Mac forced a smile. “I’m fine. This is good news. Deltta is back where he belongs. He didn't deserve to be kicked out of the council without anyone investigating what happened. I always thought it was suspicious the way they...”
“Mac? I’m not asking what you think about Deltta's reinstatement. I’m asking about you.” Jamue shook his arm impatiently. “Tell me.”
“What about me?” Mac swallowed the lump that formed in his throat.
“Are you going to connect with him?”
“I don’t think so. He probably has a lot to deal with right now. He doesn’t need me complicating his life.” Mac continued to walk down the walkway.
“Mac?”
“Please, Jamue. Can we stop talking about this?” he walked ahead, ignoring the ache in his chest.
Deltta’s reinstatement spread like wildfire, but the embezzlement news overshadowed everything.
The planet was in an uproar; people demanded justice, calling for severe punishment of those involved. More alphas were implicated and dragged to the detention center. Deltta’s name came up a few times as some questioned his innocence. The media made it sound like he knew of Pharyi’s criminal activities.
“He was the alpha king; in his role, he had access to every project the alphas proposed. I bet you he signed off on those projects. Are you telling me he didn’t know? That's unlikely.”
“This is getting out of hand,” Jamue commented. Mac’s fingers tightened on his connector as they stared at the viewer. “What if he’s detained as well?”
Mac closed his eyes. He couldn’t watch this anymore.
He walked to his room and started to pace, panic gnawing at his insides.
Just connect with him, Mac told himself over and over.
But he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
Mac dropped the connector on the bed and walked to the washroom. He was confident in many aspects of his life, but in this…reaching out to an alpha he wanted with all his heart...he wasn’t.
He felt vulnerable and scared. He’d been bullied, taunted, and laughed at all his life, yet he persevered. He never allowed those bullies to tear him down.
But this…this was too much for him.
Chapter 23
Deltta
“This way.” Tarymn pointed down the hallway.
The detention center was a dreary place. Built to keep criminals in; the matchbox building boosted pale walls, narrow hallways and half-dead potted plants in corners gasping for air.
Damn, they should pop a window. Deltta took shallow breaths looking around, but, of course, there were no windows.
“Do I have to do this?”
“Yes, every alpha in the council is under investigation.”
Right.
Him, more so.
“Don’t worry. I gathered the evidence to prove you had nothing to do with Pharyi’s criminal activities.”
Deltta didn’t doubt it, but would they believe him?
Everyone was out to make him the villain. He had no doubt Pharyi was behind everything, but a little faith in their alpha king wouldn’t kill them.