The next morning I was standing in front of Callan’s bedchamber, my heart thumping. I didn’t feel slight hesitation at what I was about to do, I knew it was the right thing to but I couldn’t help but recall the terror that clouded Grace’s expression as I’d walked out on her and Radley last night.
Sleep hadn't come at all after what I’d witnessed and I’d spent the last of my night buried in my thoughts until the first sign of daylight appeared.
Exhaling a breath, I gently hit my fist on the door. It was likely he was still asleep but I needed to tell him what I knew as soon as I could because otherwise, I feared I would not. My heart went out to Grace sympathetically wondering what the girl was feeling now, it was almost as though I alongside her could feel the fear and array of emotions that she must be feeling at my promise.
The door swung open and Callan’s form stared back at me, the scent of him infiltrating my senses. He looked like he hadn't had any sleep either, his eyes were red-rimmed and his hair fell over his face indicating how many times he must have run his hands through them but standing here in front of him like this, he was still the most effortlessly beautiful man I’d ever set my eyes on.
And he was my mate.
Even if I was going to ignore that fact, my wolf would never. Her excitement at his proximity of sight would always flood through me, melding with mine.
“Are you okay?” I asked, my eyes searching his. It was obvious he wasn't and I longed to reach out a hand and cup his face, to stroke off the worry lines that were etched on his forehead.
At my thoughts, I was reminded of both of us. His hands on my waist pulling me closer and his lips on mine. My neck and face burned with embarrassment at how I had urged him to kiss me.
Suddenly, I had forgotten what had brought me here and I let my mortification cloud my thoughts instead.
Callan laughed, it sounded so foreign to my ears and I realized how little of that he did. His laughter was rich, a sound rolling effortlessly from his throat and I found it pleasing. Everything in me wished he would do more of that but not with the disarray around us, I wonder what more worries he had on his shoulder as an Alpha of a pack like this one, and yet, he still tried to be there for everyone. It must be taking a toll on him.
“You have to really work on being so obvious, Sophia,” he said lightheartedly. “Do you want to come in?”
“I’m not easy to read, you just spend too much time staring at me.” I retorted, stepping into his room.
My eyes went immediately to the paperwork scattered on the desk by the corner of the room, there was a mountain of them, and slowly, my feet trudged towards it. I flipped through a book, my eyes catching the heading.
It was a data compilation of the farmers that belonged in the park and their produce progress in the previous years. Further glimpse through the rest and I realized how far ahead the Black Tide Pack was in how structured they were compared to Alexander’s park.
“I had no idea you could read,” Callan said, his voice sounding close to me.
The curtains in his room were still down and the only light in the room came from the candles hung at different angles giving the room some sort of intimate feeling and with him this close to me, his breath on my neck, I could feel the static tension in the room charge up.
“Of course, I can,” I said, turning to him, a smile on my lips. “Sometimes, people tend to forget I'm an Alpha’s daughter.”
At my words, I could see his eyes lit up a little. He reached out a hand and tucked my hair behind my ears, his eyes on me.
“No, Sophia, it’s you who sometimes forget that.”
He was right.
But not anymore now. I might have been a servant for more than half my life but still, I was an Alpha’s daughter, and the more I began to realize this, the less of prey I would be viewed as by the likes of Radley and Amelia.
“I would ask if you like it here any better but in the face of the events of the last days, that would be stupid.” he sighed, his thumb stroking my cheek.
“I would get to the bottom of this, Sophia. I promise.”
“It was Radley,” I said, my eyes trained on him to catch his reaction. “I caught him late last night and…” I swallowed nervously. The words laid heavy at the tip of my tongue, Callan looked stressed enough, and telling him what was going on with his sister and his best friend’s betrayal would definitely do a number on his stress level.
“He is not who you think in the least bit, Callan. Remember the time when you caught me hiding in your bedchamber at the Dark Wood Pack and Radley had been there?”
He nodded and so I went on.
“He lied about coming to discuss something with you, he had been frantically searching for something that day before you came in, and well, last night, I caught him in an intimate position with Grace in the drawing room.” I took in a breath. “I think he manipulated her into taking the fall for everything, I believe he's the one behind the tavern incident and Claire’s death but somehow had Grace take the fall for it.”
At finally divulging everything I knew about Radley to him, I felt ease slowly encompass me. That was until I realized Callan’s expression remained the same since I had begun talking and even after I’d done, there was no surprise or rage on his face like I had expected.
“Grace was here last night,” he said.
It was my turn to be surprised. “She was?”
He nodded. “She told me you had seen her and Radley at the drawing room, she’d been crying and explaining things to him because he’s the only one who understands her but you had walked up on them and misunderstood.”
I was appalled. “What? Callan, that's not what happened. I promise, he's compelling her into all of these. I have no idea how he managed to convince her to do his bidding but Radley is not a good person and you have to believe me, please, I know what I saw…”
“Sophia, Sophia,” he called, placing his hands on my shoulders. “Listen to me.”
I paused, staring at him with wide eyes. He couldn't believe her, he shouldn't. I’d thought I would come here as early as possible to tell him about it but Radley had been steps ahead of me and now I had no idea how to make Callan believe me instead of his own sister, it was almost impossible.
“You have to trust me,” he said. “I told you I would get to the bottom of this and I would but not without evidence and that is up to me to deal with. I don't want you to continue to put yourself in harm's way, do you understand?”
“But…”
He shook his head. “No, Sophia, I care about you too much to…” he swallowed, shutting his eyes briefly. “You were poisoned and I'd never been more scared than I was when I found you in that state and I don't want to go through that fear again so call me selfish but I don't want you to get involved in this any more than you already are.”
I didn't entirely agree with him but when he looked at me like that, like I was the most important person in his life, it rendered me speechless.
“Please, Sophia, until I figure out this mess and I would rather do it on my own.”
Finally, I spoke up. “I understand you must think me weak and…”
“No!”
“Please let me…”
“Not if you are going to make baseless accusations,” he declared with a hint of genuine anger evinced in his tone. “I have never thought of you as weak, Sophia, not once. I understand what you've been through and I respect the fact that you've managed to pull out of it with your head intact, it isn't an easy thing to do. You're one of the strongest people I know, you have a kind heart, and I've watched you put others' feelings before yourself. It doesn't get any better than that, Sophia, you don't.”
Emotions burned behind my eyes at his words and for the second time in a few minutes, I was at loss for words. I had never truly acknowledged what I’d gone through at the hands of Alexander and instead, I had focused on putting too much pressure on myself for what was beyond my control, never once pausing to give myself a pat for getting through it.
“You’re right,” I said, nodding. “And if you are then you have to let me in your plans, I admit I have a flaw for trusting people but I've realized it and I’ll work on doing better but if anything, I owe it to you to help you figure out what is going on.”
He remained quiet for the next few minutes, simply watching me and in that time I became aware of how closely we stood, his hands on me, and how my stomach churned at the contact.
The more time we spent together, it became even harder to remember that we could never be together.
I cleared my throat and turned away from him; the heat of his gaze, his touch that burned, and how my body craved to respond to it.
I distracted myself by letting my eyes travel through the heap of papers on the table and that was when my attention was caught by an envelope tucked by the corner.
Everything in me froze at the sight of it. “What is this?” I asked, reaching out a hand to pick up the letter.
Callan said nothing from behind me but I could feel his apprehension at what I had come across.
It might have been years, but I would recognize it anywhere, the unmistakable seal on the letter in my hands—it was the seal of the Alpha of the Mystic Hollow Pack.
I was holding a letter from my father.