Chapter 20
A Family Reunion
SHADOW
Seven Years Ago
Ithrow my head back, bumping it against the wall behind me. This story is too painful to hear. I wish I had known about this sooner. I could have gone in and taken them out, and no one would have been the wiser.
“So, what happened from the time you were kicked out of the territory to when we found Jessica?” Liam prompts.
Sodie rubs his eyes with the heal of his hands.
“As you can already imagine, things for Jessica got worse. My brother Skunk was forced into enemy’s ranks, trapped under their watchful eyes.
Every instinct to protect her became a death sentence hanging over him.
My sister didn’t have a choice but to observe it all from the sidelines.
She was too afraid that if she rallied or drew attention to herself, Jessica’s life would be at stake.
They were basically walking around on eggshells, never knowing when the Alpha or Beta would strike out against them if they had one toe out of line.
“You’d have to ask my brother for more details after I had left.
I had little contact with anyone. What I do know is that it was a setup that night Jessica was found.
The Beta planned a meeting that the Alpha needed to attend, convincing him that Dimitri should start attending meetings as well so he could learn the ropes, which was a joke.
His own son was the same age and didn’t need to go.
Even though Dimitri had some control of the group and how much they could pick on her. With him gone…” he sighs.
“He no longer controlled the group,” I finish for him. I rub a hand down my face. “Who hurt her?”
“Bart, the Beta’s son, and his group of asshole followers.”
I frown, thinking back to that kid I saw with the attitude during my investigation. “Does he have a scar on his face?”
Sodie’s brows knit together. “The last time I saw Bart, he didn’t have one.”
“His name is Bart?”
He scoffs. “Yeah. He was named after his great-grandfather on his mother’s side or some shit like that. He brags about it, like it means something.”
Fuck me. “As in Bartholomew Powers?”
Sodie nods, and his eyes widen as if he just remembered something. “Shit. My sister’s friend once mentioned paper trails and suspicious evidence proving both the Alpha and the Beta are with the Resistance.” Then it all comes together—Elaine’s contact, how she knew who Jessica was. Dammit!
“What the fuck!” I yell. “You trained with the guards for two years, with all of this information, and you never told anyone!”
“It wasn’t supposed to happen like this,” he counters.
“I was given orders to only communicate with my Alpha. My loyalties don’t only lie with the Emerald Guard.
My loyalties lie with my pack. I took an oath to protect my pack, my Alpha, my family, and my species, which is nearly extinct.
I trusted my Alpha with that information. ”
I fist my hand and press it over my mouth, choking on my rage. “Did you ever think that all of this could have been avoided if you simply came forward and asked for our help? We could have protected you too. All of this could have been prevented!”
“Of course I fucking did! I said as much! I was sick to my stomach, seeing her lifeless body at the clinic, proof that we failed. I failed! She’s my family!
That is why my brother and I chose to remove her from the LS territory.
We saw an opportunity, and we took it. We tried to save her from anything like that from ever happening to her again! ”
We fall into silence after Sodie’s revelation.
Darwin, of course, just can’t help himself and breaks the silence. “So, your brother stole Jessica and took her to the Void. What kind of magic does he have that made him—I don’t know the word—undercover?”
Sodie grimaces at Darwin’s question. “He has healing magic, like myself, but he also can become invisible.”
“No shit,” Darwin mumbles as he continues to eat. “He took Boris on by himself?”
Sodie nods in confirmation. “Boris was one of our best fighters.” Darwin wipes his mouth with a napkin, leaning forward across the table in my direction. “If we’re able to recruit him, he would make an awesome guard.”
“Are you the next recruiting officer?” I ask him, lacing my tone with sarcasm.
He shrugs. “I am training to become a commanding officer.”
“You’re here to become a trainer and sharpen your computer skills,” I grumble.
“Same difference.”
Liam throws a wadded napkin at Darwin. “No, it’s not.”
I don’t recall seeing the name Skunk on our list, and I haven’t interviewed a Skunk I would remember. “Does your brother go by a different name?”
“Yeah. Stephen Parker or Fields. He might have applied under Fields, like I did.”
That name doesn’t ring a bell either. I need to look into it.
I also need to know about Henry Chase. He’s the kid I met near Ruby Falls when I was investigating Jessica’s case.
With Anders’s approval, I brought him here to train as a guard and to master his magic.
Sodie talked about his brother’s involvement, his sister, and the Young Alpha Dimitri.
So where does all of this leave Henry Chase?
I think I already know the answer. “What is Henry Chase’s involvement with Jessica? ”
Sodie chokes on his beer, nearly spitting it everywhere. That fucker wasn’t planning to tell me. What the hell else is he hiding?
“Sodie?”
He wipes his face with a napkin. “Henry is Dimitri.”
Fuck! I smuggled a Young Alpha out of his fucking territory.
I hoped he was just one of the kids working with Bart.
He has to go back. I don’t even know how I will undo what he already knows.
He could take everything he saw here and tip off the Resistance.
Fuck! How in the hell did I go wrong here?
I’m usually very good at reading people.
No, I’m usually better at conducting background checks and investigations.
I let it slide this one time because he needed help. Fuck, I pound the table with my fist.
Sodie leans forward, anxiety written all over his face.
“I know what you’re thinking. He is nothing like his father.
I will vouch for him. I know with everything you just heard, you probably don’t think I’m the most trustworthy guard right now.
But please don’t do this to him. He doesn’t know his dad works with the Resistance. I never told him.”
“What makes you think he doesn’t know? That’s his father, for fuck’s sake.”
Sodie winces. “Do you know everything that your father does? Or Anders?”
“No. But he also lied about who he is.”
“He lied because he wanted a way out. The day Jessica died nearly sent him over the edge. He blames himself.”
I look at Liam. “Did you know about this?”
He grimaces. “No clue.”
“What about Luke? Didn’t he recognize him? You all went on the same plane together.”
“He wore a hat and hadn’t shaved for several days,” Darwin adds between bites of wonton. He swallows and continues talking. “I didn’t recognize him, and we went to computer camp once together. He did not look like that. We were pretty close then. One time, we—”
Liam laughs. “I just fucking can’t with you right now. Please stop fucking talking.”
“Sodie?” I growl.
“He avoids hanging with us when Luke is around. Since he’s been here, he learned some very cool tricks with his magic. He just really wants to stay, away from the constant reminder of our failure in the LS.”
“She’s alive,” I remind him.
“He doesn’t know that. Neither does my sister.”
I slap my hands over my face. This just gets fucking better and better. “Why? Do I even want to know?” Darwin opens his mouth to speak, but I point at him. “Don’t. Not a word. Just don’t.”
“I was just going to ask for the wasabi,” he whines.
“Is he always like this?” I ask.
“Pretty much. You have to give him some credit. He did hold it in until now,” Liam states.
They all laugh, while I pinch the bridge of my nose.
This fucking conversation is giving me a headache.
Another round of beers hits our table. I ask the waitress for something stronger, but my request is lost in translation.
I end up with shit. “How do you plan to hide the fact that Jessica is alive?”
“First, he doesn’t know her real name. When he asked about the Princess, I told him that the royals adopted a girl with magic that they met at an orphanage. Second, Jessica didn’t demonstrate storm magic when she lived in Territory Two. That’s new.”
“What about when he sees and recognizes her?”
“I haven’t thought that far ahead.”
That’s the fucking problem with all of his plans. They didn’t think far enough ahead to all the possible outcomes and probabilities should their plan fail. “You said your sister doesn’t know she’s alive?” It’s a rhetorical question right now, but I’m mostly thinking out loud at this point.
“Yes.”
“Is she still in Territory Two?”
“Yes.”
“Why would she stay there, knowing they killed her child?” Liam asks in disbelief.
“To protect the rest of the pack. Not all of the pack members are as horrible as their Alpha and Beta. The only time a pack member can leave is if they die. It’s not their fault that many of them were born into a pack as horrible as this one.
During our time there, we could see it bothered everyone to witness how Jessica was treated.
But they were too afraid to defend her or stand up against her bullies.
Many of them tried to help in secret. Like I said earlier, those who did help died.
I was told things got worse after I was removed from the territory.
“She’s too invested in the pack’s wellbeing to leave and wanted to stay to help them where she could.
With the limited access outside of Territory Two, courtesy of Beta DuPont, it would be difficult for my sister to learn that Jessica is Grit.
Since our plan to take Jessica to the Void didn’t work, we decided not to tell her that she’s alive. ”