Page 145 of Retribution

“To sell our baby,” I say, reeling still from the audacity of a woman who would track us down for something like this.

“Good riddance,” Rita sniffs. “Should the men begin digging a hole for her?”

“That would be great,” Grant says, walking toward Stefanie.

“Wait,” the housekeeper says, looking for something. Walking over to a closet, she pulls out a couple of blankets and hands them to Grant. “Just because you got blood on the floor, doesn’t mean I want you tracking it across my carpets too. That’s a bitch to get out.”

Lucas snorts under his breath, pushing Stefanie onto her back. Oliver joins them and wraps her up tightly in the blankets. When they look up, Rita is there with duct tape. I swear, nothing fazes this woman.

“They’re digging the hole now. Alesso, come into the kitchen with the baby. She shouldn’t be here while they’re doing this,” she says.

Nodding, I take a shaky breath and refuse to look down at Stefanie.

“Leila will never know about her,” I say softly. “If we need to tell her something, it’s that Isolde saved her from a burningbuilding. Stefanie Mitchell will not be remembered in any capacity, much like how she lived.”

“Agreed,” Lucas, Oli, and Grant say in that odd way of pack. It doesn’t matter that we haven’t been one for long, we’re more in sync than most packs that I know.

Following Rita out of the foyer with Leila in my arms, I still lift up a small prayer that Stefanie will finally find peace.

Chapter Thirty-One

Oliver

Gazing at the covered up hole that is filled by a deeply flawed woman, I shake my head as I sink my shovel into the earth to rest.

“I think Alesso is right,” Grant says, gazing at the ground as well.

It was harder than you’d imagine to dig a grave in the middle of winter. We had to help the guards once we walked through the woods to where her grave would be, and then sent them on their way while we fill it up.

“Leila doesn’t need to know,” Lucas agrees. “She’s our daughter. Genetics don’t fucking matter to me.”

“Same,” I sigh, glancing up. “This was not on my bingo card as a father.”

“Me either. Now that this is done, what were you and Alesso talking about earlier?” Lucas asks, lifting his shovel and carrying it to begin walking toward the house.

Following his lead, Grant and I fall into step on either side of him.

“I think we should leave tonight for Minneapolis,” I say. “The flight plan has the plane landing outside of there. While we’re in the air, I’ll put out feelers for anyone willing to procure an omega with Isolde’s features. I have some photos of her alone. If I offer enough money, people will begin looking for her.”

Lucas growls under his breath and I shrug because I know how gross that sounds.

“It’s something that I’ve done in the past for clients looking for lost people,” I explain. “I’ve been connecting people to their lost sisters, brothers, cousins, and mates for a long damn time. I pretend to play the long game so I don’t appear to care much. It’s why I piss off the online community on the dark web and I stay hidden. However?—”

“It does get results,” Grant finishes. “I think that’s a good direction to run in. We can’t always play on the right side of the law in order to get results. If you had to guess Lucas, how long do you think the forced heat suppressant will last?”

“It hasn’t had time to build up in her blood stream, but it’s meant to begin working immediately,” Lucas muses. “I gave her a double dose but didn’t tell anyone, which breached her trust. I don’t think she’ll hold it against me…Fuck, okay I’m rambling. Two weeks. I think that at the shortest amount, it’ll last for two weeks.”

“And the longest?” I ask.

“A month.”

“Alright then,” I grunt. I can’t imagine her being away from us for so long. “Fuck, what if she goes into heat naturally?”

“I don’t think she will,” Lucas says. “I never got the chance to get her to go to the doctor to test her bloodwork. There was always something else going on.”

“It’s okay,” Grant says. “Something tells me that her body won’t let her go into heat while under duress. Isolde only wentinto heat when she did because she was surrounded by her mates. This is a very different situation.”

Without words, the three of us begin jogging for the house. Urgency is clawing at me. I have a lot of regrets right now, but I can’t focus on those. I will claim Isolde when I get her back.