Chapter 4

　　Orion

　　Stacks of forms, spreadsheets, and bank papers were spread across the desk in front of me. All of them showed the same thing. The pack was in serious trouble. When they called and begged me to come back after my father died, part of me thought they just wanted an easy plan for a new alpha. No need to struggle with choosing someone when there was already one in the family line. But now I could see they didn't just want an easy change, they were desperate for help.

　　Somehow, my father had put the pack into huge debt. There was barely enough money left to keep things running. Some accounts were even below zero. Even the investments and stocks he had built over the years were gone. Everything had been taken out.

　　I threw one of the papers aside, and it spun through the air before falling to the floor. None of this made sense. I had been back for almost two months, and still couldn't figure out where the money went. There were no signs of big spending in the receipts. No expensive cars or vacation houses. The records only showed cash withdrawals, not transfers or purchases. And none of the amounts were even that large. So what had he done with it? The thought made me uneasy.

　　It was time to do something I had been avoiding since I returned. I had tried everything I could, but I wasn't getting answers. The only way to understand what happened was to ask someone who had stayed here.

　　I found an old address book on my father's desk. It had the phone numbers of his betas and enforcers, men I had known all my life, but who were no longer in Pinecrest Valley. I had asked about them before, but the other pack members stayed quiet and acted like they didn't know anything.

　　Nikolai Hale had been my dad's closest man. The fact that he had left town confused me the most. I found his number on the first page and called him.

　　The phone rang for a long time. I was about to hang up when he finally answered.

　　"Hello? Who's this?"

　　"Nikolai Hale?" I asked, hoping it was him.

　　"Yeah, that's me. Who's this? You sound familiar."

　　"This is Orion Blackthorne, Nikolai."

　　There was a pause before he spoke again. "Well, damn, boy. Haven't heard from you in a while. How are you?"

　　"Honestly, Nikolai? I've been better. You heard Dad died, right?"

　　"Yeah," he said with a sigh. "I did."

　　I frowned and leaned on the desk. "Why didn't you come to the funeral? Why didn't any of you come? All the old betas and others? What's going on with this pack? I've been back for eight weeks, and everything is a mess."

　　"Are you taking over for Lance?" Nikolai asked. "Is that why you're calling?"

　　"Most likely. I'm trying to fix the pack's finances, but nothing makes sense." I sighed, feeling tired even to myself. "What happened?"

　　"I figured you wouldn't know, since you've been gone so long."

　　"Know what?" I asked, trying not to sound annoyed.

　　"It started about six or seven months ago. Lance began acting strange. He stopped talking to us—his advisors, the elders—everyone. He kept to himself."

　　I didn't really know what that meant. I hadn't spoken to my father in years. The last time was when I left his house for good. Still, that didn't sound like him. Even at his worst, he cared about the pack like family. It was strange that he pushed everyone away.

　　"We looked into it," Nikolai continued. "We saw the finances weren't right. Same thing you found. Chris—you remember the enforcer?—he was the first to bring it up. Your dad lost his temper. Started shouting at him, telling him to stay out of his business. The rest of us stood up for Chris and told Lance he needed to be honest about what was going on. But he didn't like that at all. Honestly, he kind of lost it."

　　"I can imagine," I muttered.

　　"A day or two later, he removed all of us from our positions. We weren't part of his inner group anymore. Said he didn't need us. Then he went further with Chris and banished him from the pack."

　　This was what everyone had been too scared to tell me. No wonder. An alpha banishing his enforcer? That was crazy.

　　"He banished him?"

　　"Yeah," Nikolai said quietly. "It was insane. I've never seen anything like it. A few weeks later, he pushed the rest of us out too. We had to join other packs."

　　"And none of you figured out what was really going on?" I asked.

　　"No. He got rid of us before we could find out more. Orion, I'm telling you, something wasn't right. For the last year or two, your dad was acting strange."

　　"Okay," I said, rubbing my forehead. "Thanks for telling me, Nikolai."

　　"No problem."

　　"Hey, Nikolai?"

　　"Yeah?"

　　"I know things ended badly between you and Dad, but I'm in charge now. If any of you ever want to come back home, let me know. You'll be welcomed. I won't treat old friends the way he did."

　　Nikolai gave a small laugh. "That sounds good, Orion. I appreciate it. I'll talk to the others. Most of us have settled into new packs, but… home is still home."

　　"Yeah," I said. "It is. I'll talk to you later."

　　"Goodbye, Orion."

　　I looked at the pile of papers again, all pointing to something I couldn't understand. What had my father done to cause all this? No one seemed to know. And when his closest people started asking questions, he pushed them away before they could find out the truth.

　　The office door opened, and Selene walked in.

　　"Hey, sis," I said. "What's going on?"

　　"Hey," she replied shortly.

　　I leaned back in my chair as she walked around the room, looking nervous and uneasy—nothing like how she usually acted.

　　"Are you okay?" I asked.

　　"Huh?" She quickly turned to look at me. "Yeah, I'm fine. Did you find anything about the financial stuff?" she asked, clearly trying to change the topic, but I let it go.

　　"Nothing more than what I already told you." I frowned at her. "Hey, did you know Dad banished the betas and the enforcer?"

　　She stopped moving and stood still. "What?" Her nervous look disappeared, and she looked more like herself again. "Dad told me they got angry because he didn't give them more power, so they left. Said they argued with him and quit. When I came back and didn't see them, I asked, but everyone told me the same thing."

　　"And you believed that? Selene, you've known Nikolai and the others just as long as I have. Does that even make sense to you?"