Page 3 of Knot in My Wildest Dreams: Part 2
“There’s a paper trail of a bunch of unethical, and highly illegal, activities going on at Harringday that have been done in secret. And I’m the one signing off on all of it, apparently.”
He sat back, stunned. “How is that even possible?” He asked, troubled. “And how is it being done under your name with no one telling you?”
I sighed and rubbed my forehead in frustration. “I don’t know how my signature is being forged. But from what I can determine so far, there are secret deals being done under the table. There’s no trace of it anywhere that I can access, and yet there are documents with my signature for shady deals that do exist. And the worst thing is, there was a prior incident that I caught where someone had forged my signature. There was a factory fire in Tedena, leading to a payoff with my signature. Only it wasn’t me, it was a staff member using my name. I just thought it was a one time incident, and that it would never happen again.” I sighed, and Julian's grip tightened.
“Do you know who’s behind it?” He asked, his brow furrowed.
“I don’t know for sure, but I have my suspicions. The only other time something like this happened, it was my uncle’s assistant Arnault, who was fired. Now my uncle has a new assistant, Sterling, who would have the same access as Arnault. Between all the documents, it’s either Arnault or Sterling who forged my signature and listed themself as a witness on the documents. But this goes way beyond shady deals. There were things -” I choked up at the memory. “Things that happened that I can’t even speak of. Horrific things.”
Julian sat back, letting out a deep breath in amazement.
“It’s crazy that this has been happening without my knowledge. It has to go so much deeper than I thought. And Pack Lockwood, well, they always hated me. I never understood why.” I thought back to when I found out they were behind the kidnapping. With all the context of what was happening to their company, and the evidence that falsely pointed to me being behind the Arkalamassacre, I was seeing their actions toward me in a new light. No wonder they thought I was a monster. They knew more about what was going on at Harringday than I did, and based on the evidence, it all pointed to me. Yet, I still felt betrayed at their lack of faith in me. After all that time, all those moments, they still distrusted me. I was their scent-match. Theirmate.
Julian looked angry. “You know what, screw Pack Lockwood. They seemed too smug for their own good. I knew they were scummy from the start!” He said, pissed off on my behalf. A smile broke through on my face, despite my situation.
“I know. But here’s the worst part,” I whispered. “I fell for them.”
Julian’s mouth dropped open, then he sat up excitedly. “Iknewit!”
My brows lifted. “Knew what?”
“Even if the courtship was fake,” he said with a teasing grin, “you were way too convincing. Your chemistry was off the charts! I could feel it through the screen during interviews. You were in a fake relationship with us, and we never showed an ounce of what you had with them. You guys were lightning together. And trust me, I know chemistry.” Julian said, and I thought about how in love he was with the rest of Pack Valence.
I smiled sadly. “Well, it’s all over now. They thought I was behind all the things going on at Harringday, and they found proof. No matter what happened between us, they were planning on getting me removed from my position there.” I thought backto the conversation I’d overheard, right before I discovered the documents they had on me. They were going to bring forth the evidence to the authorities and the public, which would end my career. They were planning on this, even though they grew to care about me. They were going to ‘save me from myself’, keep me as a pet, I suppose. If and when the documents were released, I’d not only be removed from my position, but I’d be severed from my claim to Harringday Industries and all the wealth that came with it. I’d be left with nothing. I’d have to bond with a pack to keep up my lifestyle. They were going to save me, in their own misguided way. They thought I was disturbed. It was only when I found a discrepancy in one of the documents, leaving it there for them, that I’d received a barrage of confused texts from them, begging me to talk.
“Celeste, if they aren't smart enough to see how amazing, intelligent, and how truly good you are down to your soul, then they never deserved you anyway.” Julian said as he patted my arm.
I sat back, sipping my tea. My heart ached. The knowledge of what was happening in my company, the betrayal from Pack Lockwood, and the intense ache to still be near them, was so much to bear. But I would bear it.
First, I had to survive this. Whoever was forging my name had to be exposed. I would clear my name, no matter what the cost. And once I did… there would be consequences for every single person who let this happen.
I made a promise to myself that I would never let anyone go behind my back again. That is, if it all didn’t blow up in my facefirst. Pack Lockwood had all the evidence they needed to take me down, yet nothing had been leaked to the press yet.
Still, I’d lost my hope in them. They didn’t trust me, and I clearly couldn’t trust them. And just to make things even worse, my heat was coming soon. I’d have to just ride it out here, alone in Pack Valence’s guest house under their protection. I’d done it before, when I pretended to date them. They had no interest in me, only in Julian.
But my next heat would likely be excruciatingly painful now that my body knew that my scent matches, my mates, were out there. It would have been so nice to have all of my true mates with me for my heat - my body would ride it out so much better than anything before. But that dream was over. My dreams of a perfect pack, a perfect life, were shattered.
Now, my only dream was to make it through this. And I was determined - I’d take back my company, and clear my name. And I’d do it alone.
Chapter 4
Dante
Elijah lived nearby in one of the buildings our pack owned. It was a quiet, safe place where there would be no prying ears. The door opened before I knocked.
“Hey! What’s been going on? What’s the plan?” Elijah asked, welcoming me in. Inside, it was neat - like he barely lived there. Which made sense. He was usually with us, or at work.
The reason for my visit was two-fold. I needed to determine who was behind the forged signatures that implicated Celeste. Also, I needed to check in with Elijah. He’d been blowing up my phone for an update, asking why we hadn’t taken any action on what we found. I needed more information from him without divulging what Celeste meant to me, or to the pack. He still didn’t know she was our scent-match. I hated lying to him, but no one couldknow she was our scent match, not now, not when everything was so precarious. It was a huge liability - everyone would know that they could use her to hurt us, and we didn’t know who the real enemy was.
“So? What’s the plan?”
I could tell he was excited, knowing that the documents I found were far more implicating than I ever hoped to discover. I tried to act neutral.
“We’re planning something. This needs to be done right.” I replied, and he seemed frustrated.
“You finally have what you need! Proof of what she did! Take it to the press, and she’ll be done for!” He said, seemingly confused as to why we’d wait at all.
“I get it, but there’s a right and wrong way to do this. The information was hacked, and I need to make sure none of it can ever be questioned. So, your original source, it was Arnault right?” I asked.
