The Alpha's Underworld Princess

No One Knows

Richard

"I don't know, Alpha. Everyone is tight-lipped on it." My informant looked at me with fear in his eyes. I had spent almost two months drilling them all, and no one seemed to be able to give me any information on who was after Dark Moon's luna. "I think you need to get to the rogues. Put some informants among them."

"The problem with that is which rogues? They don't really hang around in packs the way we do." I snorted and lit up a cigarette. "Makes them harder to find. And even if I could locate every rogue camp, there would be too many to have a person in each. The coordination of that would be a logistical nightmare."

"Maybe that's our biggest flaw? We make ourselves too easy to locate. Too easy to infiltrate." He suggested, and I nodded in agreement. I think the rogues have it figured out more than we do. They could get away with so much more by staying off the grid. We have homes, and homes have addresses. Everyone knows who we are and who our families are.

It's why my parents were more competent than the other packs. No one except those who lived there knew where their territory was, and it was protected with spells to keep the location hidden from anyone passing by. Members who had ill intentions could bring no visitors home with them. They should have been safe, but you can't protect yourself from everything. Sometimes, the ones we love and trust the most are those we truly need to fear.

"Go to the underground. Put out the information that you'll pay double if someone will deliver whoever approached them. Someone will come out of the woodwork." I ordered him.

"How high are you willing to go?" He asked, and I passed off the cigarette to him.

"Whatever it takes." His eyes widened a bit as he took a drag. "There's no way whoever this is would be offering more than Dark Moon is willing to pay to protect its luna. More than my brother and I are willing to pay."

"Right. Forgot you all have an endless supply of money." I tossed him his own envelope full of cash. "Thanks."

"Just get me someone." I clapped him on the shoulder and said my goodbyes. It was the best I could do for now. Anthony and I have taken down groups that were already paid to attack Dark Moon before it happened. There were obviously ones who we didn't get to that attacked, but it wasn't anything they hadn't been able to handle. At least not yet. But no one we encountered ever talked. My only guess was that there were so many layers of leadership that the boss was well-protected. No one we were getting to had enough knowledge to speak to anything.

Then I had an idea and was shocked that I hadn't thought of it yet. I got back in my car and dialed my brother.

"Yes?" He answered the phone.

"I love you too. So nice to talk to you." I mocked him.

"Richard, what is it?"

"One day, you will regret not telling me you loved me often enough."

"I love you, and that is the only reason I haven't hung up yet." He growled back. "It's been a long day."

"I'm sure it has. You have had many long nights in your room at my place." I would never judge my brother for his nightly conquests, but I had to admit he had been doing it more frequently lately. For a few weeks, I thought he might have deflected and moved in.

"Richard." He growled my name, and I relented. Enough was enough.

"Anthony... what if, in the next attack, a few did get away? Eventually, don't you think the person who paid them will show up again? Ask them to attack again or do something else for them?"

"That's a good idea. We let a few get away and have one of our guys join them. So we will need to have our guy ready to follow them when they run off." Anthony filled in the details as he usually did for me.

"Exactly. I'll get a couple of guys." I offered. "Might take some time."

"These things do." He sighed. "Thanks."

"I also have one of my guys who will put the rumor out that he will double the money if they flip sides. Not sure what more I can do, unfortunately." I felt bad for tiny Luna Valkyrie of Dark Moon. Sure, I had only met her once, but I liked her. She didn't stand a chance if anyone got to her though. They would rip her apart in minutes.

"Just keep your borders secure, Richard. They might branch out if they don't get what they want."

"Don't worry about me, Brother. All we are good at is killing wolves." I smirked sadly because I was being serious.

"And fucking women." I heard his similar smirk through the phone.

"Be careful, Anthony." My throat felt like it was constricting. Even though I almost believed my brother was indestructible, I knew they would keep coming after her, and he would stand in their way. It scared me to know that he would die for her in a heartbeat. Even if he didn't want to, his body wouldn't allow him to hold back.

"Always am." Then he hung up.

Unknown

"This isn't working. You are having me send in groups that are being slaughtered." I rubbed my face with one hand, trying to contain my outrage. My beta paced around, trying to hold it together. "And we have had reports of camps I've already paid being eliminated. They know something is up, and these attacks aren't random or typical."

"Since when do you give a damn if rogues die? We have used them for years." I would hate to have to execute my beta for going soft on me.

"It's not that they are dying. I don't give a fuck about that. I do care that we are hemorrhaging money over this endeavor of yours. With respect, we can't keep using the pack's funds for this."

"To get our luna? That's not worth pack funds?" He sighed and shook his head at me, "It is worth our luna, Alpha. But still. You are going to run the pack into the ground. I think we need to explore another source of income and develop a better plan." I did not appreciate being questioned. As alpha, the pack funds belonged to me. No one was starving... at least not yet. I didn't need him to tell me any of this, though. I was already looking for other sources and had found them. They were unlikely sources and ones I wasn't happy about, but there wasn't much I could realistically do other than accept that my mate was worth all the trouble this was causing. Our meeting wasn't pretty, but I can be persuasive.

"All I need you to do is cause enough damage that we easily get to her." I thought I had explained this to him.

"Boss, that's the problem. Do you have any idea who your mate even is? What is she? She took down the last group with a spell. And they were the largest group I managed to find for you."

"Spell?" I leaned forward in my chair and studied the man before me. I was told she was powerful, but I didn't think she was a witch. Was that the power that was sold to me? It made me wonder if she was a good or bad witch.

"You should go see yourself next time. Rumor has it you aren't the only one sending rogues to attack Dark Moon. A large group is set to attack them soon on behalf of another alpha. They want to get to Alpha Wyatt, though. I don't think they know anything about his luna."

"Well, they get to him and kill him; they will take my mate. So either way, it's a problem."

"They won't win." I wanted to laugh at the thought. Taking down Dark Moon would be a considerable challenge. One I wouldn't bother to even try to take on. I only needed their defenses down. To cause enough chaos in the pack, the traitors who hate her will turn against her, making it easier to get to her. "But it would be a good chance to see your girl in action."

I salivated at the idea but also hated it. Could I watch my beloved be put in direct danger? My rogues are instructed not to harm her. Any other attacks wouldn't be as careful.

"I'll think about it."