“Are you saying - ” I couldn’t finish. My brain refused to form the thought into something real.
“I don’t know for certain,” she said softly, but her voice trembled with something heavier. “But I saw things. I heard the way he spoke when you weren’t around. And I have wondered for years if it was truly an accident.”
*****
Back at the Valence guest house, I sat on the edge of the bed in my room, my knees drawn up, my hands limp in my lap.Somewhere down the hall, voices murmured - Sterling’s low rumble and Vigo’s concerned tone, but they sounded far away, like they belonged to another world.
If she was right… if my unclehadintended for me to be in that car… then the last ten years had been one long, exhausting battle against a man who hadn’t just wanted my company, he’d eradicated my family.
Every moment since my parents died had been an aching battle that I suppressed. Every sleepless night I worried if I was doing the tiring thing by trying to keep the company in my name, even though my dad left it to me. Every scrap of strength I’d clawed together. It had all been me waging a war against a predator wearing a family name. And I’d been fighting alone.
My uncle hadn’t just tried to steal the company from me. He tried to steal mylife. And he’d taken my parents from me. My chest felt hollow, my pulse skittering like it wanted to escape my body. My vision tunneled, the edges darkening. I couldn’t seem to pull in enough air.
For the first time, I wondered if I had enough strength left to keep going.
Chapter 28
Gideon
Never underestimate a beta.
People always did. They heard the word and immediately thought “lesser-than,” as if the middle tier of the hierarchy meant weakness. But I’d learned early that my designation had its benefits. I wasn’t bound by the dominance games of alphas or the hormonal sway of omegas. Betas can move in the shadows, unassuming. That makes us dangerous. And I’ve always been dangerous.
I was young when I decided the throne of the Harringday family business should be mine. Not my brother’s - mine. I was the one with the guts to take this company further, do what had to be done to take over the market in the Eastern Province. But my father, in his infinite stupidity, insisted that my brother and hispack take the reins. Idiots. And since my brother’s pack and their omega were young, healthy, and unbearably smug, that meant I had years of watching them at the helm while I fetched scraps from the side table. But I am not a man who was meant to eat scraps.
I was smarter than them. I worked slowly at first, testing the waters with small sabotages, gentle nudges to put them in situations they couldn’t quite navigate. I’d be the helpful brother then, swooping in with the right solution, the right contacts, the right smile. And they’d praise me. My brother would pat my shoulder like I was his pet, not his equal. My sister-in-law would give me that pitying look she always wore when she thought no one was watching. Their pack was small, but one alpha had an unfortunate accident that truly had nothing to do with me. But it gave me an idea. The remaining beta, well, he had a health condition. If the medicines were off even slightly… well, one time, they were off slightly. And so remained my brother and his omega.
The next time I had an opportunity was years later. My brother was on me about some contract I did where I shifted money around, accusing me of being a thief. Like it would even matter to someone set to inherit the billions in the company trust! What I was doing would barely make a dent to him. At this point, I had decided it would be better for them to step out of the way. I had ways to arrange that. And it was unfortunate, but needed.
What I never anticipated was their daughter - an omega, for God’s sake - not being with them during the crash. I couldn’t very well have another accident so soon, it would look too suspicious. But she shouldn’t have been an issue. Omegas wereemotional and needy by nature, and with her lineage, there were multiple packs lining up for a chance with her by the time she attended her first ball. But then that little bitch had to go and mess everything up.
She stupidly tried to gain her place as CEO of Harringday, something the judge had to grant her per the inheritance papers her parents had secretly drawn up. If I'd known about that, I would have been more careful to have them all in the same car when the accident happened. But even when she won the case, I recalibrated. After all, I was a smart beta. I could use this to my advantage.
Celeste’s grief made her malleable. She clung to me - dependable Uncle Gideon - as I guided her through the “complexities” of business leadership. She wanted her position, fine. I gave it to her. But every contract she signed had a shadow twin in my private files. Backdoor deals, shell companies, offshore accounts - things she was too young, too trusting, or too distracted to notice. If any of it ever came to light, my name would never appear. She would take the fall. And I would “reluctantly” step in to steady the company. The perfect plan.
Only, Celeste wouldn’t quit. She never craved a pack like I assumed. She just kept trying to make changes that I hated. And worse, when it helped the company, the board members would surprisingly agree that she was taking the company in a good direction. But they were wrong. If she’d just step out of the way, I’d take Harringday to new heights. So I planned for it.
Celeste stepped into her role while I managed to make my connections behind the scenes. I had a few of my friendselevated to the board, which would help me with votes. I made my contracts under the table, making sure to cover my tracks and clean up any messes. The Arkala island incident shouldn’t have even crossed Celeste’s radar. It only became an issue once I realized the alpha from Manticore Tech, our fastest growing rivals, had a bone to pick about it.
As luck would have it, the answer fell right into my lap. A sniveling beta, eager and naive, came to me with a proposition. Initially, he wanted to work together, stop the rivalry between Manticore Tech and Harringday. That opportunity grew once I realized that Elijah had an appetite for power and money, and very few ethics. He also had no intelligence. The stupid beta was so easy to manipulate that it was laughable. So, I had him work with me, promising him deals that made his eyes big and his mouth water.
The Darlington Ball would have been the perfect opportunity for me. If that stupid hired pack hadn’t kidnapped the wrong omega, Celeste would have been voted out and I’d be where I belonged, in the CEO seat at the head of the board. I blame Elijah for that screw up - he was the one in contact with the hired pack the whole time.
But then, another plan presented itself. Elijah let it slip that one of the Lockwood alphas was an Arkala islander. He knew about what really happened, but had no proof. He believed that Celeste was behind it, as he should. That was easy enough to pin on her. But I had more work to do, and she was in the way. So the plan was born.
The pack wanted to fix their reputation, and I needed Celeste occupied. So, I slipped Elijah the Tedena files. Using that as leverage, we got Celeste to go live with the pack for a few months while Elijah and I worked out the final details of our takeover. With the pack and Celeste busy spying on each other, Elijah and I could finalize all our plans and work out deals with almost no supervision. He was so corrupt at this point that he was ready for the pack to have an accident of their own, just to inherit their company.
Once we were done, Elijah would help the pack discover the rest of the files they needed to take Celeste down, publicly. If that Lockwood pack doesn't kill or bite her first, they’d sniff out the very documents we planted for them to “discover.”
They’ll think they’ve uncovered a scandal, not realizing they’re playing exactly the part I wrote for them.
Once the dust settles, Celeste will be disgraced and ousted. I’ll step in, halo firmly in place, the disappointed uncle and reluctant hero, taking over for the omega who should never have been elevated so high in the first place. She’d be gone, for some pack to deal with, if they wanted her. And my dear associate Elijah will help stage the perfect “accident” to remove the Lockwood pack as well. After all, they’re inconvenient loose ends.
What Elijah doesn’t know is that he’s a loose end too. Stupid, power-hungry men are predictable, and predictable men are easy to remove. One accident. One glorious moment of carnage. The pack gone. Elijah gone.
Harringday will be a monopoly.
I will stand alone.
