Still Shane’s POV
I stood out like a sore thumb, I was the only one in the room that wasn’t feeling their vibes like I just can’t relate to this. Dad and Cameron kept gazing at me weirdly, and I know they were contemplating what they would do to me if I turn out to be a saboteur. I’m pretty sure that dad would convince her to hurt me or even kill me if he ever finds out that I am totally against him. I wonder if my mom was a part of this bullshit before she died, I wonder if she would have spoken up and fought for the truth like I’m doing.
I don’t trust my father anymore, and I intend to keep committing this abominable act with my sister as long as I get to keep an eye on her and keep her from losing her way completely like our father. These days I’m beginning to doubt every fucking word that comes out of my father’s mouth. And as it stands now, I’m willing to bet my life that my mom didn’t die in a tragic accident like we are made to believe. Something tells me that my mom had died for a whole different reason, and as I listen to my father trying to convince Cameron that she was his most prized possession, I realized that this man could do anything, I mean anything at all, as long as it gets him a step closer to achieving his ultimate goal.
I’ll have to find out how our mom really died, I need to prove that she was killed by this evil man that calls himself our father. Who knows if finding the truth could be the only way that I can save Cameron from him. I look at them both, and I tried so hard to force out a smile so I can fit into the picture, but no matter how hard I tried, the smile just wouldn’t appear on my face. It is times like this when I think about my father’s words and my sister’s foolishness and I’m forced to wonder if it is actually true, like, am I really a part of this family?
“My kids do not know about our missions, they don’t even need to. They follow my instructions anyway, and they are as greedy as the rest of us, so it’s pretty easy to set them in the right direction. Everything I know now will be passed to my son after my death, but right now I’m the one in charge, and I intend to find that girl before anyone else.” When I heard him say this to one of his evil friends, I never understood what he was talking about, and for the life of me, I couldn’t put meaning into those words no matter how hard I tried. It felt strange to hear him say that there is a secret that he doesn’t want to share with us, his family and I got so curious and furious at the same time. This happened many years ago, and I’ve not gotten over it down to this day.
I wasn’t supposed to hear this, but I eavesdropped on his conversation with someone that he calls his wizard friend. I don’t even know why I did that, I was never a busybody when I was a kid. I always kept to myself and tried to stay out of trouble, and I would never have dared to eavesdrop on my father’s conversation with his friend or business partner, but on that faithful day, something kept pushing me in that direction. I guess it’s the fact that he called his friend a great wizard. I must be so curious to witness the magic of a wizard. Too bad I didn’t get to see any, I only got to know things about my family that made the hair on my skin stand. The things I heard that day were one of the reasons why I made up my mind that Harold Armstrong, my father is an evil genius that needs to be exposed before he gets us all killed.
“I felt her…
I felt her magic come alive…
And then I heard him howl…
His wolf actually howled to my hearing, and that could only mean that he has found her. I couldn’t have mistaken that howl, it was domineering and powerful. I have heard it before, in my dreams. It’s the howl of the Alpha king, the Huntington’s signature howl. No wolf from the moon goddess has ever been as domineering as the wolf of the Alpha king. I never met him, I only felt his aura in my dreams. But that is enough for me to know how domineering he is, that aura is too strong to be mistaken or forgotten.” He kept repeating these words to Cameron and I, looking into our eyes as if we are supposed to know the girl he is speaking about and how Alpha Maverick got to find her.
“We can’t let him have that girl, we need her to change history and give us what we really deserve. She is the key, she is everything we have been working so hard to achieve. We won’t need the Alphas anymore and we certainly won’t be needing king Gerald as well. We can get everything for our family, we can make our ancestors proud and bring honor to our family. I need you two to find Maverick and find out where he is hiding the girl that he met tonight. She is a unique girl, with special gifts. It would be so easy to locate her and being her to me. Do this my children, and I would eternally be grateful to you, I will make you famous and powerful. All you have to do is to find Maverick and find the girl, we can’t let them be together, you need to bring her to me, or better yet, take me to her and ill remind her of the debt she owes the Ashfords. Every debtor must pay his debt, at such, I will make her pay back our debt and give us the mantle that was stolen from us. Find her Cameron,” he let out hopefully, smiling at his beloved daughter before coming to stand in front of me,
“I know you have your doubts and reservations about me and what I have been working so hard to achieve. But I need to assure you that you are doing the right thing by sticking with your family in difficult times like this. I also have some doubts about your commitment to our family, but if you succeed in bringing this girl back to me, I will erase all your past errors, and you will become my favorite son again.” He let out calmly, trying one last time to get into my head. I smiled in response, and I tried to keep the hatred and dislike away from my face as I looked into his deep blue eyes,
“I will not disappoint you this time, father. I will find the girl, and I will bring her right here to you. I will do my best to make you proud of me again.” I responded firmly, keeping an excited smile on my face making him believe that I love his damn offer. For the life of me, I don’t know what he expects from me right now, like, what the hell is wrong with you, dude?
He expects me to grovel at his feet and show appreciation to him for giving me another chance to prove that I can be as ruthless and heartless as he is. I could only shake my head in shame as Cameron and I left his presence to go search for the mysterious girl that we would lure to my father like a sheep being lured to the slaughter. I wonder who the unfortunate girl might be and how on earth did she come in contact with Maverick?
“You are thinking what I’m thinking right?
You know it’s that bitch, Valerie that keeps following him everywhere like a fucking clingy whore!
It’s her, I can feel it in my bones and I know I’ll be so excited to watch father snuff the life out of that bitch!” Cameron stated excitedly, sounding like a witch from an old movie. I want to slap the stupidity off her face and make her think clearly again. She is acting like a fucking lunatic, and there is nothing I could do about it for now. I just have to play it cool because one wrong move could send the wrong message to her and she may go running to her previous Daddy to report to him that I’m trying to hurt her. And you all know that hurting daddy’s girl would be the of me.
“Come on, my love. This is an important mission, we need to be focused on the mission. You can’t let your hatred for her to stop you from thinking straight and doing the right thing. Dad said that Maverick had met the last healer tonight, only tonight. And we both know that Valerie has been in this town for months, and she has already resumed work with Maverick. If she was the one, don’t you think dad would have known already?
She was at Maverick’s party, remember?
Besides, she has been around the pack for a while now, don’t you think dad would have found out that she is the girl he has been searching for?” for asked her in a sarcastic tone, trying to get her to remove that thought from her head. I could see that thoughtful look on her face as she creased her forehead and contemplated what I explained to her.
The truth is that I think she is right. For some weird reason, I keep thinking about this girl lately. And even when dad mentioned that the girl is Maverick’s mate, the only girl that still came to my mind us, Valerie Keller.
I may be wrong, but if my guess is correct, then Valerie Keller is the last healer that everyone has been waiting for.