Chapter 32

I squinted and rubbed my eyes, exhausted from having spent so long hunched over these papers at my desk. The highlighted portions of possible clues and names were beginning to blur together, and I rested my head in my hands, groaning.

I had spent the entire night before digging into the few leads I had from my past life about the girl who Lucas had been employing to mate and ally with the Bears. I could barely see her profile in my memory, with a sharp nose and long, lithe limbs. She certainly looked the part of a romancing assassin.

But that small nugget of memory wouldn’t help me if I couldn’t find any documentation which could show me where she was now. I considered briefly going to the main house to ask Caleb for help, thinking maybe he could spot something I couldn’t.

I pushed the idea down as soon as it emerged. After our most recent unpleasantness, I had decided to keep my distance from him except for official business matters. Even if this had to do with the Alpha Ball and therefore would technically be okay, I didn’t want to put myself through another interaction with him.

He had made it clear how he felt about me, and it wasn’t my job to change his mind. We just had to find a way to work together until we both got what we wanted.

I took another pass looking through the pages I had printed out about Lucas’s closest allies, all I had to do was figure out which identity matched with someone who had access to the Bears.

I shuffled the tabs open on my computer to look between a list of names and the accounting information of Lucas’s political cabinet. It had to be in here, after all the trouble I went through to get these papers…

Rachel Plint. The final name on the list. The memory hit me like a lightningstrike. I saw Lucas in the shadows of state dinners and parties, handing off small sheets of paper to a thin woman. She grimaced in the memories, and nodded stoically.

I gasped for breath, there were tickets and travel expenses listed under her name for passage to the Bear territories.

Bingo.

I slammed my laptop closed and raced out the door to meet her. If I wanted a chance of sabotaging Lucas’s intentions with her, I had to talk to her and get her on our side. Lucas’s supporters were fanatic, even though he treated them as cruelly as he did his enemies.

I’d have to be ready for anything.

I sprinted through the steps of the apartment, running past Caleb’s parked car in the driveway. I felt a short pang that I couldn’t reach out to him, it had already been a few days since I had heard one of his irritating jokes or asshole remarks. But that was a problem for another time.

There was already someone waiting at the gate, and I had to shield my eyes from the sun to see who it was. Lucas… and Harper?

“What the hell are you doing here?” I said, making no attempt to hide my displeasure. I crossed my arms over my chest to evaluate the two of them.

Lucas smirked, he was wearing a blue and yellow striped shirt, which made him look like a prisoner through the iron bars. “What, I can’t pay a visit to my brother dearest?”

“Not when he’s your political enemy, I’d say that’s usually frowned upon.”

“Just let me in. This isn’t a conversation that concerns you. You might like to think you’re the center of the universe and can use people and throw them away as soon as you’re done. But some things really are more important.” He said, mock pouting and pushing out his lower lip.

His expression disgusted me, and I couldn’t believe I had ever thought I loved someone who was so immature.

“No.” I took a step back. “You can buzz to the main house like any other guest. Just because I have the misfortune of knowing you, doesn’t mean you get to bypass security and get inside.”

Harper’s eyes narrowed. “You really think you’re all powerful now because you have Caleb behind you. You’re just a bitch who doesn’t know what she lost.”

I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. “I know exactly what I gave up. And I’m sure you do, too, now that it’s yours. Tell me, Harper, when is that engagement ring coming?”

Lucas’s arm shot out through the gate bars, startling me. I had to leap back to stay out of his reach. “I will end you.” He hissed, the muscles of his arm tense and pulsing. “Caleb isn’t always going to be there to protect you. You can’t escape your fate forever, Ruby.”

I raised my chin, looking down at him over my nose. He looked pathetic, like he was sincerely begging to get the upper hand over me. It wasn’t going to work. I still had a few tricks up my sleeve.

“Maybe the engagement ring isn’t coming because Lucas knows about your little trysts.”

Harper stilled, her eyes bulging like she was holding her breath.

Lucas growled, “What the fuck are you talking about, Ruby?” He swung around to look at Harper.

“She isn’t with you at the palace every night is she?” I said, taking a step forward now that I knew Lucas was listening. “She must spend those nights somewhere else, with her parents?”

Harper’s hands balled into fists.

“And she isn’t with you all the time either, she comes home breathless, I bet.” I could see the beads of sweat beginning to trickle down her neck, and I knew I was getting somewhere. “Lucas, I am your mate. We both know this, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that you are not Harper’s mate.”

I smiled, “You couldn’t be so cruel you would deny your lover the pleasure of her own one, true mate. It’s a gift from the goddess, it’s fate. And like you said, you can’t escape fate, can you?”

Lucas bent his head over Harper’s, and took her face in his hands with a gentleness I had never seen him use with me. “What is she talking about, Harper?” He asked, his voice low.

“I have no idea!” Harper said, squeaking on the last word.

Lucas considered her for a few moments, the fight gone from his body. Was he hurt by this revelation? It was satisfying, but still strange to see him like this. When had I seen Lucas be anything other than angry?

Without warning, he shoved her away, and she stumbled to the ground. She leapt up to follow him shouting, “Wait, Lucas! Please talk to me,” but her pleas fell on deaf ears.

If I knew anything about Lucas, I was sure he would mope in his room for the rest of the afternoon, like he used to anytime something disappointed him. There was no better opportunity for me to get ahead of him by turning Rachel to our cause.

Once they were turned down the corner, I slipped through the front gate, and set off for my meeting.