Page 41 of Forbidden Virgin Mate

"How are you feeling now?" Mateo asks her solemnly. "You gave us quite a scare out there."

Tanya nods, fighting the emotions I can feel coursing through her. "I can't thank you all enough. I honestly thought I was done for out there.”

The two alphas nod, then wait expectantly as she gathers her thoughts. It’s Diego who speaks up. "How can we help, Tanya? I hear you wanted to talk about something?"

Tanya's tears begin to fall before she even gets her first words out, but she fights through it, keeping her voice steady. "I am so sorry. I'm so sorry, Zack. But you all deserve to hear the truth."

There's a long pause before she begins. "It's me. I'm the one emptying the pack accounts. Not Zack; he knows nothing about it. I came here to take revenge on Zack and his family for destroying mine..."

We fall utterly silent as she tells us about growing up with her parents’ stories about how my parents set hers up and how they were banished. How she came up with a plan for revenge and thought I’d profited from my parents’ theft. How she wanted me and Saffy to suffer as she had. And finally, how she came to realize the truth of my relationship with my parents and that none of her suffering was my and my sister’s fault.

We all stand there, completely stunned, as she turns to me. "I took the truck so I could get back to my truck, retrieve my laptop, and stop the transfer this morning. But I didn't make it in time."

So, there had been another transfer, which explains Mateo and Diego's change in attitude toward me today.

Diego runs his hand through his hair and releases a deep breath. "I just don't understand. Or rather, I don't understand how." His voice is full of confusion. "Mateo's guy said he'd never seen hacking like it, like top-level stuff. They couldn't even keep up. Now, I know you teach cybersecurity stuff, but this seems a bit out of your reach. Is someone else involved?"

Tanya chuckles darkly. "I'm less of a college teacher and more the FBI's top black-hat hacker. I mean, I teachthem. I love my students, but it's, um, not my real day job."

"Sweet Jesus," Mateo says. "Do you have proof about Zack's parents? I know you want to believe in your parents’ innocence, but in my experience, banishments don't happen unless the pack is sure."

"I have ironclad proof,” she says. “I'll send you the file."

I stare at her, trying to process everything I've heard as the conversation continues around me.

"Why didn't you just approach the pack with the proof?" Mateo asks.

"Because simply exonerating them doesn't bring back all the years they lost. It won't make my once proud father sober again or make my mom any less bitter over what's happened. The damage is done. I wanted revenge. But now, I understand that I was wrong. I'm more sorry than you could ever imagine."

Diego steps toward the bed. "Knowing Zack's parents and everything he went through, I don't even need to see the proof that you're telling the truth about your parents’ innocence. They were just that sort." He turns to face me. "And nothing like Zack or Saffy. Forgive me for ever doubting you, Zack. The transfer today seemed to confirm everything, and I'm ashamed to say that for a moment, I believed it."

"Accept my apologies, too, Zack," Mateo says from across the room. "I should have listened to my gut and never doubted you. I should have listened to Diego; he knew his man. I'll get the word out immediately to let everyone know."

I nod in thanks to them, but then something occurs to me. "What about Tanya?"

Mateo steps closer. "Well, I can say this. I've recently learned some valuable lessons about forgiveness." He nods at Diego in emphasis, then looks back at Tanya. "What you do next, Tanya, is up to you. But you won't be banished a second time, and your parents will be officially pardoned. I'll reach out to them personally and see if we can help put things right. I know that's a stretch, but we'll try. I'm not condoning what you did here, and I think you've got a lot to think about. But we'll talk about it later, okay?"

Tanya looks at her alpha, wide-eyed. “I thought you'd tell me to go," she says, her body shaking.

"I have no appetite to punish your family further," Mateo says. "I'll wait outside, Diego."

As Mateo leaves, I look at Diego, wondering what his take on the situation will be. He sighs, seemingly looking for the right words.

"I'm not going to lie, Tanya. I'm pissed as hell. Zack's been through enough with his parents to be put through all this, too. It's not right. But it sounds like you already know that. Mateo's your alpha, and he's spoken. Where you're concerned, I’ll defer to Zack. I can see your remorse, and I know it takes a lot to admit when you're wrong. Hell, I'm probably no one to judge. Zack knows better than almost anyone how much I struggled with forgiveness, but in the end, it’s been the making of me and my pack."

With that, he claps me on the shoulder and heads out, too. I hear the two alphas chat in the corridor for a moment, and then there’s silence.

I stand there, trying to process everything I've heard. Then a thought occurs to me, and I can't help the mirthless chuckle that erupts from nowhere.

Tanya looks at me, shocked.

"Sorry," I laugh. "It just occurred to me how typical it is of my parents to manage to shit on me from even beyond the grave."

Tanya looks so achingly small and broken in the bed, my laughter dies as I look at her. "How could you do it to Saffy?" I ask. "That's the bit I don't understand."

"I, um, set up an account for her. Offshore. It has over six million dollars in it. And I knew she'd have you, too. But I am so sorry. She’s a big part of the reason I've confessed. I couldn't do it. To her or you. I'm so sorry." She sobs.

I catch on to something she said. "Six million dollars?" I ask incredulously. "Where from? There was nowhere near that much in the pack accounts."

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