Chapter 132
Gideon’s POV
A handful more days passed without any changes from Leo. My council and warriors were looking into the evidence ivan’s varriors provided as well as the other documents we had gathered that connected the rogues who attacked to Daphne. They vere working on building a case we could take to the Alpha King.
My own case was coming up, and I wanted to have the appropriate evidence to throw back at her, to prove to the Alpha King ill the damage she had done and make her wish she had just left me alone for good.
Around this time, when I was alone with Leo, Xavier returned. In his arms, he held many copies of files held together in a nanila folder.
already knew that this had to be what he had collected on Raven.
Tell me everything,” I said.
‘She’s an upstanding member of Ivan’s pack, and has a very good record as a warrior captain.”
Xavier passed me the folder. Opening it, I could see several documents that backed up what he was saying. Records of her ime as warrior captain, as well as strong written references from the men and women she worked with.
Xavier continued, “There are rumors that she has a strong she–wolf, but I wasn’t able to confirm if those rumors were true. As far as I can tell, no one has ever actually seen her shift.”
Claire had a strong she–wolf, a rare beauty – fearsome, gorgeous. The memory panged at my heart now, but I pushed the thoughts away. Right now wasn’t the time for melancholy or nostalgia. I had to stay focused, to see all of the comparisons and the differences, to make the correct connections.
“That is all I could find on Raven,” Xavier said.
“What about her family?” I asked. “Her life before becoming a warrior? Is she from Ivan’s pack initially, or did she join later in life?”
“None of my contacts would share what they know about that,” Xavier said. “I’m sorry, Alpha.”
Grunting with annoyance, though not at Xavier himself, I flipped through the pages in the folder. There were far too few for my liking. Truly, it seemed that Raven was a bit of a ghost herself, showing up out of nowhere, becoming the best of the best. But no one knew anything about her personally.
Or at least they weren’t talking.
Behind all the loose pages in the folder was one single photo.
“What’s this?” I asked, picking it up to inspect it.
“I thought you would want to see that,” Xavier said. “It’s from the Alpha King’s banquet.”
I’d been so worried that night about presenting my case to the Alpha King, and about Claire, that I hadn’t remembered there had been a hired photographer there who had taken photos of everyone during their entrance, and then a few candid shots during the event itself.
This photo I held now was of Ivan’s entrance to the party, with Claire on his arm. I was just as certain now as I had been then, looking at this picture, that Claire had been Ivan’s companion that night. She never outright confirmed it, but I didn’t
need her to.
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Chapter 132
Even after six years, I would never forget who she was, what she looked like or smelled like, or what she felt like in my arms.
Looking at her, at her shy little smile in the photo, her arm wrapped around Ivan’s, the questions I had been repressing since that night for the sake of my pack and my son came bubbling up again. They felt even more urgent this time, more important.
Leo was in a coma, and his mother wasn’t here.
Why?
Where was she? What happened to her?
I was determined to get answers this time. I didn’t care if they came from Claire, Raven, or Ivan. Someone was going to tell
child. me the truth. For Leo’s sake and for my own, it was past time to know what happened to the mother of my
At once, I stood up. “Xavier, you are in charge of Leo’s safety until I return.”
My Beta nodded. He didn’t ask where I was going. That must have been obvious.
“Yes, Alpha.”
I turned to Leo and gently placed my hand to the top of his head. “Stay strong, son. I will return soon.”
The minute I stepped outside of the hospital, I shifted into my wolf form and raced to the border. My body was only newly healed, so my muscles ached and even my bones felt sore. I didn’t care. I kept pushing myself, unwilling to allow myself to slow.
I needed answers. That was what drove me. The time for deceptions was over.
When I closed in on the border, I thought about trying to be stealthy, but Ivan’s warriors were some of the best trained on the continent. The most obedient and loyal. Despite my man gifts like size and strength, I had no penchant for being sneaky.
Before I could even truly decide to be quiet, I had been spotted. When I reached the border, several warriors stood in the
way.
Still in wolf form, I snarled at them dangerously, hoping to communicate without human language that I was an Alpha to be feared, and they should step aside.
Their loyalty proved true, however. They glared at me and did not move, despite my grumbles, my snarls, or my pacing.
Eventually, Ivan himself arrived. He walked slowly and confidently in his human form towards me, stopping in front of his warriors, just on the inside of his pack’s border.
“What are you doing here, Gideon?” Ivan called out. “And why have you arrived in such a threatening manner? Surely a phone call would have accomplished more.”
To speak to him, I shifted back in my human form, but my body remained tense, my hands curled into fists.
“I want to speak to Claire,” I said.
Ivan just stared at me.
“I want the truth, Ivan. Someone needs to give it to me. I will know what happened to the mother of my child. I will sort out all the half–truths and half–lies I’ve been fed, and I will not be lied to again.”
Ivan continued to stare, his expression almost… bored. “Go home, Gideon.”
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Chapter 132
He was dismissing me? Just like that?
“I’m entitled to the truth!” I snapped.
Ivan frowned. “Are you? Are you really?”
“She is the mother of my child,” I said again.
“And that gives you… what right?” he asked. “Go home, Gideon. You are not welcome in my park any longer.
I had thought I might face some opposition here, but I had no idea it would be this difficult. I continued to stand there. glaring down Ivan, who glared right back.
“Do not interfere,” Ivan said.
But I refused to move. “I will speak with Claire. I will learn the truth.”
Ivan straightened slightly. “You called Claire the mother of your child, but you omit how you stole the child and then kicked Claire out, sending her to rogue territory and almost certain death. No, Gideon, you have no right to know about Claire’s fate, or anything else. And you have only yourself to blame for it.”
Shame burned hot within me. He was right about so many things.
But I wasn’t going to allow this to be the end.
I couldn’t give up, even if I was ashamed of my past behavior.
AD
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