Chapter 229

Grace

Was there something in the drink? What was it? He was a bartender. I hadn't been paying attention to when he'd made my drink. Was he... Was he planning to kill me? Kidnap me? Did he work for Alpha Shadow now or Sean? I looked up at him, terrified of what I would find. His eyes were furious. Then, they dropped to his glass. He looked back up and cocked an eyebrow.

He snorted. "I wouldn't waste the alcohol."

I swallowed. "So... it's not poison?"

"Well, it's alcohol, so it is poison but harmless in the right quantities," he smirked. "What fun would it be to kill you, Miss Wolfe?" I flinched at the derision in his tone. "And rob everyone who is in my position or worse, the chance to watch you fail, fail, and fail again? I'm relishing every news report on how you've fucked up again, you know? Sometimes, I think my parents are too."

I licked my lips. "Why... turn off the news then?"

He scoffed. "I've already seen that report. I would've actually liked to watch the trial, actually."

"It wasn't entertaining."

He smirked. "You have no idea what would entertain me. Seeing you on the hot seat, distraught, suffering. Awesome."

His words left me speechless, a crushing weight settling in my gut. Not just someone else who hated me but someone actively rooting for me to fail. Had he always been cruel, or had my actions warped his personality?

"I... I'm--"

"Sorry?"

I bit my lip. The words felt hollow, and I hadn't even said them. He laughed softly. Suddenly, the bar lights felt suffocating. The cheers and the clinking glasses sounded distant, the weight of reality crashing down on me. I needed an escape from being in his presence, from the truth that I couldn't deny. How many more people would have stories like this? Rooting in the shadows for me to fail? Hoping for the day, I got just a taste of what they'd had to endure because they weren't the alpha's kid.

I winced. No, because Eason was basically in the same boat as Gus here.

I frowned. "You... said your parents went to a relative..."

I looked up at him. "Why didn't you go with them?"

He cocked an eyebrow. "Because we collectively had enough money to send them to a hospital and pay for it... Just them."

My gut plummeted. I could see my father in his hospital room.

"Give me another six months, and I'll have made enough money to leave Mooncrest and register elsewhere." He smirked. "I'm considering going across the border to Clan land and watching this shit unfold."

I could run. I could put a few bills on the counter, maybe even leave a nice tip, and walk out of here. I could, and this man probably wouldn't stop me. He probably wouldn't even be surprised.

"How... much longer did you have at your law program?""

"A semester," he said. My gut clenched. I bit my lip and looked up to meet his gaze.

"... Is Gus your real name?"

He cocked an eyebrow. "Why?"

I hesitated. "... because the restoration of citizen records is actually... near the top of my list... right after getting Mooncrest out of debt."

He narrowed his eyes. Disbelief was in them, and something told me that I wouldn't get anything more out of him without giving him some reason to tell me. It was a bit like Eason.

"Eason..." I paused. "My brother... was among the people whose records were deleted by Devin."

I looked up. He searched my face.

"He... He was attending Northfall." His eyes widened. "He... He ran Mooncrest from the day our father died up until the year I withdrew from school... He moved. Enrolled in a human city's community college... transferred to a witch city for healing. Selene."

The words just drifted out of me. The guilt lay heavy on my heart.

"He's been through so much. So much alone, so much because of me...I know... that restoring his records won't undo all that has been done, but I'm going to because it's the least I can do."

He set his jaw. "... and the most?"

I met his gaze. My lips twitched. "Send him off with well-wishes and never call him to fix my fuck-ups again."

I let out a shaky breath. Let Eason go. It was the most I could do. Live with the guilt of what I'd done to him in silent agony for the rest of my life.

"... Mike." I looked up. A bit of the hardness in his eyes had softened. "Michael Carter."

The name sent a tremor through me. I knew the last name, at least. Carter Investments had been the company that had handled a lot of Wolfe Medical's investments and the family investments.

Devin had probably tanked the company to force all the assets to be liquidated, including the company and the family's assets.

I pulled out my phone. I found myself scrolling through my contacts with trembling fingers. I called.

"Amira," I said as soon as the call connected. "I need information on a pack member... Michael Carter. He was--" My voice cracked, the words too shameful to utter.

"Related to the family that owned Carter Investments?" Amira asked. "I know them. He's on the list. We're still working on recovering the full files of him and his family."

I swallowed. "Could you... Could you flag them?"

Guilt washed over me in a scalding wave.

"Sure."

With a heavy heart, I thanked Amira and disconnected the call. Staring at the phone in my hand, I felt a desperate urge to make amends, but Michael, now called Gus, was seeing another customer.

A deep weariness set in, a sense of utter futility. It seemed like every step forward brought two steps back. I felt trapped, forever paying a price that I didn't know. Throwing proverbial dollars into a burning fire.

"Thanks, Michael," I said, my voice hoarse.

I finished the drink, placed a few bills on the counter, and walked out into the cool night air. The city lights shimmered like stars around me, guiding me down the street. I passed a small group of homeless people. The sight of them felt like a stab in the gut.

There had never been homeless people in the time of my father.

Every single building in this district had been occupied. The nightlife was vibrant and rowdy. The club I used to go to when I was in high school, sneaking in before I was old enough to drink and visiting nearly every weekend... It was gone. The late-night diner next to it was gone, too. Where a pizza parlor used to be, there was a small office building that was half boarded up. I heard sirens in the distance, but I kept walking.

Trouble making kids or a robbery? Once, I would have known the answer since I was probably the one making trouble. Every step felt like a reminder that so much time had passed.

As if in a trance, I walked down the street, letting my gaze drift over the closed storefronts. Had any of these businesses been closed because of what Devin did? Because of what I had given him the chance to do. I wanted another drink. A whole other bottle, honestly. The walk home felt horrible. The wind bit into me. It had started to snow a little, but it felt wet and cold, like it was almost too warm to rain. I was shivering by the time I made it, but the thought of catching a cab, of running into someone who also had been hurt by my decisions, was too much for me right now. My irritation towards Charles for his earlier distance faded away, replaced by a deep sense of shame.

Before I realized it, I was walking into the warmth of the pack house and up the stairs. Part of me knew that Charles was still awake. I reached Charles' office door and hesitated. The overwhelming events of the day, Michael's story, Edgar, and everything made me feel like I was drowning. I needed him. I needed someone else. Some have for my mind to go while I tried and failed to parse through the emotions.

Taking a steadying breath, I knocked softly. When there was no answer, I tried again, this time a bit louder.

"Charles?" I called, my voice wavering. "Look, I know we… things were tense earlier. But I… I need you in both ways. I need my mentor, the strategist, to help me figure this out. But I also need my… my partner. Someone who has my back, who believes in me even when I barely believe in myself."

Silence hung in the air. The unanswered knock echoed the turmoil within me, a battle between pride and a desperate desire for support for the comfort only Charles could provide.

"Charles?" My eyes burned. I shivered. "Please?"