Chapter 32

**FINN**

It took us a few days to figure out how we were going to get answers, but we finally did. We managed to come up with a plan that everyone could agree on.

Elena and I are going to lunch with my parents. They didn't invite us all together, but I thought they might feel more comfortable if it was just me and her, especially if we were going to talk about my dad, his infection and his leg. I don't even know if he's going to help us sort it out. For him, his disability was a fucking blow. He was an alpha and suddenly everything went to shit.

"Are you anxious?" Elena asks, placing her hand on my thigh.

"A little." I sigh. "We never really talked about..."

"I know. It's something that must have been very hard for him and for you to live through."

"It would be so much easier if Eric wasn't such a manipulative jerk. If he could just answer our fucking questions."

"If he was honest enough to answer our questions, he'd be honest enough not to have done all this."

"Fuck."

She pulls into the driveway at my parents' house and kisses me before getting out of the car. She checks her reflection in the car window one last time, running her fingers through her dark hair. She's wearing a long red dress, which fits her like a glove. She takes her plate of cakes from my hand as I walk up beside her.

"You know my mother certainly had food planned for an army. You didn't have to make extra cookies."

"I know, but my mother raised me right. So when I'm invited to someone's house, I never come empty-handed."

She looks at me, frowning. "Hold on. You've got something... right there." She says, pointing to the corner of my mouth. She licks her thumb and rubs it over the corner of my mouth. And just then, my mother opens the front door.

"Oh, you two are so cute. Come here." She says as she takes us both in her arms. I roll my eyes and Elena gives me a pointed look.

I've never invited girls to meet my parents, and I don't regret it. Elena gets on so well with them, and at the same time, it's hard not to get on with her.

As she helps my mother clear the table, I take the opportunity to try and strike up a conversation with my father.

"I wanted to talk to you about something. Theo, Caleb and I have decided to help Elena try to figure out what happened to her parents." His gaze meets mine and I can't read it. "And we think that to do that we also need to understand what happened to you and Franck."

He sighs and runs his hand over his face. Elena and my mother burst back into the living room with coffee.

"You should all sit down." He tells them, then looks at Elena. "I don't know what happened to your parents." He begins and Mom places her hand on my mate's. "Two days before... their murder, James had called Franck and me. He wanted to see us to tell us something. He didn't want to talk about it on the phone and had even arranged to meet us in town. He had insisted that Eric not be told anything. We just knew it was something important. We were supposed to see him the day after his death."

"So you think Eric probably knew and he... so he wouldn't talk to you?" Elena asks him.

My father shakes his head slightly. "I don't know. Those two never got along. Eric always had animosity towards him. It started with your mother, for him... he stole Moira from her and then his father decided to put him in charge of the company when tradition said the alpha should run it."

"Do you know why he did that?"

"It seems obvious. James was educated and had all the qualifications for the job. Eric hated him."

"Poor Victoria, he was her mate, he'd made his mark on her and yet he was completely blinded by Moira. Whatever she did, she was never up to it." Elena and I look at my mother. "I overheard a conversation between Eric and Victoria," she shakes her head. "He was telling her to be more like Moira and to support him 100% like your mother supported your father."

"He's always had very high expectations of his mate and his son." My father adds.

"Do you think he might have tried to get rid of you too?" I ask him. As terrible as it sounds, I can't help myself. I need to know what he thinks about all this.

"He could have. If James was planning to reveal something huge to us, it's possible."

"Did you run any tests to find out the origin of the infection?" Elena asks him.

"I had some tests here but they didn't find anything conclusive."

"Would you be willing to take exams in New York? I know a clinic where they're very competent. Maybe we could find out what happened to you."

"We never got out of the pack and..."

"If that's all it is consider it a gift from me. A well-deserved vacation with... medical checkups to boot."

"You know something? I'll just do it. I need to know what happened to me. But there's no way you're..."

"I insist, Cillian." Elena leans across the table to put her hand over his.

"Thank you, Cillian. Thank you so much." My mother adds.

After arranging everything with Elena and thanking her for the thousandth time, we leave my parents' house and get into her car.

"Thank you for what you did," I tell her sincerely before she drives off.

"You're welcome. It's not like I couldn't afford it."

"You know I don't talk about that. You're getting them out of here even if it's only for a few days, and you're offering my dad hope out of not knowing what happened to him."

"Do you think they didn't find anything here because someone made sure they didn't?" She asks me carefully.

"I don't think so. I'm sure of it."