LINKED

Chapter 39

     Now that Seff was dead, Alina no longer had his war lord attitude to deal with.  She loved her brother dearly but he put it in her head that she could lead the Bardarwulf Pack and that they as siblings could merge the Bardawulf Pack with the Douglas Pack and have an exceptionally large combination of the two to lead. 
     They would be invincible if any other wolf pack tried to show itself in Ruwal as a dominant figure, the two houses as one could obliterate the competition.
     Alina roamed the ghostly halls of the Bardawulf house not looking for anything or anyone in particular.  She still had to get out of the way of security, running to secure the hall that Seff was on.
     She didn't smile at them as they quickly got by her with an occasional, I'm sorry for your lost Mrs. Bardawulf or a nod on passing.
     She kept a handkerchief to her face as she walked through the halls appearing to be in shock.
     A member of the security personnel stopped her and sat down with her in the hall.  After a few minutes of consoling her, the member of security let go and left her side with a smile of understanding.
She smiled back. If they only knew, she thought to herself. I'd be in a lot of trouble right now for killing one of our own for no reason.
     She dabbed at the tears and ran her fingers through her hair, messing it up a little.  She didn't want to appear to have it all together because she knew that soon she would have to face Kyle and looking a bit more disheveled should fool him too, she thought.
     Alina noticed that the halls had become thinner of security. She also knew that someone was going to escort her to her room for safety, after all, a crazed gunman was on the loose somewhere on the Bardawulf property and Kyle, surely would be locked in a room with a guard outside at the door for protection and she was supposed to be with him while the security team worked on securing the property.
     "I've got to find Kyle." She said out loud and got up and continued roaming the halls.
Kyle was hard to find.  She was harder to locate.  Kyle, already safe in a locked room and an officer bumping into her, grabbing her by the arm and leading her to her husband.
     "Where have you been?"  Kyle asked, concerned that they are just now getting together.
     "Roaming the halls, looking for you." She said, hoping that he wouldn't see through her lie.
     "Seff."  Kyle said.
     "I know.  Seff is dead."  She said.
     "Who could it have been."  She asked, running into his arms.
     "I don't know.  But rest assured, I will find who killed your brother."
     Alina cried and Kyle held her.
     "I just talked to him moments ago." She said.
     "Maybe it's someone from his pack.  Now that we're together under one roof, it could be
anybody."  Kyle said, consoling his wife.
     "The Bardawulf Pack is larger than I dreamed it would be.  We—" he said.
     "We?" Alina asked.
     "Yes we." Said Kyle,
     "Are unstoppable now.  I know Seff would have wanted you to be safe and secure.  That's something you know I can afford.  Your security.  You're my wife and I love you.  All of this is yours too as my alpha. And now your maiden name is upon us.  We rule Bardawulf as well as Douglas.  What more could you want?" Kyle asked, as Alina rested her head on his chest.
     "The security room has what happened recorded, so don't worry.   We'll know if it was from Douglas or Bardawulf, soon.  Let security do their thing and we'll be on our way to finding out more."
     "I love you, Kyle."  Alina said, wrapping her arms around his slender waist.
     "Don't forget that I love you too."  Kyle said, continuing to hold her.
The phone rings. "Excuse me." Kyle said, and answered the phone.
     "I'll be right there." Kyle said into the phone then hanging it up. "I'll be back in a little while." Kyle said to Alina and then exited the room.
She paced the floor.  "I have security.  They'll listen to me.  But how can I get Kyle in the right place to get rid of him?" She asked herself.
     "With Seff gone, I don't have to listen to anyone except myself.  I need Kyle where Seff is.  All by himself." Alina said. "Stashing the gun before getting here was a good idea.  What can I do to get Kyle by himself." Alina wondered aloud. 
     "Just now would have been perfect timing but it wasn't perfect timing.  I had to play it off so he could see that it wasn't me that killed Seff and it worked."  She said as she sat down.  "It was so easy." She said. "And I'm so close to becoming alpha of the Bardawulf and Douglas packs.  Two great packs with one leader.  Me.  I'm so close, I can taste my husband's blood."  Alina said.
Knock.  Knock.
"Come in." She commanded.
A member of the security team entered the room.
"Kyle would like to see you, Mrs. Bardawulf." The security member said.
Alina nodded and the security member closed the door and waited for her.

     "What is it Kyle?" She asked, getting to the room with the security escort.
     "I've got a little information about your brother.  Some good and some not so good."  He said. "The not so good news first.  The recorder didn't catch the person.  It malfunctioned, briefly at that time." Kyle said.
Alina looked at the security team in the room.  They all look at her intensely.  She nodded.  They kept quiet about the erasing of the security tape.
     "The good news is, the one that did it is no longer here.  Either he left on his own or the security team chased him away.  Either way, he's gone." Kyle said in a mix of thrilled and upset.
     "Would you like to see Seff?" Kyle asked. 
     Alina began to sniffle. 
     Kyle hurried to her and grabbed her, pulling her into his arms tightly.
"I'm sorry. I should have known it was too early." Kyle said.  "Why don't you go and get some rest.  I'll be there in a moment." Kyle said, kissing her tears.
     "Okay." She said, letting him go and leaving the security room.
     Alina took her time getting to the bedroom.  She fluffed her pillows and then laid her head down.
     "I can't wait, my husband.  For you to follow my brother to where he should have gone a long time ago." She said, closing her eyes and resting them.