Pure Coincidence

Pure Coincidence
MAX

We are racing toward the hospital in Corlys’ Suburban, flying by all other vehicles on the long stretch of country road that ultimately leads toward the Eastern Border when something absolutely crazy occurs to me and my spine tingles with nervous energy.

I can’t fucking believe this never crossed my mind.

How in the fuck?

We are about five minutes away from the hospital now and my chest is fairly seizing, but I can’t shake the odd thought that’s just wound throughout my brain like a worm through battered soil, so I twist around in my seat to fix Finn with a thoughtful frown.

We lock eyes and he cocks an eyebrow. “What’s up, Max? What’s on your mind?”

I almost can’t believe I overlooked this…but…I did. “Last night…at Jared’s…when we spoke outside…”

Finn nods, his eyes flicking toward Jericho and Alfred before returning to me. “If this is about my daughter, Max, I-”

“It’s not,” I snap, a smidgen of anger rising up within my chest when I realize he’s not quite ready to share that his daughter is Shiftless. You see, shit like this is why I didn’t allow his heartfelt confession last night to sway me. He’s a fucken hypocrite. His shitty speech didn’t mean jack. “This is about Reanna not Imani. You remember? You mentioned her last night?”

Finn nods slowly, his gaze wary. “Yes. I remember. Why?”

“It just occurred to me that her death was never announced…never made public knowledge, yet you knew about it.” I cock my head at him and he stares back at me somewhat confused. “Do you know who she was?”

Finn nods slowly. “She was a border patrol scout that Roy, Drake, and I used to come across pretty regularly. And…she was Shiftless. You father used to have her report her findings to Drake every afternoon when her shift was complete and I guess that she’s the girl that Yvette was talking about, but she’s wrong. I happen to know that Drake and Reanna couldn’t stand one another.”

Un-fucking-real. “Is that all?”

Finn frowns with a toss of his shoulders. “What do you mean—is that all?” Again his eyes flick pointedly between the other bodies in the car before he sighs heavily and grumbles, “No, that’s not all, but we should talk about her later, Max. Maybe when it’s you…and me-” another weighted pause “-and Roy…”

Roy?

As far as I know, Roy hates the Shiftless. Why the fuck would we need to talk to him? Unless…I’ve been connecting things based on my private knowledge and in doing so keep missing the bigger picture. My mind has been full of nothing but thoughts of Blanca over the last few days and anytime someone mentions the word Shiftless, I mistakenly think what they’re sharing is in reference to her. And…perhaps it has nothing to do with her at all.

Maybe Roy doesn’t hate the Shiftless. Maybe he just hates Blanca.

Shit, I have practically forgotten that Jared, Finn, and I…plus Cyrus and Maize…are the only ones that know she’s my…who she is. Alfred and Jericho might suspect, but they don’t know. Goddessdamnit. Roy must be the friend that Yvette mentioned. 

How did I not realize that?

Could Roy have been…Reanna’s? Nah. I may have been much younger then, but I think I would have noticed something…

Roy, Finn, and Drake were always together and Roy spent almost as much time at our house as Drake did. Finn? Not so much because his father was a masochist, and having been a Commander once himself, the man insisted that Finn train after hours almost every day. However, Roy’s father was a drunk and liked to beat on his mate nearly as much as he liked to swim in his brandy.

“Did my father tell you how Reanna died?” I ask Finn, my brain swirling with too many impossible questions. Questions that I simply never thought to ask when I was younger. Questions…that I likely never would have if it weren’t for Blanca being destined for me.

Finn has no fucking idea that Reanna was Blanca’s sister.

His mentioning her last night was pure coincidence.

Finn sits back, his chin tilting up thoughtfully and his eyes narrowing into slits. “Your father didn’t tell anyone shit except that Drake was murdered by a crazy little Shiftless girl from the Westside of the Rim. That night, he forced the older Gammas to burn every single hut on that line. Without giving warning to the twenty or so families that were taking shelter within. Then, he made Roy and I chase down the few Shiftless civilians that had managed to escape and coral them near the graveyard. We never did find out what became of them, but I assume your father had them killed as well,” he snaps waspishly and I have to wonder at the venom in his voice. “Every single Shiftless soul that resided on the Westside of the Rim that night was executed for some reason. Except-” his eyes go dark…wistful “-for Reanna. She was MIA, but your father didn’t seem to notice, so we kept that fact to ourselves.”

Did Finn once have a thing for Reanna? Is that why he brought her up last night?

“Then who told you that she died?” I inquire, locking eyes with Jared for a second as we share a look of trepidation before rounding the last bend toward the hospital. 

Finn shakes his head minutely, before casting his gaze downward and dropping his face into his hands.

“Finn,” I urge him, “Reanna was Blanca’s sister and I asked you a fucking question. I expect an answer.”

“What?!” Finn’s head snaps to attention, his eyes flaring wide open in shock, then clouding over with devastation. As if something has just occurred to him as well. 

Once again, I want to kick myself for never realizing…

The entire pack hates Blanca because they see her as a cold hearted murderer. They have no idea she thought she was protecting her sister, because my father never shared that little granule of truth.

Would it matter if they knew?

Might they hate her a little less? 

Fuck me.

It’s been eight goddessdamned years. Would they even hear me if I told them now?

“We’re out of time,” I snap, as the sound of at least a hundred angry shifters riots between my ears. Jared coasts past the ER entrance, speeding toward the gate in the back marked Restricted Access. He’s quick to maneuver the SUV behind the rolling gate and once we’re parked on the quiet side of the building, Jericho, Alfred, and Jared disperse, giving us that moment alone that Finn has been waiting for.

Finn swallows what appears to be a stone in his throat. “Fuck,” he says. “Roy is going to lose his shit when you tell him about Blanca.”

“And why is that?” I say blandly. “Because Reanna was his mate? The one that he planned to reject? Or because-”

“No, Max!” Finn replies, cutting me off. His face turns hard and he studies me warily. “He never wanted to reject her. He was being forced to.” His gaze flickers, firing with the gold ire of his wolf for a moment. “By your brother.”