Alpha’s Hybrid Cinderella
Chapter 54

Peelle made time to visit us later that night. It was nearly midnight when he arrived, exhausted and grimed up, and the first thing he did was to borrow Evan's shower to clean off. He came out to join us wearing his spare clothes in the duffel bag he had brought, hair spiky and wet. I couldn't recall Peelle and Raf ever having met, but they recognized each other and exchanged greetings. Maybe they had met in university? We were all in the same overarching pack after all, even if we were associated with different branches of the massive group. It wasn't unbelievable they had already crossed paths.

"I had to come see for myself when I heard the news," he said with a smile. Despite the fatigue in his baggy eyes, there was a deeply pleased aura coming from him, and his thoughts were more serene and hopeful than they had ever been. "Word was that you stepped away from taking point on the investigation and let the team handle it instead. I didn't believe it for a minute. But sure enough, you're right here, Evan. It's good to see you like this."

Evan shrugged. Anyone else might have thought he was offering only a reluctant reaction, but there was a peace coming from him too that radiated like a cooling breeze. I shifted closer to him on the couch, our thighs brushing, unconsciously drawn to his presence. His thoughts were so much cleaner and clearer than before. I wanted nothing more than to curl up into his side and fall asleep to it.

Later, though, when Raf finally packed up her things to leave and Peelle departed for the 6AM train too. I couldn't wait to have my first night alone in days with Evan.

"I went overboard," Evan admitted quietly. "I did a lot of damage. I might have gotten information but I slowed down everything else. Now no one will come forward since the word is out that I didn't show even the confessors any leniency. It's better to take a step away and let the others handle the investigating. When they have the answers, and when I know who's at fault, then I'll take the reins again."

"You know I'm behind that a hundred percent. It's a good chance for you to get a neutral bird's eye view on the situation anyway, since you're distancing yourself. For example..." Peelle trailed off, his gaze drifting to Raf for a second. But Evan waved away his hesitation.

"It's fine. She can hear whatever you have to say."

"Uh... Okay. Well, rumors are flying that a lot of the punks in Medea City who weren't rounded up all fled the city. I guess they knew we would do a second sweep and pick them up too soon, but it's like rats fleeing a ship. You go down even the worst backstreets and you can't see a single guy slinging anything at all."

"So we cleaned up Medea."

"One of the good things to come out of all of this mess. Osborn would have liked that part."

Silence. The sting of Osborn's death was still there even for me when I hadn't known him well at all. For Peelle who must have worked closely with him ever since Dark Moon's fall, and for Evan who had relied on the man and trusted him enough to make him the new Alpha of the Dark Moon territory, it had to be painful even now.

"You're taking care of his family?" asked Evan suddenly. "His mate? And his parents?"

"And his nephew. It turns out he had a sister who migrated to another pack, but she came back with her own mate and her kid to take care of the family herself. The kid's not really understanding what's going on, but that's for the better. Otherwise, I set them all up in a safe place until we're sure they're not being targeted."

"Give them anything they need. If we don't have it, acquire it."

"You got it."

Evan's sense of responsibility was second to none for his men. It was part of the reason he had gone crazy at all. The insult alone to Evan's authority wouldn't have been enough to break him. It had been the humiliation they had defiled Osborn's corpse with, the horrible degradation that Evan had been powerless to stop or even punish.

But now he was back to his senses. Osborn would have wanted this, right? He had seemed like a good man when we met. A little neurotic, but there hadn't been a single evil or self-serving thought in his head. Those were so rare. Even I had my selfish moments... "We're going to be doing the same thing to the next cities over," Peelle added, breaking the silence once again. "Didn't realize it would be so easy to clean up the city and chase everyone out just by putting down the gavel once. But it worked there, so we'll do the same thing in Freeman City and Boarhead City. Might as well get rid of all the bad eggs at once."

"Take all the pack soldiers you need. Everyone on reserve can go. Handle the work leave notices and whatever else."

"You know it. Actually, I've already taken care of most of the advance paperwork, so it's smooth sailing from here. But there's just one thing." Peelle frowned, a thoughtful confusion blooming in his eyes. "Seriously, it's almost a little too easy. Medea's been festering for ages. Dark Moon had no ability to knock down the criminal activity in their territory all this time because the black market influence was so strong, but it's like literally everyone's gone. Just like that." He snapped his fingers. "To be honest, the rumors say the same thing's already happened in the other cities too, and all over the place. Criminal activity's dropped to an all-time low... like everywhere."

"You think that's not good, then?"

"Well... let's just say I really stick to the TANSTAAFL principle."

Peelle and Raf smiled at my confusion. "TANSTAAFL's a silly acronym thing," Raf said. "There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch."

I couldn't help but chuckle at it. What in the world? "Well, this isn't really a free lunch thing, is it? They're afraid of being caught. I mean... the news hasn't been friendly to Evan or the Scarlet pack lately, I heard. Those people must have heard the same thing." "They've been hearing the same thing for ages," said Peelle. "And all of a sudden, everyone everywhere is quiet as the grave? The only place teeming is our city, and that's it, and that's only because we never had a strong black market presence ever since Evan took over. He stomped out everything Adrian ever tried to create. Just snuffed it out like a little match, and finito. But the other cities, especially the ones we can't patrol all the time, they've been hard to keep down. They always wriggle off the leash. I've never seen them react like this, the gangs and the organized crime rings, all of them."

"Well, the cause is pretty unprecedented too, isn't it?" I glanced up at Evan, hoping he might betray some emotion if I watched him closely enough. "No one's ever risen up and tried to rebel against the Scarlet since Evan became Alpha. Osborn was the first time anyone's ever..."

"That's true. But still. Just gives me the weirdest feeling."

Evan nodded. "I think something's off, too. Keep an eye on the situation."

"Both of 'em."

The conversation turned to lighter subjects after that. Evan humored us with his silence, chipping in only when Peelle, Raf, or I gave him no choice and forced him to answer. There was a slightly darker haze around him now, not enough to obscure his thoughts completely, but far thicker than it had been a few hours ago. I couldn't blame Peelle for darkening the mood, though. It was necessary.

Strangely enough, I had the oddest foreboding sense about the news as well. I knew nothing of pack matters and the black market, but it didn't make sense for all these cities to go quiet at once. Like Peelle had said, it seemed like a mass migration, almost. Where had they run to? Somewhere to the far north? The west? Somewhere the Scarlet pack's authority didn't reach yet?

That was far too drastic a reaction, wasn't it? Criminals didn't just jump up willy-nilly and run away, sacrificing all they had built in the name of their dark empires.

But that was a question for Evan and Peelle. I would only get in the way.

Raf and I said goodbye a little after one in the morning. I saw her off. Peelle yawned and announced he would take himself to bed to sleep for a few hours before his train trip, and Evan and I said goodnight to him as we went up to our own room. We could never have guessed what was coming for us that night.

In the darkness a few hours later, my eyes shot open as Evan picked me up from the bed and sprinted downstairs.

What was that?

So hot! And loud, roaring in my ears, but more than that, the pure heat scorching everything, everywhere-

Fire!