There was a long pause before Liza finally replied. “I’m not sure. It seemed like a memory”—because it was indeed a memory—“but there’s no way any of that could’ve actually happened, or that I would be able to remember it with such clarity and vivid detail.”
Standing, I started to pace the length of my office. She remembered because it had happened. It wasn’t a dream. It was a memory of a trauma she’d endured—been forced to endure because of my father and our pack.
She’d been four years old when her parents were killed. I didn’t know or understand how she was able to have such perfect recall about the battle my father had described. Her wolf hadn’t even been present at the time, so they couldn’t behermemories. I wanted to believe that so much, to tell myself it was so, but I didn’t buy my own bullshit.
Or perhaps having a strong memory was another power of an omega. All of the stories I’d heard about omegas painted them as almost mystical creatures with abilities that went far beyond that of an average shifter.
“Are you still there?” Liza asked.
Fuck. I needed to pay attention. She needed support. I was the man for that. “Yes, sorry. I was just trying to make sense of your dream.” I stopped pacing and rested my free hand on my hip. I needed a lie, and I needed it fast. And she would have to forgive me. I had no other choice.
“I was trying to think of what you had for dinner. Sometimes strange foods can give me nightmares.” The lie came too easily. I was ashamed.
Liza scoffed. “No, Ty. You don’t understand.”
“Okay, Liza.” I kept my voice calm despite the frustration aching through me. “Make me understand. What are you trying to say?”
She choked back a sob. “I think it was more than a dream. Beyond that, I just don’t know.” She let out a shaky breath. “Either way, I want to learn more about my family. Not the Mims. My original birth family.”
Fuck. I had to stall her while I got to the bottom of everything with Stone. “I think that’s a natural desire for someone who’s adopted. Listen, let me get through this work day, then we can meet for dinner and talk this through.” That bought me about four hours. “Please, try not to worry about it. I know that’s easy for me to say since it isn’t my life in the gray area, but try not to focus on the dream. It sounded pretty traumatic to me. Dwelling on it will only upset you more.”
“I’ll try.” Liza’s voice leveled out and wasn’t as highly-strung as it had been a moment before.
We hung up, and I jogged over to the manager’s office. “Hey, I’m heading out early.” I had to let someone know or there would be questions, and I didn’t need more of those.
He popped his head up from his computer. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, I just need to take care of something back at the estate. Call me if you run into any more issues with the temp employees.”
I wasn’t scheduled to be at the plant today, but I’d woken up to a text from the temp agency saying that they couldn’t fill the scheduled shifts for the day. After many threats to move our business to the agency in the next town over, they miraculously filled our request. I’d still needed to check that things went well, though. With everything else going on, I needed business to be solid.
My mind raced, trying to determine if I had some other option, but I couldn’t think of an alternative. I needed to talk to Dad and tell him that my idea to negotiate with Stone hadn’t worked out. We had no other option but to take him out, officially removing the threat forever.
After days of waiting for a response from Zephyr, I determined he’d been unsuccessful in finding dirt on Stone. My hands were tied, and I hated having to admit that to my father.
The drive home seemed longer than usual as I imagined the curse-laden lecture I would receive after admitting failure to Dad. He would feel compelled to remind me that he was, after all, the alpha, and that I should’ve listened to him. He would certainly say he had been around much longer than me and knew what kind of person Stone was, that the guy couldn’t be reasoned with or threatened, which had been my plan.
Just as I pulled into the driveway, my phone rang. Zephyr’s name flashed on the screen.
A sliver of hope lodged in my stomach. “Speak of the devil, Zephyr. I was just thinking about you.”
He chuckled. “I don’t know if I should be flattered or creeped the fuck out.”
“You’re the one who dropped off the face of the earth, man.” I tried to keep the annoyance out of my voice, but I couldn’t hide the edge to it.
“I’m sorry for the radio silence, Ty.” He sighed heavily into the phone.
Shit. That wasn’t a good sign.
“You’ll understand why it’s taken me so long to get back to you once you see what I found. I’m at the tech store.” My stomach churned. He wasn’t coming to meet me because more than once in history the messenger had not, due to rage inspired by his message, returned.
“On my way.” I tossed my phone onto the driver’s seat and made a U-turn in the driveway.
By the time I pulled into the parking lot of Techno Trends, I’d run every scenario I could imagine through my head. Maybe he’d found information on Stone that would give me leverage. Not just any type of leverage, though. I needed facts that would send Stone running with his fucking tail tucked between his legs, never to be seen in Presley Acres again.
I walked straight through to the office, and found Zephyr hunched over his multiple computer screens and keyboard.
“All right, what do you have for me?” I pulled up a chair and leaned forward, prepared for whatever news he had to give.
