Chapter 177

Liam laced a strong arm around my waist and hauled us both out of Aaron’s office before he tried to stop us once more. Thankfully, no one was willing to stop us.

We both made a direct B-line out of the manor and headed right for the car. The second we made it outside, I finally felt the air return to my lungs. A disturbing shiver raced down my spine. Holy shit.

That was close...Too close!

My heart leaped in my chest when I saw Arthur rushing out of the passenger seat of the car. He came rushing toward us with a stricken expression across his face. He snagged my hip and pulled me into a tight hug that nearly knocked me off my feet.

“Oh my God. Are you alright? What the hell happened?” he asked breathlessly.

I was both shocked and pleased to feel his strength envelope me. It made me realize just how badly I’d been missing the two of them.

I wanted so badly to wrap my arms around him and hold him closer but now wasn’t the time. I couldn’t risk anyone seeing the three of us out here together.

“I’ll tell you two everything when we get back to the house,” I said.

“She’s right. We should go.”

Liam gave us both a gentle tug, signaling us to get in the car. I watched the outline of the manor fade in the distance the further that Liam drove us away. As breathtaking as the estate was, I hoped that I would never have to return.

...

Once we were back at the house, Liam took the initiative to move all three of us into the living room. I quickly found myself situated between the two of them.

The tension in the air was thick but only because there were still a lot of unspoken emotions amongst us. Apart from what I just endured back at the manor, there was still the original conversation that needed to be had.

“As you both know, I was on my way to the coffee shop when I noticed that a car was following me. Before I knew it, there were two guys that jumped out and practically strangled me into the car and we drove off.”

I heard the slight growl that came from Arthur’s chest.

“I was brought to Aaron’s study and he made it abundantly clear that he’s determined to find out about my lineage.”

Liam rested a hand on my knee. “Do you think it’s because of what Shields could have told him?”

“I thought the same thing—I even called him out on using her to spy on me,” I said.

“I would have killed to see the look on the bastard’s face when you did that,” Arthur smirked.

I gave a short laugh. “Oh, he was stunned, to say the least...He knows I’m a wolf. I admitted it to him.”

The room fell silent like we had all slipped into a stream of heavy contemplation.

“He knew too much for me to keep denying it,” I muttered.

“It’s alright,” Liam commended. “We should have known better than to think that you could possibly keep that part of you secret.”

“Aaron is onto the fact that I’m a part of the Moon Wolf Pack.”

Liam and Arthur shared a slightly panicked look.

“How? I didn’t think there was anything that could be gathered from those pictures,” Liam noted.

Arthur narrowed his eyes. “What pictures?”

“Someone sent Aaron a folder of photos,” I answered. “They were taken straight from that goddamn media account. I could tell. Granted some of them were almost impossible to make out because of how blurry they were, but they were all familiar.”

“They were only of you and Ella,” Liam pointed out.

Based on his twisted expression, Arthur did not like the idea of some random person sending photos of us to his family. I couldn’t help but agree with the sentiment.

“Maybe the person behind the social media account is also the same person who sent in the photos,” Arthur muttered.

“But there was nothing in any of those pictures that would have given away anything.”

A short pause of silence passed before I spoke out. “There was.”

“What do you mean?”

Both of their eyes widened which prompted me to explain.

“Remember the night we were all at the pool at the Golden Fawn?”

They nodded. I picked up my phone from the coffee table and pulled up the image for them to see.

“I couldn’t believe I didn’t notice it before...My birthmark is slightly visible in the picture.”

“But, surely, that can’t be enough to jump to any sort of conclusion,” Liam argued.

Arthur gently took my phone to get a better look at the picture for himself. I sagged back into the cushions and sighed.

“It doesn’t matter what I think. Aaron has this idea in his head that he’s not going to let go of.”

My brows drew together as a strange realization came over me.

“The weird thing is...When Aaron was trying to get me to admit the full truth, he didn’t seem malicious about it.”

“How did he seem?”

“Fascinated, perhaps? The way he sounded gave off the impression that he was somewhat intrigued by the idea.”

Arthur groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. “A fascinated Aaron can be just as dangerous as a malicious Aaron.”

“Yeah, well, be that as it may, there’s still the matter which I originally set out to discuss with the two of you,” I said.

Both Arthur and Liam sat up straight and gave me their full attention. I think out of the two of them, Arthur was the one who was the most nervous.

“I’m going to be honest, I’m still mildly upset about the fact that you kept something so vital from me,” I told them.

Arthur’s features were pinched with anguish. “I know. I should have never kept it from you.”

“Did you know the whole time?” I asked.

“It was mainly speculation,” he explained. “I came across something about the Winslow’s involvement with the pack when I read through some of the family history.”

“Is that why you went home that day?” I inquired.

He slowly nodded. “I had to find out the whole truth about why your pack was killed off. I needed to make sure I had all the facts. Also, you shouldn’t be upset with Liam. I’m the one who told him not to tell you about any of it.”

I released a long withheld breath. “If this is going to work, you can’t keep things from me anymore. No more secrets.”

The two of them agreed while an uncomfortable sensation rolled through me. I was slightly hesitant to ask the question but I had to know the truth.

“Did you find out the reason why your family killed off the Moon Wolves?”

The day when I had first shifted, I recalled Arthur mentioning something about the Moon Wolves possessing some kind of power.

“Yes,” he said. “Ella, the Moon Wolf Pack is solely made up of females. My grandfather told me that if a male was born then they were considered wolfless but had the ability to pass on the werewolf gene to their own children.”

“Like my father.”

“Exactly. Now, the reason they were considered such a high threat is because they possess the power to enhance an Alpha’s status. Making them rise from an Alpha to something we call an ‘Enigma’.”

Liam spoke up. “With this enhancement, the Enigma has the power to command other Alphas into total submission.”

My jaw dropped in shock. I could hardly believe it.

“Holy shit.”