Oops… I Went Into Heat and My Alpha Daddies Claimed Me

CALLUM’S POV

I was grateful Dane had been close enough to reach Keisha before that woman could put the blade into her, because I didn’t want to imagine what would have happened if he had been somewhere else in the estate.

As we walked away from the mansion, I kept looking back toward the entrance, knowing Keisha was inside with Becca and Nadia, but also knowing that leaving her there without understanding how the assassin had gotten so close to her was going to keep bothering me.

Dane who had jogged after me noticed my silence and finally broke it himself. "I was only doing my usual patrol," he said. "I wasn’t even supposed to be at that exact spot. I saw the guards go down and ran toward them. If I had been two minutes farther away, I don’t know if I would have reached her in time."

I stopped walking and looked at him. "Then I owe you more than a thank you. You saved her more than once now. It just keeps happening and it’s hard to keep up."

Dane shook his head immediately. "Don’t make it sound like I did something extraordinary. Keisha is under my protection too. If something happens to her while I’m around, that’s on me. I wasn’t going to stand there and watch someone hurt her just because they managed to catch us off guard."

"Thank you. I don’t think we both can afford to lose her."

He gave me a brief nod before his expression changed. "But how did you get there so quickly? The last time I checked, you were in the hall."

"I was."

He paused. "Then how were you already at the mansion?"

I continued walking before answering. "The guard I assigned to watch that maid contacted me. He had been monitoring her movements ever since I released her. This morning he noticed something unusual and followed her without making himself obvious. She went to a house outside the estate, the same house she claimed belonged to her mother."

Dane’s expression hardened. "Except it didn’t."

I nodded. "No. Her mother has been dead for years."

He looked at me sharply. "How certain are we?"

"The guard checked the records himself. There is no sick mother, no living mother, and no reason for that woman to have been visiting the house. The guard also saw someone leaving the property who matched the description of one of the people from the organization we raided."

Dane was silent for a moment before muttering, "So she was lying from the beginning."

"Yes."

I clenched my jaw. "She had everyone believing she was simply a frightened maid with a sick parent. She even managed to convince me for a moment. When I questioned her, she had an explanation for everything. The syringe, the polythene, the cloak, the food. So believable. Which means she wasn’t simply connected to them. She was working for them."

Dane’s face darkened. "The same people we found at the hideout."

I nodded. "The same people connected to Orin."

We walked several more steps before Dane asked the question that had been sitting between us since the attack. "Have you heard anything about Orin?"

"No." I paused.

"Nothing?"

"Nothing. He disappeared after the fight. We captured most of the people at the hideout, but he wasn’t among them. We’ve searched the places we know he uses, and nobody has seen him since." I nodded.

Dane sighed. "He’s probably still hiding."

"He’s more dangerous hiding than he was when he was standing in front of us."

I didn’t like the fact that Orin had vanished. A man like him didn’t disappear because he had given up. He disappeared because he was preparing something or because someone was helping him remain hidden. Either possibility was a problem.

We reached the area where the assassin’s body had been taken. The guards immediately stepped aside when they saw us. I walked toward the body and crouched beside it, examining everything the guards had recovered. The knife lay nearby, sealed carefully so nobody would disturb it.

I picked it up by the handle without touching the blade.

"Take this to the weapons division," I told Dane. "I want to know where it was made, who bought it and whether there is anything unusual about its construction. If it’s from a specific smith or supplier, I want the entire purchase history."

Dane nodded. "I’ll handle it."

I returned my attention to the woman’s belongings. There was very little on her that could identify her, which wasn’t surprising considering she had clearly expected to die rather than be interrogated. I searched the pockets of her clothing and found a small packet and I opened it.

Wolfsbane.

My expression changed immediately and Dane noticed. "What is it?"

I held it up. "Wolfsbane."

He stared at the packet. "She was carrying that too?"

"Yes." I looked back at the body.

For days, I had been telling myself that perhaps I had been too suspicious of her. I had released her because the evidence wasn’t enough to justify keeping her locked away indefinitely. I had allowed her to return to the estate under surveillance, believing that if she was innocent, I wouldn’t punish her for something she hadn’t done.

Instead, she had used that freedom to come after Keisha.

My jaw tightened. "I should have kept her locked up."

Dane didn’t try to contradict me. "She fooled everyone, not your fault."

"She fooled me."

"Callum—"

"I should have known." I sighed.

Dane stepped closer. "You can’t blame yourself for someone being good at lying. We questioned her, you watched her, and she still managed to hide what she was doing. The important thing is that she didn’t get to Keisha."

Before we could continue, I heard footsteps approaching. I turned and saw several elders coming toward us.

Osric was among them.

One of the elders approached with a concerned expression that I immediately knew was false. "We heard about the incident and came to make sure the pack was safe. These attacks are becoming increasingly troubling, and as members of the council, we believe we should understand what happened."

I didn’t even stop walking. "If you want to understand what happened, wait for my report."

The elder followed. "Callum, surely you don’t intend to investigate something like this without consulting the council."

I finally turned around. "I intend to investigate the attempted murder of a member of my household without turning it into another council debate. When I have information worth sharing, you’ll receive it."

Osric’s eyes narrowed. "This concerns the safety of the entire pack."

"Everything concerns the safety of the pack when you’re looking for a reason to involve yourselves." I hissed at him.

The elder looked offended. "We are only concerned about peace."

I raised a hand. "Then help me maintain it by staying out of my investigation until I know exactly what I’m dealing with." I turned away before he could answer.

Dane caught up with me. "What now?"

"We start with the chandelier." I informed him.

He looked at me. "Keisha’s request?"

"Yes. She wanted the incident investigated, and after what happened today, I’m not willing to dismiss anything as an accident. If someone deliberately caused that chandelier to fall, then they may be connected to the people targeting her."

Dane nodded. "Where do we start?"

"The guards who helped prepare the hall. I want the one who worked on the chandelier with his sister brought to me."

"His sister?" Dane slowed down.

I nodded. "Yes. He claimed they both worked on the setup. I want to know exactly what they touched, when they were there and whether anyone else had access to the equipment."

Dane nodded, and made a few calls.

By the time we returned to the mansion, the guard had already been located and brought to a private room.

He stood stiffly in front of me, visibly nervous as I closed the door behind me and took the chair opposite him. "You helped prepare the chandelier at Nadia’s party." I started.

"Yes, Alpha." He bowed his head.

I studied his face. "I want you to tell me everything you did that day. Start from the moment you were assigned the work and don’t leave anything out."

The guard swallowed. "I understand."

I leaned back. "Good. Let’s begin."