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There is a lot you don’t know about my past, and I don’t think you would even believe me if I told you I wasn’t born in this realm, but that doesn’t really matter.

All that does matter, the only thing I need you to know, is that I have a daughter, Marlowe. She’s at a terrible risk, and I’m begging you and your pack to protect her.

There is a very dangerous male who wishes to use her to commit great harm. We escaped his clutches before she was born, but I was spotted by one of his spies when she and her brother were only four years old. I left rather than lead him back to our home.

Marlowe doesn’t know she’s a shifter. She doesn’t know the shifter world exists, and her mother and I have kept it all from her as best we could, raising her as a human. We were afraid that if she knew what she was, she’d become curious, and would want to explore her roots.

But she’s also an omega, the only one in this world, and that paints a target on her back like you wouldn’t believe. You’ve never experienced it yourself, but take it from me when I say that an omega’s perfume can turn even the most upstanding alpha into a snarling beast.

I know I hinted that I’d pass my half of the company on to you. You’ve more than deserved it, and I know you’d carry your dad’s and my legacy well.

But with the recent news of my wife’s passing, I fear that the danger we’ve been running from has finally caught up to us, and Marlowe will need help. I’ve decided to give my half of the company to her so I could put her in your pack’s path, and also set her up with enough money so she’dbe able to run and hide at a moment’s notice.

You’re a good male, and you’ve done well by bonding with other good males. I know you would help keep her identity a secret, because as soon as the shifter world hears about her, not only will she be hunted by that male, but I can only imagine what even our own people would do to get to her.

Last I heard, she was in San Francisco and engaged to be married. Please do what you can to make sure she lives a happy, safe life.

- James

My heart sunk, and I reread the letter over and over until every word had sunk in.

James’s last request was for us to keep Marlowe a secret. To protect her.

And we’d managed to accomplish the exact fucking opposite of that.

I just… I didn’t even know how to process this information. We had guessed that James had left Marlowe and Ezra because it was safer than staying, but reading now that he’d never even wanted her to know she was a shifter…

I tried to be logical as a storm of self-loathing, regret, and agony swirled in my gut. If wehadn’tstepped in, if we’d just dealt with her like she was an off-limits human, she would have ended up in some vamp’s servaglio, miserable and betrayed. That wasn’t a happy and safe life for her.

She’d at least been happy with us. For the two weeks we’d had her.

I stomped into the living room and tossed my phone to Archer so he could read the message and share the news, then shifted and ran outside to hunt down another alpha. Only blood and revenge could calm me down now.

We woke up early to investigate the area south of Maiingan Hollow. Nolan made a large breakfast so we wouldn’t have to worry about hunting on our trip. Julian and I had started learning how to take down and eat prey while shifted, and while as wolves it felt fine and natural to eat raw rabbit, when we transformed back into humans I would feel off and slightly sick.

Plus hunting would take time away from our mission.

We finished washing up and Elias’s phone rang. He was about to send it to voicemail when his eyebrow arched, and he answered it instead.

“Detective Oakley, what can I do for you?”

I watched his face morph from confusion to rage as she spoke.

“They’rehere? And they want to talk tous?”

Julian looked to me for an explanation and I simply shrugged. Elias would just nip this in the bud so we could be on our way.

“Understood, we’ll be there soon.”

Or not.

He hung up the phone and roared in frustration, nearly throwing it against the wall.

“What’s wrong?” Archer asked, coming downstairs with his coat in hand.

“We need to stop by the police station,” he said, his voice tinged in anger.

My face heated a little, and I wondered if this wasmyfuck up. Last night, after reading that letter from James, I’d gone after a pack of alpha cops who’d entered the Rite, and Imayhave gone too far.