Everything was going so well, despite the tenuous pressure of my situation. For the past few days, I’d been pretending to be taking off more workdays from stress while we desperately looked for proof of my uncle’s plan. Although we hadn’t found anything definitive yet, and both Gideon and Elijah would soon wonder why Pack Lockwood wasn’t releasing the files they knew had been found, I was still not spiraling - yet.
In fact, I was almost happy. I’d found another scent match, and Vigo and Liam had redeemed themselves enough that I was now comfortable having them touch me. Which I really, really missed. But Dante was still on the outs, and even though I couldn't have him near me now, my body still craved him. I tried to brush it off.
“What’s this?” I asked, pulling a file that Sterling was leafing through. We were sitting on the worn stone bench in the Valence property’s garden, sharing a thermos of coffee like it was some normal day. His arm was draped across the back of the bench, not quite touching me, but close enough to make my skin hum with awareness.
“It’s the personnel list that your uncle kept. All the people he had fired. I’ve been looking through it.” He said, and I leafed through the names. One caught my eye.
“Hey, that’s my old nanny.” I said softly, remembering how much I’d missed her after my uncle fired her. She’d been a lifeline for me after my parents’ death. She was the only female figure I had left, and after that, my life became colder and lonelier.
“You should call her,” he said softly.
I blinked at him. “Who?”
“Your old nanny. Anna, right?” He glanced down at me, his voice steady but his eyes careful, as if weighing whether I’d push back. “You said she was fired right after your parents’ funeral. This file is markedImmediate Danger. You said she stole from your home?” he asked, and I nodded, biting my cheek.
“Yeah. It was heartbreaking. She was so good to me.” I reminisced.
“Celeste, has he removed anyone close to you. I think there’s more to the story. She deserves a chance to talk to you.”
I looked at the file again.Immediate danger. Forwhat? She’d braided my hair every morning before school, taught me to make cinnamon tea when I couldn’t sleep, and read me bedtime stories until I was too old to admit I loved it.
My stomach twisted. “She’s probably forgotten about me.”
“I doubt that.” His hand slid over mine, warm and grounding. “Let us help you find her.”
It only took the pack a few hours. Vigo leaned over my shoulder at the kitchen table, showing me the search results on his tablet. Liam was already making calls. Sterling lingered behind me, quietly checking in when I didn’t realize I was holding my breath. By midafternoon, they had found her, living in a small house two towns over.
*****
We walked up the stone path to the home, and my heart filled with lost memories, things I’d pushed down over the years. I’d never even gotten to say goodbye. All I knew was that one day, my uncle walked in and told me he’d fired her, that she was caught stealing from our home. After that, I never saw her again, until now.
She was standing in the doorway before I’d even knocked, as though she’d been expecting me.
Anna’s hair had gone more silver than I remembered, her shoulders smaller, but her eyes, the deep, warm brown I’d known all my life - were exactly the same. She looked at me with tears in her eyes, excited and jubilant. She reached for me like she couldn’t hold herself back, pulling me into her arms with a strength that made my throat ache.
“My sweet Celeste! I never thought I’d see you again!” She hugged me tight, and I sank into her over and over, until my throat was raw from trying not to cry. The scent of her - lavender and chamomile tea - wrapped around me and made something in my chest loosen for the first time in years. I held on a little too tightly.
Soon, we sat at her small kitchen table, sunlight falling in golden stripes across the worn wood. She held my hands like she was afraid I’d vanish.
“I never stole from you, Celeste. That was a lie.”
I swallowed hard. “I know.” And I did. Deep down, I had never believed otherwise.
She took a breath, her thumb brushing over my knuckles. “But I could see it… in his eyes. The way your uncle looked at you, even when you were small. Like you were something he didn’t want to be responsible for.”
My pulse quickened. I knew Gideon didn’tlikeme, but hearing it laid out in such simple, cutting words… it was different.
“Anna,” I asked slowly, “why are you telling me this now?”
Her gaze didn’t waver. “Because there’s more you should know. The night your parents died, your mother brought you back to me. She said she felt… something wasn’t right about their trip. She didn’t want you going with them.”
The world seemed to still.
“She - what?” My voice cracked.
“She told me not to tell anyone where you were. And I didn’t. But your uncle… he didn’t know. He thought you were in that car.”
The words hit me in cold, staggering waves. I was so young when they died. I never knew I was supposed to go with them on that fateful ride.
