Chapter 30

The next day I could feel myself being awkward at breakfast, and I knew Lorenzo noticed. I tried to play everything off by simply saying I was tired, but I should’ve known he knew me better than that. As we exited the dining hall, Lorenzo grabbed my arm and stopped me in my tracks.

“Hey, I can tell something’s on your mind. Talk to me Eleanor, what is it?” I hated how truly concerned Lorenzo sounded. Damn him for actually caring about my feelings. I sighed, and hung my head a bit, knowing I’d been found out.

“I’m okay, I suppose I’m hesitant to give myself over to you completely. This all feels so familiar in the best way, but I can’t seem to ignore the little voice in the back of my head telling me you’re dangerous,” I said quietly, hoping I hadn’t just ruined everything good that had been reforming between us. I heard Lorenzo hum, and then I felt two fingers on my chin, gently coaxing my head up. We locked eyes.

“Eleanor, I understand, and I don’t think I could ever apologize enough for how I hurt you, and I know I need to rebuild your trust. But please believe me when I say that I am never leaving again,” his hold on my chin grew a bit tighter and his eyes deepened with a fierceness that I knew I could believe.

“You are my luna for a reason, and I don’t mean that in the political sense. I care about you Eleanor, and I agree this feels familiar in the best way, but let me give you the future I always wished I could. Will you let me?”

My heart hammered in my chest, so stunned by Lorenzo’s words I could barely breathe. Looking deep in his eyes awakened something in me and without realizing, my face broke into a smile. Without hesitating, he pulled him into a tight hug.

“Yes,” I said against his chest. “Yes I will let you.” He smiled back at me and I felt tension melt from my shoulders. Then he gave me a small kiss on my forehead.

“Let me start making this up to you by helping you with your father’s case, is there any place we could start?” I was shocked by his sudden offer, but very grateful. In truth my father’s case had been a constant worry since leaving Blue Moon and not having time to focus on it was a major stressor. Knowing Lorenzo would be there to help, and more importantly give me access to new information, was huge.

“Thank you Lorenzo, that truly means so much. There actually is something I’ve been wanting to check, do you have access to a computer?” I asked.

“You’re kidding right? I’m the Black Moon alpha and I’m partnered with the lycan luna in a massive land grant. Of course I have a computer,” he said with a sarcastic grin, to which I rolled my eyes but followed him as he led me to his office.

It was truly an impressive room: floor to ceiling windows draped with gauzy black curtains, a massive marble fireplace against the far wall, and a black stone desk where Lorenzo clearly did his business deals. We didn’t stop there though. Instead Lorenzo led me to a back room that was much cozier, where a laptop was set up next to an armchair.

“This is where I do my real work,” Lorenzo said as he grabbed the laptop and handed it to me, motioning for me to take a seat. “I find it easier to focus in quiet spaces.”

I hummed and took in my surroundings, agreeing that this was a much less intimidating work environment.

This was another glimpse at the man behind the alpha, one I assumed not many got to see.

Lorenzo took a seat on the armrest next to me and leaned over my shoulder as I booted up the laptop and began to pull up an old website. I explained so he could follow along.

“My father used to keep a personal blog of all of his cases where he kept notes, personal revelations, any clues, that sort of thing. He always tried to pretend it was a secret but I’d hear him talking and typing to himself all the time,” I said as I looked up the link. “If I remember correctly, it should have all the information from his past cases, and you and I would be the only people in the world who knew the site existed,” I added, and with one final click, the blog loaded.

It certainly wasn’t pretty, like something you’d see a mommy-blogger post with pictures of her kids. It was an all gray interface that looked more like a series of depressing diary entries, but I knew that it was really a well of knowledge.

“Nice work, I may have to introduce you to my tech division,” Lorenzo complimented slyly as he patted my shoulder. “So how do we know which case he was working on last?”

“Good question, fortunately, the day he left is permanently etched into my memory, so if we just look for

April 12… got it,” I triumphantly scrolled, reaching my target in only a matter of seconds. The headline of the blog entry mentioned a child disappearance.

Lorenzo and I both scanned the entry, taking in information. My father had been investigating a disappearance with not much evidence, just a few belongings left behind. From the looks of it, when my father represented the child’s family the first time it had gone horribly. But before the second trial he discovered a new piece of evidence that might have closed the case, if the prime suspect hadn’t committed suicide in jail.

The last line of the entry had begun to describe the newly discovered piece of evidence, but stopped mid sentence with nothing else afterwards.

“Well that’s certainly disappointing,” I sighed, slumping back into the chair and by extension into Lorenzo’s arms. He circled me in an embrace, rubbing reassuring circles onto my arms.

“I know this may look like the end of the road, but I think this could really lead us somewhere. Let’s try and make more sense of this last line, and see how this case could fit in with your debt,” Lorenzo suggested, trying to remain optimistic. “Also, if it helps, this kind of child disappearance case sounds a lot like what happened to my mother. Perhaps all of this connects back to the sex trade?”

“Perhaps, but why would my father be driven to kill himself over this case?” I wondered aloud, looking briefly out the window and seeing the city skyline in the distance. What secrets was Blue Moon hiding?

I glanced up at Lorenzo who had opened his mouth as if to speak, but then a voice called from outside the door.

“Alpha Lorenzo? Are you in there?” It was a woman’s voice, from the sound of it it was one of the older beta women who attended to Lorenzo’s personal needs. I hurried to close the laptop and quickly handed it to Lorenzo who hid it in the draw of his desk. Then he nodded for me to follow him back into the main room.

“I’m attending to some pack business, is it urgent?” Lorenzo called as we exited the office, only to find my favorite of his betas standing in the doorway with a letter.

“It’s from the Lycan Luna, sir,” the beta said with a small dip of her head as she handed the letter to Lorenzo then took a few steps back. Lorenzo reached for a small letter opener on his desk and sliced open the envelope in a singular swift motion. He took out a card with intricate designs and read it aloud.

“You have been invited to attend this year’s Luna Festival at the Royal Palace, your presence is requested on the eve of the next full moon. Additionally…” Lorenzo trailed off, staring at the paper with a look I didn’t recognize. Anxiety started to seep into my veins.

“What? Lorenzo, what is it?” I asked urgently.

“Additionally… the Lycan Luna has chosen this year’s Luna dancers to be Cate Bellagamba and Eleanor Wright…”