Chapter 466

Once he was gone, I leaned back, turned to my laptop, and opened my conversation with Thoth and my father.

Nixthegoddess: I have the mainframe; the download just finished. Deadmanwalking: That’s amazing! Send it once you get home. I’ll start going through it. Thoth: Get out of there.

Nixthegoddess: Will do. I’m leaving tonight. Thoth: Just leave now.

Deadmanwalking: Leave now.

Nixthegoddess: I have something I still have to do.

Deadmanwalking: What? Thoth: It’s not important. Whatever it is can wait; just leave. Now. Nixthegoddess: You both know I can’t do that. Vince was draining all the pups. I can’t leave them to die. I need to remove the curse. Thoth: Fine. Do it and then leave. Deadmanwalking: Wait! Nixthegoddess: What? Deadmanwalking: Vince will know as soon as you remove the first curse. Then he will start searching for everyone. He will be able to move faster than you, and you will be screwed. The removal of any curse is hard on the caster, especially removing multiple curses, and you are already hurt.

Nixthegoddess: I can’t leave the kids to die. Deadmanwalking: I’m not saying that you should. You extended the time before, right?

Nixthegoddess: Yeah, by a week. Deadmanwalking: When is the mating ceremony?

Nixthegoddess: It’s been cancelled. Obviously.

Deadmanwalking: I don’t think so, baby… My source close to Brandon said he’s agreed to mate with Shannon, but Vince is against it. As far as I can see, Vince will either cave and allow the mating ceremony to go ahead, or…

Nixthegoddess: Or what?

Deadmanwalking: He has a stand-in mate for Brandon.

I sat back in my chair and thought about it for a minute. It’s possible. Who else would be dumb enough to want to mate with Brandon? Vince wouldn’t settle for a random or unranked wolf, so there was very little chance that Shannon would get the ending she was so invested in.

Nixthegoddess: Who could be that dumb? Thoth: Vince wouldn’t settle for just a random wolf, but with his position, and how Brandon just insulted you, he would be low on options.

I nodded. Thoth was right. Low options. Alpha, beta, or gamma female; that would also be out of options. I had an idea, but it was almost too ridiculous. There was no way I was right, but it would be amazing if I was.

Nixthegoddess: What about Nina, or Nadine?

Thoth: Possible. Their family is barely hanging on to any kind of standing. But both are alphas.

Deadmanwalking: It honestly doesn’t matter. What matters right now is that we have a week to move and figure all of this out. Instead of curing them, extend their power for another week and then leave. He will just assume that Verity was wrong again, giving us enough time to get into place.

He was right. Nixthegoddess: Fine. But I’m removing Abby’s tonight. Deadmanwalking: Fine, just do it after you leave.

Thoth: Can you heal yet?

The sudden shift in topics had me furrowing my brows.

Nixthegoddess: How did you know? Thoth: …Your father told me. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is that you heal yourself.

I stared at the screen for a second before I heard another door slam, and I groaned. I didn’t have time for this. I started to pack everything away. I slipped my phone and laptop into my purse before my office door slammed open again.

Brandon was huffing in quick breaths, staring at me with intense eyes. “You.”

I turned back to my computer and started sending tasks back to the mainframe, knowing full well that none of us would be here in the morning to do anything about them. But I still had to act like I was the only one leaving. I smirked as I glanced up at him. “Me.”

He growled, but I shook my head. Stupid men. “Why are you here?” “I’m finishing my tasks before I transfer out.” He froze. “What?”

I sighed as I sent all the open IT tasks back to the alerting system and then deactivated my account. I pursed my lips. “What do you mean ‘what’?”

His eyes glared back at me. “What do you mean, you are transferring out?”

I shut down my computer before I turned slowly to empty my desk. “Exactly what I said, Brandon. I am transferring out to my father’s pack.”

He threw his head back. “He’s dead.” “And?” That stopped him. “How are you transferring to a pack that no longer exists?”

I sighed, my eyebrows raising slightly. “I don’t believe you to be stupid, Brandon. What could be the reason I would transfer back to a dead pack that I have the rights to?”

He thought for a second, and I watched the understanding explode behind his eyes. “You are going back to rebuild.” “Ding ding, ding. We have a winner.” I zipped up my bag and pushed off the desk to help me stand, my ribs screaming.

Brandon’s voice turned whiny. “But our mating ceremony is in a week.”