Page 82 of Awakened
Zach started to cry, so I shifted my weight on his lap and straddled him, wrapping around him and cocooning him in love and comfort. Over the past year, he had given me anything andeverything he could to help me feel cared for. It was my turn to do the same.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me any more.” He shook harder with gut-wrenching sobs as his arms tightened around my waist.
The shittiest part of me hoped he wouldn’t stop talking, but seeing my smiley guy sobbing crushed my heart. I kissed his forehead and brushed back his messy curls. I wanted him to feel better and was willing to go without answers to do that.
What Zach had told me so far was enough to know that these packs were dangerous. These wolves were hypocrites, only worried about the mate bond as it subjected more people to their demented way of life. As much as I hated Alpha Williams’ blind faith in the mate bond, at least he was genuine in his belief.
Another part of me longed for the kind of instantaneous connection Zach described. His story battered against my newly formed understanding of the bond. The logical part of my brain told me that Zach’s experience could coexist with what I had been through and what Grandma Rose had shared, but I was finding it hard to keep my skepticism of the mate bond while Zach wept for the death of a woman he barely knew.
Choking back his tears, he leaned away from my chest. “No, I want to tell you. The only person I ever talked to about this was your dad.” He sucked in a deep breath. “She called me that night on a burner her dad didn’t know about, and we talked for hours. Told me about her life in that pack.” He gently shook his head. “It was terrible, Les. The women were nothing more than domestic help. They were home-schooled, and that stopped when they were sixteen. Grace didn’t have a birth certificate or social security number. She was completely off the grid.
“That’s one way the Old Church Packs say they’re fighting the tyranny of the Regional Powers, but really, it’s a way to control their children. Without basic identification, they can’t easily leave the pack. After our first phone call, I gathered everything she would need to live on the outside. Who would haveknown she’d never get that far?” He wiped his eyes and cleared his throat.
“We spoke nightly for two months. Goddess, she was amazing. So fucking smart and clever. She would steal books from her father’s library and eavesdrop on meetings, steadily building a file on the abuse rampant in her pack, along with all the regional laws they were breaking. Grace was going to bring down the leadership and free her pack members.”
A small smile crept onto his face. “She was always finding ways to undermine the alpha, like secretly teaching her little sisters history, math, science, and combat. She said she never wanted them to be at a man’s mercy like their mother was.”
When he looked up at me, his eyes shimmered with tears. “On one of our last calls, she told me her father had found her a mate, and they would be united that week. She was afraid and knew it was time to run. I wanted to come and get her, but she was worried for my safety, so we arranged to meet in Columbia.” He swallowed thickly. “We were in love. We wanted a life together.”
I wiped a stray tear from his cheek. “Of course you did, Zach. She sounds amazing.” And I wasn’t lying. Grace sounded like the perfect match for Zach in every way.
He nodded, resting his chin on my shoulder. “She was.” He exhaled a hot, heavy breath into my neck. “I waited for six hours, and she never came. When I called the cops near her pack, they told me it was too early to file a missing persons report and to call back the next day.”
He huffed. “I didn’t know what to do, so I started driving toward the Crescent pack but stopped when I got a call telling me they found a Jane Doe with my name and phone number on her. It was actually your dad, and he told me to stay away from the area. That there was a local cop naming me as the primary suspect. We ended up setting a date for him to come down and speak with me in person.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you met my dad?”
“I didn’t want you to know about any of this. I . . . I’ve nevertold anyone about Grace. At first, I was just scared for myself, but then I realized how far their reach went. When I met you and figured out who your dad was, I knew I couldn’t drag you into this mess. I owed him that much. And I didn’t want anyone else to be hurt or killed because of me.” His arms tightened around me. “First Grace, then your dad . . . Les, I don’t think that was an accident. I think your dad was murdered.” He rubbed my back like I was the one who needed to be consoled.
“I never thought it was an accident, Zach. My dad was as strong as an alpha. There’s no way a wild animal got him. I’ve been going through his pack case work, and I think he might’ve been too close to the truth about some missing people. There are a few months of notes to go through, and I’m hoping to find something I can use to stop The Gathering. If what you say and what my dad suspected is true, we would be leading lambs to slaughter.”
“I know you’re right, but I can’t stand the thought of losing you too, Sunshine. You’re too important to me.” He kissed my cheek, and warmth spread through my chest. With his arms around me and his heart beating under my palm, I realized the barriers between us were gone. He had shared his secret with me and been vulnerable. At that moment, I knew I would do anything to protect him and his heart.
I rested my forehead against his. “You’re not going to lose me, Zach. I’m an Amazon Beta, as well as a Spencer.”
He smiled at my bravado. “Well, if you’re doing this, then so am I.”
“You don’t have to. I don’t want you to have to go through all this again.”
“It’s time for me to make my peace with the past, and this is how I’ll do it. If I can keep one woman from Grace’s fate, maybe I can let some of this guilt go.”
“If you’re sure.”
He nodded.
“It would probably be good for someone I trust to have myback.” I wasn’t sure if this was a good idea for Zach, but having his help made me feel safer in this investigation, or whatever you wanted to call it. “Okay, fine. I have about fifty more files to review and a list of packs to research. You want to take point with the packs while I finish going through these reports and notes?”
“You got it!” Zach left and came back with his laptop, and we settled in for a long night of sleuthing.
SEVENTEEN
Zach typed away, compiling all the information he could find on the Wolf, Crescent, Coal, and Dixie Packs—the cornerstone of the Old Church revival. The more we uncovered, the more I realized The Gathering was the least of our worries. Sure, it was a security nightmare and way too much exposure for the werewolf community, but what was really concerning was what the mates of Old Church Pack members would be put through.
I felt stuck in a loop, reading and rereading Grace’s file. After meeting with Zach, my dad was forced to work with the local police department, which was mostly composed of Crescent pack members. Worse, he had no idea who was even a suspect. At the time of Zach and Grace’s last phone call, she hadn’t been told who her chosen mate was.
Evidence went missing, including Grace’s clothes and the DNA samples found under her nails and in her mouth. Gamma Perkins maintained he only had two daughters and didn’t identify the body. Since the Crescent Pack hadn’t reported births past 1985, my dad didn’t have any documentation that Grace was who Zach said she was. They cremated the body before Zach could identify it. Dad’s notes became increasingly frustrated as theRegional Powers didn’t want to get involved without more evidence of deliberate misconduct.
“Why would the Regional Powers be so against intervening in Grace’s case?”
