Page 68 of Dream Mates (Into The Parallel Omegaverse #2)

Chapter Forty-Five

Spencer

I n the shade of the parking lot of the Office of Designation Management testing center, I answered emails, kept in touch with the pack, and did everything I could to keep my mind off what could be happening inside. My phone buzzed.

Judge A

Done. The record should populate in moments.

Me

Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

Perfect.

After I finished up, the guards let me back into the lobby. The same man sat there at the desk.

He gave me a look. “If it’s not in the system, I can’t tell you anything.”

“Check again for me? Please. Her name is Grace Ellington. Mine is Spencer.”

“Sure.” He typed on the terminal. “Yeah, there’s a Spencer here. Spencer…” He gave me a look, eyebrows arching, then his eyes went back to the screen. “Today? Congrats man. Well, I mean, I hope?” He pushed a box to me. “I need verification.”

I pressed my finger to it.

He looked at his screen. “Got it. You can wait in the lobby, or outside. Here, let me get you her phone.”

Taking out a bin, he found a clear envelope with her name on it and handed it to me.

“Thank you.” Pocketing the phone, I looked for a seat and saw Pippa Thorne, sitting stiff and white-knuckled in the corner.

Why was Nate’s alpha here?

Finding a seat, I continued to stay in contact with the pack.

A middle-aged omega in a hot pink Center polo, carrying an enormous duffle, entered and spoke softly with the man at the front. She then sat down near the door, looking at her tablet.

Me

Center sent someone from the Blanket Brigade. Is that protocol?

Wes

I don’t care as long as someone is there with her.

Evan

Yes, if someone’s available, otherwise they’ll just send an advocate. I’m glad someone made it.

A man with three crying children came in with guards. The little one in his arms looked a lot like Grace, her hair in two little curly ponytails. They were all escorted through the doors into the main part of the building, but not before the man exchanged looks with Pippa.

What was happening?

“You, you had something to do with this.” Adriana Thorne, the woman who threatened and grabbed Grace, stormed over to me.

Seriously? She called in the tip. But I wasn’t going to let her know I knew that.

“What is your problem with my mate, Adriana? She’s done nothing to you.” I squared my shoulders and gave her a cool look, keeping my voice low and even.

“They’ve brought my mate and the children in because of you,” she yelled.

“Me? What did I do? I have no issue with the children or your mate. Again, what is your problem with my mate? Why are you so certain that she’s not Nate’s child even with the genscan? What do you know?” I prodded, taking a deep breath, trying to maintain a cool facade.

Adriana growled at me. “Why are you targeting me now?”

Pippa joined us and looked alarmed. “There’s a genscan confirming that she’s Nate’s child?”

“Indeed.” I gave Pippa a look.

“I see. It would have been better if she were Barrett’s.” Pippa sighed.

The guards present in the lobby watched us. One had his hand on a stunner.

“She’s not either. She’s faking,” Adriana snapped.

“Adriana, sit down before you make things worse,” Pippa directed.

“Easy for you to say. They only have one of your children. They have two of mine,” Adriana retorted, scowling. “It’s Spencer’s fault.”

They had their children and Nate? I was so confused.

“It is?” Pippa frowned. “Nate’s my mate, too.”

“Why are you even here?” Adriana shrieked at me.

One of the guards came over, hand on his taser. “Please lower your voices or take it outside,” he told Adriana.

Adriana growled. “They have my mate and children.”

Pippa tried to take Adriana’s arm. “Sit down.”

“They have my mate, as well, Adriana. I have no idea why. We know nothing about the parents listed in Grace’s genscan, on either side. Could you tell me anything about that?” I prodded, voice still low and even, without a hint of bark. The urge to shake her was strong.

“Why do you think I know anything? Besides, this is all your doing,” she shouted.

Before I could react, her fist connected with my face.

Guards descended, throwing her to the ground. I remained very still, hoping her actions didn’t get me thrown out.

“She’s a bit distraught,” Pippa told them in half-hearted defense.

“Everyone here is. But we have a no-violence rule,” the guard said, gripping Adriana and walking to the door.

“My children,” Adriana yelled.

“You can wait for them outside,” they told her, kicking her out.

Pippa shook her head. “Adriana is… spirited, especially when defending her pack.”

Adriana was hiding something.

“Spirited? Like when she laid hands on my mate? I’m sorry that they have your children, but I don’t know why you think it’s my fault. They’re not allowing them to have a parent?” I frowned. Or were they with Nate and Grace?

“Two of the children are legal adults, and they’re all together. Harry’s with them now, but I’m not sure how long they’ll let him.” Without another word she sat down.

Pain and sadness made me almost double over. I took a few deep breaths trying to compose myself, sending everything I could to Grace.

I wanted to break down the door.

My phone rang. Wes. I stepped back out into the parking lot. “Wes?”

“Yeah, so, Riley and I hacked the locked maternal record. Spencer, I don’t even know what I’m looking at. How the fuck did Grace get to her world if both her parents are from here ? Her biological mom’s record isn’t faked. But here’s the thing, Thora isn’t Grace’s mom’s name,” Wes said.

There were typing sounds.

“Also, according to this, Grace’s biological mom is dead.

She passed away when Grace was a newborn.

The Cassidy thing is weird. I didn’t hack the locked maternal file, though.

Both the Grace and Cassidy records just fall off after babyhood, like they never again went to a doctor or were enrolled in school or anything. They just disappeared.”

All that tracked with what Grace told me about Nate and his missing Grace. Though yes, that part with Cassidy was strange.

“Was Thora a university student? Piano major?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

“How did she die?” I was glad I didn’t see Adriana in the parking lot.

“Oh fuck,” Wes said. “The record was locked because Thora Silvers wasn’t just implicated in a federal crime, she’s apparently a sigma.”