Chapter 17
Logan looked at the other women in the room, their clothes threadbare and grubby. His eyes lingered on Maggie for a long moment before turning back to me.
“Maybe the people who came after them are the same ones who attacked you all those
years ago.” He turned to look at Carly. “You said these people came after you right after
Derek found Elena?”
“That same night,” Carly nodded.
“Interesting timing,” Logan said, giving me a deliberate look.
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“You think it was the Silverclaw pack that went after them?” I asked, incredulous. “You
think it was Silverclaw that went after me?”
Logan shrugged. “It’s worth considering.”
The attack had happened near the Silverclaw border. My mind whirled. If Derek’s pack—-or
even Derek himself—had something to do with the incident that took my memory all those years ago, I needed to know.
And I knew exactly how I was going to find out. The second Mason answered his phone I
explained that I would be taking the lead on the partnership to host the Alpha Ball. He was
momentarily thrown by the request, but hearing the tone of my voice, reluctantly
conceded.
I disconnected and shoved my phone into my pocket. I ran my hand through Aiden’s hair one more time. “Come on. We’re going home,” I said, then looked at the three women who
had saved my son, each of them in turn. “All of us.”
DEREK
Cassandra sobbed into her hands, shaking as she pointed at her rash–covered face. “She did this to me on purpose, Derek!”
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Chapter 17
+25 Bonus
I barely glanced at her. My thoughts were elsewhere, tangled in the chaos of emotions I had been trying to suppress since seeing Elena again.
Joe had called me late last night. “I’ve been looking into Elena,” he’d told me. “Intel is that Mason’s been keeping tight control over information about her. Looks like he’s been pulling the strings for a while, now.”
My stomach had twisted. Mason. Again.
Cassandra let out a delicate sigh. “I know it must be painful for you, Derek. She faked her death, climbed her way into a new position and now-” she dabbed at her eyes, “-now she’s playing up to another powerful Alpha, pretending like she never abandoned you.”
I clenched my fists, not knowing who wanted what from me or why. Everyone seemed to
have an angle on my life but me. I growled low in my throat.
A knock at the door pulled me from my thoughts. One of my men stepped inside. “Sir, we just received word. Negotiations are complete. Moonstone has agreed to cooperate.”
Cassandra brightened. “Why don’t I go,” she suggested. “It would give me a chance to smooth things over and-”
“No.” My voice was sharp. “I’ll go myself.”
Her face fell, but I didn’t care. This was something I needed to handle personally.
When we arrived at Moonstone, the atmosphere was tense. The staff barely spared us a glance as they led us inside. They didn’t bow, didn’t show the usual signs of deference. I could feel Joe and my Gamma, Chad, stiffen beside me, anger simmering just beneath the
surface.
“Watch yourselves,” I warned in a low voice. “We’re here for business.”
They gritted their teeth but nodded, following me into the reception area. We waited, the
silence stretching thick between us.
Then, suddenly, a small figure came darting into through the room not watching where he
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was going and plowed right into my leg. The small child was no match for my size and fell backwards. He couldn’t have been more than five or six instinctively, I reached down and steadied him, “Whoa, there,” I said,
He looked up at me, his eyes filled with a defiant, fierce spirit. Then he smiled, the gap
where he was missing his two front teeth a dark hole in a shining, bright face,
“Sorry, mister,” he said with an adorable liep.
I was instantly charmed, 1 smiled back. “Don’t worry about it, son.”
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