Chapter 45
Gary was still trying to recover from his shock, but it was hard. He simply couldn’t believe what his eyes were showing him.
“Timothy?” he asked, trying to be sure that his eyesight wasn’t deceiving him.
“Yes, dear friend. It is me,” Timothy Pearson smiled widely. The elderly reverend stood beside Luke with a satisfied expression on his wrinkled face.
“So, it’s you,” Timothy said. “You are the Alpha of the werewolf clan. I always thought it was Antoine Brown. He has the look, not you.”
“How did you get mixed up in all this?” Gary wondered. “Why are you doing this?”
“Money,” Timothy replied matter-of-factly. “I am building generational wealth for my family. The government folks have paid me heavily for every scrap of information I ever gave them about you guys. That’s the easiest money I’ve ever made in my entire life.”
“Does Aida know about this?” Gary inquired.
“She doesn’t have to. Besides, she stopped being one of you guys many, many years ago. She has been transformed. I transformed her even though she doesn’t know that I know what she truly is. It’s my little secret.”
“And how did you know what she is, as you say?” Gary asked the reverend.
“Well, I have my friend here, Luke, to thank for that.”
“I sense a story coming up,” Luke said with a singsong tone, thoroughly enjoying himself.
“You see,” the reverend began, “Luke and I grew up together and we lived in the same neighborhood before his family decided to move to Fairbanks. We lost touch for a while, then I moved to Fairbanks when I began ministry work. I met and fell in love with Aida, and we got married shortly after. Luke and I ran into each other some years later in Pennsylvania when I went there with Aida for one of our church conventions, and the two of them acted like they’d seen a ghost when they saw each other.
“Later at the hotel, I asked Aida how she knew Luke and she said they were friends in high school. I knew there was more to the story, so I sought Luke out and asked him about it. He was honest with me—he and Aida had been lovers in the past, and then he dropped the bombshell that literally blew me away. He told me that Aida confessed to him to being a werewolf. Of course, I didn’t believe him at first, but then he showed me all the information he had been able to gather over the years to prove that he wasn’t lying. I got to know about Vak Smallchief and how he began the lineage of werewolves, which has since spread around the country, but your many bases still remain here in Alaska. We also know about your full moon meetings near Denali Mountain. Yes, Gary, we know everything about you werewolves and how you operate.”
“If that’s true, then it means you already know that we mind our business and have not hurt anyone while we coexist with humans. Why then are you hellbent on hurting us for your selfish reasons?” Gary responded.
“Oh no, no, dear Gary. You’ve gotten it all wrong,” Timothy said with a laugh “There’s nothing selfish about what Luke and I are doing here. This is for the good of America. What other way can you show your love for your country—a country that has allowed you to live freely, earn a living, and have a family without hunting you down like a wild animal, then contributing to its greatness? Do you know what this could do to our military force? They would be the best and strongest in the whole world.”
“If what you’re doing is truly for the good of our country, why then have you resorted to kidnapping, wounding and threatening the lives of your fellow countrymen? Why didn’t you just come to us directly with your plan and carry us along?”
“Well, I apologize for our method,” Luke answered with false humility. “But you must understand that we have firsthand knowledge of how secretive you lots are. Even getting you to admit to being werewolves was no easy feat. How then should we have known that you would be willing to submit yourselves for something as phenomenal as this?”
“I see,” Gary said, unimpressed. “Does this project of yours have anything to do with that incident involving Theresa-Rose White in 1997? How come you never went to jail for that, by the way?”
“Yes, to your first question,” Luke replied smugly. “And to the second, Aida convinced her family not to press charges against me. She knew a police investigation would lead them down the rabbit hole involving real life werewolves and she didn’t want that kind of exposure for you guys. Her little sister was sent away to live in Scotland with a relative after that, otherwise, I would have made another attempt to capture her again and carry on with my experiments. Well, that’s in the past now and here we are in the present.”
“So, I’m guessing you were the one who purchased the land on Rev. Pearson’s property?” Gary asked.
“Yes, that is correct,” Luke admitted.
“What for?”
“It’s going to be a training center for newly created werewolf soldiers. We will enlist the best of your men to train them on werewolfery or whatever you guys call it,” Luke said with a wave of his hand, and Rev. Timothy Pearson laughed. “They need firsthand training from the originals—you and your clan members.”
“So, at what point do you start selling these werewolf soldiers to the government of other nations, or wealthy private individuals who might want to own a werewolf?” Gary asked distastefully.
“Oh, aren’t you a brilliant creature! Well, that will come much later but not any time soon. We need to test their progress with our territory first,” Luke said.
“What are you talking about?” The reverend asked his friend in surprise. “We never discussed selling werewolf soldiers to other countries.”
“It wasn’t up for discussion,” Luke replied to him dismissively. “This is my project and I reserve the right to modify the terms and conditions as I go.”
“But we are partners!” Timothy Pearson yelled at his friend. “You are supposed to discuss every detail with me. In fact, I think we need to review my compensation right now. How will we share the proceeds from each sale?”
“We are not partners, Timothy,” Luke said furiously. “You have fulfilled your part of our agreement. I no longer need your services.”
He snapped his fingers once and one of the armed men shot Rev. Timothy Pearson in the head. The elderly clergy fell to the ground like a deflated bouncy castle.
“And that’s exactly why I love working solo,” Luke said calmly. “I’ve been dying to get rid of this parasite for years. At last, I don’t have to share my proceeds with anyone after today.”
“Your greed will be your downfall,” Gary told him.
“Maybe. Enough chitchat now, let’s get moving. Come on now, Gary. Destiny awaits.”
The armed men stepped forward, encircling Gary with their weapons pointing at him. He was outnumbered and there was nowhere for him to run.