“What are you doing here, Harvey!? Someone could see you!” I whispered loudly.
“I have sent the maids home for the rest of the evening, Rieka. No one is going to know that he’s here,” Shay clarified.
Harvey’s shoulders were shaking as if he was trying to hide that he was laughing.
“What’s so funny, Harvey?” I hissed and could feel myself getting a little annoyed with how he was acting.
The pack would lose their minds if they knew we were talking to the founder of Chasseur de Loups.
“I have been walking among you guys for so long, and no one has noticed me yet.” He laughed louder.
He had been among us? How was that possible?
“You’ll have to remember, Rieka, most werewolves have only heard about Harvey or seen him in paintings.
“Not many know how he looks today, and he does not look the same as in the paintings,” Shay explained.
“Hey!” Harvey objected.
“Not because of your age, Harvey. Your hair was long and dark. Your clothes aren’t exactly the same, and the wolves didn’t really portray you as the kindest looking guy.”
“Touché…,” Harvey muttered.
“Why did you even show up here?” I asked. “Weren’t we supposed to meet you at my old house?” That was probably the question that nagged me the most.
“I had to make sure that you were both at home. I’m sorry that I misled you…”
Shay interrupted him. “I’m sorry, but we’ll have to save that question for another time. Harvey can’t be gone for long. His family will begin to suspect his disappearance. We have to move on.”
It annoyed me a bit that Shay just interrupted us like that, but he was right. We had something important to discuss.
“Right,” Harvey began. “As you now know, Rieka, Shay and I have been discussing this matter long before you became part of this world.”
I nodded.
“Now that you’re here, it’s finally possible to make words an actual reality.” Harvey was smiling like a child. He had been waiting for this moment for a long time.
“You asked how we would be able to control Icarus once we let him go,” Harvey began, but Shay took over.
“We have been thinking about that particular problem for months now, and we believe that we have found the perfect solution.”
He was really dragging this whole thing out.
“A tunnel,” Harvey finally revealed. He couldn’t handle the suspense either.
“A tunnel?” I asked, confused.
“Yes. A tunnel,” Shay said. “We plan to dig a tunnel from Icarus’s cage to their part of the forest. One way in and one way out. It’s bulletproof.”
I wasn’t convinced. “What about the hatch that leads into your room, Shay?”
He smiled. “That hatch is as impenetrable as his cage. That won’t be an option for him. I assure you.”
I still wasn’t completely convinced, but they both seemed so sure that it was probably just me trying to imagine the worst possible scenario.
“Okay… But how are we going to dig a tunnel here without attracting too much attention?” I asked.
“Leave that to us,” Harvey said.
“What about us then? What are we supposed to do until then?” I looked at Shay, but Harvey answered.
“Nothing for now. I will send a message when the tunnel is done. I have estimated that it’ll take about a week.”
“And we’ll reply when it’s time,” Shay added.
Harvey walked to the other side of the table and grabbed Shay’s hand to shake it. A strong handshake. A symbol of an agreement.
“I will be looking forward to the collaboration,” Harvey said with a smile.
“Me too,” Shay said and squeezed Harvey’s hand. Shay seemed almost relieved. Having to watch over Icarus must be an enormous responsibility.
Harvey let go and walked to me. He cupped my face. “See you later, my lotus.” Then he kissed my forehead.
“Harvey!” Shay growled. Harvey let go instantly.
“Sorry! Bad habit. She looks too much like Diana, but Rieka is all yours. See you in about a week.” Then he disappeared out the door, and Shay and I were alone again.
“Diana?” Shay muttered. I turned around.
“You don’t know?” I asked. He just shook his head. “Diana was Harvey’s wife.” Nothing seemed to click inside Shay’s head.
“My ancestor. Icarus and Reginald’s sister?” He put the pieces together.
“Harvey’s wife was Icarus’s sister?” he asked, confused. I nodded.
“Apparently, I look quite like her. You really didn’t know?”
“No… I didn’t…” He started rubbing his face.
“What’s wrong?” I asked and stepped closer to caress his back.
“This could become a problem.” He sighed.
I didn’t understand. “What could?”
He made sure that he had me in his arms before he continued. “If you really look so much like her… You can’t be a part of the fight,” he said.
“What?” I objected and looked up. “You can’t just exclude me like that!”
I pushed myself away, but he grabbed my wrists before I could wiggle myself completely free.
“I can’t take that risk, Rieka. If he sees you and mistakes you for Diana… If he could kill his own sister in cold blood… I don’t know what he could do to you. I can’t risk losing you!”
“He is my ancestor, Shay! He is my responsibility…”
“No!” Shay interrupted me. “He is my responsibility. I am telling you this as your Alpha. Do not even think about taking part in this battle!”
He was using his Alpha voice against me, making it impossible for me to challenge him, so I changed direction.
“What about you then?! What if I lose you?” I snapped back.
“I am the Alpha. This is part of the job!” Those were his last words before he walked out too, and I was left alone in his office.
I was so mad it was hard to describe. This wasn’t fair. They had only needed me as an excuse to go through with this. They never needed me to be a part of it.
This meeting had just been about informing me. My opinion didn’t matter to them. I had been completely fooled, and I was almost ashamed of myself.
I wasn’t proud of the fact that Icarus was my ancestor, but he was my blood. My blood, my responsibility. I had to find a way to be there.
Maybe I could reach Icarus’s heart. He had spent thousands of years in that dungeon. Thinking about what he had done.
I sat down in Shay’s chair.
Shay wasn’t stupid. The moment I let down my guard and showed the slightest bit of what could look like I was keeping something from him, he would know.
I spun the chair around. It really was a mess in here. Stacks of paper everywhere. He had so much to do right now that he almost didn’t have any time for me…
Maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing? If he was using most of his time at work, and we were having sex the rest of the time, he wouldn’t have the time to figure out what I was doing. Perfect!
Shay will be furious when he finds out that I have been planning things behind his back, but it would be too late by then.
The door opened, and Shay walked in here again. “By the way, I have cleared my schedule for the rest of the week. Elan has kindly offered to do my work so we could prepare you.”
He didn’t wait for me to answer him before he left me again. I wasn’t the only one who seemed to be upset.
But there goes that plan… Shay wouldn’t be working, he would be spending time with me. Prepare me… Prepare me for what?
He had just benched me from joining the fight, which was the only thing I could think of that I should have been preparing for.
What could he possibly mean?
