Chapter 5
Celeste
After learning everything I knew was a lie, I had choices to make. I could wait for Pack Lockwood to release the files to the press, watch my name be dragged through the mud and likely take the fall for crimes I didn’t commit. My legacy would be over, and I didn’t know what would become of me.
Or, I could find the truth, fight back, and take back my name. The chances of my doing so on my own were astronomically low, but I wasn’t going to give up.
My uncle had been calling me, and since I didn’t want anyone to know what happened between myself and Pack Lockwood, I’d devised a plan.
I couldn’t trust anyone, or let anyone know what was going on until I figured out who was sabotaging me.
So, I told him I was fatigued by all the stress from the fake courtship, and that Pack Lockwood and I were at each other’s throats.
That I needed to take some time off for a few days.
I knew he would be alright with that - he always thought omegas weren’t cut out for work.
I told him I was seeing the doctor and that I would be out of town at one of the most exclusive and private spas in the province.
That lie would at least buy me some time.
I decided to go silent on social media, put an out-of-office note on my calendar, and make it seem that nothing was amiss.
Everyone at Harringday would think I was out of town, and that would make it easier for me to do my investigating.
Somewhere, there had to be hard copies of these under the table documents.
If the pack was able to find the digital ones, then I needed to find the source.
My first stop would have to be home. If any unaltered documentation still existed, it would be there, tucked away in my private study or one of the other offices.
I needed to find any evidence that contradicted what I had found.
I still had photos of the paperwork in the pack’s clubhouse, and knew that at least one date didn’t add up, so maybe there would be more.
Finding more proof that I couldn't be in two places at once to sing documents would be the first step in clearing my name.
So, home it was. Going to Harringday HQ in broad daylight was too risky.
I didn’t know who was working against me yet, and I needed the emptiness of a closed office at night to do my searching in private.
I could check the files on the servers there, but I was suspicious about that as well.
No one would keep these documents anywhere that would be easy to find.
As a last resort, I could ask the Lockwood pack to help me find the originals, but I felt a shiver of disgust even thinking about it.
They were the last people I’d ask for help right now.
I checked my uncle’s schedule, and it looked like he’d be in a meeting all day, and when that happened, he was always unreachable.
I figured this would be as good a time as any to start investigating.
Julian bid me good luck as I put on sunglasses and drove away from their house in the direction of my family’s compound.
On the way, I felt the pull of need from deep inside.
It was my omega side, begging to be close to my scent matches.
It was awful - my body craved to be near them, and my hormones didn’t understand why I wasn’t claimed yet.
Having a scent match without the bonding was going to be a lifelong ache.
But when I remembered their words, how they lacked any trust in me - I knew that I had no other choice.
I’d live in this ache for the rest of my life rather than be with a pack that didn’t trust me, who didn’t want me to have my own power.
I finally pulled up to the edge of the family property and parked my car off to the side in a patch of grass. I didn’t want the cameras to see me just in case there were any questions. I’d already blocked out my schedule for the morning with the fake doctor’s appointments.
Quickly, I snuck in through the side, planning to get to my home office to check things out there first. But something felt off.
The place was too quiet. I moved down the back hallway toward my private study, careful to avoid the main corridors.
As far as anyone else knew, this was just another day, and I was supposed to be far away.
As I crept through the halls, I realized how long it had been since I’d returned.
The scent of my childhood was gone. No trace of my parents lingered, save for the forgotten clothes locked in their old bedroom.
Even my own scent was faded now. It had been months since I’d truly lived here.
The compound didn’t even feel like mine anymore.
I was just about to turn the corner that led to my study when something shifted in the air. It was subtle, like the feeling in the air when lightning is nearby, just about to strike.
And then, before I could react, a hand clamped over my mouth and an arm slammed around my torso, yanking me backward. I thrashed, my instincts screaming, but the grip was like a vice. I could barely move, much less scream.
The hallway disappeared behind me as I was dragged into a dark side room that I hadn’t stepped into in years. Panic flared in my chest. My eyes were wide, wild, scanning the dark for something, anything to help me. But all I could feel was the suffocating grip, the strength holding me in place.
My mind reeled. But this was familiar - too familiar. A memory came slamming into me from the Darlington Ball. The sudden silence, the strong hand, the body behind me - it all came rushing back. It was identical.
I knew this feeling. And suddenly, I knew who took me at the ball.
And then the voice, low and hushed, breathed against my ear.
“You’re not supposed to be here.”
My blood ran cold, and I froze. I knew that voice, now unmasked and familiar. I knew who took me. The shock outweighed the confusion as I now had confirmation that the intruder from the ball, the one who helped me make it to the vote, was my uncle’s ice-cold beta assistant, Sterling.