“Victor, where are you going?” Stella had just finished trying on a handbag when she hurried after him, catching only a glimpse of his retreating figure as he rushed away.
“Wait here.
I’ll be right back.” Victor didn’t so much as turn his head as he strode toward the express elevator.
The elevator crawled down from the upper floors.
Every second was torture.
The moment he hit the ground floor, he rushed toward the exit, heart pounding, mind in chaos.
He burst out of the mall’s side entrance onto the pedestrian street.
People swarmed everywhere, moving in all directions.
Victor scanned the crowd frantically, but those two figures were gone.
“Victor!” Stella caught up, breathless, hurt and confusion written on her face.
“Why did you run off like that?
What happened?”
Victor snapped back, realizing how badly he’d lost control.
He forced down the frustration churning in his chest and forced a tight smile.
“Nothing.
Thought I saw someone.”
Stella studied his expression, unease creeping in, but she was smart enough not to press.
Instead she softened her tone.
“I’m hungry.
Let’s go eat.”
Victor’s mind was still full of Ava and the man beside her.
“Victor?” Stella tugged at his arm.
“Fine.
Let’s eat.” Victor closed his eyes for a beat.
When he opened them again, something cold and calculating had settled in his eyes.
He pulled out his phone and fired off a message to one of his contacts: Find out if Ava Bennett is actually married.
If she is, I want to know who her husband is.
Name, background, everything.
Make it fast.
Message sent, he pocketed the phone and draped an arm around Stella’s shoulders.
“Let’s go, babe.”
Across town, at a cheap motel on the city’s outskirts.
“That Alpha Victor is so generous.” Marnie counted the thick stack of cash she’d just withdrew from the bank.
“A few thousand dollars, just like that.”
Gerald and Marnie couldn’t wait to get back to their son with the money.
“You really think he’ll take Ava back?” Marnie asked in a low voice as they walked.
“He’s engaged to that Stella girl now.”
“Doesn’t matter.” Gerald waved her off.
“Alpha Victor is still chasing her all over town.
A man doesn’t do that unless he’s desperate.
Once he gets her back, we’ll be set for life.”
Marnie’s eyes gleamed.
“And if he doesn’t marry her?
If he just keeps her on the side?”
“So what?” Gerald shrugged.
“Luna or mistress, who cares.
As long as Ava’s in his bed, the money keeps coming.
That’s all that matters.”
Marnie turned it over and decided he had a point.
Her face lit up.
“You’re right.
Once we’re tied to the Sterling family, we can move to the city.
He can set us up with easy jobs, a real house.”
The two of them talked themselves into a fantasy, as if a golden future were already within reach.
They arrived at their son Wyatt’s rented apartment.
“Mom, Dad, finally!” Wyatt shuffled to the door in slippers, his face haggard despite being only twenty-four.
“Did you get the money?”
“We got it, we got it!” Marnie eagerly pulled the stack of bills from her bag.
“Five thousand.
Take it, use it for now.”
Wyatt took the cash, but his brow furrowed at once.
“That’s it?
Five thousand?
Ava’s shacked up with an Alpha and this is all you brought back?
What is this, charity?”
“It’s from Alpha Victor,” Gerald said.
“He wanted to help us out.”
“Alpha Victor.” Wyatt snorted.
Everyone knew Victor Sterling, a real Alpha with power and money.
“Do you have any idea how little that is to someone like him?
You should’ve asked for way more!”
“We didn’t think…” Gerald rubbed his hands together, looking a little sheepish.
Wyatt pocketed the cash and dropped onto the couch, crossing his legs.
“Five thousand doesn’t cover anything.
Lily wants a luxury venue for the wedding, a designer dress, the whole thing.
That’s fifty grand right there, at least.
And that’s before we get to me.
You need to go back to Alpha Victor and ask for more.”
“But…” Marnie hesitated.
“We just took five thousand from him.
If we go back and ask for more, won’t that look bad?”
“What’s bad about it?” Wyatt said without a shred of doubt.
“He’s Ava’s fated mate, isn’t he?
That makes us family.
Fated mates are supposed to be forever.
He owes her, and he owes us.
It’s normal for a brother-in-law to help out his wife’s family.”
Marnie’s face tightened.
Asking for this kind of money wasn’t easy.
“And another thing.” Wyatt leaned forward, eyes sharpening.
“You tell him I want a rank in the pack.
Gamma.
Delta at the very least.
He’s got the pull, it’s nothing to him.”
“But Victor’s engaged now,” Marnie said slowly.
“To someone else.”
Wyatt shrugged.
“So what?
Men like that keep one at home and one on the side.
I don’t care if Ava ends up as his Luna or his mistress.
As long as the money flows, she can be whatever he wants.”
Gerald frowned but didn’t argue.
Wyatt’s gaze shifted.
“Mom, Grandma’s pack pension.
She’s still getting that, right?”
Marnie’s expression changed.
“Why are you asking about that?”
“Why do you think?” Wyatt leaned in.
“Grandma’s from the Northern pack.
They pay retired wolves a monthly stipend as long as they’re alive.
She’s been getting that pension for years.
Where’s all that money going?”
“That money is for your grandmother’s care,” Gerald said sharply.
“Grandma’s got Alzheimer’s.
Ava took her somewhere, and we don’t even know where she is now.” Wyatt waved a hand.
“That pension’s just sitting there.
We might as well use it.
I’m sure Grandma would want her grandson taken care of.”
“Absolutely not.” Gerald’s voice went hard.
“That money is untouchable.”
“Wyatt, listen to me,” Marnie said quickly.
“I’ll go talk to Alpha Victor again.
We’ll figure something out.
But we are not touching your grandmother’s pension.
Understood?”
Gerald and Marnie knew their son too well.
Wyatt didn’t just need money for the wedding.
He’d gotten himself tangled up in gambling.
Give him access to that pension, and he’d drain every last cent at the tables.
That was a line they wouldn’t cross.