Chapter 24 A little crack
Morning came too fast and Elara woke to Adrian pressed against her side, his small hand clutching her shirt like he was afraid she'd disappear.
She lay there listening to his breathing and trying to figure out how she'd gotten into this mess, two years of running had led her right back to the worst possible situation—trapped between the man who'd destroyed her and the man who wanted to own her son.
Someone knocked, after a few seconds, Margaret entered with a breakfast tray.
"Alpha Kai thought you might want to eat in your room today," Margaret said, setting the tray on the small table.
"He also said to tell you there's a meeting in his office at 10 AM."
"About what?" Elara asked.
"He didn't say, just that your attendance is required," Margaret said and left.
Elara woke Adrian up, brush his teeth and bath him. She dressed and fed him while he asked questions she couldn't answer about when the bad man would come back and why they couldn't just leave.
"We can't run anymore baby," Elara said. "We have to stay and fix this."
"How?" Adrian asked.
"I don't know yet," Elara admitted. "But mama will figure it out."
At 10 AM she carried Adrian to Kai's office and found him there with three people she didn't recognize—two men in suits and a woman with dark eyes who looked like she didn't miss anything.
"This is Sera Seahawks and her son Adrian," Kai introduced. "Sera, these are investigators I've hired to build a case against Mandivus Swathi."
"You hired investigators?" Elara asked.
"You said you had evidence against him but I'm guessing it's not as comprehensive as you claimed," Kai said. "So I'm making sure we have real documentation before the week is up."
One of the investigators pulled out a tablet. "We've already found records of twelve omegas who've disappeared from borderlands settlements in the past five years, all of them last seen in Mandivus's territory."
"Disappeared?" Elara repeated.
"Presumed dead or trafficked," the woman investigator said. "We've also found financial records showing he's been receiving payments from someone in Silvercrest pack."
That got everyone's attention and Kai leaned forward. "Who?"
"We don't know yet, the money's been laundered through multiple accounts," the woman said.
"But whoever it is has been funding Mandivus's operations for at least three years."
"Someone in this pack is working with him," Kai said slowly. "That's how he knew where to find Sera, someone told him."
Elara felt cold dread settle in her stomach because if Mandivus had an inside source then nowhere was safe.
"Can you trace the payments?" Kai asked.
"If I'm given time, then yes," the investigator said. "But we'll need access to Silvercrest pack financial records."
"You'll have it," Kai said. "My father won't like it but I'll make him cooperate."
The meeting continued for another hour with the investigators outlining their plan to expose Mandivus's entire operation, and by the end Elara felt the smallest spark of hope that maybe this could actually work.
After they left, Kai poured himself a drink even though it was barely noon.
"You look tired," Elara observed.
"Yeah, I haven't been sleeping well," Kai admitted. "I keep having dreams about...." he stopped and shook his head. "Never mind."
"Dreams about what?" Elara asked.
"Someone I hurt a long time ago," Kai said quietly. "Someone who deserved better than what I gave them."
Elara's chest tightened because he was talking about her, about Elara Whitmore, and he didn't even know she was sitting right in front of him.
"Maybe you should try to find them," she said carefully. "And you know, apologize."
"I tried," Kai said. "For months I searched but it's like she vanished completely, and part of me thinks maybe that's better, maybe she's moved on and doesn't want to be reminded of what I did."
"Or maybe she wants to hear you say you're sorry," Elara said.
Kai looked at her and something passed between them, some moment of connection that made her wolf stir with longing.
"You remind me of her sometimes," Kai said. "The way you stand up for yourself, the way you protect your son, she was like that too, fierce and brave even when she had every reason to be afraid."
"She sounds like someone worth finding," Elara said.
"She was someone worth keeping," Kai corrected. "And I was too stupid to realize it until it was too late."
Adrian tugged on Elara's sleeve. "Mama I'm hungry."
The moment broke and Kai smiled at Adrian. "Let's get you some lunch, how about that?"
They ate together in the staff kitchen while Adrian chatted about dinosaurs and trucks, and watching Kai interact patiently with her son made something in Elara's chest ache.
This was what she'd wanted two years ago—a family, a mate who cared, a normal life—and instead she'd gotten rejection and exile and two years of hell.
But sitting here watching Kai make Adrian laugh with terrible dinosaur impressions, she could almost see what might have been.
"Stop it," she told herself firmly. "He doesn't get to be redeemed that easily."