8. Unsettled

[Lucien, who's this?' An unfamiliar voice asked in my head.]

[Bailey, this is our new Luna– my mate.]

[Nice to meet you Luna–]

[Auden.] I answered and I looked up at Lucien.

[Nice to meet you, I'm Bailey – not really much in this pack but I'm a good cook!] I laughed.

[Nice to meet you.]

"Welcome to Umbra," Lucien said with a smile as I propped my body up on my elbows.

"It's been a long long time since I've linked with someone other than my family," I said with a smile. I pressed a kiss on his cheek before I stood up.

"That's it?" He asked as I took my seat back.

"Did you want more?" I asked and he shrugged before he wrapped his arms around me– I turned to retort and he placed his lips against mine– just grazing it briefly before pulling away.

"I hope that was okay for me to do," he said and I nodded shyly. He chuckled in response as he made his way out the door.

"And where are you going?" I asked.

[Work.]

[And what about me?] I asked. He turned.

[Come.]

I smiled before I picked up the last bit of my waffle and followed him out.

.

.

.

Lucien took a seat in his office. I sat across from him on a leather armchair. The office itself was a cozy little place on the opposite side of the bedroom. It had a wall filled with books and behind Lucien was a large portrait of a large brown wolf with tinges of gold and silver paint that gave it an ethereal look.

"My mother painted that," Lucien said softly.

"It's beautiful," I said and he gave me a soft smile. "So, what's on the agenda?" I asked. Lucien folded his arms over his chest.

"Well, we have a few concerns," Lucien said, "As you already know, Lana was kidnapped and we were lucky to have you there. But I'm concerned about a few things."

"About what?"

"Well for starters, it would take some planning for Lana's kidnapper to take her to an empty apartment– especially an apartment still in its pre-selling stage in New York City. On island too," Lucien said.

"True. I also found it a bit unusual," I admitted, "Thinking about it now, it really doesn't add up."

Lucien raised an eyebrow and I continued with my explanation.

"There are only a select few apartments staged for agents to come in. But even they have to request access from the operations manager– me," I said. Lucien leaned forward on his desk.

"I asked your sister for more information, but she told me that although she could look into it, you would still be my best bet in getting an explanation," Lucien said.

"Zaina and I both manage the apartments. As my previous Alpha, she had access to the contracts and legal documents. I didn't mind if she sold a couple spaces. I don't remember seeing any recent deals she made."

"Are your staff trustworthy?" Lucien asked.

"Yes. I've no doubts. I receive weekly reports on every apartment status and leasing issue we have. I was actually behind on checking them– that huge stack of paper I tore up? Those were all the reports I hadn't gotten to check and sign yet," I said.

"Can you still access shared files with your sister?"

"I should still be able to. I own and host most of the documents on my drive."

Lucien motioned for me to come over to his side. I logged into my accounts and Lucien pulled up another chair for me. We spent the next few hours going through each document. Despite the fact that we were so close in proximity together, we managed to work efficiently. We split the work between the two of us. Occasionally Lucien would ask me a question or two to clarify as we filtered through the documents. But there were no discrepancies that I could find. At least not on paper.

"I'll send an email to the head of security for the building. I can ask them for the footage from the security cameras and the logs for who entered the buildings," I said as I leaned back against my chair and sent out the emails through my phone.

I looked at Lucien and saw him deep in thought. He cradled his chin in his hands as he rested on his desk.

"Do you have access to Carmine's bank accounts?" Lucien asked.

"Sort of. It isn't unusual for me to monitor Carmine's expenses or Zaina's. Why?"

"Do you have access online?"

I opened the banking website and logged into the two accounts – Carmine's and Zaina's – and loaded their account statements.

"Right there," Lucien said as we scrolled through Zaina's account. He pointed at a transfer of $250,000 from an unknown account number.

Lucien took over the mouse and copied the numbers down. But my stomach had dropped to the floor.

"I'll send these over to a friend I know. See if they can locate the account details," Lucien said. He looked at me and placed a hand over mine, squeezing it reassuringly.

"We don't know anything for sure yet. Let's wait for your security contacts," he said, "For now let's go have lunch."

I was lost in thought. Lucien tried his best to distract me. We had lunch, which we both cooked together. I'm sure he felt it. We were compatible. He was considerate, despite our first meeting making him seem otherwise to me. Every couple of minutes, I refreshed my emails and checked on my phone. He must've noticed since he decided to give me a tour of the territory. Since I hadn't had my phone set up yet, I was completely disconnected and couldn't check on any notifications. So I focused my attention on the tour.

He showed me a few spots. There was a training ground beside the lake and a beaten down path that showed where the pack did their training. The path encircled a lake and when Lucien brought me to a peaceful dock just across the pack house, I felt relieved. It was still cold, so Lucien made sure I wore a thick winter coat.

I stared across the water. The lake was frozen, but you could still see that the water beneath it was moving. It definitely wasn't a lake you could skate on. Not that I wanted to anyways.

"Zaina has a set of spare keys that only she has access to. She requested it when I first had the building made. She said it only made sense that as the official owner of the building that she would be able to gain access. At least until we were able to sell," I said. I had run over all the deals Zaina and I made when she put me in charge of the project.

"Does she still have them?" Lucien asked.

"She has a few. The luxury apartments are where I live. She has the spare to all of those. I have to gain her approval if I sell those," I said, "It's not looking good for her is it." It wasn't a question.

When Lucien didn't respond I sighed.

"What has my sister gotten into?" I asked him. It sounded like he was going to reply, that was until we both heard a cell phone buzz. Lucien took his phone out of his right pocket and answered the call.

[What is it?] I asked.

[We should head back.] He said.

I only nodded my head as I followed him. There was something about the way he replied that made me nervous.