Chapter 734 Chapter 734
Zain stood outside the door, waiting for the others. Devin was on the phone. Rayne said to wait, so they were waiting. He looked to see Oaklyn sitting beside the door, sipping her tea. Going over, he slid down the wall, careful not to spill his coffee.
“Is Devin as nice as his mate?” She asked quietly.
Zain shook his head. “He’s fair, but no, he’s not as patient.”
“That’s a man thing.” She smiled.
Illias came walking toward them quickly. “I can’t believe you had a tracker app and didn’t tell me that.” He sat down beside him.
“No one knew. It was a trial thing Shepard was working on before he…”
“Well, it confirms what the twins told us.”
“Twins?”
Illias nodded. “Demir and Dobry Pradham. Two of Taggart’s guys. They tracked the king to Chicago and have been trying to figure out how to confirm where he was. Now we have.” Illias smiled. “Christmas is going to be sweet.
“Why is everyone talking about Christmas? Niklaus said see you at the Christmas Party—and by the way, he is the scariest man I’ve ever seen. Makes Raymond look like a fluffy bear.”
“Really?” Illias shook his head. “We’re going to hit Aiden Tomas’ Christmas Ball. All the Alliance teams.”
Zain grabbed Illias’ arm. “Are you serious?”
Illias nodded and then pulled his arm free.
Zain got up and paced a few feet and then spun around. “All the teams? That’s like a hundred people.” He looked at Oaklyn and smiled. “Hundred and two now.” She had a confused look on her face. “We’re going to shut Aiden Tomas down.” Her eyes went wide.
“Yes, we are.”
Zain jumped and looked to see Jesse, Calum, and Raymond Hardy standing behind him.
Raymond motioned to the door. “Shall we?”
Zain nodded and then went and picked up his cup of coffee. He saw the wary look on Oaklyn’s face and then looked at Calum. “Oaklyn comes in too.” He held out his hand.
Calum looked at his hand as she put hers in it. He raised one eyebrow and then nodded.
Zain caught Illias giving him a strange look. He sent back an ‘I’ll tell you later look.’
They went into the office. Devin stood behind the desk with his arms crossed over his chest. Zain glanced at Illias. He got it. This was going to be a hard story to tell.
“Why did my dad have a tracker put in him?”
Zain looked at the chair and jerked his chin for Oaklyn to sit down. “I don’t know what his plans were. He was testing it on himself.” He moved over and stood beside the chair Oaklyn sat in. “After Amari was taken, he started working on it.”
“Was he planning to put trackers in all the teams?” Devin looked at Raymond.
“This is the first I’ve heard about it, but it wouldn’t surprise me. He was fed up with people being taken.”
Devin studied the big man for a moment and then nodded. Turning around, he grabbed his chair, sat down, and then looked at Zain. “Might as well sit down.”
Zain pulled a chair closer to Oaklyn and sat down. When he looked back at Devin, he was studying Oaklyn. “This is Oaklyn.”
Devin smirked. “I know.” He looked at Calum. “Cal says she’s okay, so that’s good enough for now.”
The door opened, and Rayne came in. “Sorry. I had to talk to Shaelan.” She went over and stood behind Devin.
Zain realized everyone in the room was looking at him. He glanced at Illias. His expression wasn’t very helpful, he was looking at him as well. “I guess I’ll start.” He said slowly. Leaning forward, he set his cup on the desk. He looked at the floor, trying to decide how, and then thought, jumping in was best. “When Illias and I were nine, we were out messing around. I saw a wolf come back. At first, I thought he had just been out hunting, but he was covered in blood. Way beyond what any game kill would do.” He looked at Illias, he had a pained expression on his face. Zain turned back to Devin and blew out a breath. “He had been at the nearby cheetah’s clan—the day Asher lost his family.” He added just in case they weren’t good at putting the pieces together.
Devin leaned forward; his brows creased. “The man we apprehended that Journee identified.”
Okay, he was good at putting it together. “Yes.” Zain held up one finger. “There’s a lot more to it.” He cleared his throat. “We—” He motioned to Illias. “—ran to Shepard and told him right away. The man chased us.” He could still feel the fear like it had been yesterday. “Shepard sequestered me at his place. Illias was sent home because he hadn’t been face-to-face with the guy.” He closed his eyes and then someone touched his hand. He looked down to see it was Oaklyn. He nodded and took her hand. “I was taken away to live somewhere else. My name was changed and that was the next five years of my life.”
“Until?” Rayne was hugging her own waist, a pained look on her face.
“Until they took me, his mom and sister.” Illias supplied. He touched the scar on his face. “I got away.” He looked at Zain. His eyes glistened as he remembered it all. “His family didn’t.” He looked back at Devin. “I was moved somewhere and started a new life too.”
Devin didn’t say anything for several moments. “If Dad knew who it was…”
Zain squeezed Oaklyn’s hand. “He did. He told me it was dealt with.”
“There were two of them.” Illias supplied. “A young one and the man that’s now in a cell at Headquarters.”
Devin looked from one to the other and then turned to look over at Calum.
“If Shepard Addison said it was dealt with—” Raymond looked around. “Then it was.”
“So how did we find him in a building with people working for Aiden Tomas?” Jesse asked.
“That’s what I want to know.” Zain looked at Illias. “I went down to see him, but Barack wouldn’t let me.” He glanced at Raymond. “But he said my name, my new name and I freaked out. If there are still spies at headquarters…”
“That makes more sense,” Illias said quietly. “I couldn’t figure out why you took off like that.”
Zain looked at him. “I panicked and wasn’t sticking around to see if I was right about the spies.”
Devin looked at Raymond. “The ones Niklaus got that were following them, were they clan?”
Raymond nodded. “Not wolf.”
“I’m glad you’re safe,” Rayne said, and Zain was struck by the emotion on her face.