Connecting Dots–1
Sebastian’s POV
“Aurora would never do something like that,” Roman defended his sister.
Despite being angry with her, at the end of the day, she was still his sister. He would do everything in his power to protect her.
“In my line of work, anything is possible,” Hawthorne said calmly.
He pulled out his notebook and wrote something down. After a few minutes, he looked up
at us.
“But seriously, Aurora wouldn’t hurt Thea. Maybe there’s a lot of bad blood between them, but she would never harm her,” Roman insisted while the others remained silent.
I wanted to believe Aurora wasn’t capable of this, but I wasn’t so sure anymore. The woman who came back a few months ago wasn’t the same woman who left years ago.
She had so much anger and hatred toward Thea. She even threatened my pup and fabricated lies to frame Thea.
“I’m not saying she’s the perpetrator, just that she’s a suspect,” Hawthorne explained. “Hatred and anger are powerful motivations for murderous revenge. And the fact that Thea was shot less than a month after she exposed Aurora’s big secret isn’t a coincidence. Aurora tried her hardest to keep that secret hidden.”
On the surface, everything pointed to Aurora. She was the only one who’d recently had an intense conflict with Thea, and considering their tense relationship, Aurora might have
hired hitmen to kill her.
I looked at Roman, who appeared as if he’d been struck by lightning. I could see regret in his eyes for potentially getting his sister into trouble.
“What about Graves?” I asked, remembering how he had targeted Thea before.
“Yes, I considered him, but for some strange reason, I don’t feel he’s behind this. His hatred was directed at you. Sure, he kidnapped Thea, but according to what his men told us when we caught them that day, he was just messing with you. He never planned to kill
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her. He explicitly told them not to harm Thea or he’d slit their throats.”
This information surprised me, but I didn’t show it.
“That’s strange,” I muttered, frowning.
“Indeed. What’s even stranger is that those thugs we caught trying to harm Thea all died mysteriously in prison,” he added. “Anyway, as I said, his target was you. Always has been. I believe if he truly wanted revenge, he’d either kill you or destroy your Pack.”
Damien and I snorted simultaneously. That bastard could try, but he wouldn’t succeed at either. My reputation as Alpha wasn’t built on my father’s name, and even the Kincaids failed when they tried to take me and my pack down. I’d eliminated countless enemies and rivals, and I wouldn’t mind adding him to the list.
“So you really don’t think it was him?” Iris asked softly.
“Yes. Whoever shot Thea harbors deep hatred for her. You can tell by the way they shot her. But Graves doesn’t have that kind of hatred for Thea, so he wouldn’t go after her the way this person or these people did.”
He confirmed what I’d already suspected. Whoever shot Thea wanted her dead. That’s why there were multiple shots. He or she didn’t want her to escape death.
“What about the car’s license plate?” Maximus looked like he’d aged years in these few
hours.
“No leads. They removed the plates, so all we know is that it was a black vehicle. There could be thousands of black SUVS in the entire city.” Hawthorne sighed.
We fell silent for a moment. Everyone was lost in their own thoughts. There was so much going on in my head I could barely think straight.
I pushed all these thoughts to the back of my mind. What mattered was Thea’s health. I’d deal with whoever wanted her dead after she recovered.
“Well, I’ll take my leave and head back to the station,” Hawthorne broke the silence. “For now, I suggest you make sure not too many people know she’s alive. The last thing we need is someone coming to finish the job, though I’ll have two officers stationed outside her room with your men, just in case.”
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I nodded, and Damien saw him out.
“I’ll call our people, and you contact yours,” Maximus said. “Make sure word doesn’t get out that she’s alive, at least until she’s out of danger.”
“Alright, I agreed.
I took out my phone and started making calls.
This was definitely going to be a long night.
I woke up to someone tapping my shoulder.
Damn, I’d fallen asleep at an uncomfortable angle, and now my back and neck were killing
- me.
I opened my eyes to find that daylight had arrived. Looking up, I saw an older nurse smiling warmly at me.
Connecting Dots–2
“Good morning, Alpha Ashworth. I just wanted to let you know that I’ll be Thea’s nurse.”
I gave her what I thought was a smile, but I couldn’t be sure.
I glanced at the door to Thea’s room, which was still closed, with two of our warriors and Hawthorne’s two officers still standing guard.
“My name is Elwen,” she said, radiating friendliness. “Can I get you anything?”
“No, thank you.” I couldn’t eat anything right now. “When can I see Thea and the baby?”
She looked down at her watch. “In about an hour.”
I nodded. As she left, I noticed the others were already awake. Some looked confused at
first until yesterday’s events hit them.
“What did the nurse want?” Iris asked.
“She just wanted to introduce herself as Thea’s nurse,” I mumbled.
My thoughts were jumbled, and I was exhausted. Maybe I should have asked her for coffee
and breakfast since I hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday.
“Did she say when we can see the baby and Thea?”
I was about to answer her, but someone entering the waiting room caught my attention. Maybe it was because I hadn’t slept much last night, but my brain needed a moment to
catch up.
When I recognized his face, my expression immediately turned cold and hard. You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.
What the hell was Graves doing here?
My wolf immediately stirred, ready to attack, teeth bared, claws out. It took every ounce of self–control to keep him at bay. This wasn’t the place for a confrontation, not with Thea lying in a hospital bed fighting for her life.
“Before you do anything stupid,” Graves said, raising his hands in a peaceful gesture, “I’m
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just here to make sure she’s okay.”
“Why the fuck would you care?” I growled, my voice barely human.
Graves didn’t flinch at my tone. Instead, he maintained perfect composure, which only pissed me off more.
“I made her a promise to protect her and the baby. I failed. I need to know if she’s alive.”
Something about his words made me pause. The sincerity in his voice was unexpected, almost… genuine. But this was Graves we were talking about the man who’d been trying to destroy me and everything I cared about.
“She’s alive,” Maximus answered before I could, his voice tense. “Barely.”
Graves’s shoulders visibly relaxed, but his face remained serious. “Good. That’s… good.”
A tense silence filled the room. Everyone was watching us, waiting for the explosion they probably thought was inevitable. But my concern for Thea outweighed my hatred for this
man. For now.
“You know who did this?” I asked, my voice low and dangerous.
His jaw clenched. “Not yet. But I will. And when I find them…” he trailed off, but the deadly promise in his eyes was clear.
For once, we were on the same page. Whoever hurt Thea would pay, and they would pay
dearly.
“She was receiving threats,” he added, causing everyone to snap to attention. “Notes. She contacted me about them, worried someone was targeting her.”
“And you didn’t think to tell anyone?” I snarled, feeling my control slipping.
“She asked me to handle it privately. I had people watching her, but…” His voice hardened
with self–recrimination. “They weren’t watching closely enough.”
I wanted to tear his throat out for keeping this from me, but something in his expression stopped me. Guilt. Raw and unmistakable. Despite everything between us, he genuinely cared about Thea’s wellbeing.
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“What did the notes say?” Hawthorne asked, suddenly reappearing and stepping into the
conversation.
Graves turned to him. “One said ‘You will pay for everything.‘ Another was a final warning. The third came with a dead rat. My informant believed it was a woman leaving them.”
Hawthorne’s face darkened, his suspicions clearly reinforced by this new information.
“A woman,” he repeated, glancing briefly at me. We were both thinking the same thing –
Aurora.
“I’m increasing security around Thea immediately,” I said, pulling out my phone.
As I made the call, I watched Graves from the corner of my eye. The man who’d been my enemy for so long now stood in the same room, united by our concern for Thea. The world had a fucking sick sense of humor sometimes.
But one thing was certain – I wasn’t going to let anyone near Thea again. Not until the person responsible was found and dealt with. And when they were… well, may the Moon Goddess have mercy on their soul, because I certainly wouldn’t.
