39. Gray
Gray
The cold bites at my lungs.
I'm leaning against the porch railing, watching the last of the storm clouds drift away, revealing a sky full of cold, distant stars. I needed a minute. A breath.
Then I see her. Tess. She's walking up the path from the road, and my heart sinks.
She looks… wrecked. Her hair is a mess, stuffed into a bun that's already coming loose.
Her eyes are red-rimmed, and she's hunched inside her coat, as if she's trying to make herself smaller, to disappear.
She stops at the bottom of the porch steps, just looking up at the house, at the warm light glowing in the windows. She looks lost.
I push off the railing and walk down the steps to meet her. "Tess," I say, my voice soft. "Are you okay?"
She shakes her head, a jerky, frantic motion. "No. I'm not okay." She looks past me, up at the house, her expression a mix of anger and hurt. "He's in there with her, isn't he? Daniel. And the others."
"Daniel and Leo are in there."
"And her?"
I swallow my anger. "No, she's not."
"Good."
You've got to be fucking kidding me. "Are you fucking serious right now, Tess? The whole house has been worried about you because you took off in the middle of a snowy day and didn't bother to contact anyone… and that's what you're worried about?"
She looks properly chastised before she schools her features. "You don't have the right to talk to me like that."
"I do when you're being a brat."
"Fuck you, Grayson."
"Well, fuck you too. You know you did a shitty thing. You're not going to win this argument with me."
"Of course you're taking his side." Her voice cracks. "You're just… okay with him replacing me? With him choosing her over me?"
The accusation stings, but I can hear the pain beneath it. I take a deep breath, forcing myself to stay calm. "This isn't about replacement, Tess. This isn't about choosing."
"Then what is it about?" she demands, her voice rising. "Because from where I'm standing, it looks like he's playing house with my best friend while I'm… I'm…" She can't finish the sentence, her voice breaking on a sob.
"Tess, you're being selfish," I say, the words coming out sharper than I intend, but I need her to hear this. "Completely and utterly selfish."
Her mouth falls open. "Selfish? How am I being selfish? He's the one who—"
"Do you not realize the difference?" I cut in, my voice low but firm.
"Do you not see that the power dynamic between you and Professor Alden is completely different from the one between Daniel and Mara?
Alden was in a position of authority. He could make or break your career with a single word.
Daniel was trying to protect Mara from a pack that was abusing her, a pack that had a legal, financial claim on her.
And he was trying to protect you from a man who was taking advantage of his position. "
I pause, letting that sink in. Her expression is defiant, but I can see a flicker of doubt in her eyes.
"And let's talk about Alden," I continue, my voice getting lower, harder. "Did he mention that there is no separation? That his wife has been living in the same house the entire time? Eleven years married, and not one piece of paperwork ever filed."
Tess just stares at me, her face a mask of pure, unadulterated shock. "What? No. He was going through a divorce. He'd never… he wouldn't…"
"He isn't," I say, the words landing like a final, crushing blow. "He never was. Alden wasn't just some lonely professor falling for a student, Tess. He's a cheater. A liar. Daniel risked everything to find out the truth for you."
She swallows. "What do you mean?"
"You want to know how he found out? Daniel called in a favor from a contact. Silas is one of the best hackers in the state, maybe the country. For a very large sum of money, he's also completely off the books. Daniel had him hack into the Academy's secure server."
"He didn't have to do any of that."
"He did. How can you not get that?" I take a deep breath. I have to stay calm. I have to make her see the reasoning behind what her brother did. "I need you to listen to me, Tess."
"What?"
"I'm not even supposed to be telling you all of this.
Silas wasn't paid to hack into the public faculty records alone.
He got into Marcus Alden's personal emails, his financials, his social media DMs. He found the receipts for the anniversary trip Alden booked for himself and his wife.
He found the flight itineraries for the 'academic conferences' Alden took you to on the Academy's dime.
He found emails between Alden and his wife where he lied about where he was and who he was with.
"What Daniel did was illegal, Tess. Highly illegal.
If any of that ever came out, he'd be disbarred.
He'd lose his license, his career, everything he's spent his life working for.
He did it for you. He was trying to protect you from a predator, and he could have lost his entire life in the process. "
The fight goes out of her. Her shoulders slump, and the anger in her eyes is replaced by a raw, devastating heartbreak. She looks utterly broken, like a puppet whose strings have been cut.
"I'm surprised at you, Tess," I say, my voice softening now, the anger replaced by disappointment.
"I'm surprised you would think Daniel would lie to you, that he would do something to hurt you.
All he's ever done is protect you. All he's ever done is protect any of us.
That's what a pack does. Even when it was just the three of us, we were always looking out for you. "
"But…"
"No. It's your turn to listen to me, Tess.
We had sleepless nights when you were sick.
None of us had to stay and run your family's café, but we did.
Even before we came here, we made an effort to check in on you.
We considered you family. That's why I know that even if Daniel wasn't involved with Mara, if he'd told us about you and the professor, we would have convinced him to do exactly what he did.
None of us was going to just sit by and let an Alpha abuse his power, let alone with you. "
"He loved me." Her voice sounds so weak that I doubt that she even believes that herself.
"Did he? Because from where I'm standing, it doesn't sound like it.
I'm an Alpha. Mara is our Omega. Compare how we treat her and how Marcus treated you and tell me if that was the same thing.
Take your emotions out of it and be honest with yourself.
Alphas keep our Omega safe. It's our first, most important rule.
We would never, ever pick anything over that.
Not a job, not a reputation, not a damn thing. "
I can see the realization dawning on her, the slow, painful understanding of the truth. She's been defending a man who didn't deserve her loyalty while attacking the people who would do anything for her.
She looks from me to the house, to the warm light glowing in the windows. A single tear tracks down her cheek. "I… I need to talk to her," she whispers, her voice barely audible.
I nod, a sense of relief washing over me. "She's at the café. She wouldn't talk to anyone after you stormed out."
She gives me a small, grateful nod, then turns and walks up the steps. She opens the front door and disappears inside, leaving me alone in the cold.
A minute later, Daniel walks out. "Are you smoking?" he asks, his eyes finding the glowing ember of my cigarette.
I shrug. "Just a little. Where's Leo?"
"Asleep. In the storage room. The poor guy was exhausted." He pauses, his gaze drifting toward the door Tess just disappeared through. "And I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I was in the kitchen making coffee. You didn't have to talk to Tess about me. You didn't have to defend me."
"Didn't I?" I exhale, watching the plume of smoke drift up into the black sky. "Because as far as I know, that's what being a pack entails. We defend each other. We protect each other. Even from ourselves."
He chuckles, a low, weary sound, and takes the cigarette from me, sticking it between his lips. "For what it's worth, thank you."
Just then, the door swings open again. Tess is standing there, her face pale and strained. "Where's Leo?" she asks, and her voice is sharp with a fresh wave of panic.
"He's sleeping," Daniel says. "In the storage room. What's wrong?"
"Fuck," she says, running a hand through her already messy hair. "If you're not with her, and Mom and Dad are asleep, then explain this," she says, pulling her phone out of her pocket. She shoves it at Daniel, the screen displaying a voicemail notification. "Explain this message."
Daniel takes the phone, his brow furrowed. I lean in, peering at the screen over his shoulder. He presses the play icon, and… it's Mara's voice.
"Tess, it's me… again. I know you're angry, and you have every right to be.
I just… I needed you to know that I love you.
You're my sister, my family. I never meant to hurt you.
Seeing your face today… it broke my heart.
I'm so, so sorry. Please, just… call me back when you can.
Or don't. Just… be safe, okay? I love you… "
There is a pause, but the voicemail is still recording. Then it's her voice again, responding to a knock on the door.
"Tess? I miss you, okay? I'm sorry."
"Who is she talking to?" I ask.
Tess shakes her head. "I don't know. I thought it was one of you guys. I haven't talked to her since yesterday."
"What the fuck?" Daniel curses. "Let me call Mrs. Lacey. Maybe that's who was at the door."
"I'm heading to the café," I say, my stomach already in knots. Something is wrong. I can feel it.
Daniel paces for a couple of seconds before turning to us. "It wasn't Mrs. Lacey."
"Wait," Tess says, her eyes wide with a sudden, dawning horror. "I can find her phone. We share the location. We always have." She starts frantically tapping on her screen, her fingers flying across the glass. "It's not… it's not at the café. It's showing up at the town's airstrip. What the hell?"
Margaret comes rushing out of the house, her robe flapping around her legs. "What's all the commotion out here?"
"Mara's gone," Daniel says, his voice tight with panic. "I'm on the phone with Mrs. Lacey. She's saying the café door was open, but no one is inside."
"Shit," I say, my heart hammering against my ribs.
"We need to check her room," Margaret says, her voice trembling but firm. She turns and shouts for Henry. "Henry! Call Tom! Get the sheriff!"
Leo comes stumbling out of the house, yawning and rubbing his eyes. "What's up? Is something on fire?"
"Mara's missing," I say, my voice clipped.
"Her phone is at the airstrip," Tess adds, her voice shaking.
"Let's go," Daniel says, already jogging toward his truck. Leo and I follow him, our bodies moving on pure instinct.
We're a pack. One of us is in trouble, and we all go.
We pile into the truck, the engine roaring to life. As Daniel pulls away from the house, speeding down the snow-covered road, I can't shake the feeling that we're already too late.