Chapter 27
“Have you found anything yet?” Jude asked.
Austin looked at his brother, who was pacing in the office.
Their parents’ arrival had put them in a bind.
They didn’t have much time left to find sufficient dirt on Steve Leon that would convince their father to break the mating contract with the Leon pack and release Charlotte from this unwanted match.
“We’re combing through everything. We have a few leads, but nothing concrete yet.”
“What leads?”
“A sexual assault charge against Steve. But it was dropped pretty quickly. The only reason why we know about it is because the woman who accused Steve had posted something on social media that she later deleted, but another woman had screenshotted it and reposted it on Nextdoor, warning other women in the area.”
“Do we know why the charges were dropped?”
He shook his head. “No. If I had to guess: Steve threatened her and her family, or they have somebody in the police department who made it go away. Wouldn’t be the first time. I mean, look at the Gallaghers. William had a pretty cozy relationship with the Marin County Sheriff’s Department.”
“Do you know who that woman is who made the allegations?”
“I know who reposted it. I’ve left a message for her. She should know who the woman is.”
“Was that the only sexual assault charge against Steve?” Jude asked.
“So far, yes.” He knew it wasn’t much, and it boiled down to a he-said/she-said. “I have a print-out of the Nextdoor post. Do you think it’s worth showing to Dad?”
Jude sighed. “He’ll dismiss it just like he dismissed Danielle’s words. I wish he wasn’t so stubborn.”
He could only agree. Danielle’s story had made him afraid for his sister.
“Maybe we can work on Mom, see if we can get her on our side,” Austin suggested. “She can’t possibly want her daughter to be at the mercy of a violent man.”
“We can try. But I don’t have much hope for that. Mom and Dad have always been in lockstep with each other.”
“What other choice do we have? Short of hiding Charlotte somewhere where neither our parents nor the Leon pack can find her…” He shrugged.
Jude sighed, when the door opened. Austin whipped his head to the door and watched as Charlotte entered and closed the door quickly behind her. She cast both of them a cautious look.
“Hey, sis,” Austin said in a quiet voice and met her halfway.
He pulled her into his arms, and she pressed her head to his chest, hugging him tightly.
He inhaled, taking in her scent. Instantly, he realized that a different scent clung to her: it was Byron’s.
Even though he wasn’t pleased that Byron had touched her again after the reprimand from the previous night, he didn’t have the heart to chide Charlotte for it. Instead, he released her.
“Charlotte,” Jude said, “how are you feeling?”
She shrugged. “I thought that after what Danielle told Mom and Dad, they would understand…”
“They will have to,” Jude replied. “Austin and I are on your side. We’re doing everything we can to find proof that Steve is violent.”
“We have a lead already,” Austin added.
Charlotte’s facial expression changed to one of hope. “About the accident?”
He and Jude shook their heads.
“What accident?” Jude asked.
“Byron has one of his bounty hunters digging up skeletons in Steve’s closet.”
“Byron?” Jude asked, his forehead furrowing.
Austin cast him a quick shake of his head. This wasn’t the time to scold her for having been with Byron.
“He’s helping find something on Steve?” Jude asked. “Does he know about Danielle’s history with them?”
Charlotte nodded. “I told him.”
Jude grunted in displeasure, but Austin put his hand on his forearm.
“We were trying to keep this to us,” Austin said instead, leaving all judgment out of his voice.
“I don’t think that’s possible. The walls in this house have ears. Do you guys really think that the family hasn’t already overheard enough to piece together what’s going on? It’s better that Byron knows. He can help.”
Slowly, Jude nodded. “Can he?”
Charlotte looked straight at him. “Yes, he can. He loves me. He’s protecting me.”
Austin exchanged a look with his brother.
“She’s got a point, Jude. Maybe we’ve underestimated Byron.
If he’s using a bounty hunter to get dirt on Steve, it’ll be good for us.
We need his expertise, and from what Wendell tells us, Byron is respected by the bounty hunters employed by the Gallaghers.
It’ll supplement what we can find with our own methods. ”
“You’re right,” Jude agreed. Then he addressed Charlotte, “Will he work with us?”
“Yes.” Charlotte’s face lit up. “He’ll do anything to prevent me from mating with Steve.”
Austin didn’t doubt it. He’d seen the way Byron looked at Charlotte, and he could still hear the words Byron had professed the previous night, when he’d prevented him from going into Charlotte’s room.
He loved her. Right now, it didn’t matter that they had their differences with Byron.
They had bigger problems. And if Byron could help them expose Steve Leon, they would take it as a win.
“So what lead do you have?” Charlotte asked, looking first at him, then at Jude.
They both hesitated, and silence spread between them. Austin contemplated his answer. If they told Charlotte what they’d found out already, it would make her even more worried.
“She has to know the truth,” Jude said, although Austin could see that he wasn’t happy about it.
Silently, Austin nodded. “Alright.”
Jude cleared his throat. “We found out that there’s a sexual assault charge against Steve that was eventually dropped.”
Charlotte’s face blanched, and her throat looked as if she was forcing down a piece of food that was too large to swallow.
“We’re trying to get a hold of the woman who accused him,” Austin added. “We believe that either Steve threatened her and her family, or they paid off the police to get the charges dropped.”
He could see the fear in Charlotte’s eyes now. Jude could see it too and pulled Charlotte into his arms. He stroked his hand over her hair.
“Don’t worry, Charlotte. We’ll do everything we can to protect you.”
As Charlotte buried her face in Jude’s chest, Jude locked eyes with him.
Austin understood. If they couldn’t convince their father and the Werewolf Alliance to break the contract with the Leon pack, they would go against them to save their sister from a violent psychopath, even if that meant they had to break with their parents and the Alliance.
Austin gave a short nod, but he hoped that it wouldn’t come to that. Because breaking with the Alliance meant war.