Page 54 of Understanding Fate

“...will get to the bottom of…”

“Dante has his lawyer…”

I close my eyes, trying to regain my focus on his words.

“How sure are they that he is my father?” I ask, my throat causing my words to sound croaked and strained.

“He didn’t say.”

“Could they have switched them?” I continue, needing something to hold onto to keep the panic away. My grip on Cain’s hand turns my knuckles white, and I focus on his thumb, which rubs back and forth on top of it.

“I’m not sure, Firefly,” he says, his voice almost sad, causing me to look up at him.

“Can we call Dante and see?” I question, hoping more details will help me understand this news.

“I could mind-link him, but it's probably unsafe to call. Right now, they don’t know who has you. So the pack is safe. If they adjudicate Dante, he knows nothing but that I got you out. He has no details on where we are staying, so they can’t use him to find us.”

At this moment, I realize how good Cain is at his job. His calm tone and thorough answers tell me he’s in complete control of what he’s doing.

“What do we do if the news is true?” I verbalize the dark thought.

I don’t want to be related to that monster.

The man who played a part in my kidnapping, traded me like cattle, and then ensured that I would be killed, all before realizing what I was and trying to force me to be Awakened before I even knew what that meant fully.

He’s a man full of darkness, and just the thought that part of who I am comes from him makes me want to get back in the shower and scrub until my skin comes off.

His evil could be a part of who I am.

Cain’s eyes search mine as he tries to find the words to answer my questions.

“I can reach out to Dante tomorrow for more details, but I think we need to get to bed for tonight. Are you done eating?” he asks, standing and reaching for my mostly empty plate.

My stomach clenches, thinking about the fact that all these years, I’ve wondered who my real dad was. I’d pictured him picking me up from school and teaching me how to ride a bike. I’d spent years hoping she would tell him about me.

I was only alone because he didn’t know. If my father knew I existed, he would take me away from her.

The childhood lie came easily. I could make him whoever I wanted, and in my imagination, he was a good man who just didn’t know about me.

I guess that fantasy is shattered now.

Deacon Marlo isn’t a good man. He’s the worst kind of man.

Cain’s arms encircle me before I even realize he’s come back from cleaning up the dishes.

“We will find out the truth, Firefly. I promise you we will,” he says, nothing but confidence in his voice.

“What if that is the truth?” I ask, wondering how, in a world of so many people, it could be possible.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, you need sleep. Let’s get you to bed,” he says, kissing my forehead before lifting me like I weigh nothing and carrying me back to the room.

My mind spins with questions, trying to prepare myself for the possible outcomes, but one question just won’t quietdown. Dante had told me Deacon Marlo had been Alpha of the Reno Pack for almost four decades.

What the hell was Deacon Marlo doing in Vegas’s territory twenty-three years ago?

Chapter 22

Dante

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