Page 112 of A Second Chance for the Beta
Before I notice what’s happening, Felix pulls me aside as something silent brushes past us. “Arrows,” Dario mutters. “Probably either filled with silver or wolfsbane… or…”
“Fuck the details,” Felix huffs, grabbing my hand. “Let’s make a run for it.”
“Where to?” Dario asks. “We can’t link anyone.”
Again, my senses seem to take over as I scan our surroundings. I see two more men trying to circle us. “They are coming from three sides,” I point ahead of us. “No one is there.”
“Leads away from pack grounds,” Dario mutters.
“Fuck it, come.” Felix grabs my hand tighter and tugs me along. He starts running, forcing me to follow him. Boy, he’s fast. He makes sure not to run in a straight line, though, probably to distract our attackers. Dario soon moves ahead of us, leading us out of the pack grounds. I have no idea what we are going to do. None of us can shift yet, and a blow from a bullet could be fatal to all of us.
We are so fucked.
*DANTE*
I feel uncomfortable leaving Charlie alone. This letter had to have shaken her. It’s literally her mom’s goodbye to her, but she reassured me she was alright and that she wanted me to take this to the alpha so we can have Ella return fast.
The way she looked at me made my chest churn. She misses Ella. It’s obvious she wants her here with her now to be able to talk to her.
Fortunately, Liam manages to gather everyone fast. Silas and Jun soon join us to discuss the content of the letter.
“Did you talk to Richard?” Liam asks me before we can start. “How are things with him and Livia?”
“I saw him last night after our interrogation,” I say. “Livia was with him. They were playing a card game. He is eager to help.”
“Good.” Liam nods. “He probably wants to prove himself to her. Subconsciously so. It’s still not ideal, but I’ll take what I can get.” He pauses before swiftly filling the other two men in on what Charlie and I discovered. Then he hands Silas the letter, allowing him to read it.
It’s silent while he reads it, the minutes dripping by and making my anxiety grow. I don’t know what I’m nervous about, maybe because I fear that Silas has something terrible to say about Ambrosius… that maybe he lied to Candy.
“Ambrosius,” Silas says quietly, disrupting the silence.
“You know him?” Liam asks.
“He is… no, was my cousin,” Silas says, a hint of sadness in his eyes. “A smart and good person.”
I’m instantly relieved to hear that. At least that’s one hope I don’t need to crush for Charlie. She can live with the knowledge that her father was a good man and not a sociopath who wanted to get rid of her.
“I personally have no doubts in this letter,” Liam says. “But can you back it up? Will your brother believe it?”
Silas sighs. “Aloysius will believe whatever he wants to believe. But to answer your question: the contents of the letter add up with what I encountered. Ambrosius was sneaking around a lot during that time. I had a feeling he had fallen in love and chosen his beloved, so I didn’t inquire. Vampires are very private when it’s about their beloved.”
“And then?” I ask.
“Well, you know that Aloysius took a liking to Candance, which is why he offered her shelter in the first place. She eventually disappeared, which was nothing unusual for the women he was after, so I didn’t question it. I hope you don’t hold it against me, but Aloysius had a lot of affairs, frequently, so I didn’t want to get involved too much in his personal matters.”
“We understand,” Liam reassures him.
“Knowing now what truly happened, I’d say he and Candace shared a night very early on, and he expected a repeat of it… She probably didn’t let him because she met Ambrosius, and she instinctively knew that Aloysius wasn’t a good person to be with.” He sighs. “I wish I had known,” he says bitterly.
“Would you have helped Ambrosius?” I ask. “If he came to ask for help.”
“That’s a hypothetical question, and I can only give a hypothetical answer because back then, I didn’t know the amount of evil my brother would commit.” He pauses. “But I want to believe that I would have at least heard Ambrosius out.”
“Do you know what happened to him?” I ask.
Silas looks sad. “It was maybe many years after Candance left. Aloysius set out for the human woman he got pregnant and killed her and her child. As you know, I was furious and we had our fallout back then. Shortly after I left, I heard that Aloysius accused him of having stolen hisprey… and killed him.” His voice carries a bitter tone in it when he describes what happened to Ambrosius.
I shake my head. Silas’s brother truly ruined so many people. Who knows what would have happened if Ambrosius and Candance could have left together. “Ambrosius knew your brother would have followed them, had he left with Candy,” I say.
