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I nodded and opened the latch. The contents looked like they had been stuffed into the box in a hurry. He must have put it there the same night we were attacked. I flipped the box open and let the contents fall out so I could unravel them. I chose to start with the official-looking documents first to get them out of the way.
“That looks like a deed?” Markus peered over my shoulder, and I nodded, reading the contents
“I think it's the deed to the pack grounds. The address looks like it fits,” I said, passing him the document, knowing he would understand it more than I would.
I picked up the next one. It looked like the pack’s bank statements, but I scrunched my nose in confusion. Why was it in my name?
I put it on Markus’ lap and kept looking. I went through a couple of other property deeds and bank statements and my confusion was growing. Why was it all in my name? The last document was a receipt for a safety deposit box, also in my name.
“Why is everything in my name? I was eight at the time,” I wanted to know.
Markus picked up some of the other documents. “I don’t know. It’s like…”
“Like they knew something would happen to them.” I finished for him, looking up to meet his eyes. “How could they know?”
“I’m not sure, Tuli. What’s that?” he asked, pointing to an envelope.
I picked it up and the weight of it was too much to be a letter, so I opened the flap and a key fell out. It had a tag on the bow of the key, with a number and the name of a bank.
“That’s a safety deposit box. It matches the receipt you found. Maybe we’ll find more answers there,” he suggested.
“Is it far?” I asked and Markus shook his head.
“Just the fifteen-minute drive into town. It’s the same bank we use, actually.”
I picked up the last of the documents and a sob escaped my lips. Close to ten pictures dropped from between the pages. Most were of my parents and myself. A couple of them featured people I could barely remember and Uncle Lucien. One of the pictures was of my dad with Markus’ dad laughing in what looked like the training grounds here. The pictures were yellowed and creased and more precious to me than anything else in the box. Markus gathered me and put me on his lap, my back against his chest and he put his chin on my shoulder as I told him who the people in the pictures were.
“You should show that picture to my dad. I’m sure he’d be happy to share some story about it,” he said, kissing my cheek when I nodded at his suggestion.
“Maybe later. I’d like to go to the safe deposit box and see what we find. Do you think those accounts and deeds are still valid? Even though the council declared the challenge legal?” I asked.
“I think so. Everything is in your name, so it would not have been able to be transferred over to Alpha Geoff if it didn't belong to the pack anymore. It makes sense now why that property hasn’t been touched since that day. Same with the accounts, I believe you should be able to access them as long as you show your identification. It’s a good thing we got your passport and ID when you arrived.” He picked up one of the account statements. “It’s the same bank as the safe deposit box. We can ask when we are there.”
“Do we have time today?”
“Yes, but it’s Sunday. The bank will be closed.” He chuckled.
“Oh, right.” My face burned with embarrassment.
“I’ll get some work done today and we can head there in the morning?” he suggested.
“Don’t you have a meeting with Danny about the presentation to the council after the luna ceremony? We’re running out of time… it’s next week.” I bit my lip, my head warring with my heart over wanting to find out more about my past and save my friends in the present.
“Danny can wait until after lunch. It’s the perk of being alpha.” He smirked down at me.
I picked up the four bank statements and put them side by side. The documents had four different account numbers on them. Four different balances.
“That’s a lot of money,” Markus mused.
“I’ll treat you to lunch if it’s still there,” I said and he laughed.
“Anything but Italian,” I looked up at him in confusion, then what he said clicked in my head, and I laughed.
“I think I’m okay with that,” I said, kissing his jaw.
“Well, I guess it’s time to get to work if we’re taking the morning off. What are you up to today?” he asked.
“I am going to have a conversation with Ashley. I think she will be happy to go home.” He cocked his head at my words.
