I nodded.
“This is it,” he said. “I bought the car for her the first time she left me to be with her family. She didn’t have a car at the time, and I wanted to see her more often. So, when the property was declared abandoned and entered into an auction, I went with my gut feeling and returned to look. The box was in the trunk, buried under the spare tire. The only thing I removed was the cash which totaled $5012.11. Your mother never trusted banks. She was the ‘keep your money under the mattress’ type. I think if she were here now, we’d have a lot of arguments over that.” The corner of his eyes crinkled. The smile that spread across his lips didn’t last long.
I opened the box with shaky fingers. One by one, I took out the items and placed them on the table top side by side.
Two empty perfume bottles. Or at least I thought they were used to store perfume.
A satchel filled with what looked like dried up potpourri.
A necklace with an amulet hanging from it, but this one was empty. Sure enough, the manner in which the wire was wrapped around the amulet was similar to the one I’d found under the yellowwood tree.
An identification card belonging to someone that looked like a child. I wiped the dust from the photo and squinted at it. The girl looked eerily familiar. Allie Moore. Age: 5
My heart jumped erratically and I looked up at my dad. He nodded and encouraged me to proceed.
Next, I pulled out a bus ticket that was worn and almost illegible. A handwritten note was clipped to the bus ticket.
I unfolded the note nervously. It was dated the day before the fire had taken my mom.
“Dear Joran, I’m running out of options. I don’t know what else to do. My father is a maniac and my sisters are even crazier. It’s too late for me now, but I need help for my daughter, Allie. Our daughter. She doesn’t understand what’s going on. I’m the target now, only because she’s not old enough. I don’t want her to live in this never-ending cycle of evil and hatred. Please take care of her. I send her to you with all the money I have. I told her yesterday that she’s going to meet a great uncle that will take her to see many exotic places and that she has to be strong. I told her that I’d come join you two when things settled down. I knew you’d be an excellent father when I first met you. Please show her the love that you have shown me.
“I won’t come to live with you until I know that it’s safe to do so. If I never come, it’s because it’s not safe for our daughter or you. If that is the case, you will wait until her twenty-fifth birthday and tell her everything. I don’t want her anywhere near my family while she is vulnerable. If my forecast is correct, our daughter will be just as persistent as you are. This is why I could never tell you who they were. My family is crazy. At this time, the focus is on me. They don’t know what our child can do. They’ve concluded that she’s not Rick’s. You will never understand how powerful they can be when they come together full circle. If she goes to them now, they will lure her in and use her for ill-fated purposes. There is a tree. You know the one. I put my magic and memories in the ground below it. It’s all that will be left of me when I’m gone. When the time comes and when she is stronger, she must decide for herself if she wants it. I won’t make that choice for her, but we can keep her safe until she does. I hope you will help her like you planned to help me. I love you with all my heart. Always, Anges.”
I froze with the letter still in my hand. “Was Allie my real name then?”
Dad shook his head. “Allie Moore was the alias she wanted you to use. She had used the last name Moore in the past to hide from her family. When you woke up after the incident that night, you told me your name was Alessia, so you must have retained your real name somehow.”
“Then this was bound to happen,” I said.
My breath came out in rush as I clutched at the ends of the table. My Dad’s touch of reassurance on my shoulder reached my battered heart and I tried with everything I had to calm down. Had it not been for Dad hugging and consoling me, my reaction would’ve been worse.
“I think they…took her life the night before she planned to put you on that bus,” Dad said.
“I can’t…” I stood. “I need fresh air.”
“Wait! I know this is a lot for you in one day.” Dad took both of my hands in his. “I’m behind you one hundred percent with anything you do. This is your life. I only have one favor to ask.”
“What’s that?”
“You’ll always tell me what’s going on and what you’re up to. If I can do anything to help, you know I will.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
“Promise me.”
“I promise.”
He kissed my forehead. I had always felt safe with him. I didn’t need my abilities to confirm that he was one of the only people in my life who had my back through everything. I would never leave him. I had a right to be with the ones I loved, and I would destroy anyone and everything that threatened my chance at happiness or those I loved.
Chapter Twenty-One
Dawson
The next morning, my cell phone jolted me awake. I grumbled and looked around. I’d fallen asleep on the couch waiting for Alessia’s call. Only this time, Alessia didn’t fill my dreams. I was more than a little disappointed.
I rubbed at my forehead, hoping the headache I’d acquired overnight would go away soon. The cell phone stopped ringing, but whoever it was called right back.
After uttering a string of expletives, I got up and looked at the caller ID. It was Devin.
“What do you want, bro?” I answered.
“Are you alone?” Devin asked. He didn’t sound too happy. “Are there any women around you right now?”
I looked around. “I don’t think that’s any of your business.” I walked into my kitchen and took a glass from the cabinet.
“Answer me!”
“I’m alone. What’s your problem this early in the morning? Why do you sound like you’ve got a tree branch stuck up your ass?”
I pulled the freezer door open and tossed some ice cubes in my glass.
“Report to the Caedmon mansion immediately.”
“I thought the next Council meeting was later next week.”
“We’ve got a goddamned problem,” Devin bellowed.
“There’s always something going on, isn’t there?”
“This is pretty serious. Your witch has murdered one of us!”
The phone and glass slipped from my hand and both crashed to the floor. I raced to my room, tugged on my shoes, and threw on a coat. At this point, I didn’t have time to sort out any clothes. My pajamas would have to do. I grabbed my keys, rushed out the door, and ran twelve flights of stairs down to the parking garage where I hopped on my motorcycle. I charged through a few stoplights to get to my destination.
In shock and in a daze, I sped blindly down the freeway.
This was the fastest I had ever made it across town. I rolled through the Caedmon Village at speeds that had some of the Elders shaking their heads. I came to a screeching halt in front of my mansion and barged through the doors.
Devin was already standing in the great room along with Nick and Connor. Nick was the Council’s second in command, and Connor had recently begun policing for the Pack and acted as the liaison where most government matters were concerned.
This wasn’t one of the regular Pack Council meetings. By the look on their faces, they were more than a little disturbed.
I threw my helmet in a chair to the left of me and met them in the center of the room.
“Tell me it isn’t true,” I said, my blood still boiling mostly from Devin’s frank news and a little from the breakneck speeds I had driven to get here.
“It’s true,” a female’s voice called out from the left side of the room.
I raised my head in that direction to see Elisa walking into the great room from the hallway.
“Alessia van der Hoeff aka Alessia Osborne is a murderer,” Elisa added.
I dropped my face in my h
ands momentarily. “Osborne?”
Elisa nodded. “Yes. Osborne.”
I looked back and forth between Elisa and Devin, but they looked dead serious…mad serious.
“How did this happen?” I mumbled between clenched teeth.
“You tell us,” Devin said. “That’s why we called you here. We thought you’d have a little more insight because of your involvement with her.”
I shook my head. “Gods, I don’t know. Who did she murder?”
“Alan Dennis. Devin’s records show he hadn’t pledged to any Pack within the last three years,” Connor replied. “No one saw him during that time period either. His wolf carcass was detected by a Caedmon passing through early this morning.”
“Shit…when was he killed?” I asked.
“Blood evidence shows that it happened sometime last night.”
Displeasure rose and created a knot in my throat and I turned around swiftly and ran my fingers through my hair. I hadn’t been with Alessia last night. She had turned down a date with me to have dinner with her dad. Had all of that been a lie?
I swiveled back around. “I talked to Alessia just last night and she had dinner arrangements with her dad.”
“We have blood evidence that she was there last night, at the scene of the crime,” Elisa said, approaching me. She thrust something at me. “Does this look familiar?”
My hands shaking, I held up a blood-soaked necklace and inspected it. A blue crystal point pendant capped in gold, hanging from an aged brass chain.
“Alessia…” I breathed, pulling out my cellphone. I needed to know if she was okay.
“She’s not dead. This Osborne is alive and breathing. I don’t know what her relation is to the main family, but she’s related somehow. I could sense the evil residing in her blood,” Elisa said. “My visions also tell me that she murdered Alan Dennis during a scuffle.”
“A scuffle?”
“There was some sort of fight or struggle.” Elisa narrowed her gaze and pursed her lips as if trying to recall her visions. “Then she used her powers to slay him.”
“How do you know this?” I demanded.
Elisa pointed to the necklace. “Some blood on the necklace belongs to Alessia, but most of it belongs to poor Alan who, unfortunately, was under a witch’s spell. I couldn’t tell whose, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she did it.”
“This doesn’t make sense. Alessia told me that she had never practiced any real witchcraft,” I said.
Everyone looked at me incredulously. They didn’t trust Alessia, but I did.
“Where did this happen?” I asked.
“A little under forty miles south of the city. Out in the middle of nowhere in uncharted territory,” Connor offered.
“Neutral territory, you mean?” I asked.
Connor nodded. “Right, neither Caedmon nor Arnou has claimed this piece of land. We looked some records up regarding ownership and the entire tract of land is owned by a private investor.”
“So that would possibly explain why a wolf who hadn’t pledged in several years would be there on neutral territory, but why was Alessia there?”
“We thought maybe you could answer that question,” Devin said. “In fact, that is what you will find out as soon as possible.”
I rubbed the back of my neck, grimacing at my dumb luck.
“Don’t worry,” Elisa said. “If she trusts you, she’ll tell you.”
I glared at Elisa. “You asked for her blood, and now you’ve got it, but not by my doing.”
“She has witch blood running through her,” Elisa informed me. “If she chooses a witch’s route, it’s only a matter of time before she learns how to control her powers and fine-tune her craft. This act of murder is proof that she’s more than one step closer.”
“How did you get involved with a witch?” Nick asked.
I swallowed. “She’s my mate. A true mate.”
“How are you certain? These witches can and will fake the signs of compatibility that true mates share. I fell prey to that same fuckery many years ago,” Nick informed me.
“If so…if you’re right, she’s doing a very good job of deceiving me and fucking me over.”
“But she’s not…” Elisa offered. “She’s yours. She is your true mate.”
I looked at her questioningly.
“Don’t ask me how I know. I don’t share all of my tricks for many reasons,” Elisa said. “The woman’s blood on this necklace belongs to your mate. As you can see, the sample was substantial enough for me to confirm.”
“Holy cow.” I plopped down in a chair as the weight of my dilemma clouded my train of thought.
“Do you understand what we’ve uncovered?” Devin asked me.
I leveled my gaze on the Alpha and my half-brother. “I am not Darius. I don’t want your title. And she is no Silvia. I believe her heart is pure.”
“I know, Dawson.” Devin came and laid a hand on my shoulder. “You can’t change who your true mate is. You can’t even change the fact that she is yours. But there is a small possibility…well, a rather large chance that she may have connections to those witches we consider our enemies.”
I frowned. “You mean the Osbornes? How do you know she’s directly related to them? She could be a long-lost cousin or something. None of you have concrete evidence that she’s one of them.”
Everyone in the room frowned at me as I tried to make excuses for why my mate murdered a shifter.
“Yet,” Elisa countered.
“You believe that her heart is pure, but what evidence do you have? And before you answer that…she is your mate and you will love her regardless. She can murder hundreds more of us and you will still love and pursue her because your wolf knows that there is no one else in the world for you,” Devin said.
“Just like with Silvia and Darius…” I mumbled.
“I wouldn’t go as far as to compare yourself to Darius,” Elisa added. “Darius was already evil and loathing Devin and everything our side of the family represented. The fates sending Darius an evil witch mate to complement him was his ultimate undoing. He used his Pack knowledge from his father and Silvia’s magic to try to gain control of us. He failed.”
“Indeed,” I said.
Elisa continued, “We all know for a fact that your heart and intentions for this Pack are pure. You can’t change who your mate is, but as a witch reaching her prime, she can certainly change your stance.”
I swallowed. “I would never turn my back on this Pack.”
“In your right state of mind, I truly believe that you would never turn your back on us,” Devin said. “But if you had to make a choice between keeping your mate alive and defending your Pack, you would choose your mate.”
“I would choose both,” I countered.
“Sometimes, the circumstances don’t always work that way,” Devin said.
I rose. I’d had enough of this interrogation. I couldn’t continue to speculate without hearing from Alessia herself.
Connor held his hand out. “Before you go, I want to make sure that you’re aware of how serious this is.”
“Yes.” I nodded.
“There are witches that are very capable of stealing our spirits and stripping us of the very thing that gives us purpose,” Devin said.
“She would never…” I said, grabbing my helmet from the chair.
“Are you going to her?” Devin asked, knowingly, as I walked off.
“Of course.”
Devin followed me to the door. “Then I take it you will let us know why she brutally murdered one of us. Connor here has to write a report and we aren’t able to cover this one up. A Caedmon passing through discovered the carcass. News will spread fast within our Pack.”
I paused, my hand on the doorknob. “Fix the reports. If you’re calling it self-defense, proceed. If you’re calling it a murder, list me as the murderer.”
I pulled the door open and rushed outside.
The Alpha was right behind me. “
Dawson, you can’t—”
“And absolutely no one is to go question my mate before me. This is my issue. Let me deal with it.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Alessia
All afternoon, I’d spent most of my time in my bedroom with my laptop. My Google searches on the Osbornes and witchcraft had revealed some interesting articles, none of which could be confirmed as a verifiable source. But still, what I found had led me in the right direction.
Dad had gone out to meet a client, and I had closed up my art gallery for the rest of the week. Until I knew what I was up against, I had promised my dad that I wouldn’t venture out alone. But as soon as I had what I needed, there would be no stopping me.
I was gobbling down a sandwich at the kitchen counter when the doorbell rang. My heart jumped since we weren’t expecting any company. I certainly hadn’t expected any guests, and the maid had already come out once this week to clean.
I used the peephole to see who it was before I answered the door.
It was Dawson.
I sighed. I wasn’t sure I was ready to face him yet.
Dawson rang the doorbell again and pounded the knocker. He leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed and waited. It was a sign that he wasn’t going anywhere until someone answered. He had probably already scented me on the other side of the door.
I slid the curtain aside and peered out of the window, checking his surroundings for any others that might have come with him. I figured maybe he’d come to discuss why I’d had the sudden change of heart about us being together while my life was in chaos. But after talking with Dad last night, I wondered if normal was even in the cards for me. However, there was no denying that my heart swelled with hope each time I saw Dawson, or even heard his voice.
Reluctantly, I swung the door open. “Hi. How did you find my house?”
“I have my resources. I went to your art gallery first, but you weren’t there,” he said. “How are you?”
Wolf's Temptation (Caedmon Wolves Book 7) Page 12
