Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

W ren stared at herself in the mirror for a long time. She thought, given the fact she'd spent most of the night either crying or tossing and turning in bed, that she didn't look half bad. Concealer really did work wonders. Combined with a few eyedrops to help with the redness, eyeliner and a coat of mascara, she almost looked as if the previous night had never happened.

But mirrors were deceiving.

Beneath the coat of makeup and the crisp navy blazer, floral sheath dress and heels, she was using all her strength to hold it together. She'd wanted to stay in bed, hide under the covers, and ignore the outside world but she knew that was a bad idea. Staying home today would mean Raven pressing her for all the information she hadn't demanded last night. And when given the option between facing her sister and telling her the truth or facing Alpha Kemp at the office, going to work seemed like the lesser of the two evils.

Besides, if she was lucky, he would still be feeling under the weather and he wouldn't even come into the office today. If he stayed home, she might be able to do some more digging around in his office. She might even finally find the proof she needed to show he had covered up her sister's murder.

The chance, no matter how small, was one she couldn't pass up.

Wren checked her watch. It was still early. If she was lucky Raven would still be in bed and she could avoid her sister for a few more hours. But when she opened her bedroom door and stepped into the living room that adjoined the kitchen, she found Raven standing at the counter with a mug of coffee in her hands, because of course the only luck Wren had ever possessed was the bad kind.

"Morning." Raven leaned against the counter with one hip and eyed her as she approached.

"Morning."

"You're up early."

"I could say the same for you."

"I didn't get much sleep." Raven frowned at her but Wren focused her attention on picking up her purse from the barstool she always hung it on and slinging it over her shoulder.

"Yeah, me either."

"Yet I look like the walking dead and you're dressed to go out."

"Dressed to go to work." Wren corrected and watched Raven's eyebrow wing up.

"You're going to work today?"

"Yes."

"At the Alpha's office?"

"That is where I work, yes." Wren tried to joke but her sister didn't even crack a smile.

Raven really did look exhausted and Wren felt guilty for making her worry. Her sister's hair, as black as her namesake, was pulled into a messy bun on top of her head. She had mascara smears under both of her eyes like she'd forgotten to take her makeup off before going to bed and then rubbed them, repeatedly. She was still in her pajamas too, which amounted to a ragged old t-shirt that was two sizes too big and fell off one shoulder haphazardly, a pair of boxers from gods only knew who or where, and a set of fluffy pink socks that came all the way up to her kneecaps.

She looked so young like this, but the worry in her deep brown eyes hinted at pain years beyond her age.

"Remind me again why you took a job working for the man you hate?" Raven stared her down and Wren fidgeted.

"You know why." she sighed when Raven didn't give in. "If there's any proof that the Kemps are responsible for what happened to Lark or that the Alpha covered it up, it'll be in his office. There has to be an official report or record. The cops, ambulance, coroner, they were all called that day. There has to be an honest report behind all the smoke and mirrors and I'm going to find it."

Raven put her mug on the counter and stifled a yawn, "Wren, you've been working there for months and you haven't found a single shred of evidence."

"Only because he hasn't trusted me enough to leave me alone in the office. Not until yesterday. I'm earning his trust and that means I'll have more access but to stay on his good side I have to go to work like a good little employee, even if it's the last thing I want to do."

"You spend all of your time pretending to be someone you're not." Raven frowned at her. "You put on this innocent facade and you prance around town acting like everything is fine. You pretend you're fine. You smile and pretend you've moved on but in reality, you're still stuck in the past."

"Raven…" she started but her sister spoke over her.

"Don't you ever just want to be happy, Wren? I mean, really? Don't you ever wonder what it would be like if you stopped plotting and planning your revenge and just lived your life for yourself?"

Raven looked frustrated and Wren ducked her gaze, not wanting her sister to see the truth in her own eyes. Because yes, of course she wondered what her life would be like if she just accepted the status quo like everyone else seemed to, but it didn't matter because she couldn't give up now. She was too close to finally getting justice for Lark.

She owed her big sister that much.

When she tilted her chin back up, she met Raven's unflinching gaze, "Lark doesn't get to be happy. She didn't get the chance to live her life because someone killed her and they need to pay for what they did."

"How is that your responsibility?" Raven shot back.

"I'm the oldest!"

Raven blinked and Wren winced.

"After Lark," she corrected herself. "I'm the oldest now so it's my job to step up and demand the truth."

"No. It was Mom and Dad's job to step up when Lark died. You were just a kid, like me."

Wren rolled her eyes and picked up her bag with her flip flops in it, "I have to go to work, Ray."

"Don't walk out on me when I'm talking to you." Raven's voice rose. "You owe me that much since you won't tell me what happened to send you into such a tailspin last night."

A knot formed in her throat and Wren swallowed hard, "I told you…"

"Yeah, that Logan is back in town and you confronted him but not what you said, or what he said, or why you couldn't stop crying for hours after you got back." Raven held up a hand when Wren opened her mouth to speak again which was good because Wren had no idea what she'd been about to say, only that it hadn't been the truth. "It's fine. I'm not demanding answers because it's not my place. That's my point. It's not your place to demand answers for Lark's death and you shouldn't be giving up your own shot at happiness to do it."

"I'll be happy when Lark's murder is solved."

Raven groaned, "I'm worried about you, Wren."

"I know, but…"

"Mom and Dad are worried about you too."

Wren couldn't contain her scoff, "Mom and Dad should have been worried six years ago. They should have demanded answers six years ago so that I didn't have to, but guess what? They didn't. They didn't ask questions. They didn't demand answers. They just…"

"Grieved." Raven cut in over her. "They grieved, Wren. They were grieving parents. You can't blame them for how they chose to handle their grief."

Wren thought she damn well could, but she bit her tongue to keep the venom from shooting out all over her well-intentioned little sister.

It wasn't Raven's fault that she didn't know the whole truth about that night. Wren had never told her. She'd never told anyone the truth about that night which she realized now, meant she had something in common with the Kemp family after all.

She had argued with Lark over sneaking out that night. It had been happening more and more often and Wren had been worried about what her sister was up to. They'd argued and Lark had left in a huff, sliding out the window like she always did and telling Wren not to worry so much. But instead of going back to bed and trying not to think about Lark and Logan being together like she usually did, Wren had marched straight to her parents' room.

She'd woken them up. She'd told them that Lark had snuck out. She'd told them about how she'd been acting strange and coming and going at all hours. She'd told them she was worried and she had expected them to be worried as well, but they hadn't been.

They'd smiled at one another as if they were part of some inside joke. They'd told her that her older sister was almost eighteen, and therefore an adult, and when she'd argued that almost wasn't the same thing as being grown, they'd told her to go back to bed and stop worrying. They'd said they trusted Logan, trusted the Kemp family and their Pack Alpha. They'd been certain Lark would be fine and that in just a few weeks when she turned eighteen she would bond with the Kemp heir and as the next Queen of the Shadow Pines pack, cement their standing forever.

They'd dismissed her and her fears and it had haunted Wren, and undoubtedly her parents, ever since. But they didn't talk about it and Raven didn't know that their parents could have put a stop to it all, could have saved Lark that night if they'd been more worried about their eldest daughter's safety and virtue than their future standing as the parents to the Queen of the pack.

So yes, Wren did partly blame them for what had happened to Lark, but they'd punished themselves abundantly for their mistake and she didn't think telling Raven would do anyone any good at this point so she kept her mouth shut.

Her sister pinched the bridge of her nose as if she was just staving off a headache, "You have nothing to say to me then?"

Wren offered an apologetic shrug, "I'm going to be late for work."

Raven growled, "I don't know why I even try talking any sense into you. You're as stubborn as a mule and twice as dense."

"You're right." She showed her teeth, "I am stubborn, which is why I won't let you, or Logan, or anyone else distract me from finding out what really happened to our sister."

"Logan?" Raven tilted her head at the mention of his name. "You think he's back to try and stop your investigation or something?"

"No."

"Then what happened last night, Wren?" Raven raised her voice again. "You saw him. You talked to him. And then you came home and cried until you literally passed out from exhaustion. I thought when you got up today that we could talk about it… but instead you're dressed for work like nothing happened."

"Because nothing happened."

Her sister snorted, "You're lying."

"It's not important."

"It is."

"It's not."

"Stop lying to me!"

Wren grit her teeth, "I don't want to get into it right now."

"Too bad!" Raven shouted at her this time. "I know I said I wouldn't demand answers because it wasn't my place but maybe it is. I'm the one who wiped your tears. I'm the one who held you together. I'm the one who stayed up half the night worrying, I think I deserve some explanation, Wren. Tell me what happened when you saw Logan last night. Tell me why you were so upset?"

Her stomach clenched and she felt bile climb her throat as Raven pressed harder and harder for the truth, "I can't."

"Why not?" Raven snapped.

"Because you'll hate me!" she whispered, barely realizing the words had escaped until her sister's expression changed, the anger of a moment before fading beneath the worried expression she knew so well.

"What? No. I could never…" Raven came around the counter and Wren knew that any hope she'd had of keeping her secret from her sister was gone now.

Raven was right, she deserved the truth. She deserved to know what Wren had done. Maybe if she knew she'd understand why Wren had to go to work today and pretend like everything was fine, why it was more important than ever that she learn the truth of what had happened to Lark.

"You'll hate me. I know you will, because I hate myself." She pulled away when Raven tried to reach for her arm. "No. I don't deserve your comfort."

"Wren, seriously. You're scaring me again. Just tell me what's going on."

She met her sister's worried gaze and forced the words past the heaviness in her chest, "When I was out for my run last night, I caught an unfamiliar scent. My wolf knew what it was instantly but I didn't realize what it meant, not until it led me to Logan."

"What do you mean? What did your wolf know?"

"The scent, I had to chase it because my wolf recognized it. She knew it belonged to our fated mate because it sparked the bond as soon as we scented him. It was like a magnet, pulling me towards him, and I couldn't fight it, not even when I realized who he was."

Raven blinked slowly, "Wait… you're saying… you scented your mate last night and when you found the source it was… Logan?"

Wren nodded.

"Logan Kemp is your mate?"

Wren's bottom lip trembled but she nodded again, "Yeah. Apparently."

Raven's brow furrowed and she shook her head, "But if that's true then…"

"He and Lark weren't fated like we all thought."

"Oh Wren…" Raven started to reach for her again but she held her hands up.

"Please, don't be nice to me right now. I think I might fall apart again if you're nice about this."

Her sister frowned at her instead, "You want me to blame you? To make you feel guilty? I'm sorry, but I'm not going to do that."

"Ray…" she warned.

"We don't get to choose our mate." Raven scoffed. "That's like, the first thing they teach us about the bond when we're kids. We don't have any say in who fate decides is our other half."

"But Logan was Lark's."

"And Lark is gone which is horrible and sad, but the truth is, if she'd lived until her birthday, we'd all have known a long time ago that Logan was never meant to be hers to begin with."

Wren shook her head, "But he might have killed her. He might have hurt her or helped cover it up or… He might be the reason Lark is dead and my wolf doesn't care. All she wants is to claim him and I can't do that."

Raven's face softened, "I get it now."

"You do?"

"You have to go to work today and find the evidence you've been looking for because you're out of time. You have to know if he was involved before you can let yourself be open to the bond."

Was that what she was doing? Wren shuddered out a breath. Maybe. She'd thought she was going to work to find the evidence and prove that she'd been right all along about Logan and his father but maybe Raven understood her even better than she understood herself. She'd already admitted that she couldn't be rational when it came to Lark's death but Raven had perspective on it, and on Logan. Was Wren really still hoping to find evidence Logan had murdered her sister or was she hoping to find evidence that he hadn't now?

In the end, she told herself it didn't matter. The truth was what mattered. Everything else would work itself out once she knew the truth.

If Logan hadn't been involved in Lark's death, maybe she could find a way to accept the bond, to let the past go and be happy. And if it turned out that he had killed her sister, whether on purpose or accident, then Wren would take justice into her own hands and end him, and the possibility of the bond between them.

"Thank you for telling me the truth." Raven touched her arm softly, bringing her back to the moment.

"You didn't give me much choice."

Her younger sister smiled, "I know. Sorry."

"Don't apologize for worrying about me. I appreciate it. Even when we fight."

"Love you sis." Raven opened her arms to offer a hug and despite her earlier words Wren stepped into the embrace and hugged her back.

"Love you too."

When Raven released her she looked her in the eye, calm and serious, "The deal we made yesterday still stands. Whatever you find, you bring it to me before making any decisions on your own, okay?"

Wren nodded, "I think I need you to be the rational one about this more than ever."

"Okay then, go to work. Keep up your usual act of everything being fine and normal. And if you find something, you get it and you get out of that office and call me." Raven squeezed her shoulders, "I'll see you for dinner with Mom and Dad tonight, but if you need anything before then I'll have my phone on me no matter where I am."

She felt sick at the reminder that she'd completely forgotten her mother's birthday. They didn't do much celebrating in their family after Lark died but they still tried to get together and at least have dinner. Raven was the one who insisted, and she might not feel like celebrating but she wouldn't let her sister down.

"I'll be there, but Ray, don't tell Mom that I…"

"Hey." Her sister smiled, "I would never. You can tell her, or not, whenever you're ready."

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me, just… don't let the Alpha catch you snooping, okay?"

"Promise."

"Oh, and one more thing…"

"Yeah?"

"Did you tell Gia something about her old pack?"

Wren froze, "What? No?"

"You sure? Because she texted me that she's going back to Louisiana to find her fated mate, said she'd let us know how it goes and to tell you thank you for proving she's been right to hold out hope all this time."

"Weird." Wren shrugged. "No clue what she's going on about. I uh… better get to work."

"Yeah. Good idea." Raven smirked, clearly not believing her but letting it go.

Wren nodded before grabbing her things and hurrying to the door. She didn't have the bandwidth to deal with Gia's wild schemes right now. She was too tired. Even if she felt lighter now that Raven knew the horrible truth and hadn't held it against her she had enough on her own plate to worry about without bringing her cousin's drama into it.

Gia was as stuck in the past as she was, but her cousin had clearly decided to do something about her theories and so would Wren. If she could find the evidence, she was looking for today, maybe, just maybe, she could start to move on with her life, one way or another.