Page 51 of New Blood (Werewolf Alliance #1)

S tunned, Danielle watched as two men entered the office. They were older than Jude, but it was hard to tell their real age since werewolves didn’t age the way humans did.

“Hendrik? Lars?” Jude greeted them in surprise. “I didn’t expect you to show up yourselves.”

“Yeah, well…” one of the men said, then directed his gaze at her and Eve. “Leave us.”

The command was spoken with such authority that even Eve instantly followed it.

As they exited the office, one of the men shut the door behind them.

For a moment, Danielle just stood there, her brain flooding with too much information.

She was still reeling from the shock of having seen the letters between her mother and William, letters she still held in her hand now.

She’d only needed to read a couple of lines to recognize her mother’s neat handwriting, but now, with everything that was on the line, she needed to read all of them.

She needed to find out what had happened between her mother and William.

And more importantly, when it had happened.

It would make all the difference. In fact, if she was right, it would solve Jude’s problem with the Alliance.

“The letters aren’t dated,” Danielle murmured to herself. How would she be able to figure out when her mother had written them?

“That’s why I thought they were from you,” Eve said in a clipped tone. Almost as if she wanted to apologize but couldn’t bring herself to do it. “Anybody would have thought they were between you and…”

She broke off and turned abruptly.

“Eve, please,” Danielle said and put a hand on her shoulder to stop her from walking away. “Are you sure you found the letters in Cameron’s things and not in William’s?”

She spun her head around and snapped, “Of course I’m sure! And if you don’t believe me, ask Flora. She found them and gave them to me!”

Not waiting for a reply, Eve ran across the foyer and stormed upstairs.

Still standing in the middle of the foyer, Danielle stared at the letters and began to read page after page.

The more she read, the more it became evident that her mother had been in love with William.

And if William had been in love with her, it was reasonable to think that he’d kept the letters all these years.

So why were they found among Cameron’s things?

How had they come into his possession? Had he too suspected that they were love letters between her and his father?

Was that the reason Cameron had always treated her with disdain?

Or was there something else Cameron had found out?

Something that had given him an even greater reason to hate her?

Determined to find out the truth, Danielle crossed the hallway in the other direction and entered the kitchen. Just like she’d expected, Priscilla was starting to make preparations for dinner.

“Priscilla?”

She looked up. “Oh, Danielle.” She looked frazzled. “I can’t believe what’s been happening today. First you and Jude nearly getting killed, and then Violet… And I was the one who told Jude that I saw her coming from the garage.”

Danielle put her arms around her friend. “It’s not your fault. But I need your help now.”

She sniffled. “What do you need?”

“You packed up Cameron’s things the night Jude arrived with his men, right?”

“Yes.”

“Did you put all of the boxes into the storage room?”

She pointed to the door. “Yes.”

“You labeled them, right?”

“Of course. Flora gets so angry when stuff isn’t labeled.”

“Good. Help me go through all of Cameron’s things.”

“What are we looking for?”

“A letter from my mother to William.” She showed Priscilla the letters in her hand. “There’s at least one of them that’s missing.”

And it was the most crucial one, because she suspected that it contained the reason why William had accepted her into his pack without hesitation.

Priscilla’s eyes widened. “Your mother knew William? Are you saying…” Her voice trailed off.

“I don’t know,” she answered the unspoken question. “That’s what I’m trying to find out.”

Together, they left the kitchen and headed for the storage room located on the same floor. Danielle opened the door and entered, Priscilla on her heels.

“The ones on the left,” Priscilla said, pointing to one of the shelving units. “And everything on the bottom shelf, too.”

Danielle lifted one box and handed it to Priscilla.

“Line them up in the corridor. We’ll have more space there.”

There were nine boxes altogether that contained Cameron’s belongings. Danielle kneeled on the floor and began to dig through the first box. Priscilla did the same.

The first box she searched was filled with clothes, and while she didn’t expect to find the letter in this box, Danielle nevertheless reached into all the pockets to make sure they were empty.

As expected, she found nothing inside. She tossed the clothes back into the box and continued with the next one.

“Priscilla, make sure to also check all the pockets, please,” Danielle instructed.

“Sure,” she confirmed while continuing to dig in another box. “Can I ask you something?”

Danielle cast her a quick look. “Of course.”

“If the letter you’re looking for is from your mother to William, why are we searching Cameron’s stuff?”

“Because these love letters—” She pointed to the letters she’d placed on the floor. “—the ones Eve thought were from me to William, were found in Cameron’s belongings.”

Priscilla stared at her, stunned. “You think he took them from his father?”

“It’s possible.” And it would explain so much.

While going through the next box, she was interrupted by Priscilla’s surprised gasp.

Danielle snapped her head in her direction and saw her unfold a piece of paper. “Did you find it?”

For a second, her heart stopped, but then Priscilla let out a disappointed mewl. “Damn. Sorry. It’s just a drawing of an engine or something. It was in a jacket.”

Danielle forced a smile. “Bummer. But don’t worry, we’ll find it. It has to be here.”

It was more of a pep talk for herself rather than Priscilla.

The second box she went through didn’t yield anything either. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe William had destroyed the letter from her mother after reading it. Perhaps it contained something he didn’t want anybody else to know.

The third box held a few books and other paperwork.

She opened the books and fanned through the pages, making sure that if something was tucked between them, it would fall out.

But the books hid no letters. It took a little more time to leaf through the stacks of paper, most of them related to the purchase of a condo in San Francisco.

It didn’t surprise her. Cameron had spent many nights away from the estate.

She placed the books and papers back in the box and closed it, then reached for the next one when she heard footsteps rapidly approaching. She looked up and saw Flora coming closer.

“I just spoke to Eve,” she started. “Is it true? Your mother and William were lovers?”

Her voice was clipped.

“It looks that way,” Danielle replied.

“Are you saying you didn’t know?”

There was an accusatory tone in her voice that raised the tiny hairs on her nape, but she decided not to react. After all, Flora was under tremendous stress because of Violet.

“No, I didn’t know.”

“Hmm.” She pointed to the boxes. “What is all this?”

“We’re going through Cameron’s belongings. Eve said you found the letters in them.”

“Yes. And I gave them to Eve. You must know that Jude put her on an ultimatum to support what she said about you…” She cleared her voice. “Well… I guess that backfired quickly.”

Danielle didn’t comment. There was really no good answer to Flora’s comment.

“So what are you looking for now?”

She didn’t see any reason to keep this information from Flora.

“There was another letter. One that I brought with me to give to William from my mother. I need to find out what it said.”

“Well, if you brought the letter, surely you know what was in it.”

She shook her head. “I promised my mother not to read it.”

“And you think Cameron had it?”

“Since he had the love letters, it’s not too far-fetched to assume he also had that particular letter.”

“Well—”

Flora was interrupted by Priscilla’s excited cry. “Danielle, is this it?”

She held up an envelope with William’s name on it. Danielle instantly recognized the handwriting as that of her mother.

“That’s it!”

Priscilla handed her the envelope, and Danielle pulled the sheets out of it, surprised by how heavy the letter felt.

When she unfolded the two sheets, something heavy fell to the floor, making a loud sound of metal falling onto wood.

She glanced at it briefly, homing in on it. It was a long metal key.

“What does it say?” Priscilla asked eagerly, and Flora, too, stepped closer, crouching down.

Danielle found the beginning of the letter and read it, taking in every word, even hearing her mother’s voice as the words echoed in her head. She could hear her mother’s pain and love, both of them equally strong. And she felt her mother’s heart as she asked William to take care of her.

Danielle dropped the letter onto her lap, tears welling up in her eyes.

“What?” Priscilla asked and reached for the letter, but Flora was faster.

She didn’t stop Flora from reading the letter. Instead, she turned to Priscilla.

“William is my father.”

At first, there were only two low gasps, one from Priscilla, the other from Flora.

“Oh my God,” Priscilla exclaimed.

“And Cameron knew?” Flora said from next to her. It was more a statement than a question.

Yes, Cameron knew. When he had stumbled upon the truth, Danielle had no idea of knowing. But it would explain the hostility he’d shown her during the past few months before his death. Even more so, once she’d moved into the main house after the explosion in the cottage.

At that memory, something clicked in her mind. The key!