Chapter 228

Almara’s Pov

“What are you talking about?” Arthur asks in a low growl while eyeing Delfino suspiciously.

“The cursed familiars,” Delfino nearly shouts and then quickly lowers his voice. “We want out,” It seems painful for Delfino to even be admitting this, and if he’s going to say what I think he’s going to then it is especially hurting him.

Am I wrong for enjoying this? Absolutely not. Lily chimes in. I take a step closer just as Delfino begins pacing again.

“What do you mean you want out?” I ask

“And what does that have to do with us?” Arthur asks crossing his arms over his chest, revealing a long and jagged scratch across his forearm that I haven’t yet noticed. I swallow my gasp.

I instantly no longer care what it has to do with us. If there’s a way to put an end to my husband getting hurt then I’ll do whatever it takes.

Delfino takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, he looks as though he may be sick. “As you can, unfortunately, see our land is being overrun.”

Arthur laughs, “We’ve been a little busy defending our own territory,”

“Yes, and from whom?” Delfino quickly retorts raising an eyebrow at Arthur.

“From you and your minions, those disgusting creatures,” Arthur’s knuckles whites around the bars and I think he might be able to pull them apart and get his hands wrapped around Delfino’s neck. Then again, part of me doesn’t want him to do that Not yet at least. Not until I hear Delfino beg for our help.

“Precisely,” Delfino hisses. “The original plan was for us to take over, that’s always been the goal and that’s always been the plan,”

“But you never could, could you?” Arthur says under his breath but not quiet enough to pass over Delfino who swoops in closer to the bar so him and Arthur our mere inches away.

“Easy Covington, I still make the orders around here and last I checked your land isn’t doing do well,”

“Well, you said so yourself. Once we’re finished, you’re next.” Arthur says nonchalantly. “Now that your friends are turning on you, you what? Want us to stop it?” Arthur spits on the ground like the very suggestion left a bad taste in his mouth.

“Perhaps you’ll change your mind when you know the whole story. When information about your beloved little blessing is revealed,” This time I grip the bars and can’t control myself from lashing out.

“You leave Grace out of this or I swear if the familiars don’t get to you first then I will,” Delfino looks at me with amused sympathy and clicks his tongue at me.

“Oh, sweet naive Almara, she’s already involved. In fact, she’s been involved far longer than you realize,”

This throws me off and for a second, it shows on my face. I know it does because Delfino laughs like he’s enjoying that he has the upper hand.

“Tell us what you know,” Arthur snaps.

Delfino brings his head to his left shoulder, and then his right as if he’s weighing the options. Taking his sweet time and letting our patience run thin. Just when I’m about to attempt to rip open these bars myself he opens his mouth to speak.

“Your therapist, Janice- or as you knew her, Maurice,” Delfino says and my jaw drops. How does he know about her? A million things flash through my mind. Grace getting taken away. The home invasion. The bugging of the house. Cathy was right.

Delfino continues on. “As I’m sure you came to learn, she was a double agent- though not in the way you believed. She’s actually a familiar who shapeshifted to a wolf and has been scoping out your species for quite some time while under a couple aliases.”

I think about how we thought her real name was Janice. Who knows what her or its real name even is.

“She met with a couple of your top dogs if you will,” Delfino says with a mocking smirk. “She wasn’t impressed. I also recall that Crew, the private investigator we hired, told us she had charges against her in the past for stalking and ripping people off. We’ve had a familiar among us this whole time and we had no idea.

If this familiar could shape-shift then that makes sense as to why Janice was so hard to catch, let alone make charges against considering how conniving they are.

“She was about to leave, when thou and behold who but none other than the Alpha and his Luna decide to pay her a visit,” Delfino says and my skin crawls. I feel sick and naked, like I let myself be strapped to an examination table and probed.

“Needless to say when the Hurricane Pack, the supposed leaders of all the wolf nation thought they needed therapy the familiar knew you to be the weaker of the species.”

Arthur pushes away from the bars with such great force the entire gate rattles and being so lost in my thoughts about the implications of our actions, I struggle to hold back a yelp that leaps our from my throat.

I look at Arthur who’s huffing and puffing, hitting his fist against the cement wall. “That’s why she took a special interest in Grace,” Arthur says to no one in particular and I find myself slowly nodding in realization and agreement.

“Precisely,” Delfino says like he couldn’t be bothered by this fact. “Janice, as we’ll call her, took privy to your daughter for her extreme abilities. She thought that if any wolf was worth working with then it would be her. Of course, she was so young, but that would give the familiars plenty of tie mot raise her in accordance with their will and ways.”

I think back to that pup agent who took her away from me at the park. She was a familiar. She probably was Janice herself disguised as another wolf. I should have slammed my jaws down on her neck when I had the chance.

The only reason I didn’t was because we had gotten such bad publicity recently. Come to think of it, Janice probably knew that, that’s why she swooped in when she did. She knew I wouldn’t have physically attacked right then.

Though for as wicked and clever as the familiars are, she would have to have known that we would fight back somehow. Which we did and we initially had Grace back.

My mind races to connect the puzzle pieces. That’s probably when the familiars went to team up with the vampires and this whole war started. I dart my eyes back to Delfino.

“So, Janice steals Grace and you let it happen. Now you want us to help you?” I can’t keep the bite out from my voice, “Why would we do that?”

“Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong again,” Delfino says tapping his fingers together. “I only let it happen because I knew taking her would lure you two here. Which it did,”

Arthur and I look at one another and though we can’t read each other's thoughts currently, I know we’re thinking the same thing.

“You won’t be able to rescue your daughter alone, but together we can. Neither of us can take on the familiars and win, but together we can.” Delfino says like it’s a series of unfortunate events.

I know this is painful for him to admit because it’s just as painful for me to agree with. We’re going to have to work together.