The bear shifter ran a finger down the summary page. “These are the names of the properties and investments you’ve been building up over the past year. This column shows the total value of each.”
A low whistle sounded. “Looks as if I’ve done all right.”
Justin cleared his throat and pointed. “And this column shows how much you own of the investment.”
“What do you mean how much I own?” Evan rearranged the pages. “These properties were purchased by myself or the pack. Why do we not own one hundred percent?”
Justin looked straight at Amy. “It appears you had a silent partner. Someone else contributed money toward your investments. In some cases, after making a purchase, you made some of the investments sellable through shares, and your silent partner picked up as much as was available.”
“Here it comes,” Shaun warned, imitating the sound of a bomb plummeting toward the earth.
Evan shook his head. “But these numbers in the final column make no sense. How can I own only forty-eight or forty-nine percent of something?”
Might as well make sure he knew exactly what he was about to hate her for. Amy laid a hand on his thigh. “It means someone else owns a majority of the investment. They have control over it.”
“Bullshit. That wasn’t what my accountant was supposed to do.”
“It was done legally, but very under the radar. I’m not surprised your accountant missed it.” Justin’s expression remained fierce. “Amy’s got it right. Everything listed on that paper, you or the Takhini pack has an interest in, but someone else owns more than you. They are the ones in charge. They have the right to make decisions.”
Evan’s rising anger was apparent to everyone in the room. “Who the hell owns the other half?”
“Half plus a little bit,” Amy explained again. “And that would be me.”
It was a good thing he was sitting down, because Evan didn’t think his legs would hold him. He dragged a hand through his hair and fought to keep from growling.
“How? Why?”
Amy took a deep breath. “Do I really need to tell you why?”
Evan stopped in shock. “You planned this? You planned this all along?”
“This is why I came to Whitehorse.”
“Holy crap.” Evan shot to his feet and stomped across the room. Okay, this wasn’t something he wanted aired in public. Not when there was so much at stake. He needed everyone to get out now so he could have a heart-to-heart with his mate.
He rotated slowly, working to keep his voice below a roar. “Justin. Shaun. Leave.”
He could tell Shaun wanted to stay. Tough. Fucking. Beans. Evan snapped up an arm to point at the door. His Beta and the bear shifter reluctantly left, Shaun tossing a final warning glare at Amy before he closed the door.
The click echoed in the silent room like a gunshot.
She leaned back in her chair.
“You want to start explaining?” Evan demanded.
“I think you figured most of it out.” She met his gaze without fear. “When I did my research and discovered you were the one responsible for Philip’s death and everything that happened afterward, I was furious. The most logical thing seemed to be to take everything from you, like everything had been taken from me.”
He’d thought being hauled to jail was insane, but this? This was an entirely new dimension of lunacy, never before experienced. Evan took a deep breath. “But you were wrong. And now you’ve potentially not only hurt me, but my pack. How am I supposed to react?”
“Takhini will be fine. Just because I have control doesn’t mean I want to tear anything away from them.”
He struggled to understand. “This was about personally taking me down.”
“Yes. That’s all it was ever about.”
Evan dropped into the chair on the opposite side of the desk from her.
“So now what do we do? You own…” He glanced at the list of assets, resisting the urge to swear because that wouldn’t make the conversation run any smoother. “You own just about everything. The hotel, the bar, the pack house. How the hell did you do some of this? I’m no expert, but wouldn’t I have had to put things up for sale?”
She looked sheepish. “You did. You just didn’t realize you had.”
“Dammit, Amy. Did you forge my signature or something? Because that seems like the only way possible.”
Her non-answer was an answer.
“That can’t be legal and stand up in a court of law. There’s no way…”
He fought for control, refusing to shout at her like he really, really wanted to. No matter how fucked up this was, giving her hell for doing it in the first place didn’t change the current reality. He stared at the table and took slow breaths until he was rational enough to speak. “I understand why you started this, but now that you know more about what happened in the past, don’t you think the situation has changed? My question remains, what do we do now?”
Amy stood and walked to the window, her body tension tight. She remained silent for a while before turning to face him. “We join the packs, like the plan was all along.”
“But my plan was for Takhini to take over Canyon. From the looks of things, you’ve already joined the packs, and Canyon owns my ass.”
“Is that a bad thing?” Amy demanded. “The only difference is you’re not the one in charge. Does that make it wrong?”
“Yes,” Evan snapped.
“Because you’re the only one who can lead the joint packs. That’s a rather bold presumption on your part.” She glared at him, ice in the depths of her eyes. “I still say I could lead Takhini, but you could never lead Canyon. Maybe that moment in the restaurant would give you a clue as to why.”
This was getting them nowhere. “Are you really demanding I challenge you on a leadership level? My mate? Because that’s what it sounds like.”
“It’s not a challenge to point out a gap in your logic.” Her words came softer. Slower. “You made a wrong decision, and I’m trying to help you make it right.”
She was attempting to be reasonable, but Evan was so far gone from reasonable, it wasn’t even funny.
“I need some fresh air.” He was going to explode. He jabbed a finger at her. “Stay here.”
Her expression darkened. “Ha. I don’t think so. Nice try ordering me around. If you need to burn off some steam, that’s fine, but I’m going back to work. You know where to find me when you’re in control of your emotions.”
A growl burst from his throat.
It was as if there were two of him, and one half wanted to get the hell out of here and run off his frustrations. The other half didn’t want Amy out of his sight, and not only because he had no idea what else she had up her sleeve. “Look, I’m trying hard not to blow my temper, because I don’t want to say something I would regret.”
“Just assume I understand what you’re feeling,” Amy snapped back before softening, her expression growing sorrowful. “I can’t change what I’ve done, but I will tell you this. I’m sorry. I wish I’d found more information before I started.”
“Revenge is always a fucking stupid move.”
She seemed to stop breathing, regret and frustration shooting from her, and that was the final straw. His wolf backhanded him for sniping after she’d apologized. Whatever happened before, they had to move forward, and blaming was certainly not going to get the job done.
Evan crushed her against him, holding her tight to his chest. She remained stiff for the first moment before slipping her arms around his torso and allowing him to offer comfort.
“We’ll get through this as well,” he promised. “Yes, I make assumptions. There’s got to be a middle ground that we can find. Because all the wolves who live in Whitehorse deserve to have strong leadership, and the reassurance they have a pack who cares for them.”