17

I couldn't hide my shock when I heard the rest. She was carted off with what David had already packed up for her—which wasn't much, but apparently he thought she'd be quieter about it all if he at least left her with sentimental stuff and like her grandmothers' and mother's jewelry.

Only to have it all be stolen still when she was kicked out of her trailer later, but that was something to handle another time. As horrible as that was… I doubted any of it would probably be recovered. But it gave us more insight into how Greg was making money. Selling all of everything left in the house wasn't how normal evictions went either.

Gods, I really hated this fucker.

She was brought to her new "home" and basically told she was remanded there like a retirement place and she couldn't leave without an escort. They had guards and the works. She wasn't allowed phone access to cause trouble—all of that part legal with what David signed, but it was supposed to be a swank place in Florida.

She had no say in anything, and food was just dropped off. Bulk canned everything and freezer meals crap. She had no access to her money or—they just expected her to sit there and watch TV basically. No internet access. Nothing.

Then four months of that and trying to figure out how to escape or get some sort of message to her former coworkers and she was evicted. Cops show up saying she hasn't paid her HOA fees and fines—nor utilities—and she was out. They'd claimed the whole place in court and to live like she was dead or she would be.

They dumped her at the bus station with a ticket into the city and the info for the shelter near the station that would take her… But didn't even let her get her ID or any of it.

And the shelter had no room and told her to fuck off. She'd been living on the streets since and panicked what to do. She'd had nothing besides the clothes stuffed in that bag and—it hadn't been going well. Her last hope had been to go to the church she'd used to years ago and pray that maybe someone remembered her.

Plus, they could hide her from whatever was going on. Give her a way to stay alive but not bring more attention to herself.

Which now we knew a way to find the others. Quietly for now. There was still too much we were unpacking and handling, so we couldn't do this loudly.

Dr. Sloan wanted to be safe and keep her overnight at the hospital, so I got one of the college kids from the pack to stay with her in the double room she had to herself. Her parents weren't thrilled that I was asking this of her for FBI business, but I promised them that this was personal and not how we normally handled it.

I smiled at the young woman who was close with Ashley and I knew fairly well. "She was good to me when I was a kid and tried to keep me safe. I'm just returning the favor. She's scared, and her whole world has been fucked over. We know needing extra care and help being happy. That's it. You'll feel how she's doing and you're a good kid."

"I can hang with a friend of yours anytime, Alpha," she promised and walked right in and introduced herself. "You can eat ice cream, right? I've got Alpha Sera's delivery app info, and there's this awesome ice cream place I've been dying to try, but my parents are weirdos and don't like anything that Instagram thinks is cool like that makes them cool."

It was hard not to laugh, but that was exactly why I had picked her. She was just a good person and knew how to help.

"I would love a nice sundae after some more real food and if the doctor says I can," Marie agreed. She glanced at me. "I hate to be a bother, but—could I borrow a laptop? Luckily, David didn't know about my stocks and other—I never told Hank that I invested. He thought it was all stupid Wall Street drivel and I wasn't competent enough to handle that. So I kept it separate."

I swallowed loudly and finally said what I'd wanted to for so many years. "I'm sorry he abused you. You never deserved that. You're a good person and deserved better."

"We both did."

"I've found it now, and I hope you do as well. I'll get someone over here with a laptop."

"I've got mine, Alpha," my wolf told me. "She's more than welcome to use it." She glanced at Marie. "Could you maybe explain to me about investing? I've got an econ class next semester and honestly it's all terrifying and I don't want to be the stupid wolf people think licks herself because the stock market sounds like a scam when people talk about it."

"Sometimes it is a scam but sure, we can talk about that."

I smiled as I left. All Marie had ever wanted was to be motherly and take people under her wing, protect them, and—she had never hidden how devastated she'd been when she'd found out she couldn't have children. That was why she'd stopped going to church.

She'd told me that if god couldn't support her in the one thing she'd ever wanted, she couldn't support him. Also, that meeting me might have changed her mind, and maybe she understood that god wanted her to be a mother another way for kids who needed her most. That was all she ever wanted.

Unfortunately, she'd gotten married to an asshole who ruined everything for her.

From what I knew, I was the only kid she'd ever fostered. Still, I'd cared for her, and she'd been good at it.

"The world really is too small," I whispered as I walked out of the hospital.

"What do you mean?" Sander asked quietly, rubbing my shoulder.

"I haven't thought about Marie in so many years, but I just used…" I stopped and faced him. "She was one of the last homes I was placed at, and by then—my file was a mess and they were warned. Her husband didn't give a shit and his kid was a fucking demon. She realized it wasn't going to be as easy as she thought and worried for me.

"David used to chase me around and pick fights, throw things at me—all of it, and Hank wouldn't allow a lock on my door. Not when I wasn't his kid and another mouth to feed in his house. Marie was the one who came up with the idea to climb one of the trees in the backyard to get a time-out when I needed it. I just gave that same advice to Felix's daughter and thought of her."

He nodded as I spoke. "I don't think it was coincidence. Sometimes I think the gods give us an idea or thought that pushes us to see or do something that puts us on the path we need. I wasn't one to ever think about change. I like—it wasn't in my head or on my radar to leave Apollo or the council. Then there was some conflict with the leader of the team I was on.

"Nothing even big, but it was kind of the last straw for me, and I asked to switch teams. I didn't like the attitude and vibe of that team. Apollo didn't like to switch up the teams, but I think he saw the meshing wasn't there either even after so many years of my being with them. That was a year before we moved here. It kinda all fell into place, and I've never been happier."

I smiled at him, liking that there could be little pushes like that. Not being puppeted but sort of how we corrected Topher now when he toddled around.

Or basically made sure he didn't crash and burn or hit his head on the coffee table should he go down. That was a much gentler and prettier picture painting of the power upstairs instead of the punishment and judgment I'd grown up learning while living with different families.

I thanked him and headed home, ready to jump into this new information… Instead, there was someone I'd never met before waiting in my apartment.

"Granddaughter, I apologize for breaking your rules about strangers in your safe space, but this is my youngest, Mauro," Eva explained. "And I didn't know he would come so quickly or was arriving already. Given what—"

"It's fine," I assured her. "I'm asking for help and you didn't want to be rude." I moved over towards him and extended my hand. "I'm Sera Thomas. I appreciate you dropping everything and coming to talk with me. Eva was clear you were the right person to help me."

He raised an eyebrow, and there was a hostile amusement in his eyes. "No hug for your uncle?"

I smothered a chuckle when Eva made an annoyed noise but let him see I was fine with his snark. "We are what we say we are. Just because Alena and Eva have decided to adopt me doesn't make the decision for us. To outsiders maybe, but I don't let people make those calls for me and never have. I wouldn't force it on anyone else either."

He didn't say anything but gave a slight nod as he accepted my hand. "Mauro Dorcus, nice to meet you."

I glanced at my watch and tried to adjust for the change in my day. Then I remembered that I wasn't the only one involved in this. "Do you want to get settled into where you're staying and we can talk tomorrow or…"

He seemed shocked that I cared to ask. "I'd rather jump into the situation, but I could use a meal and a run after the long flight."

"That works perfectly." I pulled out my phone and texted Sander, glad when he came right up.

"I just got filled in," he told me as he entered the apartment, introducing himself to Mauro. "This changes going hunting tonight, right?"

"I was going to ask if you could do the hunting with Eva and maybe Hagan," I told him. "I want David found, and I'm going to talk to him as Sera before I quietly bring him in. We still have missing pieces he'll be too excited and gloat to me about if I bump into him. I doubt he's just sitting at his stolen home on a Saturday night after he came into money."

He frowned. "I doubt it was all that much, right?"

I snickered. "You think he's going to be smart with it and not blow it in less than five years?"

"Right, good point. I'm still used to dealing with smart people who make it to be ancient, not idiot criminals."

"No, you're used to the smart ones who are terrifying," I drawled, biting back a shiver. I glanced at Eva. "I could use you to tag in like Melicent has. This human won't know you're ancient, and you can keep him—"

"And you want me distracted and not hovering," she interjected, smirking at me. "Don't treat me like a fool either."

I smiled at her, genuinely. "You are no one's fool, Grandma. You know exactly what I'm doing but yes, I would like to speak with him alone like I did Joshua. We're our own people, and—he doesn't have to agree to this. I asked you for help, and you told me who would be best. Let us figure out the rest."

She sighed, saying something in Greek and then giving me a hug and kissing my cheeks. "You came in relieved and too worried. What has happened? You found that woman? The one that was nice to you as a child?"

"Yes, and she's staying the night at the hospital. If you want to swing by and visit, I'm sure she'd like the company. You can ask her about when I was a kid." I swallowed loudly when she studied my face. "It's bad. What her stepson did to her and what she's been through—she's got like nothing left until I take them all down, and even then…" I shook my head.

I handled a few other things, apologizing to Mauro for the delay and then changed to something for a Saturday night, hopeful we'd find David. I asked him about dinner and he was shocked when I snickered.

"You're definitely Alena's sibling," I explained. "She's addicted to fast food and grease."

He accepted that. "It's unbecoming to eat like a pauper when you're from the royal family. At least in front of the public."

The hostility coming off of him was… Probably valid. A lot but yeah, I would probably be resentful if I had grown up the same.

We picked up Portillos instead of eating it there and went to eat it by the lake since it was a cooler night for the summer. He seemed pleasantly surprised with that outcome but simply thanked me for guiding him to order.

"I didn't want to come," he told me honestly after we were situated alone and eating for a bit.

"Oh, I caught onto that," I chuckled darkly. "But no one turns down Eva Dorcus, so I'm sorry you got pulled into this. If you're not interested, just be honest and I'll tell her that I didn't feel comfortable with this idea after all."

He didn't respond right away, focused out at the water as he devoured his burger. "I understand why my mother and sister have taken to you. You're humble, whereas they are not, but I appreciate that. You are very young but have already learned something important to make your people loyal and fight for you."

I didn't play stupid. "Forcing people to do what they don't want to does nothing but build resentment. Yeah, I learned that long ago, personally, being forced into houses and families I didn't want to be with, in circumstances that didn't work for me. I need help, and if you're forced into this and you're not here of your own free will, that's dangerous for me."

"Smart you understand that." He sighed and moved on to an Italian beef. "I had to come, but I came this fast because I was curious. Mother has never called on me like this, and even if we talk once a month and holidays, even I know her love for you is genuine."

I wasn't going to reply at first and wanted to let him continue when he was ready, but I would want to know if the situation was reversed. "She immediately said your name. I don't know what's between you, and even she admitted you have every reason to feel as you do, but when I talked to her about what was going on and where I was at, she immediately said you were the person to help."

He finally looked at me then. "I find that incredibly surprising."

"You're much older than I am. You can tell if I'm lying."

"I don't know if I can since I'm a male," he admitted.

I met his piercing amber eyes, the same ones Alena had. "I'm not lying. She immediately said she would call you and one of her sisters. That you were prickly and blunt, but you were one of the smartest people she knew and you could fix the situation I'm in without everything collapsing. That she knew you could and trusted you would never try to take it all from me.

"Because that's the biggest problem with asking for real help to be here all of the time. Who do I turn to that won't just take it all or steal it or even some of it or…" I sighed and looked away, focused on my food. "Even the help I have is great, but they're split. Melicent is fantastic, but she's only for now and also building her name for her future. Pushing for more.

"Hestia. Linus. Felix. They all have their priorities first. I get that. I applaud it. Noah has his coven, and now the council wants more from him. Alena and Laila want more to help more. Bijan wants more. Condori wants more. The shifter council wants more. Work wants more. The—"

"And you need it all to slow down," he muttered, still staring at me. "It's all too fast for you all of the time. Even with how quick you are on your feet for work, these are people's lives who rely on you to keep them safe and it's all too big."

"Yes. It always has been, but everyone always assures me we have it, we can do this. Now after this last hit with my birth mother and my wolf not acting as she should and the huge expansion I just took on for us—we needed it though—people are starting to doubt that we have it all. While others are still pushing to expand."

He choked on his next bite, thumping himself in the chest and taking a few moments to get his body to settle. "You mean my sister."

I sighed and took too big of a bite of my own food. "Yes. I love her dearly, but she can be—she's queen of the wolves and people—she's got her shit together. Was raised for this, and—I wasn't. I don't have my shit together. I just bought helicopters and a bigger plane and currently can't handle flying after my abduction and issues. Do you know the doubt I struggle with just on that?"

"Apparently, a lot," he muttered, not hiding his shock well of what he was sensing off of me.

"Yeah, well, everyone who is so much older and has been running things for centuries and has everything in place for so long and adds something here and there needs to stop throwing shit at me at thirty," I bitched. "Now the vampire council has another mess, and I don't know about it much, but they just want Noah to take in a hundred new vampires.

"At least a hundred. And he's old, but he's been a coven leader less than a year. And it's all under me. That sounds smart like never. And I want to bring in more prey to keep them safe, and I know that's stupid and dangerous. But then we have more jobs available than people. So we need more, but more means more problems and protection, and—I'm just—everything could—"

"Collapse," he muttered, nodding when I did. We ate in silence for several minutes, lost in our own thoughts and staring out into the night. "What do you want to happen? Not what you think Mother would want or what you're expected to do. You're smart enough to worry and smart enough to get this far. What is your gut telling you to do?"

That answer was easy, and I knew exactly where I wanted to start, which seemed to surprise him. "When I became a wolf and was promoted to division chief of the supe office, I basically audited it all. The people. Their files, backgrounds, the way they worked, and their training. The way they handled files and cases. All of it.

"I tore into all of the processes and made them learn the normal FBI way but also found the middle ground of what worked for us as supes but kept the ideals, professionalism, and message of the FBI. That's what I want. I want a full and in-depth audit. We can all do better, and things can be missed.

"I want an outsider's opinion that I can trust and has a reason to not want me to fail, but who also won't set me up to take it over. Someone who also won't worry about pissing me off by saying I've fucked something up and could do better but also has the knowledge to see the problems, and all the assistants we keep adding don't have that experience."

"I assume you would want this of all the packs?" he hedged.

"Yeah, and if you can't handle working with Melicent, then I understand given Eva explained a bit of your past, but if you're worried about her—don't be." I shrugged when he gave me a curious look. "She works for me, and she'll fucking do what I tell her to or I'll kick her ass again."

He dropped his hot dog on the ground in shock.

"Plus, she's grown up a lot from what even I've seen," I admitted. "She's realized how much she was a pampered princess, and—she's—Alena and Zeno are really proud of how she's grown up. She's taken on a lot of her own and really stepped up. She's doing an awesome job, truly."

"But?"

That was fair. "But she assumes sometimes that there's the safety net like she's used to, and there's not here. She would swoop in and destroy anyone who tried to hurt me and break herself to help me fix the issue—"

"But they're all too flippant that there has never been a problem or someone overthrown and there will never be," he drawled. "Yes, I've noticed." He was quiet again when I nodded. "Anything else?"

"Eva said she thought you'd be the right person to take over New York when Melicent was ready to move on and either take over for Alena or get into the training for real as her right hand," I confessed, snickering when he almost dropped his food again. "Yeah, they do a really good job of just plotting for everyone. It's nice to have faith in us but…"

He snorted. Loudly. "It's new for me, so forgive me for trying to believe you're not completely full of shit."

"I'm not. Eva said it was all her fault, but she loves you and has a lot of faith in you. The decision's yours, and I'm not saying that to try and pressure you or trap you into helping me when I need it. I just… She's got enough shit in her life because of me. I just want people to not hurt so much."

I gave him a look that clearly his family was an issue for him and one that was obvious.

We finished eating and then I showed him the pack lands where we went for a run. He still didn't say anything, and then I got the call that David was found and a few drinks into his night.

So back to work. Always back to work.