9. A New Job

Chapter nine

A New Job

*ARDEN*

I 've been working relentlessly ever since the winter solstice. Vander asked me a few questions the next day when he realized Coralie wasn't around, but for the first time ever, I couldn't answer him honestly. I feel so embarrassed and ashamed that she managed to use and betray me like that. She wanted to seduce me and film us having sex to have leverage over me, to blackmail me. Maybe she would have even shown it to her friends to laugh at me.

She probably felt disgusted about me all along.

Since then, I have tried to wipe this memory off my mind. I've seen her once. She looked at me as if she was about to walk over, but I made sure to give her no chance to do so.

Cato and I deserve more than pity.

"You are not listening," my father yells, startling me as he hits his fist on the table in the dining room. "It's not enough that my oldest son is a useless cripple who can't even hear, but he can't even pay attention."

He has one of these days where he has set his anger towards me, more so than usual. I'm used to it by now.

He is on his feet all of a sudden, rushing towards me and pulling me up from my chair. "Can you hear me?" he yells right into my ear. "Why are you such a coward? Why was I burdened with your existence!?" He pushes me against the wall before grabbing my throat. "At least fight me!"

"Don't!" Vander yells, rushing towards us and grabbing Dad's arm. "Let him go! He didn't do anything wrong!"

Dad lets go, shortly, turning around to backhand Vander. I watch in horror as my brother drops to the ground. "He was born," Dad spits out.

Vander doesn't give up, though. He wipes the blood off his nose and scrambles to his feet. Before he can cling to Dad's arm again, there is a knock at the door.

Dad releases me not without glaring at me with disgust. "I can't believe the Goddess punished me with two useless sons. At least Vander isn't damaged." He pushes past Vander, almost knocking him to the ground again, before disappearing out of the suite.

My heart breaks at the sight of my brother. He got it this time, although, I should have taken the brunt of our father's anger. It's me he hates the most, for how I am.

"That asshole," Vander huffs. "Why can't he just leave us alone?"

We are his punching bags to relieve his stress. He won't ever leave us alone. I'm not telling that to Vander, though. He has enough on his plate already. "Wait here," I tell him, hurrying to the bathroom to retrieve the first aid kit.

Walking by the mirror, I notice the bruises he left when he strangled me. Cato will be able to heal me, but Vander doesn't have his wolf yet. I make my way back to my brother fast, noticing how he has sat back at the dining table, eyeing his food. "It's cold, now," he mutters.

"I will take you out for a fresh one," I say.

Vander smiles before his eyes drop to the kit in my hand. "You don't have to do that. It's just a bruise and a split lip. I will tell them that it happened during training."

I ignore him, taking some disinfecting spray out of the kit and putting some on a cotton pad. "You shouldn't have done that," I say, carefully pressing it against his lip.

He winces slightly at the burn. "What?" he mumbles.

"Stepped between him and me."

"You are my brother," he says with emphasis. "And he is just an asshole, who looks down on you for your lack of hearing. Who even cares? Your hearing impairment is just a little part of you."

"Dad is right, you know?"

"What?" Vander exclaims. "I'm getting really pissed, now. You are not damaged, you are not useless, you are—"

"I wasn't talking about that," I say. "But he is right when he says you have courage. You would be a good alpha."

Vander stares at me now. "What are you implying?"

"This pack will need a good leader," I say.

"You would be a good leader!"

"At this point, I am not sure if they will accept me," I say. "But they will accept you."

Vander looks shocked. I know that up until now, he has never thought about himself as becoming alpha. I also know he loves me and that he is not lying when he says he thinks I would be a good leader. But I need him to realize that things might not play out the way both of us want them to.

"I don't want to become alpha," he says. "Arden, this is your birthright. And you deserve it!"

"Maybe," I say. "But is it truly fair that I get this advantage because I was born first?"

"This is how things were always done," he points out.

"Just because it's always been like that doesn't mean it's the best decision."

"Okay." Vander takes a deep breath. "I know why you think that. You see yourself training and that you aren't the typical strong alpha, but I think the Goddess knows what she is doing. I will not allow anyone to look down on you. You ARE an alpha. You are a genius. You will lead with your brains, and I will train hard and become your beta."

I smile at him. "You want to be my beta?"

"Is there anyone better than me?" he asks, showing me his usual cheeky grin.

"No." I chuckle. "I would be honored to have you as my beta."

I drop the subject for now, not because I truly agree with Vander, but because I know he doesn't want to see it yet. Our father is not going to make me his heir, and he will not give a shit about it being my birthright or not. I don't even think he truly appreciates Vander, either, but in his eyes, he at least isn't defective.

I somewhat patch Vander up, and we both make it out of the alpha suite. My goal is the kitchen to organize something to eat for us, because our father ruined our first attempt at lunch. The kitchen staff, consisting of female omegas only, has always been very kind to me. The head of them has always pampered Vander and me when my father wasn't looking.

Around them, I never switch off my hearing aid. I enjoy talking to them and listening to them.

"Don't tell me the young alpha is looking for something to eat?" Camille, the head of the omegas, teases me.

I chuckle. "Actually, the young alphas are."

"Both of you?" She lets out a dramatic sigh. "Zoé." She turns to a young omega who has just started working here. She is a rather tall young woman with shoulder-length hair and a beautiful smile. "You just prepared muffins, didn't you?"

She nods, glancing at me shyly. "If the young alpha wants, I can also make an omelet."

"I would love that," I say, eyeing her for a moment. "I remember you. You participated in last year's marathon."

"You remember?" she gapes, beaming happily. "I didn't have much training, but…" she pauses. "I apologize. I didn't mean to say—"

"You don't need to apologize," I say, well aware that my father doesn't really care about training the omegas. He doesn't go out of his way to be cruel to them, but he has always looked down on them. "I think you did really well."

"You participated too, didn't you?" she asks while starting to prepare our omelets. "I saw you and tried to keep up with your pace."

After a while, she leaves to grab something from the storage room. "She is such a bright girl," Camille mutters. "I wish she could have stayed in school."

"How old is she?"

"Sixteen," she replies. "She is orphaned, and the pack only pays for their education until they are sixteen, but she is really talented. Even I could see that much."

"What's her forte?" I want to know. Promising young pack members have always been something I looked out for. Due to Cato's and my own nature, I don't believe in strength alone. It's very valuable for a pack to have good strategists, that much I definitely agree with Eric and Vander about.

"Math and IT," she says. "This child was able to solve any math problem. She even helped all the other omegas with their homework and still does. Some of them only managed to finish school because of her."

I furrow my brows while listening to her, deciding I need to look into Zoé's abilities more. Walking back to my brother, I notice that Léna has joined us too. The two of them look at something on her phone, laughing. Occasionally, Vander looks up to watch her, always smiling when he does so. I am happy for him that his date ended up being successful, unlike my own. At least one of us brothers had some luck.

"Here are the documents you were asking for," Eric's secretary tells me, while she hands me everything she was able to find about Zoé. "You were right. Her marks were always very good, and her teachers always spoke highly of her."

Unlike Vander and I, she didn't go to a private school, which is why I never really crossed paths with her. While walking to Eric's office, I skim through the folder, my eyes flying over every word and storing it in my memory.

Math was truly her forte. She was always far ahead of her peers, but also very athletic. The track team wanted her, but she declined, probably because of her conflicting schedule with her omega duties.

I decide to research more, sending a message to Vander. Can you and Léna do something for me? I need some help.

Sure, I'd love to! What do you need?

One of the omegas from the kitchen staff is a sixteen-year-old girl. Her name is Zoé Blanchet.

Is she in trouble?

Not at all. In fact, I think she might be promising. I'm thinking of supporting furthering her education, but I want to know a bit more about her.

Leave it to Léna and me! Before I can put my phone away, another message comes in. Tonight, it's Christmas. I know we normally don't celebrate, but how about today we do?

He is right; Dad never really celebrated with us, but I like the idea of maybe starting a new tradition with my brother. I can try some contacts and make a reservation in a restaurant. Are you up for it? Maybe Léna wants to come, too.

His answer comes two minutes later. Awesome idea. Léna would love to join us.

I nod contently while putting the folder and my phone away. In Eric's office, I'm greeted by an unexpected person. "Lady Leila!"

"Hello, Arden." Leila gets up from her chair in front of Eric's office desk and approaches me to shake my hand. "We didn't have much time to chat during the winter solstice. As usual, my visions came in the way of enjoying myself."

"It must be difficult to handle the sudden visions," I mutter. "But at the same time, your powers are so fascinating."

"Eric said you would probably see me as a laboratory experiment," she chuckles.

"Did he really say that?" I ask, feeling shocked. Do I treat people like that?

"Sorry, it was a joke," she says. "I still have trouble with social cues."

I feel relieved instantly and spontaneously decide to like her because, just like me, she has this little shortcoming. "It's okay." I smile. "Are you waiting for Eric?"

"No, I was waiting for you." She rummages for something in her bag. "Eric told me to come to you. He said you are leading the research for the missing omegas."

I blink at her words. I know Eric wants me to help out with this case, but actually leading the research? "Is this a joke, again?"

"No." She looks up at me curiously. "That's what he said."

"She is right." Eric's voice pulls me out of my thoughts. He silently opens the door and comes into his office. "I want you to take the lead here. I think we might need your brain for this."

My heart makes a careful jump. This is an amazing task, an amazing opportunity. I can do some valuable work for the Council, maybe I can help save those poor victims, and for once prove that I am worth something.

"Princess Aurelia, my cousin, is going to arrive tomorrow. She is the future alpha of Silverlake and researching on the same issue. I want you to work with her. If you need anyone else on your team, feel free to add whoever you want. I mean it, whoever you want and how many people you want. Just say the word, and I will hire them. Also, do what needs to be done. Costs don't matter." He looks at me. "So, what do you think?"

I probably should decline. There are, likely, more experienced lycans here who would do better, but something pulls me towards this case.

"I would love to," I say. "Thank you so much for the opportunity."

Leila clears her throat, raising her brows while she looks at Eric.

"Right." He grins. "I forgot. Leila needs to be on your team."

"Of course," I say. No one would ever say no to having an oracle working for them.

"With that clarified." Leila takes a picture out of her bag. "That's who I saw in my vision during the winter solstice."

I look at the image she drew of a young woman with sandy brown hair. She wears chains around her arms and a collar on her neck. She is clearly a prisoner. "Do you think she is connected to our case?"

"I can't say for sure," she says. "But, I thought we could check the missing persons."

I frown. "I will make this an international search," I mutter, looking at the picture. Her eyes are empty and dazed, the pallor of her skin almost yellowish. "Did you see her exactly like that?" I ask Leila.

"Yes," Leila says.

"Where did you see her?"

Leila tilts her head. "She was in a room, like… in a dungeon. The floor was made out of bricks, and the windows were locked. There was water dripping from the wall. Everything was dimmed and dirty, aside from the chains. They were looking almost polished."

"Do you have more details about her body? How were her teeth?"

"Bad," Leila says.

"The hair is very thin, too," I mutter. "Her hair should be healthier. She is a werewolf, after all."

"What makes you so sure?"

"This is silver," I say. "The chains are silver."

"Are you sure?" Leila asks.

"Yes, you said there was water. And the chains are shiny. If it weren't silver, it would be rusty." I pause. "I want to broaden the search for missing wolves. Until now, we have only looked for disappearances in the last year."

"You read the files already?" Eric asks, sounding pleased.

"The moment you asked me to help out, I did my research," I admit.

"That's why," he says, "you are exactly who I need for this. Someone else might not take this search as seriously as you do. So, you want to broaden your search?"

"Let's make it at least ten years in the past."

"What?" Eric stares at me, shocked.

"She has to have been down there for much longer than just a year," I say.

"But she can't be older than twenty," Leila says, quietly. "If she has been there for years—"

"Then, this group has been active for much longer than we anticipated," I say.