“Goodnight, Dad.”
I dimmed the lights, leaving his projector on to illuminate his room. I left the door open a crack so Milo could keep an eye on him through the night and made my way down the hallway.
Drake. Kiara will be going with me to Italy. We leave in two days. Make sure her papers are ready as well,I said through the link.
Got it, Alpha.
Dante’s words replayed in my mind as I returned to my bedroom, seeing my nympho removing her earrings, a beautiful smile on her face. It fucking killed me to know she was still in the grasp of the enemy. Did they know exactly what was going on? Did I have to start hiding the truth from her?
I knew the answer to that, and it fucking killed me with guilt. I had just won her trust. By hiding certain things from her, would it affect her faith in me? Closing the gap between us, I kissed her with everything I fucking had…
A Dark Truth
Maria
Just over an eight-hour flight later, we landed in Puerto Rico. The moment we stepped out onto the steps, I was hit by how humid it was. The weather was rather warm, and I waved my hand, fanning my face.
“It is really hot,” Liam murmured. Dressed in three-quarter pants and a white short-sleeved shirt with sunglasses, he was prepared for the weather. I was, too, wearing tan pants and a white chiffon blouse with a large tan-coloured sun hat and sunglasses.
“It is. It’s nice,” Marcel replied. He was dressed the most casually in a t-shirt and jeans, unlike both Liam and I, who looked like tourists. His similarities to Rafael were always a painful reminder of the man I had lost, but they were moons apart. My Rafael was one of a kind, no matter how similar one looked.
We made our way down the steps. I could hear music in the distance, and as we made our way through the airport to collect our luggage, I could tell that the locals all seemed rather friendly, smiling as they walked past or from behind the counters.
“Would you like a drink?” Marcel asked me. Once again, the similarity to Rafael caused a stinging pain in my chest.
“Yes, I wouldn’t mind one,” I replied smoothly with a small smile.
“Are you okay?” Liam asked, taking off his glasses to reveal his dark magnetic blue eyes. I nodded.
“Of course. You should let them know that we have landed,” I advised.
We were posing as a family; Marcel and I were meant to be married, and Liam was meant to be mystepson. I glanced at his dyed dark brown hair. Although it was strange to see Liam with anything but strawberry blond hair, it did suit him and tied him in a little with Marcel, who had his hair pulled back in a bun and had trimmed his beard, which made him look a little neater. He had also donned some glasses to make him look older. Being werewolves, we looked to be in our thirties, not our forties. My fake passport age was thirty-five, whilst Marcel’s was his real age.
“I’ve texted her.”
He smiled, and I knew he was referring to Raven. He grabbed one of our suitcases from the luggage belt. I looked down at my plain black suitcase. It was a shame I couldn’t bring my designer luggage set, but we were meant to blend in. I wasn’t sure we were doing a good job, as several young women and a few older women admired Liam. It was obvious he didn’t realise that half of the looks he was getting were suggestive smiles as he innocently smiled back. He was very different from his parents.
I remembered when I found out Kiara was mated to Alejandro and not Rayhan. I had been very disappointed. I was glad later because they each had the perfect mates; I could not imagine anyone but Delsanra for Rayhan. However, after that time, I remembered hoping Liam and Raihana would be mated, but it wouldn’t have worked. They are far too different, and Raihana would have transformed poor Liam into a slave.
If reincarnation is real, I was sure Raihana was an empress in a past life. I shuddered at the thought. The Moon Goddess always knew what she was doing and created us in pairs that worked well together. Most of the time, she was right. There were cases where things were far from perfect.
“Here you go,” Marcel said, holding out a cold bottle of juice.
“Oh, thank you.” I took it gratefully, unscrewing it and taking a few sips.
“This is the last one. Are we getting a taxi, Dad?” Liam grinned, grabbing the last suitcase.
We had to be careful. Puerto Rico wasn’t big, and only one pack ruled over it. The fact that we were actually going to be digging up information about the pack was bound to get people’s attention, so we needed to stay low for as long as possible. It was a short visit to try to find out what exactly the history of the Escarra family was.
“Alright, let’s check in to our hotel, it’s not far from here. Then we get something to eat before we begin exploring,” Marcel said, picking up two suitcases whilst Liam grabbed the other two.
Exploring meaning get to work.
I nodded. I was fluent in the language, and I would be the one doing most of the digging, with both men acting more as bodyguards. Their huge sizes weren’t easy to miss, and as I walked between the two men, it was obvious they were drawing attention.
It felt like a long time since I was of some use to my family and our packs. I didn’t like to fail. I hoped we found the answers we needed, and I would do my best, I thought as we stepped out into the sun…
A while later, we checked into our hotel suite, which had two rooms. I had my own, and the men were sharing the other. We showered and headed out to find something to eat. We were down by the beach, where there were a variety of restaurants and kiosks. Marcel and Liam were happily trying out several different dishes.
