Page 45 of Ruined Wolf

I thought for a moment, my mind spinning. “Maybe they are after something else. Maybe it’s more personal than that. It’s not exactly a secret that Ethan has various underhanded schemes going on, and I’m fairly certain my father doesn’t have a high moral ground when it comes to shady dealings.”

“Why did you think Ethan was up to something?” Maverick asked after a few moments. “Did he say something to make you suspect him?”

I paused. “He threatened me.”

“Ethan threatened you?” Asher questioned, sounding dubious. “When, exactly?”

I sighed. “At the claiming. When you three showed up, he wasn’t trying to claim me, he was trying to kill me.”

Maverick shook his head. “I’m sorry, Nova.” He reached out and took my hands, squeezing it gently. “I think you might have gotten things confused somehow. Ethan might be into some dodgy stuff, but he wouldn’t hurt anybody, not unless he had to.”

“Exactly, not unless he had to. He thought I was some kind of spy who had information on him and that I would tell you, Maverick. When I wouldn’t—couldn’t confess to knowing anything, he tried to kill me. That’s when you turned up and we... umm...”

“You’re saying he thought you were a spy? Why? Because you just showed up out of the blue? Or did he already know you were from High Rocks Pack?”

My mind whirled. It would be an easy out if I told them that Ethan knew I was Caleb’s daughter and figured his partner in crime had sent me to spy on him. That would work. I’d never need to mention Jaxon.

My eyes drifted over Asher, his kind face full of concern, then to Lucas, who’d already faced so much for me, and finally to Maverick, whose hand wrapped around mine as he grappled with whom to believe—me or his mentor. I’d lied to them so much already, and everything inside me wanted to avoid inflicting any more pain on them, but I realised with a sinking heart that I couldn’t keep lying any longer. I had to tell the truth and trust we had something stronger than my lies.

“I found something else as well,” I said, taking a shaky breath and steeling myself. “There were emails between Ethan and a doctor in the city, Jaxon’s doctor, from when he was sick. Ethan knew where Jaxon was the entire time, and he never told you. He never told you he was sick.”

This time, I could have heard a pin drop. The silence dangled like a lead weight over the room. Maverick’s hand hung limply in mine, and his mouth parted slightly as he stared at me. Asher and Lucas were equally stunned into speechlessness, their faces completely blank.

I looked at the floor. How did I tell them? How did I make everything I’d done since I got here right? I couldn’t find the words that would break their hearts and mine, and for the thousandth time, I wished I’d never lied, and that I’d taken the chance and been honest with them from the start. I knew now they never would have cast me out or blamed me, but back then, I hadn’t known them. I’d only known the pack’s reputation, and I’d grown up with men who could appear warm and caring when they needed to and beat you in the darkness when no one was looking. Only Jaxon had ever shown me that a man could be trusted, and even then, he’d lied to me too. Were those good enough excuses for having deceived them for so long? I didn’t know.

Finally, Maverick was the one who broke the ice. He let go of my hand and stood up, pacing around the room as he ran his hands through his hair in frustration. “I can’t believe it,” he muttered to himself, shaking his head.

“Jaxon was in the city the whole time?” Lucas asked, staring at me with a hard gaze. “And Ethan knew?”

I nodded.

“But why would he... He was only a few days away. Why didn’t he call us and let us know where he was?” Asher questioned.

I looked over at him, and my heart ached. “I think he was hiding from Ethan,” I murmured quietly. I’d played it over many times in my mind—why Lucas had left, why he hadn’t told his brothers where he was going, and why he didn’t go back. “I think he discovered something and left to protect himself. I think he didn’t tell you where he was to protect you three. He wouldn’t have wanted to put you in danger.”

Lucas gave me a strange look, and I winced. I couldn’t hide anything from him now. I could almost see the wheels turning in his head as he started reading into my words.

Maverick turned to me. “You said Ethan had emails from Jaxon’s doctor and that he was sick.”

Shit. This was it. I already felt the grief welling up inside, and tears threatened to fall as I remembered those last few months. I nodded. “Jaxon had a rare disease. The doctor didn’t know much about it, though he tried his best to research it. There was no cure.”

Asher made a small sound and dropped his head into his hands, Maverick turned and stared out of the window, and Lucas just watched me, his expression completely flat.

“You said had,” he observed.

“What?” I asked, tearing my gaze from Maverick’s back.

“You said had. Past tense. What else do you know, Nova?” he pressed, his voice cold.

I swallowed. “Jaxon was sick for a few months. He fought it, but he didn’t... He couldn’t get better. Even his healing ability wasn’t strong enough and he... he died.”

“Jaxon’s... dead?” Lucas asked, unable to conceal the shock that crept over his face.

I nodded, unable to speak for a moment.

“Rick...” Asher’s voice was choked, and Maverick immediately turned and went to sit down next to his brother, wrapping his arm around his shoulders as Asher looked up at him, his face ravaged with guilt. Maverick looked at me with a similar expression on his face.

“So you’re saying Ethan knew Jaxon was sick, and knew he was dying, but he didn’t try to help him. He didn’t get us to go and get him.” Maverick’s voice was flat, emotionless.