Chapter 12

Grace

Ronald stammered. He stumbled back a few steps as I glared at him. I could feel the anger boiling inside me as I confronted him. Ronald was one of my father's oldest friend, a man I once trusted and respected. But now, looking at him, I didn’t know what to think other than the fact that he was nothing but a traitor, to me and my father. I felt my power surging in a way that I hadn’t felt since before Cecil was born. It was burning through me. The lust for blood was rising.

The room seemed to close in around me. I saw red. I could almost taste his blood in the air. I could feel my claws sinking into his flesh and ripping him apart.

“Now, Grace—“

I snarled. “Ronald Sauer… explain yourself!”

“It’s just a misunderstanding—“

Without thinking, I snapped, grabbing him by the throat, my grip tightening as I demanded answers. "Tell me the truth, you son of a bitch!”

“Alpha Wolfe—“

“I will murder you first. You blood is going to paint the walls and your cronies are next if I don’t get answers!” I growled, my voice trembling with anger and hurt.

His lips trembled. His eyes filled with tears as he blubbered, holding up his hands in surrender as I slammed him into the wall. He trembled and his face started to turn purple as I started to tighten my grip around his throat. I could see the fear and cowardice in his eyes. He knew he couldn't escape my grasp. I tightened my grip a little more.

“Talk.”

"Devin,” he choked out. His voice trembling. “Devin paid us to run the company. He wanted control of the company, but he didn’t want to run it himself. I never wanted things to get this far, but he threatened my family, Grace. I had no choice. You know how lycans are!"

His heart jumped and I glared at him. “I’ll give you one chance to tell the truth before I kill you.”

His eyes widened and all the color drained out of his face.

"I trusted you," I said, my voice barely above a whisper, but the venom in my words was palpable. "You were my father's friend. How could you betray him and me like this? How could you lie to me even now? Do you want to die? Are you so excited to listen to what my father has to say about everything you’ve done?”

There wasn’t even a little shame in his face. Instead, it twisted into something angry.

“I tried to buy Wolfe Medical, tried to buy into it ages ago, but your father was against it. Then, you married that lycan,” he snarled. “Devin didn’t want to run the company. He just wanted the money. He barely spent any time managing the company. He was hardly ever here after he hired us.”

His words hit me like a punch to the gut. The weight of his words hit me like a ton of bricks. All those nights I he said he was working late. All the hours that we had spent apart had been a lie. Had he always just been with Amy? With some other woman? Devin had never cared about the company or the people it employed. He had only cared about his own desires and had used me and the company as a means to an end.

“And you?” I asked. “You think you’re any better?”

He narrowed his eyes. “It’s the least your father owes me. Keeping it all to himself as if he deserved it. I deserved it! I deserve it.”

Tears welled up in my eyes, but I quickly blinked them away, refusing to show any sign of weakness. My werewolf instincts were urging me to tear them all to pieces, but I fought to maintain control. I felt Charles getting closer. His presence felt like a calming anchor amid the storm of emotions. He placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder, silently offering his support and strength. He squeezed gently. Some of the red retracted a little. The anger didn’t vanish, but it didn’t feel as powerful as it had been before.

"We'll deal with Devin," he said, his voice firm. "But right now, we need to focus on saving the company and figuring out how far back and how deep it goes.”

His words felt like a warm balm on my frayed nerves. I thought of my children and the roller coaster of fear I’d been going through since the divorce. I couldn’t kill him. Not yet. Not until I got everything I needed to save Wolfe Medical. I couldn't let my anger consume me, not when there was still so much at stake.

“How long have you been running the company in his stead?”

“Since you got married.”

I took a deep breath as a knife of regret went through me. Had that been the plan from the moment that we met? Marry me, take over my pack, take everything he wanted and then leave? Had he known about Amy before we married?

“Grace,” Charles said again, his voice pulled me back so I could focus on Ronald’s face.

“How much money have you stolen?”

“I don’t know—”

“Guess!” I said slamming him back and knocking his head against the wall. He groaned. I smelled blood as if he had cut the back of his head. The wall was dented behind his head.

“Grace,” Charles said gently. “He needs his brain to answer questions.”

“A few billion?” He said softly. “More?”

“A few billion?” I gasped. “Just you or the whole board?”

He grimaced. “A piece.”

Charles let out a frustrated sound.

“How?” I asked. “We never had that much in liquid funds!”

“There’s more than cash to take, Grace,” Ronald sneered. “Why’d he ever think that you would be able to run Wolfe Medical and you don’t even know that?”

I growled and tightened my grip. “Insult me again, and I’ll kill you just for the hell of it. Answer me!”

“Property,” he choked. “Cash. Equipment. Fake Contracts and fake expense reports. It was easy since we’re the board and no one ever asked.”

He scoffed. “We fired everyone who even asked questions.”

I thought of my assistant and that resignation letter. I pushed the fresh surge of anger aside.

“How much of a stake do you have in the company?”

He snarled and shook his head. “That was part of the deal. Devin didn’t let us purchase shares when the company became public. We were just supposed to run it and make sure he got whatever pay out he wanted.”

My stomach plummeted. “How much?”

“I—”

“When was his last payout?”

His lips twitched. “It was seven million, and it was a few months ago.”

My heart sank as I felt the deeper sense of betrayal. I was devastated by his laziness and lack of care for something that meant so much to me and my family. But even more than that, I couldn’t believe that Devin had withdrawn all that money right when the divorce had started. He’d planned to leave Wolfe Medical in shambles.

He planned to leave me and the kids in shambles. And he enlisted Ronald for it. He had been like an uncle to me, someone I thought I could trust implicitly. I could see my father’s portrait in my mind’s eye, see the poster of him promoting all the good things that he had done to uplift the pack, to uplift the werewolf world.

I could see his shiny Presidential award still on the mantle of my house as if I was standing right there.

Everything that my father had built was crumbling, and there was nothing I could do. Even worse, I was the reason that it was crumbling because I was too weak. Because I had trusted Devin and been so wrapped up in my grief that I hadn’t even thought to ask even the basic questions.

Trust. I had thought it was a matter of trust, but that was just a lie.

I didn’t want to know, and my selfishness had nearly cost me and my children everything.

“Grace?” Charles said, his voice sounded so far away. I felt my power surging again, shaking through me, burning like a great tide I couldn’t fight. The red surged and turned black. I felt my claws extend. I heard Ronald scream as I lifted my hand prepared to rip his throat out.

Traitors deserve no quarter. I heard my mother say from somewhere in my memories. Never let someone use your kind heart against you.

A shriek tore through the air as I swung forward, ready to paint the walls with his blood, but my hand never made it to his throat. Ronald was praying to the goddess, sobbing and pleading, but I didn’t hear him. I pulled against the force holding my arm back.

“Grace,” Charles said, his voice breaking through the haze like a whisper. “Not yet.”