Page 57 of Verses and Blooms
It wasn’t until I got to the last page that I jolted out of my chair and ran to the nearest bathroom, dry heaving over the toilet as the lunch I ate earlier started to rise. Sobs echoed out along with the heaving, my body reacting violently to what my mind couldn’t quite comprehend.
“What is it?” Ares said in alarm as he swept my hair back with his hand, holding it for me and keeping it out of the line of fire as my stomach emptied out violently.
“Give her a minute,” Caspian snapped, shoving Ares out of the way and taking his place. He gathered my hair with one hand and reached into the cupboard next to the sink, pulling out a washcloth and soaking it with cool water before dabbing at the back of my neck and temples where sweat had started to gather.
“You’re okay, Audrey. Whatever you saw is in the past. You’re safe with us.”
“Am I?” I asked, raising my eyes to meet his as tears streamed down my face.
“What did you see?” Ares asked more gently this time. He wasn’t demanding information like he did at first. I knew he was alarmed, but Caspian was right. He had to work on his reactions when it came to me.
The gentle words had the answer falling from my lips.
“My parents were on that page,” I whispered.
Caspian’s eyes widened and the two alphas glanced at each other and then back to me as another sob escaped.
“Does that mean they sold me? This was a setup and they knew where I was the entire time?”
Chapter Twenty
Ares
“Does that mean they sold me?”Her words echoed in my mind over and over again, like a haunting melody that wouldn’t get out of my head.
Her parents were involved. Parents who had walked right into ARC like they had any right to. The ones who had been on the news telling people how sad they were about what happened to their daughter.
Yet, they were likely at fault for putting her there.
Caspian, Kane, Ansel, and Rydell all crowded around our mate, offering comfort. The chief’s jaw was tight when I walked back in. I could see the questions blazing in his eyes and couldn’t ignore it. I took the page from the folder and slid it across the table.
“These are her parents,” I relayed to him and Ledger, who had stayed behind to keep the peace. I could tell from the hard cut to his jaw he was straining to stay right where he was.
The Chief’s eyes widened as he looked at the page, pulling it closer.
Ledger leaned in and frowned. “These are the ones that came to visit,” he confirmed. “I remember seeing them that day.”
“Chief—” I started, but he already held up a hand, pulling out his phone, snapping a picture, and then calling someone.
“Sanchez, she’s not through the folder yet, but the last page of the dossier, the pack? Those assholes are her parents. I’m sending you a screenshot of them so we’re on the same page, but I need you to do a deep dive. We clearly don’t have their full dossier. I need the names they used with ARC and I want bank records, birth certificate for Audrey, hospital records… everything you can find me.”
He listened quietly for a moment before looking up at me. “Do you have anything to add?”
I took the phone from him, closing my eyes as I addressed the man I knew would find us answers. “I need you to figure out if they’re actually her parents.”
“On it, Ares. I’ll pause my other searches for this. It shouldn’t take me long. They aren’t exactly being discreet with their faces all over the news and walking right in here like they had any right to.”
So, he’d seen the broadcasts, too. Knew Audrey’s past and her parents’ involvement. Good. It would make this search more meaningful.
We said a quick goodbye before I handed the chief his phone back. Dinner was forgotten. Nobody had even taken a bite yet, the plates sat untouched. It was just something to keep our hands busy.
This wasn’t exactly a meal-time conversation.
The rest of our pack came in, Kane and Caspian supporting Audrey as they helped her back into her chair. The chief kept the paper with her parents’ faces turned facedown in front of him, so she didn’t have to see them again.
“You don’t have to keep going,” he told her.
Her smile was sad as she looked up at him. “If only that were true, David.”
