Page 53 of New Blood (Werewolf Alliance #1)

T he news that Danielle was William’s illegitimate daughter spread like wildfire among the residents of the estate.

By the time Danielle had explained what she’d found out, including that she’d found evidence that Cameron wasn’t only behind the gas explosion in her cottage, but was also the one who’d tampered with the brakes of her car, Jude’s head was spinning.

After finding out that the love letters Eve had found were between Danielle’s mother and William, a tiny bit of hope had sparked inside him, wondering if Danielle’s mother had sent her to William because she was his daughter.

But before he’d had the opportunity to talk about this with Danielle, Hendrick and Lars had arrived, and he’d worried that he wouldn’t get a chance to explore that suspicion.

He realized now that he didn’t have to worry at all, because Danielle was smart and had suspected the same thing and taken action to dig deeper.

Back inside the house, Danielle showed him the key for the fireplace in the cottage and the printout of a schematic of the braking system of her car that she’d found in Cameron’s belongings.

However, one thing hadn’t quite sunk in yet.

“But Cameron is dead. He would have had to cut the brake line before his death.”

Danielle nodded. “Which he did. I hadn’t used the car in the couple of weeks before his death. He couldn’t know when I would use it again, so he just sat back and waited. Even from the grave, the evil in him seems to live on.”

“Which means the accident had nothing to do with you becoming my mate.”

“No. He tried to kill me because he found out I was his half sister, and knowing what I know about him, he wouldn’t have liked to give up another part of the estate that I would be entitled to.

He complained often enough that he hated the fact that he had three siblings.

He looked at them as if they were just holding out their hands, taking what he thought should belong only to him.

As the oldest son, he thought he was better than the others. ”

“I’m glad he’s gone. And even gladder that I was the one who killed him. I wish I had let him suffer a lot more for what he tried to do to you.”

“It’s over now.”

He pressed a kiss to her lips. “Not entirely. I’ll instruct my guys to inspect every car, every piece of machinery, every fireplace to make sure Cameron didn’t rig anything else. But right now, there’s one more thing I have to do.”

“What’s that?”

“Apologize to Violet and release her.”

“Let’s do it together.”

He took her hand, and they walked to the basement. Violet was still in her cell. Flora was holding her daughter’s hands through the bars, and Wendell, who’d been guarding the prisoner, shoved his cell phone back into his pocket.

“Austin said it’s true,” he said to Flora, before acknowledging him and Danielle. “That’s a relief.”

Jude nodded. “It sure is. The key, please.”

Wendell handed the key over to him, and he walked to the cell and unlocked it. He pulled the door open and stepped aside so Violet could leave the cell.

“Violet,” he started. “I apologize for having suspected you. All I can say is that the thought of somebody wanting to hurt Danielle blinded me, and you were a convenient scapegoat. I should have realized earlier that you’re not the kind of person who would hurt anybody. I’m sorry.”

Violet held his gaze, her expression guarded. He could almost see her mind working. Would she forgive him? She exchanged a look with Flora as if she were asking for permission to either forgive him or hold a grudge.

“I can understand that you might not be able to forgive me right away, but I hope that over time, we can repair our relationship.”

Danielle stepped closer. “Violet, I’m sorry too for not defending you when I knew that you didn’t have a malicious bone in your body.”

Violet’s features softened, and she took a step toward Danielle.

“Mom told me that you were the one who figured out that it was Cameron who tried to kill you, not me. Thank you,” she said, before directing her gaze back to him.

“I know what it looked like in your eyes, but having motive, means, and opportunity isn’t enough to be a killer. You also have to be capable of killing. I may be a werewolf, and killing to survive is in my DNA, but killing for any other reason… I don’t have that in me.”

“I know that now,” Jude replied.

Violet nodded. There wasn’t anything else he could say now. Violet needed to process what had happened, and he knew it would take time.

He stepped aside, and Violet left with her mother by her side. He heard the sound of their footsteps on the stairs.

“Well, I guess congratulations are in order,” Wendell said with a smirk.

“Thanks, Wendell.” He turned his head and looked at Danielle. “I dodged a bullet today. If it weren’t for you, baby…” He didn’t even want to finish that thought.

So many things had to happen to bring him to this point.

If Eve hadn’t accused Danielle of sleeping with her father, he would have never known about the letters and given Eve an ultimatum to find them.

And had Danielle not seen the letters and recognized her own mother’s handwriting, she would have never searched for the letter that her mother had given her to hand to William.

Nobody would have ever known that she was William’s daughter.

The Werewolf Alliance would have removed him as alpha, his future with Danielle uncertain.

His mating with Danielle had caused a chain reaction that nobody could have predicted. And somehow it had all turned out fine. Fate had prevailed.