NALEDI’S POV
“If you are with us, then this would be a perfect time to speak up, my lady,” Korah said when I remained silent.
“What does it mean to be for you?” I finally asked, “I’m sorry but I’d like to know exactly what I’m getting into before making any decisions.”
“If I tell you, and for some reason, you decide that you don’t want to work with us in bringing Draken down, you do know I will have to kill you, right?” Ezra’s tone was curt and straight to the point.
It was my turn to smile. “Am I supposed to be surprised by that?”
He shrugged, “Just thought to put it out there.” Korah and Ezra shared a look before he continued speaking. “Korah and I are family. Different fathers, but the same mother. We were both captured by the Alpha of the Roger pack.”
I couldn’t hide the prick in my heart. “You mean my father.”
“I have no time weeping over spilt milk, Naledi. When I was separated from my sister, I was sold to the Yakuza, under Don Yakuza. Happy to have access to such a gifted person, as he’d always said, he shipped me across various countries to carry out his evil vendettas using my little sister who was barely two years old as blackmail material.”
“Thankfully, the Roger pack got exterminated and I heard some witches were taken hostage by the Cosa Nostra. That was the last time I heard of my sister. Naturally, I went out of the hands of the Yakuza, and escaped with a mission to find her, or at least what was left of her should she be dead.”
“I must commend Alpha Caellum. He hid her existence so well, taking her around him until you came around and everything went to shit. I was finally able to recognise my sister’s gift that seemed to surface whenever a certain Naledi Rogers tore through the cities of Italy.”
I could barely breathe. “I led you to her.”
“And for that, I am very grateful. I think that side of me has sponsored my constant hesitance to get rid of you, even when you constantly put my sister in danger and basically teamed up with the enemy to bring the Cosa Nostra down.”
My nose flared and he raised his hands. “I’m sure you had your reasons. Just like I had my reasons for hating your father and what you represent, but that’s by the way.” He sighed.
“In a nutshell, I met my sister a few years ago and decided that Alpha Caellum is the least of devils I was cursed to meet. I joined Nicolai in business, worked my way to the top and decided that unlike you, Draken is just like his father, maybe even worse, and deserves to be put down.”
“So here goes nothing. Will you join us in taking him down or do you want to go down with him?” Korah hit her brother in the ribs.
“That’s no way to poach a person into our side!” She jacked the papers from her brother’s hands and I suddenly saw the similarities between them. “I resented you when I found out that you deceived me. I resented you because of the pain you caused me and Marcus who stood by you.”
“When I found out you were here, I decided to take this mission and see for myself the reality of who you are. I wanted to truly confirm that I had been wrong to trust you. To think that there was something real in what we had.”
I blinked, refusing to let her words affect me.
“When you stepped in to help me, despite being burned by me. I figured there was more to your being here than you let on. But when he mentioned your wedding. I was confused once again. We continued watching until the last time when you killed me.”
She chuckled, “It was so darned painful and I remembered thinking there was no way you weren’t on Draken’s side. I thought I had once again been deceived by you and this time, I was going to pay with my life.”
“Thankfully, I didn’t die.” A grin. “Now that I’ve faked my death, I understand the allure. You literally gave me the freedom I need to carefully bring down this pack for all they’ve done to me, my brother, and a lot of people I have come to love.”
I wondered if I was a part of those people. It’ll be a miracle with everything I’ve done. As much as she was able to magically escape death and move forward with her life, it didn’t magically change the fact that I had been the one to put her in that near-death condition.
“When Ezra came to me this morning with news of you ransacking through the Alpha’s office and his suspicions about you being a double agent, I began wondering, what could you possibly have planned? What could be the motive for your lightning decision to get married to a man you have spent the last six years of your life running from?”
She must have caught the surprise in my face because she suddenly threw, “Of course, I did my homework this time. Once bitten, twice shy.”
“Immediately I caught sight of this paper, it finally made sense and I knew we had to bring you in.” A close-lipped smile. “You have always had the biggest ideas, and being a foe to my enemy makes you a friend of mine. So what do you say? Will you join us in bringing down this fucking place or not?”
The die was cast. I needed to make a decision. Not because they would kill me if I chose otherwise, but because this was the union of a lifetime. There was no way I could bring Draken down on my own.
Even if I could do it, it would require a lot more time to set everything in motion before I could do anything and time was not on my side. Or rather, patience wasn’t my strongest trait.
From their interactions, it was clear they had something up their sleeve. If I joined hands with them, it just might make the perfect bullet to neutralise Draken and be on our merry way out.
That did it. It was about time I formed new alliances. A wicked smile drew on my face. “Let’s do it.”
Korah, being very extra in her display punched the air in joy. “I knew she would agree!” She said to her brother, “No one can stop us now.”
Ezra failed to hide the twitch of his lips. I didn’t fail to notice the softness in his eyes whenever he gauged Korah. He must have noticed my gaze because the next minute, a cold look slipped onto his face.
“Now that’s settled, we need to act fast.” He looked between us. “Draken is currently on a week-long vacation to plan his wedding with Naledi, and for some reason, has decided it was in his best interest to have us in power.”
“Us?” That was Korah.
“Draken has handed his pack over to us for safekeeping until he is fit from the attack. We are to report to him on the day-to-day matters.” I explained.
“This is the perfect time to orchestrate a coup. Or should I say, an extermination?” A chilling aura filled the atmosphere as Ezra said the words. “And thanks to Naledi over here, I have just the perfect plan.”