Page 67 of Fire Bound

“Just that one. It’s super weird, it’s like Genevieve’s family has been wiped from existence. They went off the grid or something thirty some odd years ago,” I tell her, sounding disappointed we couldn’t find more out. I shouldn’t really be surprised that we hit a roadblock. We’ve been hitting them every way we turn lately. Why should this gift be any different.

Isabeau shakes her head. “No, it’s not weird at all. It’s smart.”She would think thatI think flippantly. “Especially because of whoheis.” She points at the picture.

I can’t see exactly where she’s pointing from my angle, but it looks like it’s at the little boy. “Yeah, that’s William. We’ve already had a run-in with him in the past. He was working with Nicolai.” He was also the one who masterminded Nicolai’s obsession with Gen. “After Pru killed Nicolai, William fell off the face of the earth again. I’m sure he’s off licking his wounds—”

“Remington,” Beau snaps impatiently. “I know who William is and he’s not who I’m talking about. I’m talking abouthim.” I look down again at where she’s pointing and at this adjusted angle I finally see who she’s talking about. “I don’t know how I never saw it before. I was never in the same room as both of them, but now as I’m staring at this picture, I can’t believe I missed it. The resemblance is glaring. I should have figured out William was his kid.”

“I’m not following, Beau.”

“William is not who we need to worry about. He’s nothing but a pathetic child looking for approval. His father is the one who’s been pulling the strings all along. He’s the one we’re looking for.” Pulling my gaze away from the picture, I stare wide eyed at Isabeau as she finally says, “Pruitt’s grandfather is—”

“Sterling,” I breathe out

“Yes,” she confirms. It takes a lot to make the vampire look shocked, but right now her eyes are as wide as mine and I swear she’s paler than usual.

“You’re positive? We need to be sure, Beau, before we tell anyone anything.”

“This picture was taken a long time ago, well before the accident, but even without the scars all over his face, I know it’s him. This is Sterling. I’d recognize him anywhere, but if you don’t trust my judgment, take this to Jax.”

“No, I trust you,” I assure her. Isabeau was trained personally by Sterling. Jax may be Sterling’s son, but he spent way more time with the vampire than Jax. “What accident are you talking about?”

“Sterling was badly burned sixteen years ago in a fire.” Beau begins to pace the room “He was never able to get rid of the scars.”

“He’s a wolf shifter, we can heal from a burn.”

“Yes, you can when it’s a normal fire, but not when it’shellfire.”

Jax.

Taking the picture back from Beau, I stare down at it, committing it to memory before folding it up. The idea of framing it and giving it to Pru no longer seems like a good idea. I shove it into the pocket of my jeans for safekeeping. “I need to go,” I announce. “I need to go tell everyone.” I need to tell PruittandJax. They need to know how they’re related.

Beau nods. “Go now. I’ll drive over with Winslow.” She fishes the keys to her Jeep out of her leather pants. “Take my car.”

I snag the keys from her hand before sprinting out the door.

The last timeI drove these roads, I was racing through them because I was being chased. I’m not being chased now, but I’m driving just as fast, if not faster. I know we aren’t going to be able to do anything immediately with the information, but it’s been the first real information we’ve gotten on Sterling since the start of this and I want to tell everyone as soon as possible.

I also want to be the one to tell Pruitt and Jax. Even though we have the picture now as glaring proof, I still think it will be easier for them to believe and wrap their head around if they hear it coming from me.

We always knew this all tied back to Genevieve, but we thought it was because of her history with Nicolai. William orchestrated for Gen to be given to Nicolai. Nico wanted to breed a powerful pack and if he was going to do that, he was going to need a powerful she-wolf to carry his pups. Before Nicolai could force a mating bond on Gen, she found her true mate. Once a wolf is mated, they can never be impregnated by another and just like that Gen became useless to Nico.

Now that we know who Sterling is, I can’t help but think that it wasn’t William setting up Nicolai with Gen, but Sterling pulling the strings like he always is.

After coming around a curve of the road, I floor it because I know the next mile of road is perfectly straight with no stop signs. Just as I’m getting to the speed I want to be at, I’m forced to slam on my brakes as the sight in front of me comes into view.

It must have just happened, there’s still smoke coming off the destroyed motorcycle in the middle of the road. Putting the car in park, I search the accident for signs of people or another vehicle. With no other car or motorcycle to be seen, I deduce the rider must have lost control or it was a hit and run. The latter doesn’t seem likely as we’re still on pack territory and no one in the pack would do that to another member.

Climbing out of the car, I race toward the destroyed motorcycle. It’s bent and scraped up. Just like the night of my wreck, fluid leaks out of it onto the road. I look for signs of the rider, a trail of blood or footprints.Something. But the road is devoid of both.

Alarm bells go off in my head as the hair on the back of my neck and arms rise. Not until my wolf begins to growl low in her throat do I see the familiar sticker on the motorcycle. My body freezes in place as I figure out who this bike belongs to. I’m ashamed it took me so long since I’ve ridden on the back of it many times, but it’s not supposed to be here. It was supposed to have been shipped back to his parents with the rest of Gage’s belongings.

Scanning the trees and empty road around me with a watchful eye, I search for who or what could have crashed Gage’s bike. Or, what’s starting to feel more likely, this bike was left here for me to find. But who would do this to me?

The whole thing feels offs and like a trap.

Warily, I turn back toward Isabeau’s matte black Jeep so I can call her or Ryker about what I found. I want to call Jax, but the burner phone he had he destroyed before he went on his poorly thought-out solo trip to Seattle.

My back is just turned to the bike crash when the explosion happens. My first assumption is that the bike has blown up, but the sound is too far away. Whirling back around, I search for the source and find black smoke billowing up from the trees many miles away on the other side of pack territory.

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