Chapter 87

Chapter 87: Chapter 87

Evelyn arrived at Damon’s pack with Tristan behind her. Beta Ren, as usual, was out to welcome them into the pack. He led them through the hallway, toward Damon’s office.

Damon was already waiting in his office, a stack of documents spread across his desk. He glanced up when they entered, then leaned back in his chair. ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"Lady Evelyn. I was beginning to wonder when you’d come to see me."

"What I’m getting is that you think of me, Alpha Damon." She smiled, taking the seat opposite him. "I admit it’s warm to know."

Behind her, Tristan hid his smile.

"A little humor from the great Lady Evelyn. I’ll take it regardless." He replied with ease, settling into the chair. "For a moment there, though, I thought you’d taken up the whole case—Sophia and Voss. Perhaps you didn’t need my expertise anymore."

"I wish." Evelyn replied dryly. "I have some new information." Evelyn’s expression grew serious. "The healer I sent to investigate Sophia has returned."

Damon sat up slightly. "The one who went missing?"

Evelyn nodded. "She found Sophia meeting Voss. Someone attacked her afterward and left her for dead."

"Did she see who attacked her?"

"No. But she heard Voss ask Sophia if Kael had sent someone to watch her. She also believes there may have been another person nearby."

Tristan leaned forward. "Whoever attacked her may have thought she was working for Kael."

"That’s what she suspects," Evelyn said. "But we don’t know for certain."

Damon was quiet for a moment. "Voss has always been careful," he said. "If he thought someone was watching him, he wouldn’t leave them alive to report what they saw."

"Which is exactly why I need to know what Sophia has done to warrant that kind of caution." Evelyn folded her hands in her lap.

"Tell me, why are you so keen on finding out what he has on Sophia? What’s it called again? The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Shouldn’t that be your case now, seeing as you don’t like Sophia and she’s in some sort of trouble?"

Evelyn hummed, leaning back against the chair. "Well now, this is past Sophia and has now involved Greta, the healer. She wouldn’t have been injured and left for dead if I hadn’t asked her to keep tabs on Sophia. She deserves some sort of—what’s it called again?—compensation."

Damon stared at her blankly. Her explanation was weak to him, but he didn’t care. He was ecstatic seeing Sophia crumble this way, and being able to contribute to Kael’s and Sophia’s doom was enough.

"What do you know about him? Truly know, not rumors."

Damon exhaled slowly, setting down his quill. "I know he’s not someone who deals in small debts. And I know Sophia—she was my wife for five years. If there’s one thing that marriage taught me, it’s that she’s full of pride and just as full of greed. She doesn’t part with anything willingly. Not money, not control, certainly not her position."

"So whatever Voss has on her—"

"Has to threaten something she values more than her pride." Damon leaned back. "And the only thing Sophia has ever valued more than herself is her position. Being Luna. Kael’s trust, or what’s left of it. If Voss holds something that could strip that away from her, she’d pay him endlessly to keep it buried."

Evelyn’s brow furrowed. "What could that possibly be?"

"That," Damon admitted, "is what I don’t have an answer to yet."

"Then we find Voss directly."

"Easier said." Damon shook his head. "The man’s a ghost. He doesn’t deal openly, doesn’t resurface where anyone’s watching, doesn’t leave trails worth following." He paused, something shifting behind his eyes.

"But he does have family. A cousin—distant, but blood nonetheless. The man rules the Netherreach pack."

Tristan straightened from where he’d been standing near the door. "The Netherreach pack’s been cut off from the rest of the realm for years. They don’t attend summits, barely acknowledge the other packs exist."

"Not entirely," Damon said. "The Netherreach Alpha still attends the annual gathering of the First Houses."

Tristan turned to him. "The Gathering of the First Bloods?"

Damon nodded. "The next one is in two weeks. Voss’s cousin will be there."

Evelyn considered this. If Voss maintained contact with his family, the gathering might offer an opportunity to learn more about him. Even if his cousin knew nothing about Sophia, he might know where Voss could be found.

"I need to be in that room."

Damon laughed, not much humor behind it. "Forget being in that room. You can’t even get an invite in. Lucien is Supreme Alpha and the leader of the First Houses. He controls that guest list personally, and he’s hardly inclined to hand you an invitation after everything between the two of you. Besides, the Gathering is members only. No outsiders."

That was true. Lucien would never give her access to his event, not after everything that had happened between them. Even though they’d seen each other twice since then, they were on forced cordial terms.

But now that she’d heard of it, she couldn’t just let it go. No. She had to find a way into the First Houses, but how?

"Unless the invitation allows a plus one." Evelyn’s mind was already working the angle. "A wife. A Luna. A Beta."

Damon’s brows rose slowly. "Where exactly are you going with this?"

"I’m saying I can get in if the invitation includes a plus one. Since the event is strictly for the members of the First Houses, that means invitations would be for their spouses or friends, right?"

"That’s correct." Ren replied, stepping forward. "Last year I remember Beta Charles going with that girl—Nayla." He said bitterly, the name of the girl leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.

"So you get in as a plus one, but whose plus one?" Damon asked. "May I remind you, neither I nor your trusted Beta over there has power in the First Houses world?"

Evelyn’s mouth curved as a name popped into her head. "Soren."

The room went quiet for a beat.

"Soren," Damon repeated, as if testing the shape of the idea. "He’s a First House member?"

"His father was," Tristan corrected from the doorway.

"Does that distinction matter?" Evelyn tilted her head. "The pack itself is a First House. Soren is the Alpha currently leading it, regardless of whose name built the seat. If the invitation follows the ruling Alpha of a First House pack, it goes to him."

Damon studied her for a long moment, something calculating sliding into place behind his eyes. "You’d use Soren to get into the Gathering."

"I’d ask him," Evelyn said evenly. "There’s a difference."

"Is there?" Damon asked, his jaw tightening only a little. "Soren hasn’t exactly been subtle about his interest in you. I doubt he’ll need much convincing."

"Then that settles it. I’ll go in as Soren’s plus one. Besides, Soren doesn’t have such feelings towards me. This is only about getting into that room."

Soren’s confession rang in her head, but she quickly shot it down. Would she be a bad person to use his interest in her to enter the First Houses event?

"Whatever it’s about," Damon said, "it’s clever. I’ll give you that."

Ren, who’d remained quiet through most of the exchange, finally spoke. "Even if Alpha Soren agrees, Alpha Lucien still controls the final guest list. A plus one isn’t guaranteed simply because the invitation technically allows for one. He could refuse it outright, especially if he suspects why you’d want in."

"Then he won’t know why." Evelyn rose from her chair, smoothing her skirts. "As far as anyone needs to be aware, I’m attending as Soren’s companion for the evening. Nothing more."

"And if Lucien asks Soren directly why he’s bringing you?" Damon pressed.

"Would he go through the plus one list before the event? I highly doubt that." She replied.

Damon considered that, then shrugged. "Fair point. Lucien’s many things, but a man who reviews guest lists for pleasure isn’t one of them." He tapped his quill against the desk. "Still, you’ll need Soren to agree without asking too many questions of his own. He’s not a fool, Evelyn. If you show up asking for a favor this specific, he’ll want to know why."

"I’ll give him a reason that isn’t a lie." Evelyn’s tone stayed even. "I want to attend. I have an interest in the Netherreach Alpha’s connections, for reasons that concern a healer in my care. That’s all true. I simply won’t be volunteering Voss’s name or Sophia’s."

She stood up, ready to leave. "Now I’ll head over to Soren’s. The earlier, the better."

Tristan moved to follow her, but she quickly shook her head. This one she wanted to do alone.

"You want to go alone?" He asked, surprised.

"I don’t need an escort to ask a man for a favor, Tristan."

"That’s not what concerns me." He held her gaze a beat longer than necessary. "Alpha Soren isn’t subtle about where his interest lies. Walking in there alone, asking this of him specifically, might read as more than you intend."

"And I’ll handle it. Soren’s a man of integrity, and he won’t act out of character. He hasn’t done that so far, as opposed to your thinking." Her gaze flickered to Damon, who watched the two of them.

"Head back to the pack, and I’ll meet you there in a bit." She said and walked out of the office, Tristan behind her.

Damon watched her retreating figure till she was out of sight, his jaw clenched tight, unaware of his Beta staring at him.

He didn’t like Soren. He’d never liked him, and now, he didn’t like him even more.

Ren cleared his throat. "She’s an enigma, isn’t she?" He piped up.

Damon blinked, catching himself. He ignored Ren’s remarks.

"Send a message to Callum. I need to see him tonight."