Lucas was standing guard at the entrance, as usual, smoking a cigarette. He opened the door for her and helped her out of the car, leaving me in the nicotine-stinking car.
"Thanks for the movie. I had a great time," she said, waving her hand at me.
I squeezed the steering wheel tighter to the point that my joints creaked, and I clenched my jaw. "Me too, I'll call you later."
I sped off straight to the pack's operations building, where I spent most of my time managing our assets and directing the operations of the territory preservation and safeguarding team.
"I thought you were taking the day off," Andrew asked, furrowing his brow.
He was standing at the gate in the walls that protected the building and kept it out of the reach of any spies or curious onlookers. The walls were gray and thick, completely smooth to make it harder toclimb, and with barbed wires made of pure silver at the top to prevent any uninvited or ill-intentioned wolf outsiders from gaining access and taking us in unnoticed.
"I did too, but there's a matter I'd like to talk about in private," I replied, motioning with my head for him to enter the building with me.
I tossed my car keys to the newest of the pack, a nineteen-year-old boy who barely managed to transform under the full moon.
"Let's go to the office then," my Beta replied, playing with a bunch of keys.
Andrew was the eldest son of Sebastian, my father's Beta, and out of habit, his son became mine, but besides that, we had always been good friends, almost like brothers.
My Beta had dark skin, pearly eyes, a thick build, a calm voice, and a serene character. He was the ideal candidate to be my right-hand man since he always gave me the best advice and saw things from a different point of view than mine.
"Ok, what's this about?" he closed the door behind him and sat down in the chair in front of my desk.
My office had a moon-shaped desk, a computer, files, and some screens that gave me access to the security cameras in the building and the mansion.
"It's about Cathy." I dropped into the chair and put my hands on my head. "I think she might be hiding something or someone. I was with her, and she got several calls that she wouldn't answer in front of me and started acting very suspicious."
Andrew rolled his eyes and sighed. "Women… won't you ever get lucky with one?"
I settled down my back in the chair and relaxed my legs. "I don't want to state anything right now. I just want you to do some research and tell me everything you find out. She lives in New York City, and her alias is Cathy North. She’s the owner of a perfume franchise. That's all I know so far."
"Do you have anything else that might be helpful, the man's nameor any clues that might lead us to him?" He was jotting everything down on a note on his cell phone.
"No, the only thing I could see was that 'baby' was calling her. Cathy didn't answer, so I couldn't hear his name, voice, or anything."
"I'll see what I can do about this." Andrew nodded and left the office.
Minutes before, I was conflicted, but now that I spoke my mind, I felt calmer and with less tension in my shoulders. However, the thought that Cathy might have a man waiting for her at home makes me lose my sanity and focus. I started attributing her rejection of me, stubbornness, and persistence for keeping me away from her with this ‘baby.’ All I could think about was that.
I played with a freshly sharpened pencil making circles on an old bill, spun around in my chair, and leaned back from it with my palms pressed over my eyes, counting the minutes, feeling time stand still just for me. Without noticing, time flew as it was just me and my thoughts trying to make sense of this situation, and just when I was starting to feel the most desperate, I heard the door opening.
"Eric," Andrew walked in untouched with a folder full of papers and a blank stare. "I already figured out everything you asked for and... more."
I straightened my spine and pushed everything aside on my desk. My Beta tossed the folder into the clear.
"That was fast," I said. "How did you get all that?" I opened the folder and began to organize official documents and photos taken by traffic light cameras and police vehicles that were all over the streets of the city. Some of them were recent, and some of them were quite old.
"She is very cautious. Her social media is private, and she doesn't post anything about her private life on the red, but she's in our territory, so she can't hide from us." He helped me separate the photos.
"Don't leave me in suspense. Tell me, what did you find out?" I asked, controlling my breathing.
"She changed her last name six years ago as soon as she came to town. Her business has grown a lot in the last few years, her taxes areup to date, she doesn't have any fines, not even for speeding or running a red light, and she has no debts or credit cards. That woman has managed to stay under the radar." Andrew swallowed hard and pulled out a photo of Cathy holding hands with a boy in front of a kindergarten. "And she has a five-year-old son named Elliot North, and there's no record of who the father is, but if you take a close look at him… I think you could figure it out."
I picked up the photo and brought it close to my face. I couldn't believe my eyes. My heart stopped, and my hands started to sweat. The boy was just like me at that age, with dark eyes, almost black hair, and white skin but with Cathy's eyes and nose. Immediately the night of passion we had, the caresses, the kisses, and how I made her mine came to my mind. I had no doubt that boy was my son.
"Am I a father...?" I said unconsciously.
My Beta didn't know how to react, so he kept his expression neutral. "That's right, that child looks just like you," he replied. "And I think he was that 'baby' who called her."
