“I guess you have a new hobby to take up.” He chuckled as he quickly glanced at me.
“What the hell are you talking about?” I pulled the laptop out of the bag and there was a book underneath it. I pulled out the book and turned it over in my hands. “Ethical hacking for beginners.”
“Yeah. Your dad also got you a subscription to hacking101. It’s a website that trains you with games.”
My mouth had dropped open, and I looked over my shoulder to Lynn, but she was focused on her phone. “Why would I need any of this?”
“Because. He wants you to learn how to hack. Pretty obvious.” Ronnie answered slowly, like I was dumb.
“I understand that! But why?” I pulled everything out of the bag.
“He left you a letter. Burn it once you read it.” I shook my head and turned to face him slowly.
“What the hell Uncle Ronnie?” I wagged the phone. “Why do I need a second phone?”
“That is a hidden phone. You will only use that phone to message us if you find something.”
“Ronnie. Please, for the love of the Goddess. Explain.”
He tapped the wheel. “You father will go into deeper detail, but he believes Vince is involved in some shady business, including the attacks. But we can’t access his system from your fathers. We assume he has firewalls that protect him from outside infiltration, but someone closer, someone he doesn’t suspect. Might get through.”
“You need me to learn hacking because Vince might be involved in what, exactly?”
Ronnie nodded. “We don’t know for sure. We might even be wrong. I hope we are. But we have been having issues with your pack swooping in and stealing contracts from us. We originally thought it was just your mom giving them information. Well, I did. You dad always said she would never do that, and now more than ever I believe him.” Ronnie bobbed his head back and forth. “Now normally this wouldn’t be an issue, but you dad noticed someone from over here breached our system, but they made a mistake and left footprints.”
“So if they were good enough to hack you guys. Wouldn’t they catch me?”
Ronnie tapped the computer. “That is where this comes in. There is no information on here that will lead back to you. You learn to hack, do your best, and find the information or don’t.” He lifted the shoulder. “Your dad is grasping at straws here, kid.”
“Why?”
“Because your mom went from sleeping with Morgan once a year to multiple times this year. He can’t survive it anymore.”
I nodded slowly. “He wants a pup with her.” I swallowed the bile that threatened to come up.
“What?” Ronnie almost drove off the road.
“He made it a big thing on her birthday. He wrote it in her card that he demanded her read out loud in front of the pack. That they were going to be trying for their own pup.” I remember my mother breaking down in my room that night. “He realized I was coming of age this year. And he would probably lose control of her once I found my mate.” In my previous life, my mother held on until I found out Brandon was my mate. She gave up once she knew I was mated to Brandon. She died in childbirth of their pup, the pup didn’t survive either. “She is supposed to find out she’s pregnant in a few months.” I remembered from my first life.
Ronnie paled. “No.” He looked at me and I looked away. A tear fell anyway. “She doesn’t make it, does she?”
“I’m not sure how, but Brandon said something in my first life when he grabbed me. He said that he caused my mom to die. He gave her something, and the pup and her died on the table.” I took in a deep breath. “I won’t let it happen this time.”
Chapter Fifty-One
W
e pulled up to the house, and I drew in a deep steading breath. I didn’t want to be here, but I knew I had to be. I had to face everything that was done. Even if it hadn’t happened yet, I knew, given the chance, they would do it again. Brandon was a foolish man that was easily swayed. And Shannon would kill anyone to get what she wanted, and that just happened to be my mate.
A pathetic mate at that. Nix’s voice whispered in my mind and I snorted. Ronnie looked over at me with a lifted brow.
“Nix just said something funny.” I took another deep breath.
“You have to see this through.” Ronnie’s voice was quiet.
“I know.” I take one more minute before I step out of the car. Before I could do much more, my mom was jumping into my arms.
“I missed you so much, baby.”
