"Alpha, remind me again why you're the one who is going to meet the task force." His beta stated pointedly. "If anything, I should be the one going right now. If the pack gets attacked-"
"Then you will manage it just fine until I'm able to get back. We have been dosing our members since the report came out. They should have some immunity against an attack. And you are correct. Normally, I'd send you there, but this situation requires me to present. You have a mate here Jake." Raphael's eyes narrowed as he continued to pack his bag with necessities.
"And this has nothing to do with the list that we received this morning?" Jacob cocked a brow at his Alpha as his weight shifted against the doorway of Raphael's door frame. Raphael's hand froze for just a moment before breathing in.
"Please." He scoffed, meeting his beta's golden eyes. "It has nothing to do with her."
"Dr. Jess Lewis, the one who we were investigating for selling black-market orchids?" Jacob snorted. "Yes, I'm sure that this has nothing to do with the fact that she was a last-minute addition to the list."
"Please. The FLA cleared her of the charges ages ago." Raphael shrugged his shoulders. It wasn't a secret that she was the most likely candidate for selling the black market Whitehaven Lunar Orchid years ago. Her father had just received several seeds and orchids for his research before passing. Two years later, the reports flooded in. Lunar Orchid was on the black market. If she was the genius she was rumored to be, two years were more than enough time to cultivate the amount that flooded the market. Raphael wasn't stupid. He easily connected the dots. After all, only half the amount Dr. Lewis had was sent back to Whitehaven. She claimed that the rest were lost in the fire. But Raphael doubted it. Jess was Dr. Lewis's only daughter. It wouldn't surprise him to want to continue Dr. Lewis's work at the very least. But to find the orchid on the market two years later was a shock. The biggest shock was the fact that the dealer had managed to elude them for so many years until last year.
"Sure, but it was Aerin Trellis who cleared her."
"Yes, and?" Raphael scowled. Commander Trellis was a highly respected leader of the FLA. The fact that he personally cleared Jess was puzzling at the time, considering the fact the man didn't take cases anymore. But he doubted that the Commander would just stare him straight in the eye and lie. Very few did that. Raphael was intimidating in both power and stature.
"There's a rumor through certain medical circles that Commander Trellis' mother was especially close with Dr. Jonathan Lewis." Jacob didn't have to say much more. It wasn't a secret that Allirena Trellis had a very close working relationship with Dr. Jonathan Lewis. The two had developed many breakthroughs in their partnership until Allirena suddenly passed away from an unfortunate lab explosion.
"She's human. If she was at least even a little fae, it would be very evident." Raphael glanced at Jacob before he shook his head, thinking back to the news coverage of her father's death. He didn't want Jacob to suspect anything, but it was too late for that.
"And what if the rumors are true, Raph, I think we both know that you're going because you have the same thought I do." Jacob scowled. "If she was protected by Trellis, then she's at the very least got something on him. Maybe she's got a secret sister or something that they mutually share. But either way, the FLA would need to be aware of this."
"Let's assume that you're right." Raphael placed the last shirt into his suitcase before zipping it closed. "Let's say there is a secret sibling, why wouldn't she come out by now? What's keeping her quiet? Is it Commander Trellis? Please. The man has a human and 1/4th vampire mate. Being concerned with appearances is not him. Otherwise, he would have rejected his own mate. So why else would he lie?" Raphael shifted his weight and looked Jacob in the eye.
"Then she has some other blackmail on him. Think about it, man."
"Let's say that she was innocent." Raphael stared him down. "Then it's quite possible that she may be the most qualified person outside of this pack to come up with a cure because she's had more than enough time to continue her father's research. Either way, even if she was the dealer, she would still be the most qualified individual to be on the team. I'd rather leave the dealer issue for another day, Jacob. One where we have a cure for this disease. I don't give a fuck if it means saving lives."
"Then why are you going?" Jacob huffed.
"Because of this!" Raphael growled, hoisting his bag over his shoulder, gesturing with the other hand towards his beta. "I'd rather be the one to interact with her first, as opposed to you. The last thing we need is to scare away one of our only hopes for a cure." Raphael's fist tightened as he passed his beta. He didn't want to let Jacob know the real reason he decided to go. It wasn't because she could be the dealer.
It was because he also knew she might have been one of the only people on the planet that could create a disease such as this. And if she was the creator of it, she would want to see its effects up close. What better way than to volunteer for a mission that was meant to help find a cure? And who else would be more equipped to pretend to find one than the creator? Anyone on the task force might have been responsible. But she had more motive than the others, to say the least. That was the real reason he had to go. He had to find out if anyone on the task force could be an enemy before allowing them into Whitehaven. And that unfortunately started with Dr. Jess Lewis.
Because if Whitehaven opened its doors too soon to anyone to the wrong person, they would all be screwed.
Comments (0)
See all