Violet Ashes: The Blood Ridge Alpha - Chapter 49: Chapter 49

As I pull into the garage, several eyes are on me. Alpha Barnes comes out dressed in ripped-up jeans, a dark gray working shirt with a black t-shirt that has the logo of his club on it, and it looks like he's been working on the cars himself. It's an insanely hot look on him. The other times I've seen him, he's been covered up, but I can see his exposed arms, and they're covered in pretty ink from his wrists up.
"Aren't you a sight for sore eyes, Moonlight. To what do I owe this pleasure?" he asks wiping his hands on a piece of cloth.
"Are you busy?" I ask.
"Only if you let me get my hands on you," he smirks.
"Okay, pretty boy. I actually have some business to talk to you about. And a request."
"Take the helmet off," he smiles.
I groan knowing that he's going to be pissed about the bruise on my face. It's almost gone, but it's still dark enough to see under my makeup. I didn't have time for a glam session with my brother dropping in unexpectedly.
"Don't make a big deal out of it," I say, and pull Baby's helmet off. I shake my hair out and look up at him. He takes a deep breath as he tucks the rag into his back pocket. He tips my chin up to get a better look.
"Who did that to you?" he asks gently.
"Business," I pull away from him.
"Come on," he says, taking the helmet and setting it down on the seat. One of his betas comes out to greet us. "Make sure it's got what it needs."
"Umm, no. Please, don't touch it. The owner is very peculiar and I rather not piss her off. She's a princess and has a temper like one," I tuck the key into my pocket. "A little entitled one."
"Are you sure?" the bald guy asks.
"Very,"
"It could use a wash," he suggests.
"Fine, but if you do anything to it, I will send her here," I warn him. He smiles and bows.
"Do you need the keys?" I ask. He holds his hand out. "Don't fuck with it."
"That is a little toy, Luna Wolfe. I have serious work to do," he huffs and snatches the key out of my hand.
"Lucas." Alpha Barnes growls at him.
"It's cool. Make sure you use the polish you used on your head. Make it nice and shiny," I sneer.
He pauses and glances back at me with a smirk. He doesn't say anything, but I can tell I hit a nerve. No one trash-talks Baby's toys in front of me. Especially not an enemy of the pack.
"Come on, Moonlight," Alpha Barnes chuckles as if our interaction were cute. I follow him into a back area.
The garage is cozy. There are a couple of others working on cars, music is blaring from a portable speaker, and the scent of new rubber and oils is thick in the air. The first thing I notice when I walk into his office is the insane set of monitors behind a metal desk that sits right in the center of the room.
Suddenly, him tracking me makes sense. It looks like a serious setup. The last time I saw something like this, it was in Perry's study back in Cliffside. He shuts a laptop on the desk and sets it aside. He leans against the desk and pulls out one of the chairs for me.
"Crazy setup you got here," I say, removing my backpack. I set it down on the desk and take a seat. "Perfect for stalking your mate."
"You have no idea," he grins. "What can I help you with, Luna Wolfe?"
"Caleb Owen," I say. He stares at me for a moment. He gives nothing away. He's looking at me like he's waiting for me to elaborate on who Calen Owen is.
"Am I supposed to know who that is?" he crosses his arms over his chest when I don't give him more information. I laugh, pushing back the chair to place my boots on the desk. I hold out the card Mark handed me earlier.
"You are a phenomenal liar, Alpha Barnes. If he didn't work for me, I would have believed you. I have your money. I need you to drop whatever you fucked him up for."
"Is that right? You think this is about money?" he grins. "Well, since we're on the subject. Your buddy was supposed to bring me a shipment of pink wolfsbane, and it was skimmed. On top of that, he smuggled a group of Russian teens from the ice lands. I didn't ask why but it wasn't hard to find out on the Widow's Web."
"On the Widow's Web?" I shake my head. "Perry and I took that down a couple of years ago."
"The original, sure. These sick fucks will always find a way, Moonlight," he scoffs.
"Give me the URL and show me what you found."
"You sound serious," he smiles widens.
"I am. One thing I can't stand is assholes fucking around with kids. It's a pet peeve, and I love hunting perverts with my friends on girls' night."
"Okay," he tosses the card on the desk beside me and goes around the desk to get his laptop. He works on it for a bit before turning it towards me.
I pull the laptop to me, and it doesn't take much to link Perry's private server to his. My phone buzzes before I can start going over the files he opened up for me. I place my phone on the table and answer Perry's video call.
"Sweet setup. Where are you?" she asks.
"What the fuck?" Alpha Barnes growls. I glare at him and give my attention back to the screen.
"Are you seeing this shit, Freak Brain? It's brand new. The oldest post I found was a meth shipment from Guadalajara. Six months ago."
"Yeah, I see that. This falls under Rogue jurisdiction. Maybe send it to the appropriate authority," she smirks.
"You know he's going to make you do it anyway." I roll my eyes. "You report it to him. I got a couple of pack targets for the Rogue's spectacle."
"Oh, shit. I forgot we were still doing that. Okay, I'll let him know. He might not want me to take it down just yet."
"He's the appropriate authority." I shrug.
"Bye, Barnes. Thanks for dropping the ball, buddy," she teases.
"Fuck off, Lycan Queen," he growls. She laughs before hanging up.
"We asked for these girls to be brought here. They were rogues caught by the pack wolves. They were being auctioned off as brides. This wasn't Owen. I can guarantee you of that."
"You're putting a lot of faith in this asshole." he shakes his head. "What makes you so sure?"
"Because I trained him. He's an idiot. I was wondering where he got the pink wolfsbane so quickly, but I asked for it. We needed for Knightly, to draw him closer to finding his mate before his wolf passed.
"I know he would never do this. That's how I found him. He was sold to the Arabs when he was a kid. I intercepted the container with him in it when he was eleven. Trust me. He would never. If he didn't tell you who's behind this, he knows. And he's going after whoever is. The kid has a nose for trouble. It's why we let him go off on his own."