Chapter 107

Mira

“We aren’t going to see Rae, are we?”

Guilt washed over me as I turned to look at Wyatt.

“No.”

He sighed. “Okay.”

We drove on without speaking, indecipherable music humming softly between us. I was waiting until the last possible moment to reroute our journey, thinking that the later I told him the lesser it would sting. But this Beta wolf could smell the deceit on me.

“Will you tell Dominic?” I finally asked the hard question.

“Today I am serving my Luna,” he said, eyes forward, “and I will report back to my Alpha when it feels necessary.”

“Tactful,” I said, offering a smile.

“Are we putting ourselves in danger?”

“No, I don’t think so,” I said sincerely. “The location he gave is a public place, some kind of shopping mall.”

Wyatt’s head twitched slightly towards me. “He?”

I stared at him until he turned just enough to meet my eyes. I didn’t need to say anything.

“Gods…”

“I know what I’m doing,” I said, trying to convince myself. “There will be children around us, and I have you.”

He didn’t respond to being included in the plan.

“Besides,” I said, turning to face forward, “he doesn’t want to hurt me. He wants…”

I squinted at the road ahead, my brain suddenly feeling heavy.

“Yes?”

“He just wants to talk.”

“No one ever just wants to talk,” Wyatt said.

He turned up the music, I suppose showing me he didn’t want to talk more about it but that he wasn’t going to try and stop me.

The shopping mall was quite large, serving many communities in the area, and I remembered coming her when I was very small with my parents. It was also where Dominic had taken me on our first date, buying me gowns to impress the Pack.

Two different versions of past myself seemed associated with this place, and now it would hold new significance because of this meeting with Malachi.

I kept checking my phone as we walked through the main entrance, wondering if I was going to receive further instruction or if I had to wander around until I found him. Maybe he wouldn’t show at all, and this was all just a prank or a diversion.

Could he have lured me away in order to go after Dominic?

No. He had made it clear that he wanted me. And I was coming willingly, sort of, so he would not want to miss this chance.

As if he knew my thoughts, my phone chirped with a message from an unknown number. It was a photograph showing a coffee shop at the entrance to the food court. I showed it to Wyatt, and he nodded for me to lead the way.

Dr. Malachi Waterstone was waiting for us, seated casually at a cafe table at the entrance to the cafe. There were two cups of coffee on the table in front of him, and a huge man was sitting beside him. When I approached, the large man rose revealing his full height and broad chest.

I didn’t recognize his face, but something about him felt familiar.

He was there, I can smell it.

This must be one of the doctors right hands. Taking in his almost unnaturally large physique, I wondered if he was also a patient in the doctor’s experiments.

“Glad you made it, Doctor,” Malachi said to me, his face unmoving but friendly. “This must be your Beta.”

“Not much more than a side pup, looks to me,” the larger man said.

I felt Wyatt bristle beside me, though on the outside he only narrowed his gaze.

“Now, now, Jeremiah,” Malachi said, placing a hand on the other man’s arm. He used that leverage to pull himself up, not because he needed the help, but almost as a display of dominance over his bodyguard. “Any friend of Mira is a friend of ours.”

“Hmph,” Jeremiah responded, pulling out a pack of cigarettes. Obviously he couldn’t smoke in the mall, but it seemed to comfort him to roll the pack around in his meaty fingers.

“I apologize for him,” Malachi said, looking between me and Wyatt, “he suffered from a terrible ailment in his younger days, and never fully recovered in social skills.”

“I’m sure you were all too happy to offer a treatment for his ‘ailment,’” I said, standing my ground.

“Indeed I was.”

Malachi looked up at Jeremiah like he was admiring a creation, and it made my skin crawl.

“Let’s walk and talk,” he said to me, handing me the warm cup of coffee. A quick look told me it was prepared just the way I liked it, and I didn’t bother to wonder how he knew.

We fell into step beside one another, strolling by the shops and vendors. I was surprised to see how casual he seemed, not worrying about being seen in public.

“For someone in your…business,” I said, emphasizing the awkward word choice, “I wouldn't expect you to come out to such a place. So many people.”

He smiled, taking it in. “That’s actually the beauty of it,” he said. “It’s much easier to hide in a crowd. One draw’s attention when one tries to hide.”

“I suppose that’s true.”

“You still treat me like I am some sort of criminal, Doctor,” Malachi went on. “I would hope that you could see that I am actually trying to do some good. For science, for the future of the werewolf race.”

“You kidnapped children,” I said, fighting not to raise my voice. “How is that not a crime?”

“That was a misunderstanding, of course,” he said, sounding more pretentious than defensive. “I asked for volunteers, and my team must’ve been confused.”

“Right…” I said, no sign of buying it.

“And sometimes, I am just following orders.”

There was a hitch in my step, then I picked up my stride again.

“Orders from whom?” I asked, feeling queasy.

“Oh many people,” he asked, waving a hand as if those people were in front of us. “Years ago, people of influence came to me, offering me funding if I would do something for them. Quid pro quo, if you will.”

I mulled that over, feeling like he was baiting me.

“Are you wondering how you fit into this?”

“You told me I was here to talk about my husband.”

“Well, yes,” he said, “have you not yet accepted that it’s all tied together?”

“I don’t know what to accept or believe, I’m still gathering my evidence.”

“Well here’s an important piece for you: your husband is the reason you lost your wolf.”

I fully stopped moving. I felt Wyatt approaching quicker from where he followed behind us, but I held up a hand to say I was okay.

“Explain.”

“It wasn’t my idea, I assure you,” Malachi said, facing me. “I was following orders from his family.”

“What? Why would they—“

“They had power, money, and a dream to help their troubled child,” he went on, trying to keep me from an outburst. “I was to find another wolf, and use one to make the other stronger.”

I couldn’t believe it, and yet it felt like I’d known it all along.

“Granted, it clearly didn’t go to plan,” he admitted, “I was never expecting you to lose your wolf completely.”

“You’re lying.”

“Am I?”

I didn’t know.

“It was hard to do, to see your children as pieces of an experiment,” Malachi said, sounding regretful. “But his mother—“

“His mother?”

“Yes, Simone,” he said wistfully, “I’ll admit I could never say no to her.”

“Why not?”

“Because I was in love with her.”

I gulped. It was all just as we’d suspected.

“Did you kill her?”

“What? No!”

He seemed actually offended, and for a moment the outrage in his eyes was full of wrath.

“No, I never wanted to hurt her, only to help her.”

“So why didn’t you?”

He tilted his head, a sad smile on his face.

“Because, Mira,” he said finally, quietly, “I was told not to.”