Chapter 40 40
Aurélie POV
Avoiding the tangle of laptop cables snaking across the kitchen floor had become a task all on its own. One careless step and the entire operation could come crashing down.
Maps papered the walls and countertops, marked and re-marked pinpointing the exact location where the SUV had been recovered, as well as the wooded area where Fabrice had discovered the bodies of the murdered police officers.
We had contacted every neighbouring pack. Even those outside my alliance. All of them denied any involvement, any knowledge, any whispers of unusual activity. Every Alpha offered warriors in assistance, but I refused for now. Too many eyes, too many questions. I couldn’t afford rumours spreading that Darkvale was on high alert.
Once that happened, my allied packs would start demanding explanations.
And right now, there was only one thing that mattered.
Dominique.
Delphine finally succumbed to sleep sometime around midnight. She had refused outright to go to bed without him unsurprising, really. Since the moment they were born, she had never spent a single night apart from her brother.
I let her stay in the front room with Roland, a movie playing softly in the background. Sometime during it, they’d both drifted off beneath a blanket. Émilie Théo’s mate kept watch over them alongside Miss Lambert, who diligently ensured everyone had hot drinks and food at regular intervals to keep us moving through the night.
“Alpha, why don’t you try to get some rest?” Miss Lambert asks quietly, her concern unmistakable.
I don’t allow it to touch me.
“No,” I reply sharply. “Not while my boy is out there alone and in danger.”
The edge in my tone isn’t intentional, and I regret it immediately. She was right normally, I would rest. But this night wasn’t normal. We needed every advantage we could find before daylight.
I move back into the front room to check on Delphine again. I’ve been doing it every hour on the hour. Dominique’s kidnapping has made paranoia settle deep in my bones especially when it comes to her safety.
She’s fast asleep, curled against Roland beneath his protective arm, her small head resting on his chest. Her pale blonde hair spills across his shirt as she clutches her bunny teddy tightly to her front.
Roland has been endlessly patient with her. And even at six years old, I sense that he understands far more about what has happened to Dominique than he lets on.
“Anything?” I ask hoarsely at four in the morning, the last cup of coffee doing absolutely nothing for me.
The men look exhausted worn down by weeks of reinforced border patrols before being thrust into this nightmare.
“Nothing, Alpha,” Théo finally admits, dragging a hand through his hair. “No packs have reported strange activity. No sightings of rogues. We’ve got nothing.”
Frustration and exhaustion collide as he hurls a laptop to the floor. The sound echoes loudly rage for his stolen future Alpha mixing with bone-deep fatigue.
“Then it’s time I reveal my identity,” I say quietly.
The room stills.
“Aurélie…” Fabrice murmurs, rubbing his eyes before slipping his glasses back on. “You understand what that means?”
“I do.” My jaw tightens. “I will have to forfeit my anonymity as Alpha of the Darkvale pack. It won’t be well received especially the fact that a female leads a group alliance. Our borders will need to be reinforced immediately.”
“Of course, Alpha.” Théo straightens instantly. “What are your orders?”
“I don’t believe the Bloodnight pack is innocent,” I growl, fury surging hot and sharp. “Not when their Alpha trespassed barely a week ago. And now this?”
My hand grips the back of a dining chair so tightly my knuckles ache.
“We leave after breakfast. I want to test my theory in person. I want to look him in the eye while he lies to my face.”
“I’ll prepare the warriors,” Théo replies without hesitation. “Some will accompany us. The rest will hold the borders.”
He departs at once with the Head Warriors to relay orders.
“Aurélie…” Fabrice says softly once we’re alone.
“I know,” I cut in. “But this isn’t about vengeance. Not anymore. This is about Dominique. I need my son back no matter the cost. If that means surrendering my hidden identity, then so be it.”
“He’ll deny it,” Fabrice says, lifting a brow as he snaps his laptop shut and comes to stand beside me.
“I expect nothing less.”