Chapter 18 Eric

Chapter 18 Eric

I was sitting next to Cathy, holding her hand and pretending to watch the movie, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the phone call she received, the way she avoided answering, and her sudden visit to the bathroom. She was hiding something from me, and I knew it had to do with her supposed suitor.

"Eric, hey!" Cathy squeezed my hand. "The movie’s over."

I looked over, and the credits were almost over, and the room was completely empty except for her, me, and a worker who was picking up the trash the other people had left on their seats.

"I was distracted for a moment," I replied without looking at her face so she wouldn’t notice my discomfort.

I felt a flare in my stomach, the tension in my jaw and legs, and most of all, a feeling of doubt growing inside me that I couldn’t control.

"What shall we do now?" she asked, rising from her seat with an almost imperceptible smile. Her gray eyes reflected the letters on the screen almost as sharply as if they were projecting them themselves.

"I’m so sorry, but I’ll take you to the mansion. I completely forgot I had a meeting with my Beta," I said, trying to sound natural.

Cathy was in no mood for anything. I could tell by her distracted expression and subtle smile.

"That’s okay. I’ll take the opportunity to catch up on my business," she replied. "I have to go over the sales reports and see the week’s progress."

I walked ahead of her and led her to the car, put random music on the player, and drove, squeezing the steering wheel with all my strength and my eyes fixed on the road.

"Are you okay?" She stared at me, leaning back from the door.

I softened my expressions and tried to fake a smile that resulted in a strange, unsteady grimace, and I felt my face stiffen.

"Yes, completely."

I drove so fast that the lights from the other cars were seen as flashes on my windshield. Cathy tightened her seat belt with both hands and clenched her jaw but didn’t say a word the rest of the way until we reached the mansion.

Lucas was standing guard at the entrance, as usual, smoking a cigarette. He opened the door for her and helped her out of the car, leaving me in the nicotine-stinking car.

"Thanks for the movie. I had a great time," she said, waving her hand at me.

I squeezed the steering wheel tighter to the point that my joints creaked, and I clenched my jaw. "Me too, I’ll call you later."

I sped off straight to the pack’s operations building, where I spent most of my time managing our assets and directing the operations of the territory preservation and safeguarding team.

"I thought you were taking the day off," Andrew asked, furrowing his brow.

He was standing at the gate in the walls that protected the building and kept it out of the reach of any spies or curious onlookers. The walls were gray and thick, completely smooth to make it harder to climb, and with barbed wires made of pure silver at the top to prevent any uninvited or ill-intentioned wolf outsiders from gaining access and taking us in unnoticed.

"I did too, but there’s a matter I’d like to talk about in private," I replied, motioning with my head for him to enter the building with me.

I tossed my car keys to the newest of the pack, a nineteen-year-old boy who barely managed to transform under the full moon.

"Let’s go to the office then," my Beta replied, playing with a bunch of keys.

Andrew was the eldest son of Sebastian, my father’s Beta, and out of habit, his son became mine, but besides that, we had always been good friends, almost like brothers.

My Beta had dark skin, pearly eyes, a thick build, a calm voice, and a serene character. He was the ideal candidate to be my right-hand man since he always gave me the best advice and saw things from a different point of view than mine.

"Ok, what’s this about?" he closed the door behind him and sat down in the chair in front of my desk.

My office had a moon-shaped desk, a computer, files, and some screens that gave me access to the security cameras in the building and the mansion.

"It’s about Cathy." I dropped into the chair and put my hands on my head. "I think she might be hiding something or someone. I was with her, and she got several calls that she wouldn’t answer in front of me and started acting very suspicious."

Andrew rolled his eyes and sighed. "Women… won’t you ever get lucky with one?"

I settled down my back in the chair and relaxed my legs. "I don’t want to state anything right now. I just want you to do some research and tell me everything you find out. She lives in New York City, and her alias is Cathy North. She’s the owner of a perfume franchise. That’s all I know so far."

"Do you have anything else that might be helpful, the man’s name or any clues that might lead us to him?" He was jotting everything down on a note on his cell phone.

"No, the only thing I could see was that ’baby’ was calling her. Cathy didn’t answer, so I couldn’t hear his name, voice, or anything."

"I’ll see what I can do about this." Andrew nodded and left the office.

Minutes before, I was conflicted, but now that I spoke my mind, I felt calmer and with less tension in my shoulders. However, the thought that Cathy might have a man waiting for her at home makes me lose my sanity and focus. I started attributing her rejection of me, stubbornness, and persistence for keeping me away from her with this ‘baby.’ All I could think about was that.

I played with a freshly sharpened pencil making circles on an old bill, spun around in my chair, and leaned back from it with my palms pressed over my eyes, counting the minutes, feeling time stand still just for me. Without noticing, time flew as it was just me and my thoughts trying to make sense of this situation, and just when I was starting to feel the most desperate, I heard the door opening.

"Eric," Andrew walked in untouched with a folder full of papers and a blank stare. "I already figured out everything you asked for and... more."

I straightened my spine and pushed everything aside on my desk. My Beta tossed the folder into the clear.

"That was fast," I said. "How did you get all that?" I opened the folder and began to organize official documents and photos taken by traffic light cameras and police vehicles that were all over the streets of the city. Some of them were recent, and some of them were quite old.

"She is very cautious. Her social media is private, and she doesn’t post anything about her private life on the red, but she’s in our territory, so she can’t hide from us." He helped me separate the photos.

"Don’t leave me in suspense. Tell me, what did you find out?" I asked, controlling my breathing.

"She changed her last name six years ago as soon as she came to town. Her business has grown a lot in the last few years, her taxes are up to date, she doesn’t have any fines, not even for speeding or running a red light, and she has no debts or credit cards. That woman has managed to stay under the radar." Andrew swallowed hard and pulled out a photo of Cathy holding hands with a boy in front of a kindergarten. "And she has a five-year-old son named Elliot North, and there’s no record of who the father is, but if you take a close look at him… I think you could figure it out."

I picked up the photo and brought it close to my face. I couldn’t believe my eyes. My heart stopped, and my hands started to sweat. The boy was just like me at that age, with dark eyes, almost black hair, and white skin but with Cathy’s eyes and nose. Immediately the night of passion we had, the caresses, the kisses, and how I made her mine came to my mind. I had no doubt that boy was my son.

"Am I a father...?" I said unconsciously.

My Beta didn’t know how to react, so he kept his expression neutral. "That’s right, that child looks just like you," he replied. "And I think he was that ’baby’ who called her."

I put my hands to my head, feeling the excitement but also a bit of regret that I hadn’t known.

Why would Cathy keep something like that from me? I’m the father of that child, above anyone else, I deserved to know.

I remembered how nervous and thoughtful she became when I questioned her about running away from the pack and remembered her hesitation in telling me about it. It all started to make sense to me, and I didn’t feel fear of losing her anymore but instead intrigued by this situation.

"Thank you, Andrew, you’re the best!" I said, taking the picture of the boy and leaving the office.

"Where are you going?" he asked, following me.

"To confront Cathy, I need to hear it from her mouth. I want to know why she hid Elliot from me," I replied, agitated, trotting towards the exit.

"Good luck, Eric," he yelled at me as I ran to my car.

I grabbed the keys, got in the car, and drove with my son’s picture on the steering wheel, looking at it every chance I got.

I arrived at the mansion, got out of the car, leaving it running. At that moment, nothing mattered to me. The only thing I wanted was to find Cathy.

"Good evening, sir..." Lucas greeted me, but I rushed past him and didn’t even let him finish the sentence.

I walked down the hallway that seemed to drag on until I reached Cathy’s door and knocked on it hurriedly. "Hey! It’s Eric. We need to talk," I controlled my voice so no one else would hear me.

"Eric?" she said. "Give me a second. I’m..."

I opened the door to find her lying on the bed in the middle of a call, and she hung up as soon as she saw me come in.

"What’s wrong? Why are you so agitated?" she asked me, getting out of bed and putting her phone down on the nightstand.

I locked the door and walked towards her, feeling like my heart was going to explode. "I’m going to ask you something, and I need you to tell me the truth."

She opened her eyes like saucers, her face paled, and she started playing with her fingers. "What is this all about?"

When I was so close to her that I could hear her asynchronous breathing and uncontrolled pulse, I showed her the photograph. "Who’s the child?"

Cathy lowered her face, and I held her because I felt she might faint at any moment.

"How did you get that photo?" she asked me nervously.

I handed her the picture and helped her sit on the bed. "I asked my Beta to investigate you because, at the theater, I read the name of the contact and thought you were hiding something related to a man from me, so I did what I had to do."

"I knew it was a matter of time before you found out, but I never thought it would be so fast," she said, looking down at the floor with slumped shoulders. But immediately, she breathed in with pride and looked at me as she said. "That child is our son; his name is Elliot."

I cupped her chin with my hand. "I’m sorry, I should have asked you, and now I understand you had your reasons," I said with relief as everything started to make sense.

"I was afraid. I didn’t know how to tell you,” she confessed with her lower lip trembling.

"It’s okay,” I said, smiling with shyness. "I’m not mad, just shocked by the news. And I couldn’t be happier to know that I’m a father!"

I sat on the bed, and she leaned back against my chest. Her body was shaking, and she was having trouble breathing. "I’m so sorry you found out like that."

I hugged her and looked at the ceiling, thinking of the times I fantasized about having a family, a son to teach everything I knew, and training together. That fantasy could now be a reality if only Cathy would let me be a part of her life.