“At that point, why didn’t anyone contact Anders?” I inquire.
Sodie turned to me. “That was the plan, when I returned home. I knew it was bad enough that we needed help. The relationship between Anders and Alpha Agnus is strained. With the little communication I had with my brother and Dimitri, we devised a plan for me to enroll in the recruit program. Dimitri would figure things out on his end, to get Jessica over to Emerald Pack territory, and hopefully, I could gain Anders’s trust and his aid to help protect her.”
Chapter 20
A Family Reunion
SHADOW
Seven Years Ago
Ithrow my head back, bumping it against the wall behind me. This story is too painful to hear. I wish I had known about this sooner. I could have gone in and taken them out, and no one would have been the wiser.
“So, what happened from the time you were kicked out of the territory to when we found Jessica?” Liam prompts.
Sodie rubs his eyes with the heal of his hands. “As you can already imagine, things for Jessica got worse. My brother Skunk was forced into enemy’s ranks, trapped under their watchful eyes. Every instinct to protect her became a death sentence hanging over him. My sister didn’t have a choice but to observe it all from the sidelines. She was too afraid that if she rallied or drew attention to herself, Jessica’s life would be at stake. They were basically walking around on eggshells, never knowing when the Alpha or Beta would strike out against them if they had one toe out of line.
“You’d have to ask my brother for more details after I had left. I had little contact with anyone. What I do know is that it was a setup that night Jessica was found. The Beta planned a meeting that the Alpha needed to attend, convincing him that Dimitri should start attending meetings as well so he could learn the ropes, which was a joke. His own son was the same age and didn’t need to go. Even though Dimitri had some control of the group and how much they could pick on her. With him gone…” he sighs.
“He no longer controlled the group,” I finish for him. I rub a hand down my face. “Who hurt her?”
“Bart, the Beta’s son, and his group of asshole followers.”
I frown, thinking back to that kid I saw with the attitude during my investigation. “Does he have a scar on his face?”
Sodie’s brows knit together. “The last time I saw Bart, he didn’t have one.”
“His name is Bart?”
He scoffs. “Yeah. He was named after his great-grandfather on his mother’s side or some shit like that. He brags about it, like it means something.”
Fuck me. “As in Bartholomew Powers?”
Sodie nods, and his eyes widen as if he just remembered something. “Shit. My sister’s friend once mentioned paper trails and suspicious evidence proving both the Alpha and the Beta are with the Resistance.” Then it all comes together—Elaine’s contact, how she knew who Jessica was. Dammit!
“What the fuck!” I yell. “You trained with the guards for two years, with all of this information, and you never told anyone!”
“It wasn’t supposed to happen like this,” he counters. “I was given orders to only communicate with my Alpha. My loyalties don’t only lie with the Emerald Guard. My loyalties lie with my pack. I took an oath to protect my pack, my Alpha, my family,and my species, which is nearly extinct. I trusted my Alpha with that information.”
I fist my hand and press it over my mouth, choking on my rage. “Did you ever think that all of this could have been avoided if you simply came forward and asked for our help? We could have protected you too. All of this could have been prevented!”
“Of course I fucking did! I said as much! I was sick to my stomach, seeing her lifeless body at the clinic, proof that we failed. I failed! She’s my family! That is why my brother and I chose to remove her from the LS territory. We saw an opportunity, and we took it. We tried to save her from anything like that from ever happening to her again!”
We fall into silence after Sodie’s revelation.
Darwin, of course, just can’t help himself and breaks the silence. “So, your brother stole Jessica and took her to the Void. What kind of magic does he have that made him—I don’t know the word—undercover?”
Sodie grimaces at Darwin’s question. “He has healing magic, like myself, but he also can become invisible.”
“No shit,” Darwin mumbles as he continues to eat. “He took Boris on by himself?”
Sodie nods in confirmation. “Boris was one of our best fighters.” Darwin wipes his mouth with a napkin, leaning forward across the table in my direction. “If we’re able to recruit him, he would make an awesome guard.”
“Are you the next recruiting officer?” I ask him, lacing my tone with sarcasm.
He shrugs. “I am training to become a commanding officer.”
“You’re here to become a trainer and sharpen your computer skills,” I grumble.
