“I can’t tonight. I have an online study group.” Everyone always believed excuses that were related to college or studying, even the vampires. None of them had ever questioned her, even when she’d been underage. She checked her watch. “In fact, I should be going now.”
He brushed his thumb over her cheek. “So soon?”
She swallowed hard. She didn’t want to leave. “Yes. I really do have to study.”
“You’ll have to tell me more about your classes sometime.”
She’d already told him a lot about herself. More than she’d intended, really. At least she really was attending one of those classes in person. Not having to lie made it easier.
He finally left in his car, and this time she did follow him when he went back to the pack, but she stopped as soon as she reached the edge of their land. She would have to be invited in, and she didn’t want her scent anywhere nearby.
Even though she’d never been on this land before, she still felt the pull of the pack. Her ancestors lived here. Her father’s father, and his parents before him, had lived with these very shifters. It was supposed to be her pack. Her home. Her heritage.
My parents should still be alive.
But because her blood wasn’t pure, they were dead.
Okay. She had to change the subject. She was going to end up revealing something about herself that should stay hidden.
“So before we go, how’s the new baby? I assume those are for him or her,” she said, pointing at the packages. “I can’t believe I forgot to ask.” If he was excited about talking about something, then maybe she could get some information, and it would take the attention off of how upset she’d gotten.
"Oh, he's great. It was a boy pup.” Derek’s chest puffed up as if he were the father himself. “Which means he’s the future Alpha."
“The baby belongs to the Alpha?" she asked, confused. How was that possible? Not that the Alpha couldn’t have a pup at an older age, but she’d thought the new father was Derek’s friend.
"Yep. Roman is my brother. In name only, of course, but we’ve been close since we were little, and we went to Blackwood Academy together. That’s a summer camp for shifters who have come of age. He became the Alpha when he was only eighteen. And then he asked me to be his second in command.”
She had to take a second to breathe. This was new information.
If his friend was the Alpha, that meant the Alpha who denied her parents the right to a happy life was likely no longer alive. Alphas didn’t step aside. They didn’t resign. They died, or they were killed. That was the only way out.
The Alpha – the one she’d heard about from her father – was dead?
She had to find a way to get the details. She racked her brain. "You said your friend became Alpha at only eighteen? How in the world did that happen?" Since it was unusual for an Alpha to die so young, asking what happened wasn’t weird. They often put themselves in the middle of battle, but they had a whole pack to back them up, which was the opposite of what Kyra’s parents had.
"Forest fire. He got every single person out. It happened very quickly. In the aftermath, his son Roman took over. That was fifteen years ago."
She looked down and wrapped each hand around the opposite wrist, feeling her jumping pulse, while doing her best to control her breathing. "I'm very sorry to hear that. That must've been very difficult for all of you,” she managed to choke out. The words nearly stuck in her throat.
"Oh yes. It was rough."
So the wolf shifter who had betrayed her parents was dead.
She managed to put it out of her mind, long enough to say goodbye to Derek. She would adjust and recalibrate.
Did this change her plan to infiltrate? Would this change her mission?
No. Nothing had changed. But she had to tell the vampires. That was crucial.