Chapter 157
Liam POV
“How did it go?” I asked leaning back in my chair and regarding Autumn steadily.
Both women had made it back to the pack house without incident and I had half expected Fiona to come rushing in to show me what she had gotten while out shopping, but she had simply walked upstairs without a second glance at me, causing me to wonder what was wrong. Her pallor had been extremely pale and instead of looking happy, she had looked miserable. I instinctively knew something bad had happened.
Autumn sighed. “It didn’t go the best. I’m not supposed to tell you this but…” she trailed off as I leaned forward in my chair and regarded her.
I needed her to inform me of what went down at the mall. It was one of the reasons I had sent her to keep a close watch on my mate.
She looked down at her hands and gave a dramatic sigh, looking hesitant. “I feel as though I’m breaking the bonds of friendship,” she said lowly “but while we were out at the mall, we ran into her sister Celeste,” she admitted with a look of disgust on her face.
Celeste. The girl who had tried to drug and then seduce me back at Fiona’s old pack on her birthday no less. It had been tantamount to rape and I had not forgotten her or what she tried to do to me. I had kept all of this from Fiona, not wanting to make her upset. Besides, what harm would it do if she didn’t know? Now I knew that I might have made an error in judgment from the way that Autumn was eyeing me. Did she somehow know? Is that why Autumn looked so mad at me?
“So, what did Celeste do? Did she say something to upset Fiona?” I growled.
I had to get to the bottom of this and find out what had upset my mate so badly. Fiona had not even looked at me when she got back and both my wolf and I were upset by this. I thought our relationship was going well even if we had not quite reached the stage of being intimate.
I should have gone with them. I hadn’t thought she would run into her sister though. What rotten luck it had happened today of all days. Celeste certainly had the most horrible timing.
“She said a lot,” Autumn’s tone was blunt and matter–of–fact. “For instance, did you know that attack from the boy you killed, Graham, was entirely due to Celeste? She said she paid him off to do it. She didn’t even show that she cared about the fact she was responsible for his death. She almost gloated about it,” she shook her head, “her sister is a real piece of work that’s for sure. Who needs enemies when you have a sister like that?” she added lowly.
She shook her head, looking revolted as she even mentioned Celeste. I privately agreed with her. Still, there was nothing I could do. I doubted even informing Fiona’s parents would do much good. The boy was dead. They favored Celeste and it would be our word against hers. It would only result in a further mess. I sighed, wishing that Autumn might have recorded the conversation but it wouldn’t have occurred to her until it was too late. I would delve into this, I vowed and try and find some proof in order to indicate Celeste was behind it but I wasn’t sure when I would find anything or if I even would.
“So that’s why she’s so upset. I don’t blame her,” I said thickly.
It must have been horrible to learn that from her sister.
It was horrendous that Celeste had gone to such lengths in order to hurt her sister. I felt sickened to my stomach. What kind of woman could do that to another, let alone a sibling? Celeste was a monster. I had suspected she might be responsible for it, but I had no proof. Not now that the boy was dead. That was my fault, I had to admit. I had been rash in killing him but at the time my anger had gotten the best of me. He had been trying to harm my mate and my wolf had been just as murderous as I had been feeling in the moment.
“That might be one of the reasons that Fiona is upset.”
Amber’s voice was cautious and she was wringing her hands even harder in her nervousness. I narrowed my eyes at her and
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སརྫ 19:1
Chapter 157
observed her closely. “What do you mean? What else happened Autumn?” I asked sharply.
Had somebody laid hands on my mate or had something else happened? Had Celeste tried to touch her? Or was there something else that Autumn was attempting not to tell me?
She avoided my gaze. I glared at her. She seemed determined not to tell me. She looked a little angry on Fiona’s behalf as well. I cleared my throat. If she continued to defy me then I would use my alpha tone on her but I would rather avoid it. The alpha tone was only ever used as a last resort and Autumn had always been loyal to me. I had never had to use it on her before. She sighed.
“Tell me,” I glowered.
I wanted answers and I wanted them now.
She looked me dead in the eyes, hesitated, and then blurted out the words. “Why didn’t you tell her that Celeste tried to seduce you?” she said, blushing profusely.
Seduce me? I felt stunned and then enraged. Celeste must have twisted it to make it sound as though I had succumbed to her charms when the truth was anything but. I sucked in a breath and then slammed my hand on the desk, furious beyond belief. Autumn barely even moved, raising a brow at me, demanding an explanation. She and Fiona had become fast friends. It was a good thing but also rather infuriating when I wanted to hear the secret she was trying to keep from me for my mate’s sake.
“She didn’t seduce me. She tried to drug me and then attempted to have her way with me. Luckily she didn’t succeed” I snarled, thoroughly put out by the accusing look in Autumn’s eyes.
I had done nothing wrong. It had all been that bitch Celeste who had a way of getting underneath your skin it seemed. No wonder Fiona was so upset with me.
Autumn relaxed slightly. “If that is the case, then why didn’t you tell her? It’s not as though she doesn’t know what kind of despicable person her sister is. Especially now” she added with a glower.
“I didn’t want to upset her and I didn’t think it was that a big deal.”
“To her it is. She thinks you tried to sleep with Celeste and only stopped because you realized you had a mate. It hurts Liam. It hurts her to think that. I think you need to tell her the truth. Today has truly broken her. I don’t think she can withstand any more secrets or surprises from you. You need to go and speak to her, make this right. At least let her know that she’s the only one you care about.”
“It’s that bad?” I asked slowly and was slightly surprised by how guilty I was beginning to feel.
Autumn nodded. “I would want to know if I was in her shoes. She trusted you Liam and even though you didn’t intend to, you broke it. She’s doubting everything now including your love for her. Do you know how that feels?” she asked quietly.
I looked at her with new eyes, realizing she was right. I had kept Fiona in the dark about something that was important. I slowly stood up, feeling as though I was about to face the guillotine. My mate was in pain and hurting though and I needed to make things right with her. I had a newfound respect for Autumn.
“Thanks,” I exhaled, running a hand through my hair. “Let’s hope that I can fix things before it’s too late.”
“I’m sure you will,” Autumn replied, “but maybe…” she paused, “admitting that you made a mistake would be the first step. I wish you luck Alpha Liam and I hope she doesn’t hate me for this, because I just broke the first rule of girl code for your sake. Don’t let me down,” she added and then swept from the room before I could even so much as mutter another word.
I looked at the stairs and then slowly began to make my way to the bedroom, trying to think of the right things to say and worried that I might be about to make things even worse between us.
