— Kaden —

“First off,” I said. “My condolences.”

Michael Thomas was sitting on the other side of my computer screen, next to Darren.

“Thank you,” Michael said. I could hear how raw the emotions were in his voice.

“What happened?”

He took a few seconds to order his thoughts and emotions before he answered.

“We’re not sure yet, the place was ransacked, the b—,” he took a long breath in. “The bodies,” he said his throat tight. “Were mauled. Werewolves.”

“Was there any DNA?” I asked.

“I made a request with the Brotherhood to get their detectives and forensic team. I don’t have the contacts with the local police to be able to handle things here otherwise,” Michael said.

“The Brotherhood hasn’t responded yet,” said Darren.

“I never relied on the Brotherhood for this, I have my own team. If you want me to send them, I will,” I said.

“We’ll take it,” said Darren right away.

Michael hesitated a little. “Thank you, that could make a huge difference.”

“But we won’t have access to the brotherhood’s database,” said Darren.

“We have our own private database, I also know a few other packs who have their own too and would let us run it. As for the Brotherhood’s, we can ask Boisclair. They have difficulty refusing him.”

“Would he do that?” asked Michael a little surprised.

“Yes,” both Darren and I said.

“That,” he began. “Is a lot more resources than I’m used to.”

“Anything else about the crime scene?” I asked.

“I have a few guys that documented everything,” Michael answered. “It was a mess, but it said nothing more than what we know?”

“Did they take anything?” I asked.

“We found nothing missing.”

“Didn’t Elaeya said they protected something?” Darren said.

I nodded.

“Who’s Elaeya?” asked Michael.

Darren pursed his lips, unsure of what he could say.

“Someone who is not limited by distance or timelines,” I said.

Michael blinked.

“And you will keep that to yourself,” I told him.

“Of course,” he replied.

“Where’s Eva by the way?” I asked.

“Here,” said Darren, moving the camera to show me a couch in an office with Eva sleeping on it, mouth agape. “She’s been hit by jet-lagged pretty hard.”

I nodded as I typed an email to Brandon.

They both waited for me.

“Okay,” I said back on the conversation at hand. “The next step would be to find what they were protecting. It might give us a clue. It could also be at risk of a second attempt. So we have to make sure it’s safe.”

My computer pinged. Brandon had answered.

“Okay, the forensic team should be at Stonewillow in eight hours, there will be five people plus equipment, so I’m counting on you to prepare accommodations for all of them.”

“Of course,” said Michael, a little taken aback by the speed of the response.

“Do you have enough security?” I asked.

“Yes. I will inform you if there is a change in the situation,” said Darren. He was really starting to grow into a pretty decent Gamma.

“How has been your transfer of power?” I asked Michael.

“My father was pretty reticent of letting go. But this,” he paused. “Hit him hard. I think he never really digested Darren leaving. But that… My mother took charge of the rest of the transfer. Legally everything is mine. We will do the transfer of Alpha around the time of the funerals.”

I nodded. “Good. No disrespect, but I prefer dealing with you than your father.”

“Yeah, well, me too,” Michael said.

Darren snorted. “Don’t we all?”

“Has Darren filled you in on the upcoming wars?” I asked.

“Yes. That was coming from your psychic too?”

“Yes. We know war one is going to be triggered by what just happened in Stonewillow. We don’t know about the others. You might not be involved in those, but I’m of the mindset to not take stupid chances.”

“Of course. You tell us what you need,” Michael said.

“First off, information. As much as possible. I’d prefer not to start another war with an overly ambitious, and misguided, pack. I just dealt with one, and the Brotherhood are not happy. But if it has to happen, then it will,” I said.

“With all due respect, why?” asked Michael. “This is not your fight, or your territory, we’re not even officially allies. This isn’t even on your continent. Why do this if it’s inconvenient and would cause you trouble.”

“Firstly, my Gammas are probably going to be there helping regardless. I’d prefer making sure they return in a timely manner. Secondly, someone really wise said I would be involved right away, and I learned not to ignore clever people’s opinion. And finally, are you asking for help?”

“Eh?” he asked a little confused.

“Just say yes,” said Darren.

“Erm, yes,” said Michael still unclear on what was happening.

“I have not refused help to anyone who has genuinely asked, without ulterior motives, or cause for distrust.”

“Oh, erm, thank you.”

“This makes it official,” said Darren. “Anyone asked. You contacted Blakemore for help.”

“Oh, okay. I get it.”

I nodded. “Is there anything else you want to cover?” I asked them.

Darren shook his head. “I’m working with Dimitri to secure the border, gather intel, and make sure those fuckers don’t come back.”

“What if they never left?” I asked.

“This is a terrifying thought,” Darren said.

“I’m already making a full census to make sure everyone is both accounted for, and no strangers are among us,” said Michael. “I’m also having someone looking at all the security cameras and talking to everyone to account for any visitor and spot any discrepancy.”

“Good. That would be one of the first things I would do too,” I said.

Michael shook his head in a sigh. “How do you keep your people safe from something like this?” he asked no one in particular.

“Preparation, knowledge, resources, alliances, plenty of out of the box ideas, and a good dose of paranoia,” I said.

Darren snorted.

“I’m not even sure where to start,” Michael said.

“Always start with knowledge. Who are your enemies, who are your allies? What is the security on your territory, what could be done better, and what is its weakness? Who is trustworthy within your pack and what are the weak links? What are your resources, financial, military, everything? What are your resources from outside your pack and from allies? If there would be a war, who would fight it, who will stay by your side, who is a liability, and who will cause more harm than good, even if well-intentioned? Who are your best counsel and get them involved in this process where they excel at?

One that initial intel is on the table or on its way. You secure everything further, to stabilise, or at least buy some time. Then you start listing your issues and put them on a scale of priorities based on a schedule. What can wait, and what can’t, and how long do you have?

Preparation is generally done before hand to its biggest extent. You can prepare what you need in the here and now, but you will also have to establish all that you will have to prepare and do to make sure this doesn’t repeat itself.

I guess, this is a start, then you can move up from there.”

Darren was slouched on his chair, his arms crossed, his eyes not as bright as they were at the beginning of the call, probably feeling the jet lag as much as Eva, but he was listening and nodding to a few points along the way.

Michael looked like I’d just dumped the weight of the world on his shoulder.

“Give yourself some time, deal with the emergencies first,” I said. “Don’t focus on more than you need or it’ll render you insane. You should be reasonably paranoiac, not obsessively so.”

Michael nodded and thought about it some more.

Darren got up to check on Eva.

“You’ve protected a lot of pack, right?”

“Sure, but there is always a limit to what can be done independently.”

“Independently?”

“Without absorbing the pack,” I said. “From a remote standpoint, I can do some in the here and now, but when it comes to long terms, I’m more limited. Allies works well to gather intel. If you’re lucky then might even give you a tip about something that might be coming your way. But when it comes to actions, allies have a more reactionary position. I can be truly proactive only within my own pack. It’s up to you to shoulder that part alone.”

“Do all the packs you fused with were just absorbed. Eva said you had independent pack under you.”

“They are not fully independent. You could see Blakemore as a country, and my packs as provinces, or states, or cantons. However you want to divide them. Some things are under their own jurisdiction and other tightly controlled by Blakemore. But all are acting as a single entity.”

He nodded. “Do you have territories not connected to yours? I mean, physically adjoining the others?”

“No. Not that it has never happened within packs, but it’s not really encouraged under the Moonhunter Brotherhood. Technologies has made it easier to operate remotely anything, but it has its level of difficulty and not many packs could handle it. Most previous independent territories were generally for a temporary transitory period, otherwise those packs would often just lose them, eventually. Only a pretty solid pack could handle this on the long term, but the Brotherhood is pretty nervous about this type of expansion. It opened the door for conquerors, which they’re always been against since the first days of the Brotherhood.”

“Have you ever considered it?”

“Twice, but it never came to be,” I said. “I’ve taken over remotely once a territory, but it was for a transition of power—a temporary situation. But with the present climate with the Brotherhood, I doubt they’ll ask me again.”

He nodded.

I heard snoring from my laptop. Michael heard it too and looked sideways at where the couch is.

“I guess it’s time for the call to end,” I told him.

“Yes, and thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet. You’re far from out of the woods.”