My stomach sinks. I nod; my words caught in my throat. What kind of horror would it take to make Aidan Blackwood calmer? I don’t want to imagine how they are using those omegas to make money. Especially Katie.
“Whatever they were doing, it made a lot of money for the packs,” she adds, her voice flat. “I used to do a lot of pack administrative stuff; bookkeeping, filing, whatever was needed. There were delivery dockets of stuff that I didn’t understand, things that never came to the pack. But I remember the addresses of the locations they used.”
A surge of determination courses through my veins. My mind reels, struggling to comprehend the weight of Emily’s words. The air crackles with anticipation. Every syllable feels like another puzzle piece falling into place. A flicker of possibility dances in her eyes, a beacon of light piercing through the veil of uncertainty.
With bated breath, I urge her to continue, my heart pounding in my chest. To imagine finding Katie, after all this time, believing she was gone forever, is inconceivable. Emily’s voice trembles, laden with the weight of her revelation.
“Do you have any idea what this means?” I blurt, pulling her into me and kissing her hard. “You might be the key to finding out what happened to Katie and all of those other she-wolves. We might be able to save them or at least get justice for them.”
She gazes back at me, blinking rapidly. “Do you think… What if this is the reason Aidan was my mate?” she whispers. “I had to be with someone so awful that leaving was the only option. If I had stayed, we would never have crossed paths.”
There are tears in her eyes again, but she smiles at me. “Maybe this was the Moon Goddess’s plan all along? And if so, maybe it’s so that I can do something to help all of those other she-wolves.”
“Fuck,if that’s true, it’s really fucking messed up,” I say with a sigh. “I’ve always hated it when people say things happen for a reason and I can’t imagine why the goddess would do that to you. Why she would make you suffer rather than finding another way?”
Her hand finds mine, intertwining our fingers. But seeing the determination in her eyes, I recognize she sees the silver lining of her suffering. Emily nods slowly, fingers threading through mine. “I get that. But if it leads to saving them, then maybe the pain had a purpose.”
I despise how she has had to go through so much both before and after she got here. And it’s always seemed like an asshole thing to say to someone who's been through trauma. That everything happens for a reason? Bullshit. I don’t want her to have suffered for anyone’s cause—not even a divine one—but I get what she’s saying. She’s trying to make meaning out of all the shit she went through. And maybe she’s right. Maybe she was meant for more.
I send Ryan a mindlink to inform him I have information and let him request a meeting. “Will you come to Ryan’s office and share your insight with us and Caleb? If you’re well enough? Or they can come here?”
“Of course, I just hope it’s the information you need to find some answers.” Emily’s eyes shine with unshed tears as she gets dressed to head to Ryan’s office. Caleb went back to his pack yesterday as Alpha now that he defeated Anderson in the challenge, so we will need to video call him.
I can’t believe how lucky I am that I’ve not only found the girl of my dreams, but she might be the answer to the dream I wasn’t aware of until a few days ago.
Chapter 34
Emily
Maya smiles at me as our call connects. “Emily, I’m so relieved to see you. Sofia messaged me to say you were in the hospital after a run-in with your ex.”
“Yeah,” I say with a slow exhale. “It was pretty scary.” And that’s the understatement of the century.
“Would you like to talk about what happened?” Maya asks. Honestly, I have no idea how to explain anything in a human-appropriate way.
I can’t tell her I rejected my fated mate and killed him before he could forcibly bond with me, or about Jackson and Ryan killing his warriors. She couldn’t possibly understand how, even though I wasn’t physically hurt, rejecting Aidan was potentially fatal. She won’t understand the mate bond that snapped into place with Jackson as soon as Aidan died. And she certainly can’t fathom how I’m helping investigate a supernatural trafficking ring run by Alpha wolves.
Even in the world of trauma therapy, that might be a bit much.
So instead, I keep it vague. “I told Aidan I’d never go back to him. It got physical. But I’m okay now.”
Because I am genuinely doing fine. Maya tilts her head, studying me through the screen. “You look grounded, Emily. Centered.”
I nod, because it’s true.
“I never thought I’d be brave enough to stand up to him,” I admit. “But now, after our sessions, Jackson’s self-defense classes, and finding a friend who builds me up all the time, it seems as if everything might actually work out. It’s like I finally stepped into the version of myself I was always meant to be.”
“And none of it would have been possible if not for your initial escape. You saved yourself, Emily. The rest of us have just given a helping hand after the fact.”
I smile because I understand even more than Maya does how what she is saying is true. I really did save myself. And no one I care about got hurt in the process. Well, Jacksonhad a few scrapes and bites but nothing too serious, and he was already healed by the time I woke up. Luca probably fared the worst, but Sofia maintains it resulted from his own mistakes and had nothing to do with me. I don’t understand why exactly. From my perspective, he was attempting to protect her—however unnecessary or misguided—but Sofia disagrees.
I probably shouldn’t be so at ease with taking a life, but I can’t help it. The world is a better place without Aidan Blackwood in it. And knowing I have been able to help with the ongoing rescue mission makes it so much better. “I’m really happy. I think I’m ready to cut back our sessions to weekly.”
“That’s fantastic. I’m delighted for you. And you can always increase again if needed.”
We spend the remainder of the session working on letting go of some of the shame I have carried for not getting out sooner. I find it hard emotionally accepting none of what happened with Aidan was my fault, regardless of how many times I hear it or how much logical sense it makes.
I tried to leave sooner, and he caught me and made me suffer for it, but I still feel so stupid for letting things go so far before my next escape attempt.
