Chapter 22 Unraveling Truths

Chapter 22 Unraveling Truths

Luceila's POV

Reis is waiting by his car when I emerge from the coffee shop. His expression is carefully neutral, but I can see the tension in his shoulders, the way his eyes scan the street before settling on me.

"Well?" he asks as I approach.

"He knew my father," I say, my voice flat. "Says they grew up together. Same pack."

Reis's jaw tightens almost imperceptibly. "What else?"

I consider lying. Consider keeping Marcus's revelations to myself, protecting whatever truth exists in the tangled web of accusations and warnings. But I'm tired of secrets. Tired of navigating a world I don't understand with only fragments of information.

"He said my father was accused of killing an alpha's mate. That he ran rather than face execution. That the Blackwood pack has been hunting him for over twenty years."

Reis goes very still. "He told you all of that? At a first meeting?"

"He said Sera knows who I am. Or suspects. That if she can prove I'm the daughter of her mother's killer, she'll have me executed or exiled under pack law."

"Fuck." Reis runs a hand through his hair, looking away. "Get in the car. We need to talk to my brothers."

"He also said not to trust your pack," I add, not moving. "That Dorian sits on the Council that condemned my father. That you might betray me if it comes down to Council duty versus pack loyalty."

Reis turns back to me slowly. "And you believed him?"

"I don't know what to believe anymore." My hands clench at my sides. "You tested me. Locked me up. Accused me of lying. Now suddenly you're protecting me? How do I know this isn't just another strategy? Another way to gather information?"

"Because we're not…." He stops, breathing hard. "You're right. We did those things. We were wrong to do them. But Luceila, if we wanted to betray you, we'd have done it already. We wouldn't be training you, teaching you, trying to prepare you for what's coming."

"Unless you're preparing me for something specific," I counter. "Unless this whole thing is about using me somehow."

"Against who? For what purpose?" His frustration is evident now. "Think about it logically. What would we gain from protecting you, training you, keeping you close, if we planned to hand you over to the Council?"

"I don't know! I don't know anything about pack politics or Council law or what any of this means!" My voice rises despite my efforts to stay calm. "All I know is that a week ago I thought I had dementia, and now I'm apparently the daughter of an accused murderer with an entire pack wanting me dead!"

A couple walking past glances our way. Reis notices, lowering his voice.

"Get in the car," he says again, quieter this time. "Please. Let us explain everything. No more secrets, no more half-truths. But not here. Not in the open where anyone could be watching."

I want to refuse. Want to walk away, call Marcus, take his offer to disappear.

But something stops me. Maybe it's the exhaustion in Reis's eyes. Maybe it's the memory of Silas warning me about Sera. Maybe it's just that I have nowhere else to go.

I get in the car.

The drive home is silent. Reis keeps checking his mirrors, taking turns that seem random until I realize he's making sure we're not being followed.

Even paranoia has patterns when you know what to look for.

When we pull into the driveway, both Silas and Ruan are waiting on the porch. They must have known we were coming. Pack mind-link, maybe, or just brothers who've learned to anticipate each other.

"Inside," Silas says simply. "Mom's at work. We have a few hours."

The study feels smaller with all four of us in it. I take the chair by the window closest to an exit, while the brothers arrange themselves around the room.

"Tell us everything Marcus said," Reis said. "Word for word if you can remember."

I do, recounting the conversation as accurately as possible. When I mention the accusation about Dorian and the Council, all three brothers exchange loaded glances.

"He's not wrong about Dorian's position," Silas admits once I finish. "He does sit on the Council. And if this goes before them, he'll have to recuse himself from any decision involving you. Council law forbids judgment on family members."

"So they'd bring in other Council members," I say. "Who don't have any reason to protect me."

"Exactly."

"But that assumes this even reaches the Council," Ruan interjects. "Pack disputes are usually handled internally unless they involve multiple territories or capital crimes."

"Murder of an alpha's mate is a capital crime," I point out.

"Alleged murder," Reis corrects sharply. "There's a difference."

"Not if the Blackwoods have evidence," Silas says grimly. "Real or manufactured."

I pull out Marcus's card, setting it on the desk between us. "He offered to help me disappear. New identity, new territory. Said once Sera makes her move, running won't be an option."

Reis picks up the card, examining it. "Marcus Chen. I've heard that name. He runs a network, helps wolves relocate, start over. Usually wolves running from pack law or blood debts."

"So he's legitimate?" I ask.

"Depends on your definition. He helps people escape consequences. Whether those consequences are just or not isn't really his concern." Reis sets down the card. "He was telling the truth about one thing, though. If you run now, before any formal accusations are made, you might have a chance. Once the Council gets involved, there's nowhere in wolf territory you could hide."

"You're saying I should take his offer." It's not a question.

"I'm saying it's an option," Reis replies carefully. "One you should consider."

"And the other option?"

"You stay," Silas says. "You let us help you build a defense before Sera can build her case. You learn everything you can about pack law, about your father's case, about how to protect yourself if this goes to trial."

"There's a third option," Ruan adds quietly.

We all look at him.

"We find your father," he says. "If he's still alive, if we can locate him, he might be able to prove his innocence. Clear his name and yours in the process."

"Marcus said he went deep underground," I remind him. "That even old friends couldn't find him."

"Marcus isn't a Shadowmere," Ruan counters. "We have resources he doesn't. Pack connections, Council access, tracking abilities that go beyond human investigation."

"And if you find him and he's guilty?" I ask. "What then?"

The silence that follows is answer enough.

"We need to know what we're dealing with," Reis says finally. "The truth about what your father did or didn't do. We can't build a defense on assumptions."

"So you investigate," I say slowly. "Dig into a twenty-year-old case, potentially expose a man who's been hiding successfully all this time, all to save me from accusations I might not even face?"

"Yes," Silas says simply.

"Why?" The question bursts out of me. "Why do you even care? I'm not really your family. I'm just the daughter of the woman who married Dorian. You don't owe me anything."

"You're pack," Reis says, and there's something fierce in his voice. "Maybe not by blood, but by law. When you emerged under our roof, you became our responsibility. And we protect what's ours."

What's ours. The possessiveness in those words should bother me. Instead, something in my chest loosens slightly.

"So what do we do?" I ask.

"First, we tell Dorian," Reis decides. "He needs to know what's happening. If this goes to the Council, he needs time to prepare, to understand what he might be facing."

"He'll be angry," Ruan warns. "That we kept this from him this long."

"He'll be angrier if we wait longer," Silas counters.

I think about meeting their father..Alpha Dorian Shadowmere, Council member, the man who might have to choose between family and duty. The man Mom married, who I've carefully avoided since the wedding.

"When?" I ask.

"Tonight," Reis says. "He gets back from his Council session around eight. We'll talk to him then."

"All of us," Silas adds, looking at me. "You need to be there. He needs to hear this from you."

My heart raced at a faster pace but I nodded. "Okay. Tonight."