Page 59 of Ruined Wolf

“No, I think you’re right,” I murmured quietly. “The more I found out about him and his life here, and the more I realised Ethan was up to something dodgy, the surer I became that he left for a reason, and it wasn’t just running out on you.”

“You think he left to find that map?” Lucas asked. “But then why stay away? Why not come home?”

“I don’t know.” I fell quiet, not knowing what to say. We sat for a while, listening to the lapping of the water and the slight echo in the cave.

“You guys didn’t believe me about those printouts, but I wasn’t lying, Lucas. Do you believe me now?” I asked, my voice seeming loud in the empty darkness.

“I guess, I mean, it doesn’t sound right. I definitely think we should look into it, especially if Ethan was the one who...” His voice faded out, and I leaned against him in a gesture of comfort. He pulled me closer.

“The thing is, one of the emails was an offer from the logging company.”

“Yes, but Ethan didn’t take them up on the offer. We’d have known about it by now.”

“Would you?” I countered, a frisson of excitement running through me. “Lucas, that logging company was the same company Jaxon worked for in the city until he became too sick to work.”

“Jaxon worked for a logging company? That’s ridiculous... unless...”

“Unless he was working there to investigate them,” I finished for him.

“That would make more sense to me, knowing Jaxon,” Lucas mused.

“Look, I’m not saying I know exactly what’s going on, but something doesn’t add up here, and I think Jaxon was onto something. I think he left to protect you, and to find out what Ethan was up to.” Something else occurred to me. “If he thought Ethan was dangerous, and that he’d hurt his own nephews, then maybe Jaxon even suspected something about your father’s death?”

“If this is true, then I really was a shitty brother,” Lucas muttered.

“How could you think that? You didn’t know any of this.”

“No, I didn’t, but I wasn’t exactly the type of brother he could confide in. I was reckless and angry and violent. I wasn’t trustworthy enough for Jaxon to talk to about something this tricky. I should have been there, should have supported him instead of being so fucking self-absorbed.”

“I don’t think he would have seen it that way,” I said gently. “He didn’t even tell Maverick. He also didn’t tell me where he was from or that he even had a family, and I was his mate.”

“Did you love him?” Lucas asked. “Like, really love him? Or was it another mate mark, like with Maverick and me?”

“I loved Jaxon with everything I had. I still do,” I answered softly. “After he died, I felt like my heart had been torn out of my chest, and to be honest, if I hadn’t just found out I was carrying his baby, I think I would have been quite happy to step off that cliff and not come up again, but I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t take away the last part of him on earth. This baby was all I had left of the man who showed me that love, real love, existed, and that I could have some of it for myself, if only for a short time. It’s part of him and part of me, and I would have done anything to protect it. Even lie, steal, and hurt people I love.”

“It’s funny,” Lucas began, reaching for me in the dark, his fingers brushing down the side of my face. “He told you nothing about us, nothing about where he was from, and yet you still managed to come home to us. You still managed to find where you belonged. I never believed in fate, even when Maverick got that stupid mark, but I think I’m starting to now. I think you were meant to find us, Nova, meant to be here with us. All of us. Maverick will see that too, as will Asher. They’ll come around, we just need to give them time.”

“How can I give them time if Ethan finds me?” I asked.

I’d spent this time with Lucas, down here in the dark, believing everything he said, and trusting we could be together, but the situation hadn’t changed. When we were rescued, Ethan would find out where I was, and it would only be a matter of time before he had me sent back to my father. A feeling of despair surged through me.

“Lucas, we’re kidding ourselves. As soon as Ethan finds me, he’ll send me back to High Rocks Pack, and my father will have me killed—if he doesn’t do it himself. You can’t protect me against an entire pack.”

“I’ll find a way,” Lucas promised, brushing his lips over mine. “You can hide out at my villa, and I’ll figure out what Ethan’s up to. I’ll force Maverick to see it, make him step up, and take over as alpha. We will be together, Nova. I promise.”

I leaned my forehead against his. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Lucas.”

“Come here, you’re shivering again,” he said, gently pulling me into his lap and holding me close. He wasn’t any warmer than I was, but it was still a comfort. He took the torch from me and switched it back on, sweeping it back over the walls. I closed my eyes. Any determination I had for finding the treasure was now gone. Everything I had worked for since I’d been here and the risks I’d taken were all pointless. I just felt drained and so very tired. Even if we got out of the cave, I would still be hunted. I didn’t say anything to Lucas, but I wasn’t sure if I could fight anymore. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to.

My mind spiralled down into darker and darker thoughts as I shivered against his body, and I felt the damp of the cave creeping into my skin. I couldn’t die here though, I knew that. That would really fuck Lucas up, and I needed him to have hope.

“Hey, I think I found something.”

“You did?” I didn’t move. I was just too tired.

“Yeah, just above us, look.”

I turned my head, looking up at where Lucas was shining the torch beam. I squinted, trying to see better, and I gradually made out etchings in the rock near the wall on the ceiling of the cave.

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