Chapter 36 Liza
LIZA
Ireached into my bag and took out a bottle of water. I fumbled trying to open the lid but finally got it twisted open and guzzled it down, trying to quench my dry throat.
So, his father knew about me.
It wasn’t that bad.
Oh, who was I kidding? The surprising turn of events had caught me off guard as I went from relaxed and horny to bewildered and ashamed.
I wasn’t ashamed of who I was, but I didn’t feel great about Dominic learning about my identity from someone other than me.
I probably should have told him, but it wasn’t the kind of thing we talked about in my family.
It was just part of who I was. It made me different.
Made me… odd. I didn’t tell others because I didn’t want or need the scrutiny.
After such a refreshing run, the last thing I’d expected was for him to meet us at the door, proclaim I was an omega, and ask Ty why he hadn’t told him.
Ty took a step back, his protective instincts kicking in as he wrapped his arms around me. “Is this really something you think we should discuss right here? Right now?”
He meant they shouldn’t go toe to toe discussing my genetic makeup with me standing a few feet from their door. It was a discussion that could happen with or without me, since most of it wouldn’t include me, anyway.
Dominic scoffed. “I’m assuming Liza knows what she is, so nothing I have to say should come as a surprise.” He turned to me. “Am I right?”
I blinked hard and tripped over my words. “Erm… yes. That’s correct.”
Within a few minutes, we were in Dominic’s office.
Ty sat across from his father’s desk, but I refused to sit.
Standing was best since I could breathe better through my anxiety with a straight back as opposed to being bent at the waist in a chair.
I needed to move to have the ability to escape the room quickly if need be.
My stress levels had been through the roof the past few days after learning that Castro was still alive, coupled with the intensity of my extremely detailed nightmares.
Now, though, my true identity was out in the open.
I couldn’t figure out how Dominic had found out, though.
Ty wouldn’t have told anyone. At least, I couldn’t imagine him sharing that information with another person. Not without asking me first.
Dominic cleared his throat and tossed a folder in Ty’s direction. “This showed up on the front porch today. My security guard brought it directly to me. The seal hadn’t been tampered with before I opened it.” He glanced in my direction. “This wasn’t what I expected.”
I didn’t try to look over Ty’s shoulder, but I could see enough to know that the papers were official. One side of the folder had a body chart, the other side writing.
Ty flipped through the paperwork. “These are Liza’s private medical records. How the hell did anyone get ahold of these?” More importantly, who?
Dominic grabbed a second smaller envelope from his desk and handed it to Ty. “It came with a personal message from our friend. Castro.”
My heart jumped into my throat as scenes from my nightmares replayed in my mind. Castro truly was capable of anything, as evidenced by this latest breach into my personal life. If he wanted to, he could rip away everything I held dear, including the people I cared for most in the world.
Ty cleared his throat and read the letter out loud.
Hello, Dominic.
I hope this letter finds you well. You should really do a better job of learning the details of those residing with your pack.
Perhaps they hide their true selves from you because it’s obvious to everyone that you are untrustworthy.
Your own son doesn’t even trust you enough to tell you the whole truth. How can you call yourself an alpha?
It would be so unfortunate for your pack if this information about your future daughter-in-law got into the wrong hands. The effects could be quite devastating and far-reaching for everyone involved, don’t you agree?
On another note, you might want to look into strengthening your cyber security. It was far too easy for me to access Liza’s medical records, so I’m assuming I could pull anything I wanted from your pack’s online databases. And I have.
Don’t worry, I wiped everything from the medical records system. The last thing I want is for Liza to get hurt. You may have no interest in protecting her, but I do, which is why she belongs with me.
Ty roared. “That bastard is yanking our chains. He knows exactly what he’s doing, getting us all riled up when we have absolutely no way to find him.
It’s psychological warfare.” Ty lowered his voice and stared out the window with a resolve that sent chills down my spine.
“I’ll gut him like a fish the moment he shows his smug face. ” He stood and paced the room.
I tried to hide my shaking hands by shoving them into the pockets of my jeans.
Castro knew exactly where we were, and he knew everything about me and my true identity.
Even though it seemed like another life, he’d known me as a child and had made a vow to himself to protect me.
More than that, he claimed me as his own, even when my father made it perfectly clear that he’d wanted Castro to stay away from me.
My mind raced as I tried to think of a plan—anything to stop him from telling the world I was an omega. If we couldn’t find him and couldn’t find the coroner who had helped Castro fake his death, our hands were tied.
I was tempted to follow my parents’ idea of getting out of town.
Maybe even out of the country. If we were sneaky, maybe Castro wouldn’t know where to find me.
Perhaps I could take the Keller family jet to avoid being tracked down.
Ty had never mentioned a jet, but based on the family’s wealth, I assumed one existed.
I bit my lip. No, running wasn’t the solution. If Castro couldn’t find me, it would only stoke his ire. Then what would he do? He’d become even more unhinged if that was at all possible.
“Why didn’t you tell me the second you found out that Liza was an omega?
” Dominic leaned back in his leather chair, arms crossed beneath his chest, and his eyes narrowed on Ty.
“In order for me to help you, you have to keep me abreast of important details, and I’d say your fated mate being an omega is a pretty big fucking detail. ”
“It wasn’t my secret to tell!” Ty’s voice was so loud that I listened for some type of reaction from the staff downstairs. Hopefully, no one was listening to the conversation.
Dominic looked incredulous. “This is a big deal. You understand that, right?”
When Ty didn’t respond and kept his back turned, Dominic shifted his gaze to me.
I nodded. It was, indeed, a huge fucking deal. “Yes. I understand, but it isn’t the kind of thing…” He wouldn’t care that I never told anyone. He only cared that I hadn’t told him. The pack’s alpha.
His gaze was unwavering on my face. “Not only is this a serious situation because Castro managed to gain access to this information, but he makes a valid point in his letter. What if this had been leaked? Encrypted file or not, this is damaging intel. Anyone could have hacked into the medical filing system just as easily as Castro.”
That wasn’t really my problem to solve. It was a pack issue.
Ty turned on his heels and grumbled. “No one has known or figured out Liza’s identity all this time.
If anyone had, it would have been mentioned before now, so I highly doubt anybody else knows.
Honestly, how would they even have known to go looking for it.
Who would ever suspect that Liza’s an omega?
” He motioned to me by flinging his arm in my direction.
“She’s a respected businesswoman in the community who doesn’t cause any problems. There’s absolutely no reason for anyone to look into her.
” He spoke through gritted teeth. “Liza’s never even had a parking ticket, for fuck’s sake. ”
I didn’t understand how that assimilated to being an omega, but I wasn’t about to ask while he was sticking up for me. Details could wait.
“All right.” Dominic threw his hands in the air. “I’ll play Devil’s advocate. The girl’s hair is practically white, and so is her wolf’s fur. That’s not something you see every day. You really think that somewhere along the way, someone hasn’t questioned why she looks so different?”
Again, if they had, no one had mentioned it. Not to my face, anyway.
My stomach lurched, though. I had no desire to be a part of this conversation.
They were highlighting all my darkest thoughts and fears, all the reasons I was inadequate to be in the pack, discussing me like I was nothing more than their latest acquisition and they needed to weigh the pros and cons of having me around before bringing me up at the next fucking board meeting.
Ty rubbed his jaw. “Castro only revealed what Liza is as a power play. He’s trying to show us that he’s powerful enough to have someone hack our system, and powerful enough to decide whether or not to release information to the pack to turn them against us.
” Ty’s voice was low, deep, and sharp with anger.
“He’s trying to make you doubt my loyalty, and it seems it’s fucking working. ”
Dominic’s face paled alarmingly as Ty’s words sunk in—as if he couldn’t deny the undeniable truth.
My heart started, and sweat slicked my palms—the first signs of a panic attack coming at me.
Before I could fend it off, a full-on attack hit me like a freight train.
I gasped for air until my lungs were raw and aching, and my vision became blurry.
I leaned against the wall as I clutched my chest, trying not to collapse to the floor.
My wolf growled her distress at a low, keening pitch.