Page 44 of New Blood (Werewolf Alliance #1)
E ve found Flora in the pantry, which was a rather large room entirely filled with shelves, an additional refrigerator to the one in the kitchen, and two tall freezers.
“Flora? I was looking for you.”
Flora looked over her shoulder. “Yes, honey? That was quite some excitement earlier. Horrible what could have happened.”
Eve entered and pulled the door shut behind her. “Well, a different outcome would have been better for all of us.”
“Eve!” Flora put her hand to her chest. “I don’t want to hear you say such a thing.”
“It’s true, though. And once you hear what Jude threatened me with, you’ll think the same.”
Flora furrowed her forehead. “Threatened you?”
“Yes! He came to my room and accused me of lying about the love letters between Danielle and Dad. He wants to see them to prove that they weren’t written by Danielle.”
“Well, then show them to him. That’ll clear things up.”
“I can’t! I don’t have them. He’s given me twenty-four hours, and if I don’t produce them, he’s going to have Danielle throw me out of my own home!”
Tears threatened to choke off her words.
“Oh dear! That’s awful.”
Flora put her arms around her to comfort her. But it didn’t help.
“And you’re sure you saw those letters?”
“Of course, I’m sure.” Did even Flora doubt her words now?
“What did you do with them after you saw them?”
She sniffled, her heart aching now. “I showed them to Mom.”
Flora stepped back and looked at her, her hands on her shoulders now.
“Is that why…”
Her aunt didn’t have to complete her sentence for Eve to know what she was suspecting.
She nodded. “Yes, that’s how she found out that Dad was cheating on her.
She couldn’t take it anymore.” A sob tried to work its way up her throat, but she forced it back.
She couldn’t allow herself to fall apart now, or Danielle would not only have been responsible for destroying her parents’ marriage and her mother’s subsequent suicide, but also her own future.
“I can’t let that little bitch win. She’s destroyed so much already. I can’t let her cost me my home, too.”
“I understand, honey. How can I help you?”
Lifting her head, she looked into Flora’s kind face. “Help me find those letters. They have to be among Mom’s things in the attic.”
“That is, if she didn’t destroy them. Or if your father didn’t take them back or burn them,” Flora interjected. “We have to consider both possibilities. Why don’t you start in the attic, while I go through your father’s things?”
Then Flora sighed. “I should have never asked Danielle to help me pack up your father’s things. If the letters were among them, she might have destroyed them.”
“Oh God, no!” That thought sent a shudder through her body.
Flora put a calming hand on her forearm. “We know nothing for sure. But we have to prepare ourselves.” She motioned to the door. “Now go and start in the attic. I’ll go through the storage room down here to see what’s in William’s boxes.”
“Thank you, Flora. I don’t know what I would do without you.”
“Of course. When I’m done with that, I’ll help you in the attic. Okay?”
Grateful for her aunt’s support, Eve left the pantry and headed to the third floor.
From there, a door at the end of the old part of the house led to a set of steep wooden stairs into the attic.
The smell of dust and mold greeted her, but she had to do this.
Her future depended on finding the letters so she could prove what Danielle had done.
Surely, once Jude saw the letters, he would realize that Danielle was nothing more than a gold digger and dissolve their bond by performing an ancient blood ritual and banish her from the pack, cast her out just like her father had been cast out.
Then Jude would be grateful to her and free to mate with her.