Dangerous Desires Novel

94 At The Office Tia.

| headed to Diamond corp after telling Luke about the clean-out. | was glad he took it well. | just hoped we wouldn't have any more surprises. Since | was going to drive, | decided to take the mini coupe. It was easier to manoeuvre on the road. | got in and zoomed off to Diamond Corp.

The military force | met at the entrance was impressive. Looking at them, | remembered the deserters and territories we might have lost. | felt a bit bad about our family’s situation. This man was ahead of us, and he was hitting us hard. Luis was at a greater advantage than we were se he knew us. He knew who we were, what we looked like and where we lived. We did not have any information about him except what he allowed us to know, which was dangerous.

I alighted the mini coupe, handed the key to the parking valet, and made my way into the building. Military officers held people in groups, and I did not spare one glance at them. This was not the tto show kindness and sympathy. This was the tto find out who was the traitor among them. An alpha was needed to question them. They were a lot of people, but it was necessary. | knew | might have to ask for help from neighbouring Alphas to make it quick. The people were a bit apprehensive, and the soldiers were ruff to keep them in check. | knew it was tto address the workers.

| had never communicated this broadly via mind link before, but this was the tto do it. It might take a toll on my body. | wasn't sure how effective it would be because | wasn’t an Alpha. | closed my eyes and tried to feel the people around me. It took a bit before I could connect with them mentally. It was very uncomfortable and causeda slight headache which | was willing to overlook to pass my message. Reaching for the connection, | focused my mental abilities to pass my message through the mental link | had already established.

“You are being held because of a wicked financial crcommitted this morning against Diamond Corp,” | linked.

It felt like multiple echoes in my mind. | wondered if this was how Luke or Caleb felt when they had to communicate with everyone simultaneously. “Our accounts were hacked and liquid assets wiped out.” people gasped, and | felt an echo in my ears that madeflinch and clasped my hand over my ears. The noise wasn’t coming from outside but from within; nonetheless, it was loud and painful. | could not take it anymore, so | broke the link. The information | had given them should be enough. | felt warm liquid trickling down my nose and ears, and | touched them and looked at my hands. It was blood, and | realised | had put my body through something it shouldn't have been put through. Not to show weakness, | braced myself and walked to the elevator to head to my office. While in the elevator, away from the curious eyes of the employees and the military, | rested my back against the metal wall and tried to breathe. My head was banging, and my heart was thumping. Why the fuck did | do that? | made a mental note never to try it again. Soon | stepped out of the elevator and walked toward my office. Krystal and a young man my age were waiting forin the waiting area of my office. | greeted them and asked them to join me. | turned toward Gail to thank her for her quick thinking. She smiled atand nodded.

| went straight to my desk and offered Krystal and whoever she brought a seat.

“Luna Tia, this is Paul Slater. He is an underground hacker. | noticed your IT department worker's skill is below average. | hired a freelancer | can trust to do the job.” She explained.

“Thank you, Mrs Mulberry. So what, how do we proceed?” | asked her, and she smiled.

“He has already done the job while we waited.” She said, and | was surprised.

“So, what did you find out?” | asked the guy, and he looked at Krystal, urging her to explain. | figured that the guy wasn’t one to talk much.

“Sfunds were scattered to about forty-nine accounts on Woodclaw Island. While a huge swas moved to accounts on Santa Braee belonging to packs on Woodclaw,” she said, and | frowned.

“I do not understand,” | said, and she cleared her throat.

“All packs have bank accounts. See it more like the collective purse of the pack to help them manage and run the pack territories smoothly. These packs recently opened accounts in Santa Braee and were each credited a Million by Nuclei Limited. This morning the money missing from Diamond corps account, other than the money in the forty-nine accounts, was spread through the accounts of these packs.”She explained. “Forget about the forty- nine accounts on the island. | know of those. Do you mind sharing the names of these packs with me?” | asked her, eager to know the treacherous packs on Woodclaw Island to watch out for.

" The accounts belonged to Dome, Cleeve, Cape, Woodland, Forest and Eclipse pack”, she said, and | figured those were poorer packs on the island. “Do you know if they had help from the staff here?” | asked, and she sighed. She looked at me, and | knew she was contemplating what to say and how to say it. ” There is no need for mild explanations. Please be frank.” | urged her, and she nodded. “They had help from within. It could be anyone, but the help wasn’t today. They had been gradually stealing from Diamond corp, practising how to perform this operation. All the money they shaved off your accounts initially was practice. Whoever gave them the information they needed to hack into your accounts had done this a while ago. You are wasting your resources holding the staff; we should plan to rebuild the company’s account or take a loan; if not, the people working for Diamond corp and Woodclaw pack will have to be laid off. “She said and leaned forward.

“A lot of people’s livelihood depends on the Moons. If you lay them off, there will be a riot,” Krystal was speaking as Chloe's friend, not an auditor, and | appreciated her.

“If we take a loan, they will steal it.” | pointed out, and she smiled.

“That is what Mr Slater is here for. We won't be using your usual accounts. In fact, we are going to leave the accounts empty,” she said, and | understood what she meant.

“Still, we will have to lay people off,” | said, and she sighed, knowing it was inevitable. | dreaded it, but it was only logical. We couldn't take loans to pay salaries. That would be counterproductive. We were already owing wages and servicing loans, and what | set aside for rainy days could not be wasted on that venture.

“I will have to discuss this with Alpha Luke,” | said, and she nodded, understanding my position. | might be running the place, but | do not own it.

“Very well then. I will leave you to it.” She said and stood up.

“Please take Mr Slater to the ground floor and have him report to Delta Kirk. He will know what to do.” | said to her, and she nodded and smiled at me.

“You need to take it easy, Luna. Bleeding from your nose and ears isn’t a good sign.” she linked me, givinga painful headache. | clasped my palms against my ears to stop the ringing sound the link caused, and Krystal ran towards me. “Tia, are you alright?” She asked, and | shook my head. She handedstissue, and | cleaned my ears and nose.

“Please do not linkagain,” | pleaded with her, knowing what caused it.

| knew linking multiple people at a twas dangerous, and | still did it, but | had no choice. It would get better soon. Only the Alphas were equipped for that kind of communication.

Krystal waited withuntil | was okay, and then she left. | placed a call to Kirk to inform him that Paul was coming to him. | also told him to let the people go. There was no point holding them. It wasn’t likely to yield anything since nothing was stolen physically.

| left the building after that and drove straight to the hospital to see my father. | needed help with the link and ringing in my ears. Any other doctor would tell Luke, and I did not want Luke to know what I did because | knew he would say it wasn’t necessary and scoldfor it.

| got to the hospital and requested to see my father. Luckily for me, he wasn’t occupied and could see me. He was elated when | entered his office because it was unliketo pay him a visit.

“Tia,” he said, surprised to see me, and | sat on the chair at his desk.

“Father, | need help,” | said, trying not to alarm him. “What happened?” he asked, and | sighed and pulled up my hair in a bun so he could see the traces of blood on my ear notch.

“What happened, Tia” He exclaimed.

“I linked too many people at a time,” | confessed, and he exclaimed. “What!! That is Luke's job, not yours. Just because you are Luna does not mean you..” he said, and | shook my head and cut him off. “I wasn’t trying to be Alpha. | felt it was necessary at that moment. Do you have any idea how to solve it?” | asked him, and he sighed.

“It will take twenty-four hours of no linking on your part for it to be corrected. Others can link you, but it will be painful.” He said, and | already knew that part. Knowing | wouldn’t hear anything else, | got up to leave. Twas of the essence, and things were happening pretty fast. | could not slow down.

| left the hospital and returned to the mansion. | was surprised to see Kimberly and Emma in my bedroom. | wondered why she would cto sit in my room when | wasn’t there.

“Kim?” | asked, and she smiled at me.

“I was worried. | knew you had arrived, and when you didn’t cto see me, | decided to wait for you here,” she said, smiling, and | nodded. “What is happening?” She asked A n Off on “Stacy isn’t out of it yet, and we have our hands full with pack business,” | said, and she ?! nodded. Before she said anything, | quickly spoke. “Please don’t link me,” | said to her, and she frowned and nodded. Kimberly wasn't one to ask too many questions, and | liked her for it. She was easy to be around.

I went to the bathroom to shower. | needed Luke to chso we could discuss the next course of action.

Luis has struck us really hard.