Page 109 of Alpha's Impostor Bride

He turns his back to me and fidgets with something on his desk. “Because she loves you. She won’t admit it, but it’s in her eyes when she looks at you. Under all that anger and hurt, I see love.” His voice lowers. “And she will never look at me that way, no matter how many years we spend together.”

He looks over his shoulder, meeting my gaze. Our mutual understanding is silent.

We have the same goal: to protect the woman we both love.

Chapter 21

Leanna Avery

Family lineage.

Personal backgrounds.

The victims have nothing in common.

However, I find it hard to believe that these kidnappings were random. And after they tried to take me, I find it even more improbable. If these people could orchestrate such an organized kidnapping attempt on me, there is no way they’ve just been picking out victims at random. There would be no reason to expose themselves to such a risk. No, there is some method to their madness, and if I can just pick out a pattern, it might help us.

The only common denominator seems to be the marks left around the victims’ belongings. In the human world, serial killers often leave behind a sort of signature. This looks like the same kind of thing, a sign of arrogance. None of the information that the intelligence unit has gathered mentions this being a sort of signature, but they don’t deal with humans all that much.

As I sift through the information about the victims who have gone missing, I can’t find anything in common among them. All of them seem like regular, average shifters, from all walks of life. I have to look harder. There has to be something that connects them.

Cassian, who has been helping me with the desk work, is reading through the files I handed him earlier, a frustrated expression on his face. “What are we even looking for?”

“Anything that stands out. Anything that links one of the victims with at least one of the others. I already know that career wise, they had nothing in common. It’s not like they were all working at the palace or something. Aside from Harold, none of them held any position that would be considered close to the king. They were all ordinary.”

Cassian looks up at me. “Exactly! That’s what I’m saying. What are we expecting to find? There’s nothing interesting about these people.”

“We’re looking for anything out of the ordinary.” I take out my notebook and write down the name of the clinic one of the individuals volunteered at. “Was any blood drawn from Harold?”

Cassian shakes his head.

Why does that not surprise me? I look over at him. “I want you to find out the daily routines of the victims. Places they liked to visit, friends, their route to work. There has to be something that connects them. How soon can you get me this information?”

Cassian looks thoughtful. “A week?”

I nod. “Okay, then.”

“What are you going to do in the meantime?” he asks curiously.

I give him a faint smile. “A different kind of research.”

As I utter those words, I look out the window and see Cedric standing in the distance. His arm muscles are flexed, and Finn is hanging from his bicep like a monkey. I grin at the sight of my nimble son trying to win in a feat of strength against his father. He’s desperately trying to bring down Cedric’s arm while the latter watches him.

My son looks like he’s having the time of his life.

No, not my son. Our son.

“Why does Cedric look so angry?” Cassian asks, following my gaze.

“He’s not angry,” I murmur absentmindedly. “He’s amused.”

“Really?” Cassian comes to stand beside me, looking dubious. “That looks like a scowl to me.”

“It’s not.”

“How can you tell?”

“I—” I snap my mouth shut, feeling a strange emotion. “I just can.”

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