I drifted from the library while Ezra stayed motionless. I was clogged with emotions and uncertainty, and I had to take a few minutes of silence.
But before that, I had to do something. I couldn’t let my sadness overtake my plans, and Dominik gave me a fantastic idea this morning.
I listened outside the Alpha and Luna’s office wing of the original packhouse, and her nothing, not even an Omega cleaning. Maybe The Goddess started to take pity on me after all.
I slipped into the room Ezra had shown me and grabbed what I needed. I listened again. Still nothing. I had just enough time to carefully extract what I needed and set the place as I found it.
Then, I did something I rarely ever did before. I went to the new wing. I knew the layout; it was in Amelia’s office here. She rarely, if ever, used this. Only for meetings with The Luna. I slipped in and memorized the rooms months ago.
I thought I knew their schedules; I was pretty sure they were training. I knew that I was being reckless and what I was attempting might not even work on our kind. But I needed to do something, however small, to feel that I was gaining back some of the power that these people kept taking from me.
I remembered growing up, people saying that power couldn’t be taken from you unless you gave it to them. I believed it up until that day. My power was slowly drained, and I clutched onto the last ember of it with all I had. Now, I needed to stoke that ember, and this would help me do that. Even if it was only a small mental win.
I felt more alive when I left Dominick's room. But as I reached the original packhouse, the heaviness and sadness that I let trickle out with Ezra started to cloud the edges of my mind. I did what I could today, and I would give myself the time now.
The front doors opened when I was walking down the main hallway. Alpha Raymos greeted a guest personally. I wanted to hide and listen, but I was too close, so I would pass by and offer a meek smile or avert my gaze when the visitor stepped in unless The Alpha called me to stop - which he wouldn’t.
“This is unexpected,” Alpha Raymond's voice was anything but welcoming. I was nearing the door, mere feet away from the hallway that would lead me past the dining room and up to my bedroom.
“It shouldn’t have been,” The visitor replied. “If anything, you should have been expecting me sooner-” The guest stopped and inhaled a sharp breath. I fought my curiosity that wanted to see what was going on, what made him stop.
“Alpha,” the visitor said through gritted teeth, “I need to see you in your office.” I rounded the corner. “Now!” he growled so loudly the house would have shaken if it weren’t made of stone. I flinched, not expecting it.
Whatever was going on was important, and I could put off my self-pity and wallowing for a few minutes more. I needed to see what this was about.
I waited out of sight until I heard them pass. The visitor's shallow, angry breathing was loud with my new hearing. I waited until they walked down the hallway to his old office. I needed something to hold, an excuse, so I picked some flowers from the arrangements in the front hall. Ones that could conceivably grow around here. If I got caught, I would tell them I was leaving this for The Luna. It was flimsy, but it was something. Better than being caught with no excuse.
The door to his office was shut, and I didn’t hear The Luna in hers, so I inched closer, quieting my breath so I could listen.
“I thought the only thing you kept is the furs,” the man spat. The anger in his voice was palpable, as if I could feel the heat radiating off him.
“Doesn’t he look lovely though?” Alpha Raymond mused.
“I’m not even sure how you did that. They died human.”
There was a beat of silence. I could imagine Alpha Raymond shrugging. “I wanted a prize from Alpha Christian and Luna Lilian.” How dare that monster speak my parent's name? “And his black fur does make a great rug. You know how cold this packhouse gets.”
I was shaking with rage, drowning in it. My ears were ringing, and I couldn’t hear anything.
Relax, deep breaths - My wolf tried to soothe me, but I could feel her anger rippling through me.
I took a few inhales and focused. I needed to hear this conversation.
“Apparently, it wasn’t the only prize you took,” the man said.
“She is of old blood, strong blood. She will bear heirs, nothing more.”
“Who else knows?” There was a long silence. “Who else?” the stranger demanded.
“Just some visitors have seen her. No one knows her identity apart from some Omegas,” Alpha Raymond said. It sounded like he was losing his confidence.
“You have made a grave mistake,” the stranger seethed, his voice rumbled and shook the door frame. “You have crossed me. You might have ruined everything.”
“She’s just a girl,” Alpha Raymond responded sharply.
“Just a girl?” the man demanded. “Just a girl?” he repeated.
“Yes. She might have been an Alpha’s daughter, but she has been held here and is docile now. She barely can make eye contact.”
“You don't know Blood Moon,” the man spat. I almost laughed. Did this man think he did? “You don’t think that they switched her rattles with swords? That she could throw with aim before she could walk? Blood Moon formed her, but she was a born killer from a long line of killers. It's in her blood. A few years of solitude doesn’t unravel what is engraved in her.”
Shit, shit, shit.
Alpha Raymond wouldn’t believe that, would he?
“She’s changed,” Alpha Raymond said, but I sensed he didn’t fully believe it. I held my breath.
“You don’t change something that is inherent,” the stranger spat back.
That phrase, that line.
It clicked.
This was the man on the phone that sent Ezra to find me.
But more than that, I knew this voice. I knew this man.
It was the voice of my uncle Miles, my father's Beta.