Chapter 72 The Truth About Dante
DANTE'S POV
I watched Lisa assess her situation with the sharp intelligence that made silver wolves so dangerous to everyone who underestimated them. Locked room, no phone, a man who clearly knew too much about her world and her family. She was calculating whether she could shift and break out through the door or windows. Whether she could overpower me before I called for help or trigger whatever security measures I had in place. I could see it in the way her muscles tensed and her eyes darted to the door and then the windows and back to me.
"I would not," I said mildly as I leaned against one of the glass cases displaying her family's stolen heritage. "The room is reinforced with silver-lined walls. Built specifically to contain supernatural beings if necessary. It cost me a fortune but worth every penny for moments like this. Shifting in here would be agonizing for you and dangerous for the baby you are carrying. And I have friends waiting outside. Supernatural friends who are much better equipped to handle an angry Alpha than I am."
Lisa's eyes narrowed and I could see the fury building beneath her controlled face like a storm gathering strength. "What do you want?"
"A conversation. The truth." I settled into a leather chair positioned near the center of the room and gestured for her to sit in the one across from me. She remained standing with her spine straight and her chin lifted in defiance. I shrugged like it made no difference to me either way.
"Your mother and I were friends, believe it or not. I was human, yes, but I knew about the supernatural world long before I met her. I helped facilitate artifact trades between collectors who wanted rare items and were willing to pay premium prices. She came to me twenty years ago when she was desperate and alone and being hunted. She wanted to hide certain items before the Alphas could use them against her bloodline."
I pulled out more items from the cases with my careful hands that had handled priceless artifacts for decades. "This blade can kill silver wolves specifically. The metal is forged with techniques lost centuries ago that modern metallurgists cannot replicate. These herbs can suppress your abilities permanently if taken in the right dosage over time. This collar," I held up a delicate silver chain that looked innocent and beautiful but radiated menace to anyone who understood what it was, "it can control a silver wolf completely. Make them obedient, compliant, and unable to resist commands from whoever holds the other end. Your mother scattered these items with people she trusted across the country. Keeping them away from those who would misuse them against her family and future generations."
Lisa's face paled and I saw her throat work as she swallowed hard against rising nausea. "And you collected them."
"I acquired them, yes. After your mother died and I was there, I did witness it, and I realized these artifacts were too dangerous to leave scattered. The people she trusted were dying or being threatened or bought off. Alphas were hunting for these items like buried treasure. So I gathered them over the years. Kept them safe in climate-controlled storage. For you."
"For me?" Lisa's voice dripped with skepticism and anger that vibrated through every syllable. "You expect me to believe you have been hoarding my family's artifacts out of kindness? Out of loyalty to a dead woman?"
I stood and moved closer but kept a respectful distance because I was not stupid enough to corner a pregnant wolf. "You are pregnant, Lisa. With the first silver wolf child born in decades. That baby will be even more powerful than you if the prophecies are accurate and I believe they are. The Alphas know this. Marcus Krane knows this and has been planning for it. Hell, even Adrian knows and that is why do you think he has been courting you so carefully? Bringing you gifts and offering friendship and support at just the right moments? He wants that child raised in Western Pack, under his influence. He wants to shape what your baby becomes before the child even understands what power they hold."
Lisa's hand moved protectively to her stomach and I saw the maternal instinct override her anger for just a moment. I smiled because that was exactly the reaction I needed to see. She was already thinking like a mother instead of an Alpha.
"I am not your enemy. I am offering you a choice. These artifacts," I gestured to the cases around the room filled with centuries of silver wolf history, "can suppress your silver wolf nature. Make you normal. An ordinary wolf or even a human if you take enough of the herbs over time. You could raise your child as a human, away from pack politics, free from prophecies and expectations, and assassination attempts. I have connections in the human world. Money, resources, safe houses in countries where no one will ever find you. A new identity, a new life, complete freedom from everything that has hurt you."
I opened a drawer in a desk near the window and pulled out papers. Legal documents with false names and birth certificates. Bank accounts already set up. "Or you can go back to your pack and have that baby under everyone's watchful eyes. Let the Alphas and rogues fight over what your child represents. Watch your baby become a political pawn like you have been your entire life. The choice is yours, Lisa. But decide quickly, because," my phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out with growing dread.
My face darkened as I read the alert from my security system. "Fuck."
I showed Lisa the screen and watched her eyes widen with shock and confusion. Security footage from outside the gallery. Ryan, Daniel, and Nathan approaching from the north entrance with warriors behind them moving with purpose. They found her faster than I expected. But there was more footage and this was the part that made my blood run cold. Another angle showing Marcus Krane's forces surrounding the building from the south side. At least twenty wolves moving lined up like military.
And a third group that made no sense at all. Rogues. Dozens of them were emerging from vehicles and alleys like they had been waiting for a signal. More than I had ever seen gathered in one place in a human city.
I looked at Lisa and saw she was as shocked as I was by the third group. "Tell me you did not plan this. A supernatural war in the middle of a human city?"