I dragged a hand over my face and exhaled harshly. Rissa was right. Losing my cool would only make things worse. We needed to get Krystal somewhere secure, then hunt down the bastard targeting them.
"You're right," I ground out. "I apologize. Walk us through exactly what you found."
As Krystal described the violently ransacked house, I had to tamp down my fury.
Gavin and I headed inside to survey the damage ourselves. The acrid stench of anger and malice hung heavy in the air, making my hackles rise. Torn clothes littered the floor, and dishes lay shattered in the kitchen. A lamp had been hurled against the wall, leaving drywall crumbled on the carpet.
A thought nagged at me as I picked my way through the chaos. Why target Krystal? She was a single mom focused on raising her son, not the type to make enemies. Unless...
I met Gavin's grim stare across the living room. He pulled a worn photo of the missing woman from his pocket, her smiling face a near mirror image of my niece.
"Krystal, this woman looks exactly like you," he said as we rejoined the others on the porch. "There has to be some connection."
Krystal threw up her hands. "You already asked me about this. I've never seen her before. I don't recognize the name or the family. We even looked her up on social media. There is nothing tying me to this poor woman."
My jaw clenched. As much as I hated pushing Krystal, we were running out of options. I wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"Maybe it's time we talked about Bryce's father," I said quietly.
Krystal wentrigid.
She twisted out of my grip, eyes flashing. "Uncle, I love you, but we agreed not to talk about that," she bit out.
I held up a hand. "I know. And I'm sorry. But you won't tell us who he is, and now it's clear you're being targeted. This psycho could be anyone. Even him."
She blanched, but her expression hardened. "You think I haven't considered that?"
Krystal's shoulders slumped. She looked exhausted and frightened. The sight made my chest ache. I'd failed to protect her from this, but I'd be damned if I let it go any further.
She took in a deep, shuddering breath, covering her face with her hands. She was silent for a long moment, weighing her options. Finally, she lowered her hands and fixed me with a fierce glare. "Fine. But if this information gets to my son before he's old enough for me to tell him, I will personally rip all of your throats out."
I nodded solemnly, and the others followed suit.
Tavi rubbed her back soothingly. "We promise to keep the secret. You have our word."
She closed her eyes briefly, steeling herself. "I was at a concert in Nashville, and this really hot guy hit on me. I was feeling particularly wild and crazy that night, so we had a one-night stand. Yes, we used a condom; that much is clear in my memory. But no, I wasn't on birth control."
Krystal's voice wavered slightly as she continued. "I woke up the next morning, went home, and never saw him again. He told me his name, but I couldn't remember it. I'd been drinking too much. I've been calling him 'Bob' in my head ever since."
I frowned, puzzled. "Why 'Bob'?"
A deep blush crept up Krystal's neck, and she leaned in to whisper, "It stands for 'battery-operated boyfriend.'"
I groaned, squeezing my eyes shut. "I really didn't need to know that. I changed your diapers."
She shrugged, a hint of her usual mischief glinting in her amber eyes. "Hey, you asked."
I shook my head, trying to clear the unwanted image from my mind. My wolf growled, restless and on edge. We had a lead now, but it only raised more questions. Who was this mystery man, and why hadhe resurfaced after all these years? What did he want with Krystal and her son?
I met Gavin's gaze, seeing the same determined resolve reflected back at me. We would get to the bottom of this, no matter what it took. For Krystal, for Bryce, and for the safety of our pack.
"Listen, I had no way of contacting him," Krystal said quickly, moving on. "And then six weeks later, I found out I was pregnant."
I leaned back against the porch railing and folded my arms. "Well, that's not so bad. A lot of people get pregnant after a one-night stand."
Krystal rolled her eyes at me. "Yeah, but most people get the contact info of the guy they slept with!" She buried her face in her hands, her voice cracking. "What am I going to tell my son when he wants to know who his father is?"
Rissa chimed in. "Well, I would recommend one of those ancestry DNA test kits, but it's not like our kind can do that."
