I sighed as Hacker peeked back inside of my office with a nervous look on his face. After giving him a nod, he looked behind him and opened the door fully and entered with Ripper behind him.

"What's this about Alpha?"

"Take a seat Ripper," I ordered. Both Ripper and Hacker sat down in the seats across from my desk. Without saying anything I slid the computer over to Ripper, the security footage that Hacker and I watched originally waiting to be played.

The whole time the video was playing I was watching Ripper closely. When the identity of the woman was revealed, Ripper's expression morphed into one of confusion.

"That's... that's..."

"Your mother," I finished quietly. He looked up at me and I almost flinched at the amount of pain that I could see resurfacing in his eyes.

"How?" He whispered.

"There's more," I sighed. I handed the folder over to him and he took it slowly. His expression was blank as he read through all of the information.

"How long have you two known about this?" He asked slowly.

"Only since yesterday. Hacker showed me the footage as soon as he saw it and we wanted to wait until we knew what their moves were before telling you. After getting that information in the folder we knew that you needed to know now." I explained. He nodded and just sat in silence for a few moments.

"She hasn't been in my life for years. She gave up her rights to me as my mother years ago. And judging by the text records she knew that I was in this MC with Spider. And now she knows that Scarlett is here. How do they even know that Scarlett is here?" He asked. I could see the turmoil swirling in his eyes and knew that it was only a matter of time before he broke down.

"We don't know. We're trying to find that information out. We can't rule out the possibility that they have been able to hack into Scarlett's phone, but we also can't rule out the possibility of there being another rat in the club. While both of those choices makes me very uneasy, we can use that to our advantage. We can get Scarlett a new phone, but keep her old one and continue to use it as if she still had it. We could use that as bait and get her parents and her ex somewhere where we want them. As for the day we can give the non patched members different information that what we give the patched, trusted members of the club so in case there is a rat, they aren't getting the right information."

Hacker and Ripper both sat there and let that information sink in for a few minutes.

I had already thought deeply about the phone thing. Matter of fact, I was supposed to pick up a new phone for her tomorrow as a surprise. Of course under these circumstances the reasoning isn't the best but hey, she gets a new phone out of it.

As for the rat information that's another thing I've thought about even though I don't want to. I know it's not Raine again considering she's still chained up in the shed.

So if there is another rat I will go on a hunt. The club members that I know can be trusted will stay and the others I will either keep on a short leash or I will just let them go altogether.

I don't think I could deal with another betrayal.

Ripper nodded, still allowing what I said to sink in.

"We should let the other members know. At least the trusted ones that is. My mother is unpredictable. She will do anything she can to hurt those around me and won't hesitate to kill. I'm going to put extra protection around Lilly for that reason because if that woman finds out that Lilly and I are together she will kill her without hesitation," as he talked I gripped the desk in front of me tighter.

"If that woman dares to even go near my daughter I will put a bullet in her head Ripper," I mumbled lowly. The anger I felt at the thought of that woman hurting Lilly was growing by the second the more I thought about it.

Ripper looked me straight in the eyes and I could see the conflicting emotions behind them, however, he was determined. Hacker was looking between the two of us with a nervous expression, expecting one of us to blow at any given moment.

"Trust me Alpha. If that woman goes near Lilly, I will be the one to kill her. And I'll make sure that it happens painfully."

____________________

Later, after that conversation in my office, I had a church meeting with the most trusted members of the club. All or most of them knew the basics of what Ripper's mother had done to him in the past, so when we told them that she was now involved, all hell broke loose.

"I say we just go up there and kill them all!" Butcher said angrily. Smiles nodded in agreement with him.

Spider put his head in his hands. "I knew that my parents would stoop low, but I never thought that they would stoop this low."

Key and Ace were very still while sitting at the table. Their knuckles were white as the gripped the edges and the veins were prominent on their arms and neck. They looked as if they were about seconds away from exploding like the others. Smiles didn't look any better.

Joker didn't say anything but I could tell that he was angry as well. I knew that he was still getting over the fact that his wife of over ten years had betrayed not only him, but the club as well. It took a lot of thought in order to allow him into the meeting for a couple of reasons. One reason was that I still was not sure if he was telling the truth about not knowing anything about Raine's betrayal, and so I wasn't sure if I should let him in for that reason.

The second reason was that he was our normal gate guard, and I just didn't want to take him from out there and replace him with someone else.

Even though Jason is not a patched member, he's smart and I know that he can be trusted so he was sitting at the table as well. I could see the look of confusion on his face, wondering why this woman was making us so angry, but he knew better than to ask. He was also able to take a hint and at least realize that she had somehow hurt Ripper in the past.

I banged my hand on the table, getting everyone's attention. "We need to figure out a plan for when they come here. I plan on getting Scarlett a new phone we can use the one she has now to lure them somewhere where we want them. However, we can't kill Scarlett and Spider's parents just because they are major high profiled people." A few men grumbled at that but otherwise kept quiet in agreement. "Also," I paused, really not wanting to talk about this possibility again. "Even though they could've gotten information on Scarlett's whereabouts by hacking into her phone, I'm not ruling out the possibility of there being another rat in the club. Hence why I chose who came to this meeting instead of it being for everyone."

The guys stared at me in shock, but I could see them making the connections as well. I knew that it was a huge possibility, but I also knew the possibility of them just getting that information from Scarlett's phone was also high.

"What's the plan for now?" Butcher asked.

"Don't speak of this information outside of this room. I don't want to risk it falling on the wrong ears. And once we get Scarlett's new phone we'll be able to take her old one and come up with a way to get her parents to a certain area. I call in our connections in the police force and give them the information that we have. I know that if we show them proof that what these people are planning isn't good, then they will have to get involved. As for Scarlett's ex and the other men that were bailed out, I'm sure I could convince the police to let us handle those three along with Ripper's mother."

The men around me nodded. This whole time Ripper never spoke but I could see that he was fighting to stay in control. I needed him to keep a level head for now, and once we had his mother he could unleash all of his pent up rage on her then.

"Any question?" No one spoke up. "Then meeting dismissed."

While everyone was leaving the room Ripper stayed behind.

"I don't want to scare Lilly," he whispered.

I placed my hands on his shoulders and made him look me in the eyes. "My daughter is a strong girl. And if anyone will understand what you're feeling it'll be her. Just tell her the truth. She knows that she's safe here and that no one will let anyone hurt her or any of the other girls."

"What if she wants to leave me?" For the first time since he joined the club, I witnessed Ripper's eyes fill with tears.

"She won't," I promised. "She'll understand."

He nodded and stood up. "Thank you Alpha."

"Of course."

I watched him walk out and once the door shut I sighed and slumped down in my chair.

Damn it.

______________________

"Are you sure you don't want just one beer?" Smiles asked as he moved to the other side of the bar, the woman who was behind there before moved out of his way.

I sighed and put my head down on the surface of the bar. The stained wood was significantly cooler than my forehead.

"Promise to only give me one?" I asked.

"Promise boss."

I lifted my head up and nodded. "Then I'll just take a beer." He slid one over to me. "Thank you."

I sipped it slowly, knowing that if I chugged it I would only crave another one.

"You seem stressed," Scarlett pointed out as she sat down next to me.

I nodded. "Your parents are giving me more gray hairs than what I already have."

She scoffed. "You don't even have any gray hairs. You look like you're in your late twenties instead of early forties," she laughed. I rolled my eyes and chuckled.

"Well thanks for the compliment."

We sat in silence for a few moments before she sighed. "I'm sorry about my parents. If I had just did what they wanted and kept a good relationship with them you guys wouldn't be in this mess."

"Don't even say that," I ordered. "You did what you had to do in order to live happily. If you would've followed their orders who knows what would've happened to you. They could've had you marry someone who was majorly abusive, but you wouldn't be able to get out of that relationship because of them. We will take care of them, and you will get the chance to live the life that you deserve."

"Do you really mean that?" She asked. I could see her eyes welling up with tears.

I reached over and placed one of my hands on top of hers.

"I promise."

She smiled and looked away from me, but not before I saw a small blush on her cheeks.

Damn she's pretty.

Her eyes glanced down at our hands and I cleared my throat, pulling mine away.

"Sorry," I whispered.

"It's okay," she smiled.

I took the last little drink of my beer and set the empty bottle down. Smiles came over and took it from me with a small nod.

"I thought you were quitting?" Scarlett asked.

I sighed. "I am. But I've been super stressed with everything going on and only one beer won't hurt me. It's probably best to do it gradually anyways instead of quitting cold turkey. I might only start having like one or two a week, which isn't bad at all," I shrugged.

She nodded. "Yeah. A lot of people our age drink a lot more beers than that in a week so if you're able to do that then you'll be pretty set."

I smiled at her and stood up.

"Wanna go for a ride?"