I tried to shake it off, but the feeling of dread settled in my chest like a heavy stone. If I weren’t driving, I’d have cracked my knuckles—a nervous tell I’d outgrown as a teenager. With all the stress it had made an unwelcome reappearance. It was only my second week as alpha, and I was about to deliver the most horrific news to already-grieving parents. The news would be difficult enough to hear if I was just telling them she’d beenmurdered, but I had to tell them the horrible truth that their daughter had chosen to align herself with an enemy of our pack.
It wasn’t the most favorable part of being alpha, but it came with the position. There was no way around it, no way to delegate to anyone else. I would be expected to handle these types of situations. Pack members died all the time, and it was my duty as alpha to pay respects to the dead and show my support for the living.
There had been murders before, but thankfully, they were few. This time was different, though. The factors swirling around Cecily’s death were unprecedented. We’d never had a shifter turn on the pack in such a way. No one had actively worked against the pack with an enemy the way Cecily had.
My biggest fear was their reaction. How would a parent react when told their child, their only child, was a traitor? I’d already seen their grief firsthand when I’d visited them the day she died. Would they be angry at Cecily? Would they be angry at me? As the pack’s alpha, shouldn’t I have realized what was happening sooner and prevented her actions—her murder? Or would they be more concerned with how the other pack members would take the news and if it might affect their status within the pack? An ugly thought, but not an unrealistic one.
The Bankses had always been concerned about status. They’d always given Cecily everything she wanted. Yes, she was spoiled and had an ugly side to her, but I imagined her parents had only wanted the best for her. They’d had high hopes for Cecily, which included marrying me, pushing us together at every opportunity, and dropping not so subtle hints. I was confident Cecily never loved me; she liked the idea of being the alpha’s mate, the status it would give her. She’d have gotten over her supposed heartache at “losing” me, and she’d have met someone. Mr. and Mrs. Banks could’ve been planning a wedding for.
Instead, because of Cecily’s choices, they were planning her funeral.
There was no way to imagine the pain of losing a child. No parent should have to go through that trauma, and no parent deserved that trauma to be worsened by the words I was about to deliver. Cecily was a traitor.
“Hey.” Liza reached over the center console to grasp my hand. Her touch was a balm to my nerves, even if only for a brief moment. “You’ve got this. Remember, you’re their alpha, and you’re taking time out of your busy schedule to have a one-on-one meeting with them. I’m sure there are other alphas out there who wouldn’t give a second thought to the parents of someone who’d turned their back on their pack. They’ll see your kindness, even if what you tell them shatters their world.”
I smiled weakly at her. That was one of the many reasons I loved her deeply. She always knew what to say to calm me down. I wasn’t sure her presence and comforting words would have the same effect on Cecily’s parents, though. The more I considered the consequences, the more I worried that bringing her with me might not have been the best idea. Would they see it as me rubbing salt into their already painful wounds?
I couldn’t reply. There was nothing to say. I just thanked the gods they’d blessed me with such a wonderful, caring woman to share my life with. I tried to focus on the task at hand instead of dwelling on the countless potential outcomes. My only option was to tell them the truth, provide evidence, and let them react in whatever damn way they would. It was out of my control.
Liza pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and grinned sheepishly. “Since they’re mourning, I thought about baking them something to bring with us, but considering their daughter was just murdered with poisoned candy, I thought better of it.”
I nodded, fighting the upward curve of my lips.
From the backseat, Dad barked out a laugh. “Good call, Liza.”
When we pulled up to the Banks family home—well, it was more like a damn mansion—I tried to remember exactly what I’d planned on saying last night. I was up until the early hours of the morning, pacing my office floor, working on the speech I’d have to give to the pack, and practicing how I’d deliver the news to Cecily’s family.
“Ready?” Liza asked. She’d removed her seatbelt and turned slightly in her seat, blue eyes searching mine.
“Let’s get this over with.” I squeezed her hand one last time and gathered myself. Then, as if we’d rehearsed it, the three of us stepped out of the SUV as one.
The housekeeper waited patiently at the door. Her expression was somber but less tearful than it had been at my last visit. She gestured for us to follow her, our footsteps echoing in the grand hallway as she led us through the impeccably decorated home into the same sitting room. The grandeur of the Banks family home was hard to ignore—a testament to their affluence and high status within the pack.
“Please have a seat,” the housekeeper murmured before retreating and closing the door behind her, leaving us with Tina and Robert Banks, who were seated on a plush sofa across from us. Grief marred their faces, their eyes red-rimmed.
“Mr. and Mrs. Banks.” Dad’s deep and booming voice seemed to fill the room. “It’s good to see you both again, though I wish it was under different circumstances.”
“Thank you for visiting us.” Tina avoided eye contact with Dad as she fiddled with the hem of her skirt nervously. She was clearly on edge and had to be wondering what necessitated a visit by the retired alpha, as well as myself, the current alpha.
“Of course.” Dad’s tone was gentle yet authoritative. “I know the police informed you yesterday that Cecily had been murdered. We have new information we wanted to share with you before Ty makes an official statement to the public.”
He turned to me, giving me a brief nod of encouragement.
Without hesitating, I forced myself to speak the words that would shake the foundation of the Banks’s home. “I’m sorry this isn’t going to be easy to hear, but we’ve discovered evidence that Cecily was working with Castro, the fugitive still at large. We believe he’s the one who sent the poison-laced bonbons that killed her.”
Tina gasped and covered her mouth. Robert jumped up, anger flashing in his eyes. “Preposterous! Why would you come into our home after our daughter has just died and make these accusations?” He scoffed, his voice laced with bitterness. “You think your so-called evidence could justify tarnishing our daughter’s memory? You have no right! Our daughter is gone, and nothing can bring her back! Your allegations only serve to add to our misery. You’re no alpha, you’re just a jumped-up nobody.”
Well, shit, that went well.
I clenched my jaw, ignoring the sarcastic voice in my head. Luckily, I’d come prepared. I opened the folder I’d brought—the one that was filled with printed pages containing the damning text messages and emails between Cecily and Castro—and handed it over to her parents.
Robert sat back down next to his wife, and the air grew heavy as they scanned the damning pages, their expressions shifting from disbelief to shock.
The pages shook in Tina’s trembling hands as tears streamed down her face. “Wh-what is this?” she stammered.
Robert tightened his grip on the paper.
“This is the evidence we’ve uncovered during the current course of our investigation. Unfortunately, the evidence is irrefutable,” I said softly. “Cecily was working with Castro. While we don’t have any answers yet about why she did this, we’re still investigating.”
