Chapter 42 Possible Trust
She drove back to the pack with Adrian chattering about the cookies and cartoons, and found Kai pacing outside the Alpha residence looking frantic.
"Where the hell were you?" he demanded when he saw them. "We've been searching everywhere."
"Someone took Adrian to give me a message," Elara said. "We need to talk."
"About what?" Kai asked.
"About what you knew before I was exiled," Elara said and handed him the folder. "And when you knew it."
Kai opened the folder and his face went white as he read the first document. "Where did you get these?"
"Elena Morrison," Elara said. "She claims she was your father's assistant and kept copies of everything."
"These are fake," Kai said immediately.
"Are they?" Elara asked. "Because they have dates and details that match what happened."
"Someone is trying to turn you against me," Kai said.
"Or I'm finally seeing the truth," Elara said. "Did you know your father planned to have me killed?"
"No," Kai said firmly.
"Did you discuss 'the omega problem' with him?" Elara pressed.
Kai hesitated and that hesitation told her everything she needed to know.
"You did," she said. "You knew."
"I knew he was concerned about the pregnancy," Kai admitted. "I didn't know he planned to kill you."
"This email says 'permanent solution,'" Elara said. "What did you think that meant?"
"I thought he meant paying you off to disappear," Kai said. "Or arranging adoption for the baby, I didn't think—"
"You didn't think," Elara interrupted. "Or you didn't want to know because that would make you complicit."
"I made mistakes," Kai said. "I've admitted that, I've been trying to fix them."
"By lying about how deep your involvement went," Elara said. "How am I supposed to trust you with Adrian when you were discussing permanent solutions to his mother?"
"Because I'm different now," Kai said desperately. "I'm not that person anymore."
"Prove it," Elara said. "Go to the pack council and tell them everything, every conversation you had with your father, every decision you made, all of it."
"That would destroy my authority as Alpha," Kai said.
"Then maybe you shouldn't be Alpha," Elara said.
She took Adrian inside and locked the bedroom door, ignoring Kai's pleas from the other side.
Adrian looked up at her with worried eyes. "Are you and dada fighting?"
"Adults have disagreements sometimes baby," Elara said. "It doesn't mean we don't care about each other."
But even as she said it, she wasn't sure it was true anymore.
That night she lay awake trying to decide what to do—expose Kai and throw the pack into chaos, or keep quiet and raise Adrian with a father who'd once considered his mother expendable.
Her phone buzzed with a text from Elena: "Have you made your decision?"
Elara stared at it without responding because she honestly didn't know.
Another text came: "If you won't expose him, I will. The media gets these documents tomorrow morning unless I hear from you."
Elara threw her phone across the room and it shattered against the wall, and she pressed her hands over her face trying to hold herself together.
A soft knock came at the door and Kai's voice filtered through. "Elara please, we need to talk about this."
"Go away," she said.
"I can't," Kai said. "Not when you're in there thinking I'm a monster."
"Aren't you?" Elara asked.
"Maybe I was," Kai said. "But I'm trying to be better, and I need you to believe that."
"I don't know what I believe anymore," Elara admitted.
"Then let me prove it," Kai said. "I'll go to the pack council tomorrow and tell them everything, every conversation I had with my father, every mistake I made, I'll be completely honest even if it costs me the Alpha position."
"Why would you do that?" Elara asked.
"Because you asked me to," Kai said simply. "And because you and Adrian are more important than my pride."
Elara opened the door and found him sitting on the floor outside looking exhausted.
"If you do this, the pack will lose faith in you," she said.
"Then I'll earn it back," Kai said. "But I won't keep lying to you, I can't build anything real on lies."
"What if Elena releases those documents anyway?" Elara asked.
"Then she does," Kai said. "But at least I'll have told the truth first."
Elara studied his face and saw genuine remorse there, but remorse wasn't enough to erase complicity in attempted murder.
"I need time," she said. "To think about whether I can trust you with Adrian."
"Take all the time you need," Kai said. "But know that I love our son and I would die before letting anything happen to him."
"You were willing to let something happen to me," Elara pointed out.
"I know," Kai said. "And I'll spend the rest of my life regretting that."
He left and Elara closed the door, no closer to a decision than she'd been an hour ago.
Morning came too fast and with it another text from Elena: "Time's up. What's your answer?"
Elara looked at Adrian sleeping peacefully and made her choice—she would let Kai confess to the pack council, and then she would decide whether to stay or take Adrian and leave forever.
She texted Elena: "Kai is confessing today. Hold the documents for twenty-four hours."
Elena's response came immediately: "Why should I?"
"Because if he's honest about everything, exposing him becomes redundant," Elara typed. "And if he lies, then you can release them with my full support."
A long pause, then: "Fine. Twenty-four hours. But if he doesn't tell the whole truth, I'm burning him down."
Elara put her phone away and got Adrian ready for the day, not knowing if by tonight they'd still have a home or if they'd be packing bags to run again.
The pack council meeting was scheduled for 3 PM, and at 2:45 Elara took her seat in the gallery with Adrian on her lap while council members filed in looking curious about why an emergency session had been called.
Kai entered looking like he hadn't slept, and when he stood to address the council his voice was steady but his hands shook.
"I called this meeting to confess my involvement in crimes committed by my father," he said.
The room went silent and Elara held her breath waiting to see if he would really tell the truth or try to minimize his role.
"Two years ago I rejected my fated mate for political reasons," Kai began. "And when she became pregnant with my child, I discussed with my father how to handle what we called 'the omega problem.'"
Gasps echoed through the chamber and council members leaned forward.
"I knew my father planned to have her removed from pack territory," Kai continued. "I knew he had contacts who handled such problems, and I didn't ask questions about what that meant because I didn't want to know."
"You're saying you were complicit in planning her exile?" Elder Thomas asked.
"I'm saying I was complicit in planning worse than exile," Kai said. "And when I learned what my father actually intended—to have her and my child killed—I didn't stop it because I was a coward who cared more about my reputation than their lives."
The chamber erupted in shouts and Elara felt tears stream down her face because he was actually telling the truth, all of it, holding nothing back.
"I don't deserve to be Alpha," Kai said over the noise. "I don't deserve your trust or respect, but I'm asking for the chance to earn both back by being better than I was."
Elder Sarah stood. "This is a serious confession Alpha Kai, these crimes could result in your removal from leadership."
"I understand," Kai said. "And I'll accept whatever judgment this council decides."
"We need time to deliberate," Elder Thomas said. "This meeting is adjourned until tomorrow."
Council members filed out arguing amongst themselves while Elara sat frozen trying to process what had just happened.
Kai approached her slowly. "I told the truth."
"I know," Elara said.
"Does that change anything?" he asked.
"I don't know yet," Elara admitted. "Ask me tomorrow."
She left with Adrian and spent the evening in her room while pack members gathered outside discussing Kai's confession, some calling for his removal and others arguing he deserved a second chance.
At midnight someone knocked on her door and she opened it to find Elena standing there.
"He actually did it," Elena said. "Told them everything."
"Were you listening?" Elara asked.
"I was in the gallery," Elena admitted. "And I'll be honest, I didn't think he had it in him."
"So you're not releasing the documents?" Elara asked.
"Not yet," Elena said. "But I'm keeping them, because if Kai falls back into old patterns someone needs to be able to stop him."
"Fair enough," Elara said.
Elena left and Elara went back to bed, and for the first time in weeks she felt like maybe trust was possible after all.