’t afford it.
We froze accounts. Locked down databases. Withheld operational data.
By the time the stock exchange opened in the morning, those companies would be dead weight unable to trade, their share prices set to nosedive.
I needed to hit him where it hurt.
Money.
Power.
They were the only things he had ever truly cared about and they were exactly what I intended to take from him.
“Alpha,” the head of my IT section reports, breaking the steady rhythm of keystrokes. “We’ve identified every business link except one. Whoever it is, he’s gone to extreme lengths to protect them.”
The man speaking is one of the finest hackers in the world. I’ve used him to breach intelligence systems, not to steal but to erase. To ensure werewolf data stayed out of government databases and human news cycles.
You’d be amazed how careless some shifters are shifting on human land, near CCTV cameras, assuming no one is watching.
I’ve had to cultivate contacts across government, law enforcement, and the human business sector. Silence costs. Influence costs more. A significant portion of my legitimate business exists solely to keep certain mouths shut.
Another reason I’ve always admired Aurélie. She built a human supply network into her pack without those humans ever learning what they were truly serving.
What she doesn’t know and never will is that I’ve kept files on every one of those companies. Contingencies. Insurance. If any of them ever considered blackmailing her, they’d never make it far.
My men and I have gone to great lengths to ensure she and the children were never exposed.
“Dig deeper,” I say flatly, not bothering to look up from the documents I’m skimming.
“We can’t,” he replies, frustration evident. “There’s nothing. No digital footprint. It’s as if this person doesn’t exist.”
That makes no sense. Bank accounts require identification. Documentation. Records.
To leave nothing behind is unnatural.
“He’s hiding someone,” the IT lead continues. “But he’s funnelled stock into their name. A contingency, should anything happen to him. However, Alpha…”
The shift in his tone finally draws my gaze. He’s holding a sheet of paper. His hesitation triggers my aura, dark and pressurised, filling the room until even the air feels heavy.
“You’re not going to like this.”
“What is it?” I ask, keeping my voice measured as I wrestle my aura back under control. The room feels like a thunderhead charged, waiting to break.
“We found connections to shipping firms. On the payroll is”
I already know what’s coming. Father has always favoured shipping. It’s how things disappear.
The paper lands on the table.
Lucas growls immediately, the sound ripping from his chest before he can stop it.
Geneviève.
So they’ve been conspiring together. The question is how long? And to what end?
“Alpha?” my IT lead prompts cautiously, as my gaze hardens on the photograph.
“I want every account,” I say slowly. “Every business the Bloodnight pack owns. Every asset with my name on it. Anything tied to me.”
“Alpha?” Lucas turns sharply, confusion flickering across his face.
“Just fucking do it,” I snap.
Lucas’s neck bows instinctively, submission written into the motion as he leaves to carry out the order.
“What are you thinking?” he asks, pausing long enough to lift the photograph again.
It’s a front-facing image clean, official.
Identification.
That’s how she’s been funding her attacks.
My father has been bankrolling her.
The betrayal hits like a blade to the gut.
For a moment, I want to burn the office down with myself still inside it. But I’m too angry even for fire to touch me.
I feel infernal.
All heat and hatred, fury rolling through my veins directed equally at the woman who betrayed me…
And the father who taught her how.