Chapter 5

Phoenix

"Mom's alive?" I ask, stunned by this revelation.

Could she have faked her death somehow to escape my father? How has she managed to block the mate bond all this time, and why hasn't she contacted me? Where could she possibly be hiding?

Uncle Luke's eyes fill with guilt. "Sorry, I should've finished. I believe your father used those accounts for laundering to maintain his innocence, and there are many offshore accounts under your name as well."

I grit my teeth, a surge of anger coursing through my veins. "Let me see," I demand, striding to the other side of his desk. He turns the computer toward me.

Sure enough, there are seven accounts opened in my name.

Motherfucker. It seems like he set everything up so that if anything went wrong, I would take the blame.

The betrayal stings deeper than any physical wound he's ever inflicted on me. Not only is he still using my deceased mother's accounts for illegal activities, but he also has me set up to be the scapegoat.

His own fucking flesh and blood.

"Penny didn't talk to me much after she was mated to your father, but I could tell something had changed a few months before she died. I'm thinking she found out about his illegal trading," Luke muses, his voice tinged with sorrow and regret.

I swallow hard, an unsettling feeling washing over me. If there was any reason to kill my mom, this was it. I can feel it in my bones that all of this is connected, I just need to find the pieces so I can put them together.

He looks at me intently. "Since your name is attached, there's no way I can reveal this to the Council without other evidence connecting him to the crime. Even then, there's a chance you'll go down too. He's tarnished your name every chance he's gotten. Your word will be worth nothing to them."

Fuck. He's right.

Rage surges through me, making my wolf rise to the surface of my mind. Although our wolves are silent entities, we can feel their desires through the soul tie between wolf and man.

And right now, my wolf wants to challenge my father as Alpha and shred him to pieces before taking his place. But there'd be no point. The Council would just step in and choose someone they deem more worthy.

The only chance I have to not be exiled or killed when all of this comes to light is to gather my own evidence, catch the son of a bitch in the act. Then, I can clear my name.

"This must've been going on for a while. Why didn't you tell me all of this sooner, Unc?" I ask, my voice strained with the effort to keep my emotions in check.

He sighs, rubbing his temples. "I wanted to, Nix, but I needed more proof first. This isn't just about us. This is about bringing down a corrupt Alpha that likely murdered his fucking wife," he answers, his voice laced with barely restrained anger.

"What we need is a damn plan," I say, my voice hardening. "We need to gather evidence, find a way to expose him without implicating me."

Luke nods, his expression deadly serious. "Agreed. But we need to be careful. Your father has eyes and ears everywhere. One wrong move, and it's over for us."

I nod, my mind already racing with possibilities. "I'll go back to the packhouse, and go along with his little plan. Gather evidence from the inside," I tell him.

"And I'll keep digging here," Luke adds. "We'll stay in touch, but please be careful. I don't want to lose my favorite nephew."

As I leave his office, a sense of purpose rises within me. My father may be trying to destroy me, but unlike him, my bite is bigger than my bark. I will uncover the truth, expose his crimes, and ruin his fucking life just as I always intended to when he demanded I return to the Nightfang pack.

Selene

Ever since Phoenix stormed off, a dark cloud of tension has hung over us. Rushing to find a fancy yet excruciatingly uncomfortable dress at a local boutique, I ensure the limo ride to the banquet with Philip and my mom.

Not a single word is exchanged between them the entire ride, and it's awkward as fuck. Just to escape this situation, at least in my mind, I send funny memes to the group chat with Makayla and Sam.

Is it strange that I can't seem to stop thinking about my stepbrother? Every time I try to banish him from my mind, his face reappears, as if he's haunting me. Ugh, I'm starting to hope I meet someone tonight just so I can forget about him.

At the banquet, Philip works his magic, charming the other Alphas and members of the Council. Mom and I play our parts, standing by his side with forced smiles, portraying the image of a loving, supportive family. As expected, I hate every single fucking second of it.

I've noticed a shift in Mom's mood ever since the incident with her new stepson. I wonder if even she is regretting the decision to come tonight. But as Luna of the Nightfang pack, she is obligated to stand by Philip's side. I swear, she just begged me to come along to be tortured right along with her.

As we're seated, I spot Makayla and Sam sitting together at another table. When I attempt to stand up, Mom shoots me a silent, stern look that demands I stay put. I audibly huff and roll my eyes. I guess she's just going to make sure everyone stays in a bad mood tonight.

While enduring the torment and sipping a glass of red wine, my mind keeps wandering back to Phoenix. How can Philip openly disown his son while offering me help? Sure, there's definitely something wrong with Phoenix, but I could never imagine someone having so much disdain for their own child. Maybe Phoenix did something unforgivable like kill his favorite pet or something; it definitely seems like something he could be capable of.

All of it feels suspicious, sending a shiver down my spine. What if him meeting and marrying my mom wasn't by chance? Doubt begins to creep in, causing me to question everything I thought I knew about my stepfather.

Who is Philip, really, and what does he intend to use me and my mother for?