56. Calder
Calder
"Oh, well speak of the devils!"
Annabelle recovers first, Vivian shuffling into the room right behind her.
Our silence on this end of the office doesn't get the chance to linger long before she's reaching for something in Vivian's hand, continuing.
"Actually, it's great that you're here… This envelope was mailed to the lodge, addressed to Pack Morrison.
We were just going to leave it on your desk; it looks important.
" Swallowing deeply, she hands the large, orange envelope directly to me before stepping back, bumping into Vivian, who's staying hot on her heels.
Smothering the growls and vitriol itching to be released, I take a beat and reach for the envelope.
I don't know what the hell this is but something tells me it's related to our current situation and not a true correspondence.
My primal is lurching against my chest urging me to rip it to shreds and roar until the walls come down around them for hurting our mate.
Pages slip out into my hands and at a glance, unconsciously, my brow furrows. I can feel the others crowd around my back, their heat radiating off of them despite the layers of clothing as we look over what's actually being shown to us.
"What the fuck is this?" I don't bark the words at anyone, per se. Not anyone in particular, as I pour over the documents, anyway. It's merely the anger and aggressive confusion lining my voice that urges the bark to anyone in the room.
"Opaline is—" Vivian gasps at the growls and sharp looks directed at her from the three of us hulking alphas.
The sound of my omega's name on her lips nearly pulls a snarl from me.
Putting my hand up to Sage and Adrian, I smother my own growl and pointedly wait for her to go on, to continue to dig her own grave.
"She…um," she swallows nervously, looking between us.
"She's, I mean, there's a special certificate… and other criminal charges…"
Annabelle stands at her best friend's side, adding insult to injury. "She's using your pack—"
"How the fuck do you know what's in here?" Adrian growls, the words rough.
Both of their faces turn an unflattering shade of red, both tripping over their words as they try to reverse. "No, I mean…"
"It wasn't sealed when it arrived…and it all just k-kind of spilled out…we just saw what was inside."
The infuriating chatter and excuses drone around me. But I'm drawn to what's really happening. Turning my attention back to the papers in front of me, I flip through them, trying to really understand. Maybe this is real? But who, and why, would they mail this to us?
Looking over the envelope, there is no return address.
Several criminal record pages claim my omega's been charged with theft on multiple accounts on top of other petty charges.
If these are true, I can only imagine the stupidity of the cause.
But then the images of Opaline on the streets, hungry and desperate, funnel through my vision like a jackhammer, each one more detrimental than the last. The reasons she would have had to commit these so-called crimes in order to simply survive.
A wave of nausea hits hard enough that I have to close my eyes for several seconds to not be sick.
"What's that one?" Sage's voice pulls me out the hellish visuals of Opaline hungry and alone and back to the stack of charges in my hands.
Pulling it from the pile, I lean in and follow along with his finger as he reads.
"This says…what? That, no, that can't be right… " He shakes his head bewildered.
Adrian's voice feels like a bullet zipping through the room, bouncing off a bulletproof vest I'm not wearing.
"It says Opaline's already bonded."