Mated to the Alpha Who Ruined Me Chapter 09

Mated to the Alpha Who Ruined Me Chapter 09

The next morning, Kane left for pack headquarters, just like he always did.

The second he was gone, I grabbed my terminal and called Lila again, immediately.

“Lila, I’ve seen him.”

“Who?”

“Liam. Also known as Reiner Fernandes of ACE Group.”

“Liam? Reiner Fernandes?”

Lila’s voice cracked with surprise.

“Liam? He’s the enemy the Blackrock Pack hunted for years. How is he connected to Reiner Fernandes?”

“I just ran into him at the gathering. Liam is Reiner Fernandes.”

“I need his file-everything. As detailed as you can get.”

“Especially his entire time at the joint school at fifteen-and everything since, about his business dealings and clan conflicts with Kane.”

“Got it.”

Lila moves fast.

In less than an hour, she’d sent a detailed file to my encrypted email.

I opened it, desperate.

The file said:

Liam’s mother was the only daughter of the former Alpha of the Hidden Moon Pack. She’d cut ties with her family to run off with a regular Beta, and lived in seclusion in a small town.

Liam’s grandfather and Kane’s father had fought for decades over the Rocky Mountain mining territories, building a blood feud that could never be undone.

When Liam was fifteen, his father died in a suspicious accident on a trip. Liam and his mother were targeted, and had to hide in the inter-pack academy under fake names.

That time at the academy was when his war with Kane was at its most brutal.

After he left the academy, he returned to the Hidden Moon Pack, and seized the Alpha position with an iron fist. In just a few years, he’d brought the Hidden Moon Pack back to power. But then he’d stepped back, taking the pack into seclusion. Coincidentally, shortly after Liam disappeared, Rainer Fernandes had appeared out of nowhere. The ACE Group he’d founded was the only company that could go toe-to-toe with the Walker Group.

At the end of the file, Lila had added a note: All deeper information has been deliberately wiped. Can’t dig any further.

I stared at the file, unable to speak for a long time.

So that’s what had happened to Liam.

No wonder he’d changed so much.

From a boy beaten and hiding in a tree hollow, to a calm, restrained, powerful Alpha.

Hardship changes a person.

I knew that better than anyone.

And Kane and Liam were blood enemies.

He had to know who Liam really was.

He had to know Rainer was Liam.

Was I just a pawn he’d used to humiliate Liam?

A tool to keep Liam in check, in his little “observation project”?

I didn’t dare think about it.

The more I thought, the colder I felt.

No.

I couldn’t just sit here and wait.

I had to make a move.

I found a public, encrypted email for Liam’s assistant.

I hesitated for a long time.

Finally, I sent an email from my own private, encrypted address.

I didn’t mention the past.

I just said I was Ella Walker, and I needed to speak with Rainer Fernandes about a mining partnership in White Pine Valley.

The email vanished into thin air.

I’d almost given up hope.

Just when I was about to abandon it, my terminal buzzed.

A new email.

From Liam’s assistant.

The message was simple.

[Dear Mrs. Walker, Our Alpha has a 30-minute window at the downtown safe house tomorrow at 3 PM. Would this time work for you?]

I stared at the email, my heart racing.

He’d agreed.

I replied immediately.

[That works. Thank you.]

My chest was tight with a strange mix of nerves and anticipation.

Tomorrow, maybe I’d finally get some answers.

The game board was set.

And I was done being a pawn, pushed around by everyone else.

This time, I was stepping onto the board myself.

Even if it meant I’d lose everything.