Page 37 of Wolf Forsaken

Why was he destroying the floor?

"Go back to bed, son." He went back to prying up the floor.

"What are you doing?" I drew closer, and then I saw what he was after. There were two rusty metal boxes in the floor, but I didn't know what was inside. "Why are you destroying the floor?"

My dad put down the crowbar and reached down into the hole he had created to grab one of the boxes. He dug in his pocket and pulled out his keys.

"Go to your room," he bit out, causing the hairs on my arms to stand on end.

My dad was never so short with me, and tears welled in my eyes. Had I done something wrong?

He put the key in the lock and turned it, opening the lid with a loud squeak. There was a lot of cash inside.

"Whoa… What's that for?"

He didn't answer me and instead picked up a duffel bag that was to the side of him and began throwing the bundled money inside. Had he robbed a bank or maybe won the lotto?

"Go to bed. I'm not going to say it again." He turned and looked at me then, warning in his eyes and fangs showing.

I ran to my room, tears streaming down my face.

We never talkedabout what I'd seen that night. I had even forgotten all about it until Ivy had said my dad had paid off a social worker to make sure she was far from Arbor Falls. I wished I had a way to contact him so I could find out what the fuck he'd done.

Fingers ran across the top of my head and circled around my ear, making me feel like I was floating on a cloud. If I could stay as a wolf forever and have the sensation of fingers running across my head, I would in an instant.

"I don't really know why he doesn't come back here anymore." I heard Cole in the room, the wooden floors creaking under his steps as he walked around. "There are some photo albums. Maybe we can find some pictures of Baron."

"We need to talk to his grandpa and other older pack members and see what they know." The fingers stroking my head belonged to my bunny. I didn't want her to stop, so I kept my eyes closed. "Why would Silas's dad pay to have me adopted away from here, though?"

"No clue. The only person who would know that answer is probably him and maybe Silas's grandpa. We'll have to talk to him. He was never a very nice man. He scared the shit out of me growing up." I felt the same way as Cole.

My grandpa had this way about him that made me think he would snap my neck in an instant, even though I was his only grandson. He lived nearby, but mostly kept to himself, coming to the den for breakfast and sometimes dinner, but never saying much.

It was surprising he'd said so much at breakfast and actually laughed. But maybe that was something to be more nervous about.

"What about Silas's mom?" Ivy stroked down my snout and between my eyes. Jesus, did she know what she was doing to me? It was taking every piece of my willpower not to roll over and ask for a belly rub.

I didn't do belly rubs.

"She died when he was born, so it was just him and his dad. A lot of the females in the pack, including my mom, helped take care of him, but his dad never remarried as far as I know."

The couch dipped as Cole sat down, his scent wafting over to me. As much as I wanted to bite him in the ass, my wolf had missed his smell. He was like a brother growing up, and when our dads had become enemies, so had we.

I heard the spine of the photo album crack as he opened it and the sound of the laminated pages being turned. They were quiet as they looked through it.

Ivy made a noise of consideration. "I don't look like him unless I'm laughing really hard. What do you think?"

"Nothing obvious. I mean, you definitely have his alpha personality. Maybe you take after your mom. Whoever that may be."

"Maybe... if she was in this pack, someone would have known her or seen her walking around pregnant. How far away is the nearest pack?"

"Tahoe." Tahoe was a few hours away.

"Maybe I was conceived in a night of passion... but that doesn't explain why I was abandoned here and not wherever she was from... or the money. The money is highly suspicious." She paused and then giggled. "Silas was a cute baby."

Happiness welled up in me that my mate thought I was cute, and my damn tail wagged. I stopped it from doing more than one quick hit on the sofa, but still, the damage was done.

"Silas is awake. I was worrying there for a second." Cole's laugh wasn't fooling me. Fucker had been worried more than just a second.

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