Hi everyone. Hope you had a good Easter. Here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy!

Keeping Secrets

Tyler Creed had received a message that the Alpha wished to see him and now found himself on the doorstep of the Cates estate. He remembered a time a few years ago that he thought this place would be his. But life had taken some unexpected turns and now he was no longer sure of just where he stood. He had a feeling that if he was not married to Ruby, he would have been executed by now.

There were many that still looked at him accusingly. They thought he was responsible for the shooting the Willard Cates. But they had no proof. Tyler would just smile and shake his head, wondering what they'd think if they knew the real truth. But he knew, he had always known. And the truth would shock this town more than they could ever know.

He now looked at the guard by the front door. "I'm here to see Vivian. She's expecting me," Tyler said to the mean looking skin walker named Al. Al opened the door and let him pass through as he sent a mental message of Tyler's arrival to Vivian.

Tyler walked over to the Alpha's office wing of the mansion and stepped inside. He was struck with shock as he saw Lucas sitting in the Alpha chair with his feet up on the desk, crossed at the ankles. A smug look was on Luke's face as he watched Tyler's reaction.

"Have a seat," Lucas said, indicating a chair in front of the desk.

Tyler got over his shock and now felt a bit angry at this new turn of events. What kind of game were they playing with him?

Tyler made no move to sit down. "Where's your mom?"

Lucas casually waved his hand in the air, "Oh she's around somewhere."

"Well, I don't have time to play puppy games with you. I want to speak with Vivian," Tyler replied.

Just at that moment, Vivian came sailing through the door. "I don't want to hear you speak like that to my son, Tyler. You will show the proper respect." She went to sit on a chair on the side of the room, making no move to reclaim the Alpha chair.

"What's going on Vivian? He's still in high school for Pete's sake. You can't possibly be handing over leadership of the clan to a high school kid!" Tyler protested.

"No, not yet," Vivian said. "But Lucas has come up with a very good proposal for you and I think he should be the one to present it."

Tyler felt relief at her words. He really thought that Vivian had lost her mind for a moment and made Lucas Alpha. He sauntered over to the chair in front of the desk and sat down. "Well?" Tyler now asked as he looked at Lucas.

Lucas put his feet down and glanced over at Vivian. When he looked back at Tyler he said, "You once came to my father with a proposal to turn the old slaughter house into a maximum security prison."

"Yeah, what about it?" Tyler said. "Did you decide it was a good idea after all?"

"No, it still sucks," Lucas let out a small laugh. Vivian lifted her eyebrows at him in reprimand and Lucas became serious again. "I've got a better idea of what to do with that place and I want you to be in charge of it."

Now this was a surprise. Tyler had not expected to be given any more responsibility than he already had. He thought he would be kept as a soldier and guardian of the white female. But he had always longed for more. Tyler had always been turned on by the thought of running a business of some kind. The prison idea had been something which fed his fantasy of being able to control something big. "I'm listening," Tyler said to Lucas.

"I think this town has been growing in its human population," Lucas continued. "This has made it harder for the teens especially, as we tend to want to make a lot of noise at night. I'm tired of having to send humans to their death for seeing things they are not suppose to. I think it has been drawing to much attention from the humans as to why many of them disappear."

"So what do you want me to do? Set up a prison for humans who know too much? It's easier just to eat them," Tyler blithely stated.

"Let him finish, Tyler," ordered Vivian.

"I want you to turn that place into a nightclub," Lucas stated as he watched to see what reaction Tyler would have. Tyler looked surprised but Lucas could also sense that the idea had some appeal to him. "It would be a private club where only clan could go, so we'd need security to watch for any human approaches. This way the teens can have a private place to party without spies. They can go out for runs anytime they want, knowing that security had already scanned the area."

The wheels of Tyler's business mind were already spinning before Lucas finished talking.

"So this place would be mine? I would reap the profits?" Tyler asked as the ideas began flying around his brain.

"It is still on trustee land, Tyler," Vivian reminded him. "There would be a fair rent to the trust and we would expect you to keep it legitimate. All the permits have to be in place. We don't want any outside agencies able to find reason to shut you down. And absolutely no drug dealing on the premises."

"Alcohol? There will be a bar won't there?" Tyler asked Vivian.

Vivian shrugged. "Of course. It's to be a nightclub isn't it."

"But you say you want me legitimate. Serving alcohol to minors would be a major violation to ungulate laws Viv."

"That's why it's a private club. No one will be allowed to enter who isn't clan," said Lucas. "If a human tries to come, he'll get turned away at the gate. We'll just say its members only. It's not like we'll be advertising in the newspapers. Inspectors could be told to come back during the day."

"You're saying 'we' a lot. I thought this was to be my club," Tyler said.

"It's a big building Tyler. I'm setting up a sort of office for myself in one of the back rooms. It will be a place I can do my business as Alpha of the teens. But as far as the club goes, that business will be all yours," Lucas explained.

Tyler was excited by the idea of finally having his own business and it did sound like an exciting way to spend his evenings. He didn't care so much for the idea of having to spend more time with Lucas, but he supposed it would just be a minor drawback.

Tyler was silent for a moment as he thought this all through. But then a thought hit him quickly. "What about Ruby? I can't leave her alone all the time to run a business, not with Kanin always trying to snoop around my property."

Vivian pulled out a letter from a pocket in her blazer. "I think this will solve that little problem." She got up and handed Tyler the unsealed envelope, then she leaned back against the desk to watch him read it.

Tyler pulled out a picture of Ruby holding a newborn baby. He felt extremely confused at the sight of this and for a moment wondered if Ruby had a baby when she was in Seattle. "She…?"

"Don't be stupid! It's not her baby," Vivian said when she realized what he was thinking. "Sophia doctored up the photo. She's very talented with the computer you know. Anyway, read the letter."

Tyler now pulled out a letter and was amazed to see that someone had also copied Ruby's writing very convincingly. The letter was supposedly from Ruby to her father, telling that she had been living in Miami, Florida all this time and had gotten married. Now that she was a mother, she felt compelled to let her father know that he had a grandson.

Tyler now looked at the envelope and indeed Vivian had managed to get a postmark on it from Miami, Florida. "How did you manage this?" he asked.

"I have my connections," she smiled. "Well, I think that will get rid of Kanin. He'll either accept that Ruby has moved on and made a life with someone else or he'll run all the way across the country to search Miami for her."

"And if he doesn't find her there? He'll most likely show up here again," Tyler pondered.

"He would be pathetic to chase after a married woman who has a baby now," Vivian stated, sure that her plan would work.

"If he believes this photo and letter you mean," Tyler said. "What if he has it analyzed and finds it's not authentic?"

"This letter is address to my late husband, not to him," Vivian said. "I plan only on showing it to him. He can't keep it. After all, it's my only photo of my grandson," Vivian smiled.

Tyler nodded his approval. "Let's hope this works. It would be nice to be able to tell Ruby she can leave the house whenever she wants. Maybe she'll even help out with the club."

"Speaking of helping the club, there is something else I want," Lucas now interrupted them. "Sophia has seen many clubs when she was in Italy, and since the rest of us don't get out much, I think you should consult with her when you start designing the interior of the place. Maybe she could give you some ideas."

"I'm open to all suggestions," said Tyler. "I'll start looking for a good architect right away. Then I'll set up a meeting and Sophia can come to that if she wants."

"Cool," Lucas said. "She's really good with colors and all that too. You should see some of the pictures she's painted."

"I'll take your word on that," Tyler said as he rose to his feet. "When are you showing Kanin that letter?"

"Tomorrow," Vivian said. "I can't wait too long past the post mark date."

"Ah, the dust that will fly as his wheels spin out of Wolf Lake," Tyler said wistfully. "I will celebrate the day."

"I'm sure you will," Vivian said. "Goodbye Tyler."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Sophia was very excited when Lucas had told her that she would have a say in the design of the club. She couldn't stop coming up with ideas. She now sat in Sherman Blackstone's class, drawing her ideas in her notebook as the class was watching a film about ancient Indian legends. Lucas sat behind her and leaned forward, looking over her shoulder at her sketches. When he rested in her thoughts he could see all her ideas flying around in her mind and he could feel how happy she was drawing them down. She was really talented, he thought, as he looked at her work.

He started daydreaming about the future. Yes, he wanted Sophia to be the mother of his children and his mate in every sense of the word, but he was beginning to think that maybe she might like to do more with her life. She was so intelligent and talented and he had thought that if she ever wanted a position managing the brewery in some capacity, he would definitely welcome her. But now he could see what made her truly excited. Perhaps Wolf Lake could use a good architect, he thought.

Going off to college for a Hill kid was not an easy option. There were some who would stay in a home on the outskirts of Seattle owned by the clan trustees. There they would attend university during the weekdays and then come home on the weekends. But it was difficult. They weren't allowed to socialize with the humans there and they weren't allowed to flip until they came home for the weekends.

But now with all the internet classes being offered, their options were opening up more and more. Lucas was sure that if Sophia wanted to be an architect or a designer of some sort, she could find it offered online. Then she wouldn't have to leave for five days out of the week. He couldn't endure being away from her that much. He decided he would talk to her about this later today. Maybe she would be interested.

When the bell rang signaling the end of the school day, Mr. Blackstone called Sophia up to his desk. "Can you stay after for awhile? I wanted to talk to you about some of the new rules you've been giving the females," Sherman told her. Sophia looked at Lucas who just shrugged.

"Go ahead baby, I'll wait in the car," Luke said. He turned to go.

Sophia stopped him. "Oh wait," she said. "Can you go to the town library for me and pick up this book." She handed him a sheet of paper with the title of a design book she needed.

"So, I'm the errand boy now?" Lucas smiled.

"It has its rewards," she smiled back at him.

He shook his head. "You're going to throw this wolf a treat when he's been a good boy?"

"Something like that," she teased.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Lucas stood at the card catalog drawers of the town library, trying to find the book that Sophia wanted. As he fingered through the cards he felt that someone was watching him. Looking up he saw Scott Nichols standing on the other side of the card cabinet, a look of hatred on his face. Lucas tried to ignore him and continue his search, but Scott did not leave and he felt his irritation growing at the hostile stare he was getting.

"You want something, zoo bait?" Lucas said.

"I know you had something to do with the disappearance of those two boys," Scott said in a low harsh voice.

Lucas looked around to see if anyone had heard Scott. There wasn't many people here, just a few humans at some of the tables. They didn't look up when Scott spoke so Lucas knew that they could not hear them. "You're fucking insane, you know that," Lucas said back in a low voice as well.

But Scott was fed up with Lucas Cates. He wasn't going to back down this time. "I know there is something wrong with you," Scott said.

Lucas remembered back to last spring when he had threatened Scott to stay away from Sophia. He had let his wolf come partially out and Scott had seen it.

Scott continued speaking, "You are some kind of freak who threatens people in order to control them. That's what you've done with Sophia, isn't it? You showed her your claws and your fangs and now she's scared to say 'no' to you. And all your followers, the Hill kids, they are scared of you too, aren't they? So you keep them all scared of you by killing off other people."

Lucas was surprised that Scott had found the balls to speak to him like this. He was sure the kid almost pissed his pants the last time Lucas had a 'talk' with him. But Scott had chosen a public place to confront Lucas and now he was feeling brave.

"Listen Sherlock," Lucas hissed at him, "you have no idea what you're talking about. I don't know what happened to your little friends. I think you're getting delusional and maybe you should see a shrink before you get thrown in county mental."

"I know they went to look at the Hill kid's rave that night, I heard them say they were going to do that," Scott continued, the fire of accusation still burning in his eyes.

"Well maybe they are still out there looking for it," Lucas said in return.

"I'm going to find the truth Cates," Scott said bravely. "And I know it's going to lead me right to you."

"Is this the part where I'm supposed to be scared?" Lucas said sarcastically.

Scott just glared at him some more.

Lucas slammed the drawer shut and put his hands in the air. "O.k., o.k., you got me. I'll tell you the truth," Lucas said as he walked around the cabinet to come closer to Scott. Scott seemed more nervous as Lucas approached, but he did not leave. Lucas leaned towards him and whispered, "I fucking ate them, bones and all. That's what I do with nosey people who try to interfere in my life."

Scott looked at him for a few moments. "Very funny Cates. Joke all you want. But I'm still going to find the truth."

"You wouldn't recognize the truth if it came up and bit you in the ass," said Lucas as he turned and walked out of the library. He was going to have to decide what should be done about Scott Nichols.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Please review this chapter and let me know your thoughts! Thanks!