**Kayson pov**


    Ever since that moron came to visit Killian and dropped some pieces of information, which by the way I thought were absolute bullshit, made-up scenarios, he had been restless. Killian was adamant Bane had his fiancee. It didn''t matter how many times I repeated it couldn''t be true since we had our people in territory and neither mentioned her. But of course, it was easier to convince a mule he could drink a river dry than p some sense in my friend.


    "Kayson, where the hell are you?" Killian called from his office.


    The door was left ajar, as always. I remembered when he first started doing it, just to annoy me.


    Killian loved bringing in girls and making sure the entire pack house would hear them get at it like rabbits.


    But these days, it was a force of habit, even during important meetings.


    Slowly, I strode towards his office and knocked once I reached the door.


    "You don''t have to knock,e in," he called.


    I slipped inside the office and shrugged. "It''s a force of habit. So, what''s up?"


    Trying to sound like nothing bothered me wasn''t something I was exactly good at. In fact, I was a shitty liar and failed more attempts to cover someone up than I seeded.


    "I think it''s time. Sit down so we can talk," Killian removed his reading sses and rubbed his hand down his face.


    He was tired, overworked, overstressed, and all in all, in a bad state. If he thought this was the time for him to leave the pack and chase a ghost, he was absolutely wrong. Sadly, I doubted he would ever listen to me. "Time for what?" I asked, sounding like an absolute fool.


    Killian groaned and shot me a re. "You know what. Why are you ying these games again? We have been through and over this plenty of times, you damn well know what I''m talking about."


    Instead of answering, I just shrugged my shoulders. If Killian needed something, he had to ask for it, not y the games of secrets and mysteries as he often did.


    "I think our allies aren''t as loyal as they im they are. I haven''t seen a report for five weeks, and thest one I received basically has two sentences that read like they were written by a five-year old."


    I arched an eyebrow at him. "Give me a tad bit more information, will you?"


    Killian stood from his seat and started pacing the office. "Alright. When I first sent the allies into his territory to rat him out, I got solid reports every week, sometimes even more often. The thing is that I know that fuckhead. He''s always up to something. Bane doesn''t know how to stop."


    I nodded to let him know I was listening.


    "But now, five weeks with no reports. Five weeks. There''s no way they think I could believe that someone, who stirs shit up every day of his life has suddenly calmed down. Out of nowhere, boom, a changed man," Killian raised his voice and threw his hands in the ari.


    I wasn''t sure about the sanity of my friend anymore. Killian almost sounded like he didn''t want Bane to settle.


    Bane''s doings had always annoyed Killian. Always. Every time Bane did something, Killian was on his ass, judging and poking his nose in. For years, he imed he did it to stop Bane and show the man what he did was wrong. But now? Killian got what he wanted, Bane stopped, and Killian still wasn''t happy?


    "Let me get this straight," I started, a little vary so as to not piss him off even more. "You wanted him to change, right? He did, and now you''re unhappy that you got what you wanted? It makes little to no sense."


    Killian''s face twisted in disgust. I was sure he was about to fly off the hinges and give me the verbal beating of my lifetime, but instead, he closed his eyes and started breathing.


    What kind of voodoo magic breathing exercises were these? I had never seen him keep his cool like this. As much as I hated admitting this, my best friend was kind of mental.


    He went around ming Alpha Bane for everything, yet he wasn''t any better. The difference between them was that Bane did everything himself while Killian had people who did dirty work for him. Comparing those two - they weren''t so different after all.


    Also, although I didn''t like the man, Bane was more level-headed. As awful as he was as a person, he knew how to keep his cool and more often than not kept his cool. Killian struggled with that.


    "It doesn''t matter. Bane doesn''t matter either. That man is nothing, he is worth the dirt under my shoe soles and that''s that. What matters is who he''s holding hidden from me. I know he has her. I can feel it. And theck of reports proves my suspicions." He kept talking while I just sat back and watched him.


    The difference between Killian before that rat arrived and him now was astounding. He wasn''t himself anymore. It fucking sucked, but I was pretty damn sure my best friend was losing his mind.


    And for what? A girl? Seriously, as much as I loved my amazing wife, I wouldn''t act like this - ever. Especially if I was in Killian''s ce, stuck with an unfinished arranged marriage to someone I had never met in person.


    All Killian knew were some things about the girl. He had never seen her, even in photos. Funny, wasn''t it? He agreed to marry someone and pay insane money for the chance to do so without even getting a nce of his future wife. If that wasn''t mental, I didn''t know what it was.


    "What are you nning?" I muttered the question and ran my hand through my hair. Killian didn''t pay me any attention, acting as if his thoughts were more important than any word I could speak, so I repeated myself. "What are you nning, Killian?"


    Now, I had his attention. His eyes narrowed in on me and the next moment, his whole demeanor, along with his aura, changedpletely.


    Suddenly, he was all smiles, excitement and unicorn farts. He practically bounced on his heels in happiness.


    My eyes didn''t leave him for a second as Killian sat down and leaned over the desk to get closer to me. "We are leaving tonight. If nothing holds us back, we will get there by the sunrise. They will be asleep, little to no guards at the borders and I doubt anyone will have enough time to alert their alcoholic of an Alpha before we get to the house."


    “Wait, you''re saying-" I cut myself off. No, it couldn''t be that Killian would stoop so low.


    And yet, as always, he found a way to surprise me. Killian nodded his head eagerly and grinned at me, "we''re going to get her."


    I shot to my feet so fast, the chair fell backwards. "That''s kidnapping! Even if she''s really there, the deal never happened and you actually don''t have any im on her. There are no signatures on that bloody piece of paper, Killian. You''re nning tomit a crime!"


    "Oh, but there are," Killian pulled a document out of his desk drawer and slid it across the desk for me to see. That... That wasn''t his signature. I had seen the signature of Alpha Lucian and this wasn''t it. Killian had forged a legal document, this was a damn crime! "And besides, we''re not kidnapping her or doing anything illegal. We''re just stealing back what was stolen from me to begin with."