Alpha’s Hybrid Cinderella
Chapter 48

The funeral was two days later. Between the high tensions running rampant and the increasing security going up all over Medea City, the sooner we had Osborn's funeral, the better.

Peelle had expected Evan to be freshly reminded of his rage and go wild again, but I chose my opportunity with care. Still pleasantly sleepy from the effects of the banshee weed tea but refreshed from a good night's rest, the next morning was the best time for me to deliver the news to Evan that we were going ahead with the final arrangements. Osborn deserved better than to be sitting on a medical examiner's table to be checked again and again at Evan's behest. There was no more to replace in him, no more clues, no more trails to track down and follow. He had done all the work he could in life as well as in death, and now it was time to put him to rest.

His mate was a beautiful young woman. Dark blond hair put up in a coif, brown eyes with heavy eyelids that made her look adorably sleepy, a lovely heart-shaped face that could charm anyone. She looked like she could make friends with anyone at the drop of a hat.

But when she delivered the eulogy from the podium, the lone widow framed in scant light thanks to the overcast sky, there was no one to share smiles and sparkling laughs. There were no introductions, no friend-making, nothing. Only speeches, somber faces, and the sobbing of Osborn's mother as the men lowered the coffin into the ground.

His widow looked like she didn't know where she was anymore by the end of the funeral. Someone had to take her elbow and gently guide her away to her car, where she sat half-in and half-out of the vehicle, thoroughly confused.

"She's taking it badly, as I expected," Peelle said under his breath when Evan stepped away to take a call. "She woke up in the middle of the night, felt him in pain. But something muffled it. She didn't know what was going on, but she called one of the Deltas here anyway and asked them to check on the situation. She's the reason we even put on the search so soon in the first place... but it was already too late."

"She felt it?" I asked, horrified. "When he was killed?"

"That's what happens when you mark each other like that. They weren't fated, so the connection wasn't strong enough that she could replace him or mind-link with him, but yeah. That's what a mate bond does. Your connection makes you more than you are."

He sent me an uncomfortable sideways glance, though he looked away when I tried to meet his gaze. I knew why. He was reminded of Evan... and of Evan's quest to replace his fated mate. Had Evan explained to him exactly about our situation? Our new relationship? Everything was such a horrific storm now that to bring it up felt ridiculous and petty. A man was dead. A man had been tortured, killed. Osborn... was gone.

I wasn't selfish enough to whine to Evan that I wanted him to go officially public with our relationship. Not only that, but after Peelle's warning last night and Evan's frantically protective behavior, that would undoubtedly only put me in even more danger than before.

Evan returned, face even darker than when he had stepped away. Peelle's face fell.

"Dead end?" he asked. "That lead didn't pan out, did it?"

Evan shook his head.

"We'll keep looking, and we'll get answers. Dead end just means we're eliminating a possibility. Soon, we'll get our man."

Evan offered no response, and Peelle and I exchanged furtive glances. But it would be all right. Evan was frustrated, and the phone call had indeed stoked his anger when the person on the other end gave him the bad news, but he wasn't about to go wild here in front of an audience.

We just had to wait this out. Osborn's family was still here. When we returned to the Dark Moon pack house, we would figure out our next step...

Osborn's mother collapsed on the grass, sobbing wildly. That was the cue for everyone else to leave. They filed out, some brave enough to try to console the woman with quiet words while patting her husband on the back, solemn and sympathetic. Osborn's widow had already disappeared, driven off before her confusion could morph into a breakdown.

In the end, only the three of us remained near the grave. The Deltas accompanying us stayed at a respectful distance, most by the procession of black cars waiting by the curb.

I had brought an extra bouquet besides the one I placed on top of the closed coffin. Osborn's mother hadn't lasted long enough to receive everyone's condolence gifts, however, which meant I was left with them in my hand, still fresh, still faintly aromatic... I placed them under the grave marker. Osborn was here. He had given his life for the Scarlet pack, away from home. Someone had taken him away from his mate, his mother and father, all of his comrades and friends. Someone evil.

There were too many tears and too much pain to ever forgive this. I had gone my whole life overlooking things, enduring things, turning the other cheek, but when it was about someone else, I couldn't bring myself to do that.

But what could I do? Small, quiet Claudia, abused slave hybrid from a conquered back, good for little but plants? Could I fight? Could I chase down the enemy? Could I stop this from happening again to anyone else?

Evan wrapped his hand around my arm and pulled me away.

***

"Dark Moon is connected to this," Evan said flatly. "I don't care if it looks like a setup. Even if it is, it's not a coincidence that Osborn was pumped full of every poison concoction readily available here. Illegal ones, Peelle. That means whoever provided the drugs in the first place caused this to happen, even if they didn't know what it was going to be."

"I know, I know. I'm not saying Dark Moon's associates are blameless. I'm just saying, don't forget to look outward too. The blame isn't ninety percent Dark Moon and ten percent someone else. At best it's fifty-fifty. Don't get so sucked into punishing the wrong group twice over so you forget about the other half."

"Forget?" Evan glowered. "Who do you think you're talking to? You think I'll forget something like this?"

"I'm just saying-"

"This is just like what happened when I was young. The same method. The same signature. There was that f*****g scent of... banshee weed. This is connected to what happened back then!"

Evan paced the room wildly. Claudia was upstairs; he hadn't wanted her to hear what was going on. Even if she could use her strange mind-reading powers on him later, to have her present while he raged and cursed made him feel dirty, almost evil. Even though he was only getting back at his enemies for what they had done to him - wasn't he in the right?

"Tighten regulations even more," Evan barked. "Set up checkpoints, and block every exit out of the city until they give their identification, points of contact, and their relatives' names and addresses." "Relatives?" Peelle's face tightened. "So you can know where to replace them...?"

He knew that wasn't the reason. Even glared harder. "So I know who to use against them if they try to turn on me. I want children's names. Pictures, too. If anyone crosses me, their kids will pay the price."

"Evan!"

He turned away. He would not be persuaded differently. This was also why he hadn't wanted Claudia here. Not only because of the shame, because Claudia had softened him. Peelle liked that because he had always believed Evan was too heavy-handed, and had simply been too loyal until now to object to his cruel measures. But not anymore. Peelle was getting ahead of himself now too, thinking he could scold his Alpha now just because Claudia had influenced him. "You heard me," Evan said coldly, and he threw his Alpha dominance into his voice. "Do as I say."

He shouldn't have done that. Peelle was his friend, not just some subordinate to be forced into doing as he wanted. But it was too late. Peelle squared his shoulders and whirled away, leaving Evan in the living room alone.

The house was so quiet that the sound of the front door shutting traveled all the way to his ears. Evan stared at the doorway, thoughts roiling, emotions raging. Tonight, the city would learn what it meant to cross Alpha Evan of the Scarlet pack, innocent or guilty. He would make everyone pay until they coughed up the one responsible.

That was the way he'd always done things. That was the way his cruel childhood had taught him. And it had always worked.

Just like it would now. He stomped his way back upstairs.