Chapter 9: Nine

After the incident disguised as a dinner date, I tasked one of my trusted pack members to gather information about how Tyler met Ruby and why he chose to marry a human without revealing his true identity. I needed to understand the situation and figure out how she could be engaged to Tyler, my arch-nemesis.

I found myself sitting in a cake shop that used to belong to a friend, waiting for my informant, Ben, to bring me the gathered information. I ordered a slice of vanilla cake and a glass of juice, but I barely touched the cake, instead opting to slowly sip the freshly squeezed orange juice.

The door's bell chimed as Ben entered the shop, dressed in his usual black attire, with a face cap, nose mask, black sweatshirt, pants, and sneakers. Since his release from jail, he had developed a paranoia that someone was still after his life, leading him to dress this way to conceal his identity.

I waved him over, and he made his way to the table. Luckily, we were the only ones in the shop, so we could freely discuss matters without fear of being overheard. The shop owner was a new acquaintance, ensuring our privacy.

"You're drawing unnecessary attention to yourself with all that black," I snapped at Ben.

"Black helps me blend in without standing out," he retorted.

"That's too much black, you dummy," I replied with a sigh of exasperation. "Sit down," I commanded, and he reluctantly took the seat across from me. "Do you have any information for me?" I asked, eager to learn more.

"Who's the girl you're so interested in?" he asked, grinning mischievously.

"That's a question you should be answering," I snapped back. Ben had a knack for getting on my nerves.

"You know what I mean. It's the first time you've asked me to investigate a girl's love life. She must be special to you," he teased.

"My patience is wearing thin, Ben," I growled, my frustration mounting.

"Relax, the girl doesn't have much of a background. She grew up in an old town in Australia and moved here a few years ago with the man who is now her fiancé. He works at a downtown hospital, taking on multiple shifts to save money..."

"Wait!" I interrupted, utterly perplexed. "Did you just say her fiancé works at a hospital?" I asked, looking up at him, stunned by the revelation.

"Yes, his name is Adam, and he's a human."

"No! No! That can't be right. She's engaged to Tyler. I've seen them together and heard it myself."

"Well, you heard wrong. I had no trouble uncovering that information. She's engaged to Adam, an ordinary human."

"Do you have a picture of this Adam?" I demanded, needing to see it for myself. It didn't make sense. Why would Tyler lie about Ruby? She was definitely wearing an engagement ring and even got drunk with him. But this discovery shed light on why she was so concerned about my threat to harm her fiancé.

He nodded and pulled out a brown envelope from under his coat. I eagerly tore it open, revealing pictures of a guy with glasses and dark hair. The first picture showed him in his hospital scrubs, taken right in front of the hospital. The second picture captured him walking hand in hand with Ruby in a neighborhood. I browsed through the photos, and it hit me like a shockwave—I had completely misunderstood the situation from the start.

"I pretended to be a patient and had a conversation with him at the hospital. He was wearing a similar ring to Ruby's. Plus, think about it, if Tyler were her fiancé, he would

never allow her to work at the club."

"I didn't consider that," I admitted, my eyes widening in realization.

"Looks like you're dumber than you appear," Ben remarked with a sly grin. I frowned at him. We had been friends since high school, and he always treated me like a younger brother, regardless of the fact that I was the Alpha of our pack. Everyone around me feared me, except for Ben. He couldn't stand the politics and had distanced himself after my parents' death, but he remained the only family I had in both public and private settings.

"I could have your tongue for that," I retorted, knowing how much he disliked my authoritative tone. I said it with a wide smile on my face, and it worked—his glare indicated my little trick had hit the mark.

"I should get going. I have other things to take care of," he said, rising from his seat without uttering another word. We didn't need many words to communicate; we were always there for each other. That was the kind of relationship we had. I watched him cross the road and disappear from view.

The evening was settling in, and I rang the bell, paid for the cake, and gathered the pictures back into the envelope. It seemed I would have to confront Ruby myself, I thought as I stepped out of the cake shop.

On my way to the car, my phone buzzed twice in my pocket. The first message was from Ben, who had sent Ruby's file that he retrieved from Night Owl to my desk at home. I smiled at his thoroughness. The second message was unexpected—it was from Ruby herself, and it read, "How dare you!" I frowned deeply, puzzled about what I could have done this time.