Claimed Twice

Chapter twelve

Julian's News

Julian pulled out his phone and set it on the table between us.

"The messages came from a burner phone," he said. "Untraceable on its own. But whoever bought it made one mistake. They used a company card to pay for it."

"Whose card?" Alpha Alexander asked, his voice tight.

Julian hesitated, glancing at me like he was not sure I should hear this part.

"It's okay," I said. "Tell us."

"Damon's assistant," Julian said. "Not Damon himself, which means he's smart enough to keep his own hands clean. But it's tied to his office."

Alexander's jaw clenched so hard I could see the muscle jump. "I knew it."

"We don't have proof it was him directly," Julian said carefully. "Just proof it came from someone close to him."

"That's enough for me," Alpha Alexander said, standing up so fast his chair scraped loudly against the floor. "I'm going to talk to Selene right now."

"Wait," I said, grabbing his sleeve without thinking. His arm went still under my hand, like he was holding his breath. "If you go in there without real proof, Damon will just deny it, and then he'll know we're onto him. He might do something worse."

Alpha Alexander looked down at my hand on his sleeve, then up at my face, something soft flickering behind his eyes.

"You're right," he said quietly. "You're always the smart one in the room, aren't you."

"Someone has to be," I said, letting go of his sleeve, my face suddenly warm.

Julian cleared his throat loudly, clearly trying not to smile. "As much as I love watching this, we have a bigger problem. I did some digging into the Whitfield bloodline records too, since Alpha Alexander asked. Nora, does the name Beatrice mean anything to you?"

My whole body went cold. "That's my sister. Why?"

Julian's face turned serious. "Because she called our office yesterday. She's flying into LA tomorrow. She says she needs to talk to you urgently, about something involving your mother."

I had not spoken to Beatrice in almost a year. Not since the wedding, not really, not since the night everything fell apart.

"Why now?" I whispered. "Why after all this time?"

Julian looked at his phone one more time, scrolling through something.

"Because," he said slowly, "she says she found our mother's old journal. And she says it explains everything about why your bond with Alpha Alexander almost killed you.”