CHAPTER 31

CHAPTER 31

Adam

I stare at my father’s head, feeling numb.

There is no grief, only shock.

"He’s been dead for a while," I hiss. "When he went missing, he must have been killed then. There are signs of torture on his face."

"What about your mother?" Cynthia asks, horrified.

My jaw tenses. "She went missing at the same time."

Cynthia closes her eyes briefly. "I’m sorry, Adam."

"Don’t be," I say. "They were never much of parents to me anyway, but I was sure Norman was looking for them."

"I saw him today," Cynthia suddenly tells me. "I thought it was my imagination, and I made sure I wasn’t followed but-"

"Where?" I whirl around to face her, furious. "Where did you see him? Why are you just telling me now?"

"It was outside the bakery. He was gone as soon as I saw him. I thought I was just seeing things!"

"He must have followed––"

"Nobody followed me home." Cynthia shakes her head. "And what would Norman have to do with this?"

She has a point. I can’t see Norman having anything to do with this. He’s always needed our parents to bail him out of situations.

"It doesn’t matter." I close the box. "Someone knows where you are. Someone who killed Jonathon."

I see a strange look pass over Cynthia’s face, and my eyes narrow. "What is it?"

"There is one person who had it out for me before I left, the same person who gave me the documents to start a new life." Cynthia frowns. "That night I left, Watson was waiting outside. He wanted me out of your life. I never told anyone, but Tony saw him."

My eyes tighten. "Watson was the one who gave you this identity?"

I nod.

This isn’t good.

I take out my phone and dial the number of one of my most trusted people. When he answers, I say, my voice sharp, "Look into Cynthia Morrighan. Dig into everything, financials and socials. Leave no stone uncovered."

"What are you doing?" Cynthia demands, looking angry now.

I end the call and look at her. "Watson isn’t as simple as you would think. If he wanted you out of my life, he would have killed you. There’s a reason behind everything he does. If he gave you an identity, he’s up to something."

Seeing how pale she gets, I try to reassure her. "Don’t worry. Whatever he tries to do, I’ll deal with it. In the meantime, we need to figure out who sent this ’gift’. I think you and Riya should shift to another one of your properties."

"Properties?" Cynthia looks taken aback. "I have properties in Detroit?"

Despite the grim situation, I want to smile. "You have properties all over the world, sweetheart. But you have a very secure house on the outskirts of the city. We’ll move there tonight. Now, stay here. I’ll be right back."

She doesn’t stop me, and I walk out the door, box in my hand.

My eyes harden in rage the moment the door closes behind me. Someone dared to send my mate such a gruesome parcel? What if Riya had seen it?

I make my way to the rooftop and as soon as I step out, three masked men jump in front of me, kneeling.

I throw the box at them, and one of them opens it.

Their expressions don’t change.

"Norman was following her. Why haven’t you been able to find him?"

"We’ve tried, but he’s not staying at any hotel. Somebody is concealing him."

"I assigned three of you to be with her at all times! How did you not see him?" My voice is sharp like whiplash, and one of the men gets to his feet.

"I caught his scent and I went to investigate, but it was like he vanished. But we’ve been circling the building. Nobody out of the ordinary has entered or left. There are only humans in this building."

I ponder over his words. If nobody suspicious has entered or left this building, then that means that it’s just Cynthia’s address that has been discovered. Somebody has been watching her. What if that shifter who was stalking her was not just a random stalker?

Another one of my soldiers appears in front of me. He staggers forward.

"What happened?" I catch him as he falls.

"Vampires," he groans. "Spotted me and––"

He coughs up blood and I hand him over to one of the other men, ordering him, "Take him to Healer Lydia. Make sure you’re not followed."

He nods and hurries off with him.

With only two men left, I say, "I’ll be moving Cynthia and my daughter to another location. I’ll message you the details. Bring those things, and we’ll follow the procedure. The event is in two weeks. We have to make sure nothing happens before then."

The two men nod and they leave, one of them carrying the box with my father’s head.

There were torture marks on Father’s face, but aside from a grim satisfaction, I feel nothing. It was karma, plain and simple. All these years he tormented Cynthia, he got his just desserts. I do not doubt in my mind that my mother shared a similar fate, but I can’t bring myself to care. They were never parents to me, not like they were to my sister and Norman.

Even my sister turned out to be a selfish creature. When Cynthia had disappeared, word got to me that my father had begun looking for her brother again. Eleanor then reached out to me after two decades of no contact. The sister I had once admired spoke to me, her voice crisp, demanding that I return Cynthia to our father, that her life with Mathew was being disrupted.

When I had reached out to Finnegan, my father’s old servant, and he had told me how neither Eleanor nor Mathew, Cynthia’s older brother, had been willing to return to save her, I had doubted his version. I knew my sister. She was a proud but gentle woman with high morals.

But the woman on the phone had scoffed when I told her what horrors Cynthia had faced. And why wouldn’t she? Finnegan had clearly been telling the truth, and my father had sent my sister and her lover videos of Cynthia’s torture, and they hadn’t blinked an eye. Instead, all my sister said was that we all needed to make sacrifices for family, and Cynthia had to go back.

I had slammed the phone on her and spent the first two days after becoming the alpha, digging into my grandfather’s records. As I had suspected, he had made arrangements for money to be sent to Eleanor on a monthly basis. I emptied the account and closed it. My selfish sister and her lover would no longer have access to any pack funds.

She was furious, but there wasn’t anything she could do. It was a meager form of revenge for Cynthia, but it was something.

I make my way downstairs to the apartment. I had never accounted for Watson’s involvement in Cynthia’s leaving. This is serious. Everything is going to come to a head in two weeks. Tina will finally get her revenge, and I can’t interfere with that. But I have to make sure that my mate doesn’t get caught in the crosshairs.

Cynthia is waiting for me when I enter, and when she sees my empty hands, she asks, "What did you do with the box?"

"It was trash," I say coldly, "so I threw it."

She doesn’t ask any more questions, only meeting my gaze evenly. "Should I begin packing?"

I nod.

As she steps away, I suddenly stop her. "The pack event coming up, you have to attend with me. I want to introduce you as my mate."

Her cheeks turn red, and she tries to act casual. "Sure."

As I watch her hurry away, my lips curve.

I don’t think I will ever tire of Cynthia’s shyness.

My thoughts grow heavy as I wait for her. Things were finally progressing. She’d forgiven me. We were starting over. And now this.

Cynthia chooses that moment to return to the living room, and on seeing me, her brows furrow."What’s wrong?"

"Nothing."

She approaches me. "You wouldn’t be lying to me now, would you?"

Her eyes are sharp as she studies me, and I press my lips together.

"Adam," Cynthia sighs, "if you want this to work, you’d better start sharing whatever is eating at you. If I can’t share your burdens, then there is no point to any of this."

Her words have an air of finality to them, and I wince. "You’re right. I’m just worried about you and me. With all this going on, I don’t know when we will be able to focus on us."

"We don’t need to be focused on our relationship twenty-four-seven, Adam." She sits down next to me. "We’ll work on it bit by bit, day by day. I never stopped loving you. I never dated, never had the stomach to look at another man. It was just you. I don’t know how you feel about me, but I’ve never wanted anyone aside from you. So either it was you, or I would have lived alone. And I want to make this work."

"What do you mean you don’t know how I feel about you?" I demand. "I love you. Isn’t that obvious? I didn’t act like an utter moron just because you’re my mate. It’s because I love you!"

"Alright!" Cynthia raises her voice to match mine, her eyes widening. "Why are you shouting at me? I get it!"

I deflate, muttering, "I wasn’t shouting."

"Okay."

We sit there in awkward silence for a few seconds before she nudges me, a smile on her lips. "So, you love me?"

She’s rarely one to tease, but she’s grinning now, and my own lips curve. "Yeah. And you love me."

"I never said that." She shrugs.

"You just did, a minute ago!"

She’s laughing now, and my tension fades at the sound.

"How can you laugh at a time like this?" I wrap my arm around her.

"Because I’m happy," she replies. "I get that things are shit right now and we have a lot of work to put in our relationship, but we’re together. We can handle it all."

Her words make my heart ache, and I look down at her. "You have that much faith in me?"

"In us," is her response. "We’ll get through it. Together."

I nod. "You’re right. We will. We’ve got each other."

I lower my head to kiss, and her response is sweet. However, even this touch drives me crazy. I’ve been without her for so long that if I could, I would take her right here on this kitchen counter. But we’re not alone here, and I don’t think Cynthia would appreciate me getting very handsy with her in front of our daughter.

So, I kiss her again before pulling away. Getting to my feet, I wrap my hand around hers. "Come on. I’ll help you pack. The sooner we leave, the better."

The next two weeks are just a waiting game.

*****

As I predicted, Watson had his reasons for giving Cynthia her new identity. I pour over the files I received last week. I’m glad Cynthia told me in time.

I hear the clickety-clack of her heels in the hallway, and I put the papers away.

"Are you ready?" She appears in the doorway, and for a full minute, I find myself speechless. She’s wearing a shimmering pale blue gown with a slit along the side. Paired with her silver hair and the diamonds glittering in her ears and around her neck, she looks ethereal.

I find myself getting to my feet, and she immediately holds up a hand. "Don’t even think about it. Maya just did my hair. I’ll kill you if you mess it up."

"I just want to look." I approach her, leering at her.

"Well, look from over there." Cynthia takes a step back.

"Just one kiss."

"Absolutely not. I’ll kick you, Adam. I mean it. And I’ll do it somewhere you won’t like."

I can tell she means business, and I sigh. "Alright, alright. Where’s Riya?"

"With Tony," she replies. "They’re waiting for us to leave."

I fix my suit jacket and then take her hand. "You know what’s going to go down tonight, don’t you?"

She nods.

"Don’t falter. No matter what happens, stay by my side."

"Don’t worry," Cynthia reassures me. "Let’s go."

Maya sees us off, and Cynthia waves at her. However, there is no smile on either of their faces.

As we drive to the pack event, Cynthia murmurs, "I’m glad you suggested having Tony and Maya move in with us until everything is sorted."

I don’t say anything, my body stiff. Cynthia puts her hand on my thigh. It’s not a sexual touch of any sort, just an attempt to calm me. We drive the rest of the way in silence. The valet takes our car when we reach and we enter the glittering ballroom. There are already plenty of people in attendance, and I recognize most of them. I don’t see Watson anywhere.

Tina is standing in a corner, talking to a few members of a different pack. Reynold is by her side.

I check my watch and look to a corner of the room where a server is standing. He nods at me.

Good. They’ve started moving.

We approach Tina and Reynold, and as we reach them, a voice booms from behind us, "Adam?"

I feel Cynthia freeze, but she turns around as I do. Watson’s face is red with anger. "What is going on? Why didn’t you come here with Tina? What is the meaning of this?"

"Why would I come here with Tina?"

Tina gives a quizzical look toward her father just as the announcer gets on the stage. "This year, we will be announcing two mated couples. Will you please approach the stage?"

I pull Cynthia with me while Tina and Reynold also follow us. Once we’re there, I can sense Cynthia’s uneasiness, but I send her comfort through our bond.

"Introducing Alpha Adam Moore and his mate, Alpha Female Cynthia Rose," The announcer says into the mic. As a round of applause breaks out, I see Watson’s face grow a bright red.

"Also introducing Reynold Dupont and his mate, Tina Trembley!"

Watson goes white as a sheet.

Tina’s lips are curved in a vicious smile as she meets her father’s gaze. As we get down from the stage, Watson rushes towards us. "Come with me!"

I know Tina wants her pound of flesh, and I’m not going anywhere without Cynthia, so I smile. "Lead the way."

"Reynold, you stay here," Tina says coolly. She gestures with her head, and Reynold nods.

Watson is vibrating with rage, and the minute we are in a private room, he turns around and raising his hand, slaps Tina across the face.

"You ungrateful bitch!"

When he lifts his hand again, I grab his wrist and shove him back, warning, "Enough."

"Both of you are ungrateful bastards! After everything I did for you, this is how you repay me?"

"What you did for me?" Tina spits out. "You mean murdering my mother in cold blood so you could mate another female? Or should I be grateful for the series of females you’ve made me watch die at your hands when none of them were able to offer you another child?"

Watson’s eyes narrow in rage. "I gave you a home! I sent you to the best schools, the best universities! I made you who you are––"

"You gave me nothing," Tina snarls. "You killed my mother! You disemboweled her in front of my eyes. Did you think I would be loyal to you after that? I’ve spent every waking moment planning your downfall. You were too relaxed, too sure of your power over me, and you kept slipping up! You’re nothing more than a greedy bastard. Adam and I have uncovered every foul deed you ever did. Now you will have to answer to the pack and to the alpha!"

Watson scoffs, "Answer? Me? You think you’ve won something? You’ve only destroyed your own future! And you, Adam, you think you’ll get your happily ever after with this woman by your side? Cynthia Morrighan, was it? That was the name I gave you, right? A foolish girl like you has no place as the Alpha Female. You should never have accepted my help. Now your name is linked with drug trafficking and sex trafficking. The human world will tear you apart."

"Don’t talk to my mate," I say, "and Cynthia Morrighan no longer exists. I deleted every trace of her existence a week ago. Cynthia doesn’t know you, but I do. Or I began to know you a lot better these past years. You have nothing on her. You are nothing, Watson!"

"Me? Nothing?" Watson laughs darkly. "I am more powerful than you can ever realize!"

People are gathering by the entrance of the private room where we’re having this conversation. They must have seen us leave the ballroom. That means Reynold has been able to broadcast Watson’s confession. The latter hasn’t realized it yet as he keeps speaking, his back to the door. "I work in collusion with the vampires! Me and my partner have been the ones distributing the drugs. In return, the vampires will give us more power than you can ever realize. All it takes for those drugs to be effective is the ground meat from our own people. The useless trash from the slums is finally useful for something. Me and Norm––"

Watson’s head tumbles off his shoulders, falling onto the ground. His body crumples after as I stare in shock.

There are shocked gasps and shrieks, but they’re dim sounds to my ears.

My gaze lifts to see my little brother standing a few steps behind where Watson had been standing.

Norman sighs, looking annoyed. "That old geezer just couldn’t keep his mouth shut."