Chapter 88

“I don’t know about this, Lorenzo,” I said warily.

For most of the morning, Lorenzo had been filling me in on the remaining details of what he’d discovered on Carter Braxton and my father’s involvement. By the end of our discussion, Lorenzo made the unsettling conclusion that we needed to inform the Lycan Luna of all the new information that was gathered.

I wasn’t entirely comfortable showing my face after the last time we were summoned there. Between feeling horribly berated and blamed for the terrible murders, I’d lost all sense when I crossed the Prince.

It was like the creature within me was ready to tear him to literal shreds. All I could think of was poor Lucy Grant and that disgusting, God-awful mark that had been burned into her flesh. I knew the Prince was involved in whatever the hell was going on under Blue Moon’s authority.

‘There’s no telling what I’m going to do this time if I end up seeing that bastard again,’ I thought to myself.

But, regardless of my personal opinions, I was feeling horribly reluctant about going back to the palace.

“I promise, love. It’s going to be alright,” Lorenzo tried explaining. “I know that last time was a bit rough. But this time, we’re going with a hell of a lot more evidence and information that’s in no way deniable.”

When we reached the palace, Lorenzo and I were swiftly escorted to one of the usual drawing rooms and were greeted by the Lycan Luna, who wore her usual stoic demeanor. We skipped past the fake pleasantries and got straight down to business.

Lorenzo brought along the audio disk as well as a laptop so that the Luna could experience first-hand the horrors and monumental audacity that the Blue Moon Pack possessed.

To say it was difficult hearing that disturbing audio of my dad, was a complete understatement. But for the sake of the work, I held it together as best as I could. The Lycan Luna, however, was not handling things too well.

She was stunned. Her eyes were filled with mortified fear while her whole body went stiff as stone.

“How on earth did you come into possession of such evidence?” she questioned weakly.

“Simple,” Lorenzo stated. “As long as I agreed to help Cruz defame his brother and steal the alpha title, he promised to hand over certain evidence that would essentially help us in the case.”

Both my eyes and the Lycan Luna’s grew wide in shock. I never thought that Lorenzo would have ever openly admitted to helping Cruz. Technically, we hadn’t done anything illegal. All of it had been just an act to fool the public—to fool the Royal Crown.

Now, the Luna looked rather peeved by this news.

“Cruz Sterling is a danger to the general public and very likely a general threat to the Royal Crown,” he claimed darkly.

That was undoubtedly one of the biggest accusations anyone could have possibly made. But deep in my gut, I was glad that he had finally said it.

The Lycan Luna closed her eyes and let out a long sigh. “Eleanor, I’m so sorry about your father,” she said solemnly. “He was always, noticeably, one of the better ones when it came to dealing with Blue Moon pack members. He was dependable and sought justice for those who really needed it.”

“This case had turned into something so much bigger than anyone could have ever realized,” I said earnestly. “I truly thought that picking up where my dad left off would bring down the person or people responsible for the kidnapping of those girls. But, now it’s turned into a murder investigation on three counts.”

“Four,” Lorenzo pointed out.

The Lycan Luna gave us a confused look while Lorenzo went on to explain.

“We have reason to believe that Carter Braxton was also a casualty all those years ago when the trials were still going on. There are records proving that Eleanor’s father had met with Carter while still in prison. From what the guard told us, it sounded like the two of them could have been working on some sort of plea deal to lighten the sentence.”

“But surely, he wouldn’t have gone that far,” the Luna argued. “The man was caught guilty.”

We shook our heads. “There’s a very good chance that Carter was set up as some kind of scapegoat for Blue Moon to use.”

“Carter must have given my dad something of great value when they spoke, because the next thing anyone knew, the man was found dead in his holding cell,” I told her. “His death was deemed a suicide...then again, so was my father’s and you just listened to the audio that proves otherwise.”

The Lycan Luna sagged back in her chair. There was no way she could have possibly argued against that.

“These are serious allegations—believe me, I hear what you’re saying. But, I still insist that you provide evidence that can be used in a court of law. In order to take down someone like Cruz. Blue Moon would need a new successor. Either Cruz would be replaced, or the pack would dissolve.”

“That’s what needs to happen,” Lorenzo remarked.

She folded her arms across her chest and lowered her head. “Then what you need is evidence that would incriminate the Blue Moon pack, itself.”

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

I glanced down to find my phone going off. I didn’t recognize the number off-hand. Politely, I excused myself and took my phone out of the room to take the sudden call.

“Hello?”

A soft voice spoke out. “Hello, Miss Wright? My name is Micheal Tims, I’m one of the managers at Victory Bank, here in the city.”

My brows raised in surprise. “Oh?” Why was someone from one of the biggest banks in the city calling me?

“We’ve been informed that there is a safety deposit box here in your name that is due to be opened and collected,” Micheal said.