Selling Myself To The Alpha
Chapter 139

Liana POV

"Why are you taking her to Clear Moon?" Missy asks once we are alone.

"Wouldn't it be better for her to stay in her pack?"

"She can return once Luther and Adele are back," I reply as I pace the room. I am furious and need to calm down because Nicky might interpret that my anger is directed at her. "She shouldn't be alone. Look at this place, she's not capable of functioning normally. She needs psychiatric help."

"She can get that here," Missy argues. "In her pack where she has friends. She going to need them now more than ever."

"Why are you so persistent that she stays here?" I frown.

"I want what's best for her," she replies. "This is her pack and everything familiar is here. She's going to need a little stability and familiarity to feel safe. We only scratched the surface here. F*vck knows what else she's going to tell us."

"Missy, I'm willing to bet this is the first time Nicky told anybody the truth," I say firmly. "And I'm sure she wouldn't have told us if Sam was still alive. She was prepared to take this secret to the grave. Her friends can't give her the support she needs, not before she's willing to tell them what happened. Sam's control over her and her mother was a form of structure and discipline that she got used to. Now he's gone, and she's lost. She's free and has no idea how to cope with the freedom. She tucked her feelings away deeply and when they surface, she won't know how to handle them."

"Don't you replace it odd that she admitted it to us?" Missy frowns. "After twenty-plus years, I'm a stranger to her."

"You're also a happy memory," I sigh. "You said it yourself; you were practically sisters back then. She trusted and loved you. You never hurt or betrayed her. She needs you, Missy, not her friends."

"I'll be there for her," Missy says adamantly. "No child deserves this."

"Yeah," I exhale deeply. "You dodged a bullet here."

"What do you mean?" Missy frowns.

"Are you telling me you don't know?" Curiously, I look at her.

Did nobody tell her that Edith was her guardian after her mother died? I know she has no idea about the money, but surely social services must have told her. "Know what?" She frowns.

"Edith Chester was appointed your legal guardian," I admit softly. "But she said she couldn't afford to take you in."

"Impossible, my mother had no testament," Missy scoffs.

"Dear goddess," I close my eyes and roll my neck to release the tension. Were there no honest people in that generation? Everywhere I turn, somebody hides the truth. "Your mother had one, Missy. Edith confirmed it."

"Damn," Missy sits down and looks at me with big eyes.

Remind me to replace and thank her. Foster care was tough, but it wasn't this hell."

"Yeah, and now I feel bad for judging Edith," I sigh. "I thought she was greedy and selfish for not taking you. Now we know she protected you."

"I bet she didn't even tell Sam about me," Missy shakes her head. "If he knew... s**t, I don't even want to think about it."

"Ready," Nicky announces from the door with two suitcases, and I turn to face her.

She looks scared, I realize. It must be terrifying leaving the only place you knew as home after you confessed your darkest secret.

"ll help you," Missy jumps up and takes a suitcase. "You and I together like the old days."

"Nicky," I smile softly. "Where's your mother? I would very much like for her to join us."

"Really?" She looks at me with sparkling eyes. "That would be so nice."

"Yes, it would," I smile and take her hand. "Let's go."

Axel POV

"Ouch, that bad," I frown when Liana walks into the office She is gravely pale, and her blue eyes are the colour of the restless seas. "Worse," she grunts and sits down on the couch. "So much worse."

"How can I help?" I get up from behind my desk, sit down next to her and pull her into my embrace.

"I need a barrel of wine," she sighs.

"In about a year," I kiss her on her forehead. "When you're done breastfeeding."

"I thought I had it rough as a child," she snorts. "But it's a walk in the park compared to Nicky's. I'm as angry as I'm sad for her."

I do not say a word as she continues ranting. She needs to get it out of her system.

"Sam Mayfield is a child molester and wife beater," she blurts out the words and my blood freezes. I cannot move and I am hardly breathing while she tells me what happened.

"We found Edith drunk out of her mind in a cheap, dirty motel," Liana closes her eyes as if she wants to forget what she has seen and heard. "Nicky was already emotionally unstable and went hysterical when she saw Edith in that state. The weight of the secret she carried for all these years, and the thought that the only person who tried to protect her might be dead, broke her. I brought them here. I assigned two Omegas to help Edith get sober and clean up.

Missy is with Nicky in one of the guestrooms."

"T'll call Michelle," I clear my throat, and place my hand protective over her baby bump. I do not want to imagine what I will do if somebody lays a finger on my children.

"I already did," Liana sighs. "This is a matter for professionals. I'm afraid Nicky might go over the rails now that the wall has started to crack."

"And Edith?" I ask softly.

"We'll only know once she's sober," she replies. "But if it were me, I wouldn't be fine. And Edith is the only one that can answer our questions. Even if Nicky knew, we can't ask her. She's been through enough; we can't put more pressure on her."

"Do you think she'll help us?" I frown. Sam was her mate and she stayed with him even at the cost of her child. She could very well still be loyal towards him.

"I honestly don't know," Liana exhales deeply. "I misjudged her from the start. I thought she was a strong, confident woman. Cold even. She wasn't insecure and withdrawn like most battered women."

"You found her passed out in a motel," I reason. "She's not as tough as she looks. I'll ask Edith to join our pack. Or if she wants, I'll ask Adele to take her back. She shouldn't be exiled any longer."

"I agree," she smiles weakly. "But I don't think they should go back to Moonstone. The moment The Enforcers learn we know the truth; they will target Edith. She might know too much."

"I want to protect them," I say cautiously. "But keeping them here could endanger our pack. More precisely you and our children."

"You're right," Liana looks at me thoughtfully. "We should kill them."

"Love, we will kill The Enforcers, but first, we need to replace them," I say patiently.

"Not The Enforcers," she scoffs. "Edith and Nicky. We should fake their deaths so that they wouldn't search for them." "Not a bad idea," I nod as I overthink her words. "We're going to need bodies, though."

"Not if there's a fire"" Liana smiles wickedly. "And Adele will control the scene and investigation. None will be the wiser." "It's a good plan, but you should consider how it will impact them," I reason. "Nicky already had a mental breakdown.

She might not be strong enough to play dead and stay in hiding."

"Love, Nicky wouldn't even know," Liana says sadly. "She will be safely admitted under an alias while we hunt The Enforcers."

"I only have one concern," I frown. "We don't know who we can trust from Moonstone, except for Gwen and Neal. One of the investigators might be an Enforcer in hiding. And not following protocol will also raise red flags. We cannot contain the scene entirely." "Then we should do it in plain sight," Liana lifts her chin adamantly. "People must witness the event. It will raise less questions."

"How do you propose we do that?" I raise my eyebrows."

People have seen and talked to them since Sam died. Nicky seemed normal at the wedding, if they see her now, they might wonder. Not to mention that everyone knows Luther gave Sam and Edith the boot."

"Sam's funeral," Liana smiles. "He might've been exiled, but he still needs to be buried. People always crumble and fall apart at a funeral. Nicky will be no different."

"If we do this, we must be careful," I warn. "Innocent bystanders could get hurt."

"Let me talk to Edith when she is sober," Liana nods. "With more information, we will devise the perfect plan."

"Adele and Luther will have to cut their honeymoon short," I sigh and stand up to phone them.