One Night
One Night 249

Chapter 249

Audrey

“Take her into custody,” Edwin said as he cradled the little boy’s limp body against his chest. “Don’t let the children see.”

“Yes, Alpha.” Charles exited the room, and a moment later, I could hear Sophia’s shouts as the warriors cuffed her and took her away. Edwin and I were alone again, both still reeling from everything that had just happened.

“I don’t understand how it’s possible,” I whispered as I stared at the little boy’s pained face. “I questioned her before. She seemed perfectly innocent.”

Edwin’s jaw was set in a hard line. “There’s still a lot we don’t know. Maybe she shielded her mind somehow.”

I shuddered at the thought. All along I knew that my mind reading powers weren’t entirely indomitable, that it was possible to shield oneself from having their memories probed, but the idea that someone could hide such atrocities was a chilling realization.

“Well, she’s in custody now,” Edwin continued. “We’ll call one of your mother’s representatives to take over here and we’ll look for more evidence in the meantime.”

As Edwin spoke, I swallowed hard and looked down at the little boy. He was still unconscious and weak, even after I’d laid my hands on him and healed him. It had taken a lot of effort to heal him, so much in fact that I’d drained nearly all of my Silver Star energy for the day and wouldn’t be able to interrogate Sophia until it was replenished.

Soot. That was what I felt in his lungs when I’d healed him.

“They must be sending the kids to a factory somewhere in Coldclaw,” I mused, my voice trembling slightly. “That’s what I saw in his mind, at least.”

I suppressed another shiver at the memory of how his mind had instinctively reached for me the moment I poked my head into the room. It was as if he was so desperate to be heard, to be understood, that his subconscious had been frantically searching for help.

I knew how that felt. The desperation, the hope that someone would just notice my pain.

My mate sighed and moved to lay the little boy back down on the bed. “Maybe he’ll share his story with us once he wakes—”

“Wait.” I placed my hand on Edwin’s arm before he could set the boy down and gave him a pleading look. Edwin’s shoulders slumped a little, his eyebrows shooting up as he gathered what I was implying. “Audrey…” “Please,” I said, tears beginning to blur my vision. “I can’t leave him here.”

A little while later, we sat around the living room back at the apartment, both of us too tired and stunned to speak.

The little boy, whose name we’d learned was Joseph, still laid mostly unconscious beneath a pile of blankets on the couch. He’d woken up briefly to sip some water, but hadn’t really been cognizant.

I had insisted on bringing him back to the apartment, even though I knew it was unnecessary. The replacement for Sophia would have cared for him, and he would have been safe there.

But… I just couldn’t leave him there.

I couldn’t bear the thought of him opening his eyes and still being in the place that had sold him off like a prize cow. I couldn’t stand wondering if he would feel fear right away, if he would wonder when he might get sent to that factory again.

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Chapter 249

If his mind had reached for me even in his unconscious state, then maybe he would trust me more when he woke up. Not a

stranger.

So Edwin had relented and brought him back to the apartment with us. Just until he was well enough to understand what was going on.

“He’s a human, so the recovery process will be a lot slower than a werewolf. But he’s stable,” I said, pulling my hand away from the boy’s clammy forehead. “Just exhausted.”

Edwin nodded and we both moved to the kitchen to make some tea. While the kettle boiled, Edwin wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close. His scent comforted me.

“Earlier today, when you said we were thinking of adopting-” he began, but I cut him off.

“I’m not planning on adopting Joseph. I just couldn’t leave him there today.”

Edwin stared down at me as if he didn’t fully believe me but said nothing more about it. But I meant what I said–I wasn’t ready to be a mother. Maybe someday, but not for a good, long while.

The sound of a knock on the door pulled us both out of our heads, and we pulled apart. I took the kettle off the heat and prepared the tea while Edwin went to see who it was. A few moments later, I heard muffled voices and a feminine gasp.

Then, like a whirlwind, Eliza rushed into the kitchen.

“Audrey, who is that little angel out there?” she breathed, setting a plate of store bought cookies down on the kitchen counter.

I turned to her and silently offered her some tea, but she shook her head. Edwin was standing behind her, hands in his pockets and a slightly exasperated look on his face.

Over the next few minutes, we explained everything to her. Eliza’s eyes widened more and more as we spoke until I thought they might pop right out of her head.

“He’s an orphan?” she whispered, to which I nodded. “Oh, the poor little thing…”

Clutching her necklace, she turned to look at the little boy, who was still fast asleep. Wordlessly, she crossed the living room and crouched beside him, brushing little brown curls out of his sunken eyes. His skin was pallid, his cheeks hollow.

“He’s far too skinny,” Eliza growled, gesturing for me to grab the cookies. “I’ll have to make sure he eats enough. And he could use a nice bath…”

Edwin and I exchanged bemused glances. “Don’t tell me you’re planning on taking him, Eliza,” Edwin quipped with a chuckle.

His sister just glared at him over her shoulder. “And would it be a problem if I did?”

My mate blinked in surprise. “No, not at all. But I mean… since when have you been interested in kids?”

Eliza huffed, rolling her eyes at Edwin. I was a bit shocked, too; as long as I’d known Eliza, she’d always seemed miles away from the ‘mothering‘ type. But here she was, doting on a little boy she’d only just met. And in those moments, she reminded me so much of Meredith.

So much, in fact, that I had to look away and blink quickly to keep myself from crying.

“I have an empty room at my house,” Eliza explained, rising, her eyes still fixed on the boy. “And I have plenty of money. He’d have a nice childhood with me. He’d be loved.”

Edwin shrugged. “If you want to adopt him, we can have the paperwork drawn up,” he said, then added with a wry smirk, “no background check necessary.”

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“Gee, shocking.” Eliza laughed. “I didn’t know you had so much faith in me, brother. But I guess we’re both surprising each other today.”

I shook my head good–naturedly and returned to the kitchen while Edwin and Eliza bantered over child–rearing. If she wanted to adopt the boy, then I wouldn’t stand in the way–at least he’d be going to a nice home, where he’d be safe and cared for.

I just hoped that the other kids received the same thing someday

As I took a sip of tea, burning the tip of my tongue in the process, Edwin appeared in the kitchen doorway. “Eliza’s going to stay here with him tonight,” he said, glancing at his watch. “Assuming you’re still planning on going to the gala…”

“Right. I forgot about that.” I rubbed the back of my neck, suddenly feeling the day’s events catching up to me, and it was only the middle of the afternoon.

Tonight was the night of our first charity event to renovate the orphanages around Crescent–the one we’d just been finishing up planning for when Charles had showed up and delivered the bad news.

Even though I was exhausted, I knew I had to go and rally my pack to our cause. Especially now.

I had to do it. For Joseph, and for all the other kids.

And once we got to the bottom of whatever Coldclaw was doing with these human children… Then I’d make sure they all made it to loving homes, even if it was the last thing I did.

It was what Meredith would have wanted.

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