Page 18 of Shadow of Fury
“Oh and Viv?” He paused in the doorway to turn back to his sister. “Thank you for always having my back.”
She smiled softly, “It’s us against the world. Always.”
He returned her smile before leaving her alone in her childhood bedroom. He hated the idea of spending the night in this house, where the memories of that last night with Lark were so vivid, but he knew he didn’t have any other options at the present moment. Vivian was right about needing to be here to find answers and while she searched for a way out of his unwanted mating bond, he would use his time and his access to figure out exactly what their father had been up to.
And in the meantime he just had to put Lark out of his mind and avoid Wren as much as possible, the latter shouldn’t be too hard he figured, since he was certain she would be doing her best to avoid him as well.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Wren stared at herself in the mirror for a long time. She thought, given the fact she’d spent most of the night either crying or tossing and turning in bed, that she didn’t look half bad. Concealer really did work wonders. Combined with a few eyedrops to help with the redness, eyeliner and a coat of mascara, she almost looked as if the previous night had never happened.
But mirrors were deceiving.
Beneath the coat of makeup and the crisp navy blazer, floral sheath dress and heels, she was using all her strength to hold it together. She’d wanted to stay in bed, hide under the covers, and ignore the outside world but she knew that was a bad idea. Staying home today would mean Raven pressing her for all the information she hadn’t demanded last night. And when given the option between facing her sister and telling her the truth or facing Alpha Kemp at the office, going to work seemed like the lesser of the two evils.
Besides, if she was lucky, he would still be feeling under the weather and he wouldn’t even come into the office today. If he stayed home, she might be able to do some more digging around in his office. She might even finally find the proof she needed to show he had covered up her sister’s murder.
The chance, no matter how small, was one she couldn’t pass up.
Wren checked her watch. It was still early. If she was lucky Raven would still be in bed and she could avoid her sister for a few more hours. But when she opened her bedroom door and stepped into the living room that adjoined the kitchen, she found Raven standing at the counter with a mug of coffee in her hands, because of course the only luck Wren had ever possessed was the bad kind.
“Morning.” Raven leaned against the counter with one hip and eyed her as she approached.
“Morning.”
“You’re up early.”
“I could say the same for you.”
“I didn’t get much sleep.” Raven frowned at her but Wren focused her attention on picking up her purse from the barstool she always hung it on and slinging it over her shoulder.
“Yeah, me either.”
“Yet I look like the walking dead and you’re dressed to go out.”
“Dressed to go to work.” Wren corrected and watched Raven’s eyebrow wing up.
“You’re going to work today?”
“Yes.”
“At the Alpha’s office?”
“That is where I work, yes.” Wren tried to joke but her sister didn’t even crack a smile.
Raven really did look exhausted and Wren felt guilty for making her worry. Her sister’s hair, as black as her namesake, was pulled into a messy bun on top of her head. She had mascara smears under both of her eyes like she’d forgotten to take her makeup off before going to bed and then rubbed them, repeatedly. She was still in her pajamas too, which amounted to a ragged old t-shirt that was two sizes too big and fell off one shoulder haphazardly, a pair of boxers from gods only knew who or where, and a set of fluffy pink socks that came all the way up to her kneecaps.
She looked so young like this, but the worry in her deep brown eyes hinted at pain years beyond her age.
“Remind me again why you took a job working for the man you hate?” Raven stared her down and Wren fidgeted.
“You know why.” she sighed when Raven didn’t give in. “If there’s any proof that the Kemps are responsible for what happened to Lark or that the Alpha covered it up, it’ll be in his office. There has to be an official report or record. The cops, ambulance, coroner, they were all called that day. There has to be an honest report behind all the smoke and mirrors and I’m going to find it.”
Raven put her mug on the counter and stifled a yawn, “Wren, you’ve been working there for months and you haven’t found a single shred of evidence.”
“Only because he hasn’t trusted me enough to leave me alone in the office. Not until yesterday. I’m earning his trust and that means I’ll have more access but to stay on his good side I have to go to work like a good little employee, even if it's the last thing I want to do.”
“You spend all of your time pretending to be someone you’re not.” Raven frowned at her. “You put on this innocent facade and you prance around town acting like everything is fine. You pretend you’re fine. You smile and pretend you’ve moved on but in reality, you’re still stuck in the past.”