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Her voice was so quiet, and my heart ached a little. “We’ll find the facility,” I said firmly, nodding. “We’ll find her parents. We’ll find out who they were. Besides…” I licked my lips, not sure if I wanted to share the thought that had been rolling around in my head since yesterday. But I decided to press onward.
“Did you actually see them die? They might have kept her parents alive to try and lure her back like bait, especially if they need alpha blood to gain access to the treasure like Fiona said. Her parents weren’t alphas, right?”
Iris shook her head, frowning. “Do you really think the Crescent Moon treasure is real?”
I shrugged. “It doesn’t matter to me. It only matters if the people running the project think it’s real.”
She nodded. After a moment, I realized she was tearing back up. “But what if they’re dead, Eli?” she whispered, wiping at her face with one hand. “What if they didn’t survive? Her mother wasstabbed. There was bloodeverywhere.”
“We’ll—”
Iris didn’t let me finish, sniffing softly. “What if there is no more Crescent Moon Pack? What if there’s no one else to take her in? What if Remus can’t?”
“Iris,” I said, trying to maintain some balance of both firm and gentle. “We will figure something out. Even in the very worst case scenario, we won’t let Bella be taken by the foster system and placed with a human family, okay?” She didn’t have to say that’s what worried her. The similarities between what happened to Iris and what happened to Bella were not lost on me. “I can’t imagine Remus ever rejecting her, but even if he did, then the Longbow Pack would take her. My father made sure the pack took in an orphaned shifter when I was about twelve, and he became my best friend.”
He was the one who’d gotten more information on the Raven Brothers than I ever could have, but now wasn’t the time to discuss it.
“I have no doubt he’d make sure Bella was taken in and loved if she couldn’t stay in Texas for some reason, okay?”
Iris sniffed and nodded. “Okay,” she whispered.
I moved my hand to hold hers. I gave her palm a little squeeze. “Besides, she has you, Iris. I can’t imagine a better advocate for her.”
Iris’s gaze shifted for a moment and she watched me as if she expected me to take that back after a moment. I simply squeezed her hand again and she sighed, finally closing her eyes. “Thank you,” she said, and I hummed, not sure what else to say. It was the truth. She shouldn’t have to thank me for telling her the truth.
It tookIris a bit longer this time to fall asleep, but I sat with her the entire time. I didn’t get up until her breathing had evened out and she hadn’t moved for a while, and even then, I was careful as I untangled myself, creeping out of the room and closing the door behind me. I paused in the hallway for a moment before cracking open the door to Bella’s room. I hadn’t heard a peep from her, but given that she hadn’t even spoken, that didn’t mean much.
Thankfully, the little girl was still asleep. It seemed she must have fancied the wolf plushie, as she held it tightly against her chest. Her eyes were still closed, and I watched her for a moment. The rise and fall of her chest remained even and steady, and unless she was putting on a performance worthy of an award-winning movie, I was pretty sure Bella was still sound asleep. I extracted myself silently, closing her door as well before heading back down the hall and down the stairs.
I found my father sitting at the kitchen table, scrolling through something on his phone. The room had gotten dark as the sun had started disappearing across the horizon. Though the drive wasn’t long, it had taken us longer to set up here than I had expected.
My father looked up as I walked in and offered a weary smile. “How’s Iris?” he asked as I sat across from him.
“Tired,” I admitted, leaning against the chair’s wooden back. “Worried about Bella.”
My father sighed and nodded, setting his phone down. “Aren’t we all?”
I hummed in agreement. “Have you heard from Remus regarding the Crescent Moon Pack at all?”
He shook his head. “No. Well, nothing helpful, anyway. He said there’s some indication that the pack didn’t believe in banishing its members. If the crime committed was grave enough, the offending pack member would be killed to prevent them from giving away the pack’s secrets. But given all the other rumors, who’s to say if that’s true?” He shrugged. “Either way, he hasn’t been able to locate any other members of Crescent Moon.” He paused, giving me a look. “It hasn’t even been forty-eight hours though, Eli. Don’t give up hope just yet.”
I sighed, my elbows on the table as I leaned forward to rub my face. “What if she’s the last member of her pack?” I asked, unable to shake the concern that Iris had voiced to me earlier.
My father opened his mouth, and then seemed to rethink whatever he’d been about to say. He sighed and shook his head. “I really hope she isn’t,” he finally said, mouth pressed together in a thin line. “I’ve seen new small packs become extinct before, but they never had the possibility of making it past their first alpha. An ancient pack being wiped out, though?” He shook his head, looking a bit…sad. “I really hope that isn’t the case.”
I looked down, picking at the wooden table. Truthfully, I hadn’t much considered the implications for the pack, or for shifters as a whole, if we lost one of the ancient lines. That wasn’t really something I was ready to reckon with — I was focused on the here and now. “Iris is concerned that Bella will end up in foster care like she did if we can’t find any living family members.”
My father’s expression hardened and he scowled. “Absolutely not,” he said firmly, shaking his head. “That never should have happened to Iris in the first place. It is an outrage that the neighboring packs didn’t do anything to ensure her return to a shifter pack.” He took a breath, seemingly settling some of his anger. “Regardless, we will not allow that to happen to Bella. It’s not even a possibility, Eli.” He fixed me with a sharp look. “Either she’ll remain here in Texas and Silverstreak will adopt her as one of their own, or she’ll return to London with us and be inducted into Longbow. It’s as simple as that.”
I raised a brow. “Is it, though? There are still human laws and—”
My father snorted and raised a brow. “Do you really think humans didn’t try to get involved with Maverick’s case?” he asked. I shut my mouth. “There’s a reason we don’t do it often if we don’t have to, but I will make absolutely sure that Bella does not end up with humans. If a few hands have to be greased along the way, so be it. It wouldn’t be the first time.”
I felt my brows rising into my hairline at that. I’d always figured my father played a major role in getting Maverick taken in by Longbow instead of being returned to his birth pack (Mav had a second cousin, or a very distant relative that could have laid some sort of familial claim), but he’d never actually told me what he did. Somehow, I wouldn’t have guessed my father would have had anything to do with underhanded dealings. Perhaps I shouldn’t have underestimated him in that respect.
“Okay,” I said after a moment, nodding. After a moment, I nodded again. “Okay.” Hearing that kind of determination was a weight off my shoulders. “The next best thing we can do for her is shutting down that damn facility.”
“Exactly,” my father agreed, looking back at his phone. “I’ve got an idea of who to call next. Shall I put on some coffee while we work?”
