Chapter 39

(Ronan’s POV)

I rubbed my eyes and tried to stifle a yawn. As dedicated as I was to making sure I turned over every stone when it came to Julia’s disappearance, I had to admit, I was getting exhausted. I had reviewed every piece of paper we had, and nothing seemed to hold any answers.

But I wasn’t giving up. I would just have to look again, and again, and again, until I found Julia. I ran a hand through my hair and tried to think of something new. Clearly, I was coming at this from the wrong angle, but what was the right one?

Let’s go back to the beginning, I thought. I need to see the entire picture. I closed my eyes and rewound my memories to the first time I really took note of Julia. It felt crazy to think that there was a time in my life when I didn’t know her, didn’t want to know her thoughts on every single thing, but we hadn’t really been close until….It had been that night I had gotten drunk and…

My eyes flew open. The mysterious woman who had come to my home and shared my bed, the woman I had wanted desperately to find until I realized I had everything I ever wanted in Julia. Something told me she was connected to all this, but how?

I leaned back in my chair, hoping another idea would strike me, and sure enough, one did. What if the woman from that night was the same witch who cursed me all those years ago? Wouldn’t it make sense, in a twisted sort of way? Maybe she was testing the accuracy of her spell, or maybe she just wanted to mess with me.

I stabbed the intercom button on my desk phone and barked, “Alex, get me the security footage from my house the night that woman came over. Now.” A few minutes later, the video files were in my inbox.

I anxiously clicked “play,” fast-forwarding through the daylight hour footage until I finally landed on a clip of a woman walking up to my front door. I slowed the video down, trying to take in every detail of the images before me.

Of course, I had watched all this before, weeks ago. All I had seen then was a woman’s back, with long hair and a nice outfit. Now, I was taking in every detail, hoping there was some clue to this woman’s identity.

She and I had a short conversation, and it looked like she was trying to hold me upright as I swayed towards her. I was smiling in the video, and didn’t seem to be worried or uncomfortable. The mysterious woman also seemed familiar with me, as if we already knew each other.

At one point, the woman raised her arm to push her hair out of her face and something glinted. I paused the video and zoomed in, hoping to get a better look. The woman was wearing a bracelet with a large green gemstone in the center. My stomach dropped. I had seen that bracelet before.

“It was a graduation gift,” she had told me one night, placing it carefully in her jewelry box. “My parents gave it to me after I got my diploma. It was one of the few times I really felt like they were proud of me.”

My heart was pounding in my ears and I couldn’t catch my breath. Julia. That was Julia’s bracelet. That was Julia at my door. That had been Julia in my bed. And that meant the child Julia was carrying…was mine.

That must be why I felt so drawn to her, I thought, dazed. It was the baby. It has my blood, my genes, and it must have been calling out to me. That’s why I could hardly stand to be apart from her.

Julia was the woman. Julia had spent the night in my bed. Julia was the person I couldn’t stop thinking about for months, the one I had devoted so much energy to find. Julia had been right there, all along.

I left my office and walked outside. I got in my car without a word, and the driver took me home. I couldn’t believe that the woman I had been searching for had been right under my nose the entire time. For God’s sake, she was living in my house!

I walked in the door and proceeded to my office, hoping the new environment would help me think of a new way to find Julia and her — our child. I sat down heavily at my desk and started going through the papers on my desk.

There were a few bills that needed to be paid — I would hand those off to my Gamma — and some invitations to various society functions. Then, I came across a handwritten letter. My heart started beating faster. It was Julia’s handwriting.

I ripped it open and hungrily read her words. Dear Ronan, I’m so sorry to be telling you all of this in a note and not in person, but I have no other choice. I’m safe and the baby is safe. She’s so beautiful, Ronan. I wish you could see her.

We are both in danger, though, and it is better for all of us if we never see each other again. I’m so, so sorry. I have to leave and never come back, for the safety of myself and my daughter, as well as you and the pack. My hands almost crumpled the paper. Who was threatening her and our child?

Please don’t look for me, Ronan. I know you probably already are, but please, just let us go. I love you. Julia.

As upset as I was at the contents of her letter, I couldn’t help but feel a thrill of joy at those last words. She loves me. She loves me. Those words unlocked the feelings I had been ignoring for so long.

I was in love with Julia, and I think I had been since the moment she showed up at my door. She was strong, and smart, and caring, and I had never felt connected to anyone the way I was with her.

She was my mate, no matter what, and I had to find her. I didn’t care what dangers we might face, as long as we faced them together. And now that we had a baby — A daughter, I reminded myself. We have a daughter — nothing would keep from them.

Julia had written that the danger wasn’t just for her and our daughter, but for the pack as well. I knew it was my duty as the Alpha to think of the pack overall, and not just one person, but wasn’t the point of being a pack to protect each and every member?

And besides, nothing else mattered. Julia was my chosen mate and she had our daughter with her. If I had to give up PackHouse for them, I would do it in a heartbeat. The only thing on my mind now was how to find the two people who mattered the most to me in this world.