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I heard various muffled sounds; then everything cleared up. She said excuse me several times, and then there was a deep sigh from her—she truly loved her new life in Spain—and then she was back.

“Go ahead, sweetheart.”

I felt a surge of melancholy over us being apart. I missed her more than I would ever give voice to, as it would make her feel guilty, and that was not my place. Because truly, I was happy for her and my father, but it ached that they were no longer simply across town. I wasn’t a child anymore, and they deserved their new easy life, but still, not bumping into her at our favorite bakery anymore made me sad.

“Mom, you’re a vault of jarl history. Do you recall the Wellingtons?”

“Well, yes, of course, dear. They owned that abomination on Prairie Drive.” She chuckled. “At least that’s what my grandmother used to say. And really, you remember seeing it before it was torn down. It was an eyesore. It’s too bad they couldn’t have kept it up, but the family lost everything in the crash that began the Great Depression and were too proud to sell the land.”

“So now there’s the Wellington Estate, but no Wellingtons, is that right?”

“I believe so.”

“Our auction house is taking care of some documents that were found in the house before it was finally torn down.”

“Who bought the land? Are there plans to build?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, let me know when you do. And there aren’t any more Wellingtons per se, but both the Wilkes family and the Lovells are related to them.”

“How?”

“There were two brothers. Clay Wellington was the oldest, the alpha, and Beriah Wellington was the second born, who happened to be a beta. When Clay died in a hunting accident, he left his mate, Wallis, with child. When their son, Richard, was born, he became alpha, with his mother acting in his stead until he came of age.”

“What if Clay had no children?”

“But he did.”

“Humor me.”

“Well, then Beriah would have been made head of the family, even being a beta.”

“And who are Beriah’s descendants?”

“I believe the name is now Lovell, as I said earlier, but don’t take my word for it. Check the lineage database to be sure.”

“You said the Wellingtons became Lovells. That’s Beriah’s side, yes?”

“Again, check on that.”

“And you said the Wilkeses, so then they must be Clay’s son Richard’s descendants.”

“That’s correct.”

“Wilkes as in River Wilkes?”

“Yes,” she said disdainfully. “He runs in the same crowd as that horrible Deacon Houghton-Crowne and Royce Kimball. None of those alphas should breed.”

I barked out a laugh. “That’s harsh, dear.”

“Don’t call me dear, I’m not your grandmother, and it’s true. You’ve seen them at the gatherings, entitled, arrogant assholes. I hate them, especially how they treat the omegas.”

She wasn’t wrong. Thankfully, she’d missed how they’d treated me. She and my father had been traveling during the gathering at Graeme Davenport’s. And there was no reason to ever tell her that Deacon was my mate, and that he’d rejected me. I would take that secret to my grave. “Do you know what happened to Beriah?”

“I believe that once Richard was born, Wallis forced Beriah and his mother to leave. I think they went west, settling in Texas, if memory serves. After many generations, the family name became Lovell, and I think they made their money in oil.”

“But not Beriah. He and his mother were forced from their home. I mean, his descendants did well, but we don’t know how he suffered once he left Chicago, do we?” I asked her.