17. Finley
Finley
“That is a hard question to answer and one that will make me sound incredibly selfish. Were you safer being in the orphanage in another state where no one would ever be able to find you? Yes. Did I feel the need as your biological father to keep a close eye on you? Also yes. Did seeing how much you looked like your mother push me into the choice to bring you into the fold so I could protect you and watch over you personally? One hundred percent yes,” Eli admitted.
“Had the attacks stopped?” Colt asked, leaning forward to get a better look at my father as he answered.
Eli nodded. “After they realized I’d hidden her away, they stopped, telling me that it was more about her than it was about me.
The Organization started with the four of us as a unit using the cover as a music mogul while we built the foundation as a four-person team.
The others decided they wanted to back out of it after what happened to Tiriana, but I soldiered on alone, creating the version of the Organization you know now.
The practice of pulling children out of orphanages and foster homes started when I knew I wanted to bring you home.
“So I made the youngest age we would pull children, five so it gave me four years of it becoming the normal, so when I came to get you, no one would bat an eye. Like I told you the other night, you were the epitome of perfection at becoming an assassin with your lineage. When we’d done one of the blood draws on you, I ran your DNA, and you are absolutely an elf, but you are also a blend of your other fathers as well.
Not enough to change you being an elf, but I believe it might have made you predisposed to being transformed when you got bit by the omega. ”
He was hitting me with so much information I needed to move, my brain was overloading, and if I didn’t get some fresh air, I was going to explode.
Rath was at my side in an instant, holding out a hand to me.
Desperately I took it, and he had me out the door, down the stairs, and out into the open air of the city.
Bending over, I rested my hands on my knees as I took deep, gasping breaths, now that the walls were no longer closing in around me. It was too much. Everything he was saying was too much. I went from having no idea about my family to wishing I’d left it all alone.
Rath pulled me into his arms, hugging me tightly as he softly sang to me in elven, combing his finger through my hair.
“Just breathe, nin mel, it will pass,” he murmured.
“This is a lot to take in for anyone, don’t feel ashamed for reacting this way.
So much has happened in the past few months since you became an omega.
No one expects you to take each hit without repercussions. ”
“I killed my mother, and one of my fathers wants me dead.” I heaved as I tried to get the words out. “What if he knows who I am and where I am? This means you’re all in more danger than I’d already put you in.”
“Stop,” Rath ordered. “Don’t you dare put this on yourself.
You were but a babe growing in your mother, being born into a situation you didn’t create.
They had choices in how they chose to respond to what happened and each of them made poor decisions.
That man upstairs is broken and wounded, but he did the best he could to do right by you.
Were all his choices good ones? No, but I applaud the man for not abandoning you completely. ”
I buried my face in his shirt, hugging him as tightly as I could, needing someone to hold me together right now. Another body came up behind me and wrapped himself around my back, sandwiching me between them.
“Sangele mue, my precious mate,” Derven whispered in my ear as he pressed a kiss to my temple.
“Strength is not shying away from the feeling you have or the things that scare you. It’s facing them head-on and accepting that there are times when weakness and vulnerability are powerful in their own way.
Don’t let his words change anything you believe about yourself. ”
We stood there together until I’d calmed down and returned to the room just in time for food to arrive.
We sat down and enjoyed our meal, deciding to talk about our lives instead of delving deeper into my past. The guys were amazing, carrying the conversation as I lost myself in the best fettuccine alfredo I’d ever had.
“So you are working on an emergency medical response unit specifically for supernaturals. That’s rather a massive undertaking,” Eli commented as Lane explained their company.
“I realize that, but I believe training normal EMTs and having our own unit to respond will keep what happened to me from happening to others. Colt didn’t mean to hurt me or change me.
He was wounded and in pain. As someone whose first response is to act, I did so without taking into consideration he might not be a normal human,” Lane explained.
“We have a team of supernaturals who’ve been removed from their job in hospitals and other medical professions that we’ve trained for trauma response.
Plus having a research team to make medication more effective. ”
“Truly impressive, and I applaud you for doing it on top of also running the largest pack in Tennessee,” Eli praised as he then turned to Derven.
“No, I have to say you were the hardest person to get any information on. Whoever you have dealing with your previous identities and information is incredibly good at their job.”
“Thank you, I founded the company and keep it running to this day. Finley just hired our services as well, although she’s done an impressive job hiding away everything she already has.
It helps that laws are changing to deal with the fact that there are now those of us in the world that live well past a hundred years old,” Derven expounded.
“Tell me, how does one juggle running a music empire and the world’s most feared group of assassins?
While I know the Organization is whispered all around the world for its talents, it’s surprising to find out it’s the work of one elf. ”
“There are two people under me that run the day-to-day aspect of the Organization while I handle the more delicate details,” he admitted.
“Like dumping those who don’t pass training back into a foster home where the Dark Ring picks them up?” I said, the disgust clear in my tone.
Eli’s eyes went wide at the attack, slowly setting his silverware down.
“I’m sorry, Finley. I don’t know what you’re referring to?
Those who don’t meet the requirements for being an assassin are given jobs elsewhere in the Organization.
We would never release them back out into the world when they know so much.
Children are given a full education at our private school up until they graduate high school.
If they wish to go to college to learn a trade that will benefit the Organization, then it’s paid for until they graduate.
Others choose to work in other opportunities or go through an apprenticeship.
I would never allow the Dark Ring to get their hands on my people. ”
I scoffed, shaking my head as anger burned in my stomach. “You say that but was I the one who was sent to deal with Delilah? She is one of the top social coordinators of the Dark Ring and that mission landed me getting bit, turned into a werewolf, and considered dead to the only life I knew.”
“I never knew,” Eli snarled, slamming his fist on the table.
This had my wolves rumbling warning growls.
Eli sat back, closing his eyes as he calmed himself down before reopening them and meeting my gaze.
“When that whole thing went down, I was out of the country dealing with an issue that needed to be handled in person. Upon returning, you were already gone and with your new pack. If Margaret hadn’t ensured that the report made it to my hands, it would have taken me far longer to investigate what happened. ”
“So?” I snapped, crossing my arms. “What did happen?”
“Someone from the Senate did contact us, but it’s not the normal person we work with.
They specifically asked for you to take the job and said they had everything set.
They just needed a person to infiltrate and take the target out.
Nothing was done how it normally is when we do favors for the Senate, which for the record, is fairly often.
The thing is, I don’t accept all of them.
If I feel they are an abuse of power or there’s no cause for them to be killed, I’ll tell them no.
They will have to deal with the dirty work on their own if they want it done.
I never would have allowed you to be pulled into that mission.
It was doomed from the start.” Eli’s eyes pleaded for me to believe him as he spoke.
“The fact you survived proves just how amazingly skilled you are, Finley. Everything was planned to happen while I was gone, they knew you were my favorite, and I kept an eye on you. Of course, they assumed it was because you were our best assassin, but they didn’t like how I played favorites. ”
“Who are these people?” Derven demanded. “If they are undermining you while you’re away, then I’m sure they’ve done other things. Possibly like supplying the Dark Ring with supernaturals that fail out of your system?”
“No, it’s not possible,” Eli shot back. “I keep a close eye on what happens to each of the people I bring in.”
I shifted so I was facing him fully. “Then what happened to the lynx shifter named Benjamin who failed his assassin testing? He prefers to go by Ben if that helps narrow it down, probably around twentyish years old.”
“He died,” Eli answered, his brow creased. “He was sent on his graduating mission at eighteen and was killed. I remember every single name of the people we’ve lost.”