Ruined Wolf: A Paranormal Why Choose Romance (Claimed by the Sea Wolves Series Book 2)

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The three men around me stared for a moment and then exchanged glances. The silence that had fallen in the room was palpable, the only disturbance the sound of the rising wind outside. I took another breath and carried on. I might as well get it all out in the open now, though my heart was starting to race. If they didn’t believe me, then I could be placing myself in even more danger, but they trusted me, so they would believe me—until they found out what else I had been lying about.

“I believe that Caleb and Ethan are working together,” I began, my voice strong and unwavering despite the nervousness I felt. “I found a series of emails between them, and I have no doubt that something is going on. I think they are planning something, and I’m not sure it’s for the best.”

Maverick blinked. “What do you mean?” he asked, his brow furrowing in confusion. “Working together? On what? The alliance between the packs? Of course they are.”

I shook my head. “I’m not sure, but I don’t think it has anything to do with the packs finally becoming allies or the match between you and Tessa, but they are definitely working together for something, and I think it’s something they are trying to keep quiet.”

Maverick and Lucas exchanged a look, and Asher shifted uncomfortably. “What makes you think that?” he asked.

I hesitated, feeling a wave of uncertainty sweep over me. How much should I tell them? There were the printouts, of course, but what about Ethan’s threats? I’d have to tell them about Jaxon and how Ethan had been blackmailing me for the last few weeks.

“Remember that day you saw me outside Ethan’s house?” I said to Asher, and he nodded. I sighed. “Okay, don’t get mad, but... I broke into Ethan’s house while he was out with the council. I searched his office, and I found printouts of emails between him and my father. They were mainly talking about large sums of money and untraceable bank accounts.”

“You broke into Ethan’s office?” Maverick looked more shocked than I’d ever seen him. If I wasn’t so nervous, I’d have found his expression funny. As it was, I carried on, wanting to explain myself.

“I took the printouts of the emails with me. They were tucked into the back of my jeans when I got in the truck with Asher, but then there was the accident, and I assumed they were with my stuff at the hospital, but when I went to get them just now to show you, they weren’t in the bag the doctor gave me. I think the men who took me must have searched through my stuff and taken them too.”

Lucas and Maverick exchanged looks again, and Lucas spoke up. “We searched the guys who took you, Nova, and their boat. We didn’t find anything.”

I nodded, exasperation creeping into my voice. “Okay, they didn’t have the printouts, but that doesn’t mean someone else didn’t take them. There must be someone on the island assisting them, someone who helped them get on and off without anyone noticing. Whoever it is, they could have given them the printouts or even destroyed them before you got to us.”

Maverick frowned, and Asher cleared his throat. “That still doesn’t explain why they’d be working together. What could they possibly gain from it?”

I thought for a moment, my mind spinning. “Maybe they are after something else. Maybe it’s more personal than that. It’s not exactly a secret that Ethan has various underhanded schemes going on, and I’m fairly certain my father doesn’t have a high moral ground when it comes to shady dealings.”

“Why did you think Ethan was up to something?” Maverick asked after a few moments. “Did he say something to make you suspect him?”

I paused. “He threatened me.”

“Ethan threatened you?” Asher questioned, sounding dubious. “When, exactly?”

I sighed. “At the claiming. When you three showed up, he wasn’t trying to claim me, he was trying to kill me.”

Maverick shook his head. “I’m sorry, Nova.” He reached out and took my hands, squeezing it gently. “I think you might have gotten things confused somehow. Ethan might be into some dodgy stuff, but he wouldn’t hurt anybody, not unless he had to.”

“Exactly, not unless he had to. He thought I was some kind of spy who had information on him and that I would tell you, Maverick. When I wouldn’t—couldn’t confess to knowing anything, he tried to kill me. That’s when you turned up and we... umm...”

“You’re saying he thought you were a spy? Why? Because you just showed up out of the blue? Or did he already know you were from High Rocks Pack?”

My mind whirled. It would be an easy out if I told them that Ethan knew I was Caleb’s daughter and figured his partner in crime had sent me to spy on him. That would work. I’d never need to mention Jaxon.

My eyes drifted over Asher, his kind face full of concern, then to Lucas, who’d already faced so much for me, and finally to Maverick, whose hand wrapped around mine as he grappled with whom to believe—me or his mentor. I’d lied to them so much already, and everything inside me wanted to avoid inflicting any more pain on them, but I realised with a sinking heart that I couldn’t keep lying any longer. I had to tell the truth and trust we had something stronger than my lies.

“I found something else as well,” I said, taking a shaky breath and steeling myself. “There were emails between Ethan and a doctor in the city, Jaxon’s doctor, from when he was sick. Ethan knew where Jaxon was the entire time, and he never told you. He never told you he was sick.”

This time, I could have heard a pin drop. The silence dangled like a lead weight over the room. Maverick’s hand hung limply in mine, and his mouth parted slightly as he stared at me. Asher and Lucas were equally stunned into speechlessness, their faces completely blank.

I looked at the floor. How did I tell them? How did I make everything I’d done since I got here right? I couldn’t find the words that would break their hearts and mine, and for the thousandth time, I wished I’d never lied, and that I’d taken the chance and been honest with them from the start. I knew now they never would have cast me out or blamed me, but back then, I hadn’t known them. I’d only known the pack’s reputation, and I’d grown up with men who could appear warm and caring when they needed to and beat you in the darkness when no one was looking. Only Jaxon had ever shown me that a man could be trusted, and even then, he’d lied to me too. Were those good enough excuses for having deceived them for so long? I didn’t know.

Finally, Maverick was the one who broke the ice. He let go of my hand and stood up, pacing around the room as he ran his hands through his hair in frustration. “I can’t believe it,” he muttered to himself, shaking his head.

“Jaxon was in the city the whole time?” Lucas asked, staring at me with a hard gaze. “And Ethan knew?”

I nodded.

“But why would he... He was only a few days away. Why didn’t he call us and let us know where he was?” Asher questioned.

I looked over at him, and my heart ached. “I think he was hiding from Ethan,” I murmured quietly. I’d played it over many times in my mind—why Lucas had left, why he hadn’t told his brothers where he was going, and why he didn’t go back. “I think he discovered something and left to protect himself. I think he didn’t tell you where he was to protect you three. He wouldn’t have wanted to put you in danger.”

Lucas gave me a strange look, and I winced. I couldn’t hide anything from him now. I could almost see the wheels turning in his head as he started reading into my words.

Maverick turned to me. “You said Ethan had emails from Jaxon’s doctor and that he was sick.”

Shit. This was it. I already felt the grief welling up inside, and tears threatened to fall as I remembered those last few months. I nodded. “Jaxon had a rare disease. The doctor didn’t know much about it, though he tried his best to research it. There was no cure.”

Asher made a small sound and dropped his head into his hands, Maverick turned and stared out of the window, and Lucas just watched me, his expression completely flat.

“You said had,” he observed.

“What?” I asked, tearing my gaze from Maverick’s back.

“You said had. Past tense. What else do you know, Nova?” he pressed, his voice cold.

I swallowed. “Jaxon was sick for a few months. He fought it, but he didn’t... He couldn’t get better. Even his healing ability wasn’t strong enough and he... he died.”

“Jaxon’s... dead?” Lucas asked, unable to conceal the shock that crept over his face.

I nodded, unable to speak for a moment.

“Rick...” Asher’s voice was choked, and Maverick immediately turned and went to sit down next to his brother, wrapping his arm around his shoulders as Asher looked up at him, his face ravaged with guilt. Maverick looked at me with a similar expression on his face.

“So you’re saying Ethan knew Jaxon was sick, and knew he was dying, but he didn’t try to help him. He didn’t get us to go and get him.” Maverick’s voice was flat, emotionless.

I shook my head.

“Why... Why would Ethan do that? Why would he hide it from us?” Asher asked.

I opened my mouth to reply, but Lucas got there first.

“We’re deducing a lot from a couple of emails we’ve never actually seen, especially the dates. Who’s to say Ethan didn’t just find out and wanted to pick a good time to deliver the news?”

Maverick looked at him. “Nova saw the emails.”

Lucas shrugged. “So she says. She also lied about who she was for weeks. Maybe she’s lying about this. Maybe Jaxon is fine and out there in the world somewhere.”

Maverick opened his mouth, then closed it again. My heart sank. Lucas was right. I had lied, and I was still keeping things from them. He was right not to trust me, and even though he was slowly turning on me, I could tell that he was desperately grasping at straws so the truth of his brother’s death wouldn’t be real. I’d felt that desperation enough times myself during Jaxon’s illness.

“Don’t be stupid, Luc,” Asher cut in. “Nova wouldn’t lie about something like this. She might have kept her past a secret, but she wouldn’t lie about something she knows means so much to us all.”

I couldn’t stop the tears from falling at this simple declaration of faith from the man I’d rejected over and over. I was about to break his heart all over again and tell him I’d already chosen his other brother too, and I knew how that was going to make him feel. I felt like I was in a landslide, the steady ground slipping away under my feet, carrying me to the inevitable outcome.

“Nova?” Maverick’s voice was gentle when he saw the tears streaming down my face. “Nova, what is it?”

I shook my head, trying to curb the tears. Although I hadn’t caused the situation, I had made it so much worse by lying to them. Hell, I’d made it worse by falling for them.

“Nova, when did you find out about Jaxon being sick?” Lucas pressed, his tone flat.

“She already told you, she found the emails the day of the accident,” Asher said, getting up and coming to sit next to me. He slipped his arm around me and pulled me in close to comfort me, but I couldn’t let him do it. I pulled away, trying not to see the look on his face as I rejected him once again.

I took a deep breath, brushing the tears away from my face and trying to steady my voice. “I’ve known for... a few months.”

“Before you found the emails?” Lucas queried. “How?”

“Because she was there.”

The three of them jerked around, but I could already see who was standing in the doorway to the sitting room.

“Ethan,” Maverick growled. “I think you have some explaining to do.”

Ethan nodded and walked into the room. He spotted a free armchair and headed for it, casually sinking into it. I watched him carefully. For someone who’d just been outed, he seemed way too calm.

He smiled at me. “Good to see you’re feeling better, Nova, but then again, even a car accident can’t keep you down. You just keep popping back up, don’t you?”

I bit my lip, fighting not to respond. He was trying to bait me, and I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

“Nova has been giving us some... shocking information about your recent dealings, Ethan,” Maverick began.

“Why did you say she was there?” Asher asked, staring at Ethan. I winced. He’d caught that one statement and fixated on it, and now Ethan was going to bring everything crashing to the ground before I could come clean myself.

Ethan looked at me. “Exactly what I said. She was there. I’m sorry I hadn’t managed to break the news to you before. I found out only a few days ago myself, when the doctor emailed me, filling me in on what happened. Jaxon was using an assumed name in the city, so it took a while for them to track down his next of kin after he passed.”

“Did the doctor only email you a few days ago?” Maverick asked, glancing at me.

I shook my head. “That’s a lie,” I said, glaring at Ethan. “Those emails I found were dated months ago, from when Jaxon was ill. They were filling you in on his current state and predicting how long he had left.”

Ethan shook his head, a gentle expression crossing his face. “I’m sorry, Nova. I think it’s time you come clean.” He looked at Maverick. “Alpha Caleb has been plotting to overthrow the Sea Wolf Pack. He meant to infiltrate it by arranging matches with first Jaxon and then yourself. At first, he’d meant to mate Nova to Jaxon and allow her to undermine the pack from the inside, but then he realised she was defective and wouldn’t make an appropriate mate for an alpha. Instead, he trained her, set her sister up as the match, and sent Nova to the city to seduce Jaxon when he got there.”

“What?” All eyes fell on me, but I just gaped in shock as Ethan began to twist the last two years of my life into a nightmare.

“Caleb already had someone working for him inside the pack, planting certain information for Jaxon to find, framing me for all sorts of wrongdoings. He laid a trap, luring Jaxon away from the island and placing Nova in his path. She seduced him and became his mate. Then Jaxon fell ill, and when it became clear he wouldn’t survive, she realised the only way in she had now was a family link, so she got pregnant with his child.”

“Nova...”

I dared a glance sideways at Maverick. His face was drained of colour, and I reached for his hand.

“Maverick... No... That’s not...” He pulled his hand away and looked back at Ethan. The small gesture of rejection was like a knife to my heart.

“Do you have any proof of this?” Maverick asked, his voice strained.

“Other than the fact that she was wearing Jaxon’s jacket when she washed up on those rocks and that she’s pregnant by the mate she had before?” Lucas asked bitterly, his dark gaze burning into my face.

Ethan leaned over and passed something to Maverick. His face fell, and the pain of betrayal was as clear as day as he looked at the item in his hand. He showed it to Lucas, then passed it to Asher. As Asher looked down at the photograph of myself and Jaxon in the park, I felt despair settle over me.

Asher looked up at me, pain and confusion etched on his face. “You were Jaxon’s mate? The whole time?”

I nodded, my eyes filling with tears once again as I saw the pain I had caused them.

“You...” He looked back down at the photograph. “You came here. You knew he was dead. Even after everything I shared with you, you couldn’t tell me...”

“Asher, I’m so sorry.” I blinked back tears, reaching towards him, but he flinched away from me.

“Don’t touch me,” he snapped. He shoved the photograph back at Maverick and stood up. “It was fake from the start. Nothing was real, none of it. You just played us.”

“No, that’s not—”

“You were all set up from the beginning. Caleb tried to undermine us and cause dissension from within, making it easier when he attacked to bring us to our knees. She’s his Trojan horse.”

Asher had heard enough. He sent me one last look of pain and betrayal then turned and strode out of the cabin. I heard the roar of his truck as he started her up, and the screech of tyres and crunch of gravel as he pulled away.

I closed my eyes, more tears falling down my face.

“You deceived us.” Lucas’s voice was filled with hatred, and it shook me to my core.

“Lucas, please. I can explain. I can—”

“Were you Jaxon’s mate?”

“Yes, but—”

“Were you there weeks ago when he died, and have you known what happened to him all this time?”

“Yes, but I couldn’t—”

“Bullshit,” Maverick snapped. Anger darkened his eyes as he turned towards me. “You knew what happened to our brother the whole time, and you said nothing.”

“I was afraid, I was confused, and then I just couldn’t... I love you, Maverick. I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“Well, you managed anyway.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe I fell for it.”

“You must have got Jaxon to talk about us,” Lucas intoned. “All those months spent getting him to tell you about his younger brothers so you had enough ammunition to know exactly how to manipulate each one of us. I do commend you, Nova. Masterfully played. You even got me hooked on your line.” He stood up and looked over at Maverick. “I’m out. I’m done.”

“Lucas, wait,” Maverick called, but Lucas was already through the door. There was a ripping sound as his clothes shredded from his shift, and a dark wolf slipped through the trees.

Maverick leaned forward, resting his head in his hand, the other gripping the photograph of me and his eldest brother. “Was it quick?” he asked without looking at me. “When he passed, was it quick?”

I froze. No, it hadn’t been quick.

Maverick felt my hesitation, and he drew in a long, shaky breath. He got to his feet and threw the photograph on the table, then looked over at Ethan.

“She’s all yours, Alpha. I reject my mate, and I renounce my protection.”

I gasped as the pain of his declaration hit me like a knife through the heart. Maverick hesitated and turned towards me as though he was going to say something, but then he shook his head and left me alone with Ethan.

“Well, that went better than expected,” Ethan remarked in a jovial tone as he leaned back in the armchair and put his hands behind his head.

I looked at him with hatred and despair burning inside me. My wolf growled and snarled, urging me to attack, but he’d kill me in a heartbeat.

He simply smiled at me. “Now then, Nova. What shall I do with you?”