Chapter 86

Chapter 86
I didn’t know what I’d done to deserve a family like this, but I thanked the Goddess
that I had them. Without them… I didn’t know how I could have made it through
this.
Third person POV
“They’re so little,” Lance said for at least the third time in the last two hours.
“Yes, they are,” Cassian agreed again.
“I can’t stop thinking about how different things could be if my brother wasn’t such an ass,” Lance sighed, sitting on the couch beside Cassian. He looked toward the two beautiful baby boys. “He’d be over the moon.”
“I know you’re feeling guilty about keeping this from him.”
“I don’t feel guilty,” Lance insisted. “I just wish it didn’t have to be like this. It sucks for everyone involved.”
“I know,” Cassian agreed, glancing at the bassinets. “They should be in the pack house, where they belong. But it’s not safe for Ellie there-or for them. We still don’t know who attacked her, or why. That rogue has been in custody this whole time, and with the interrogation techniques Nolan’s been using, he still hasn’t said a word. Whoever put him up to this must be pretty damn frightening.”
“And you’re sure someone put him up to it?” Lance asked skeptically. “You think his story’s completely made up?”
“I do,”
“Cassian said firmly. “There’s no particular proof I can point to-it’s just a feeling. Something about the situation isn’t right. Do you remember that first formal dinner we had when my father and I arrived at Silverfang?”
“Vaguely,” Lance responded. “I think I was there, but I didn’t stay long.”
“There was an incident later in the evening where Ellie kept insisting that someone had tampered with her food. Nolan had it tested, and there was nothing wrong with it, but she was absolutely certain.”
“Tampered with her food?”
“She kept insisting it had been poisoned. No proof was ever found, and the whole thing got brushed off-but Ellie was very serious and very upset.”
“You think someone tried to kill her way back then?” Lance asked, sitting forward and looking at Cassian seriously.
“I think it’s possible,” Cassian replied. “And if it’s true, then it’s proof this stabbing incident wasn’t the act of some desperate madman who was jealous. It was planned. It was targeted. For a reason. And I think more than one person is to blame.”
“You think it’s some kind of conspiracy against Ellie? Why?”
“That’s the part I can’t figure out,” Cassian admitted with a sigh. “I can’t see who would have the motivation to want her dead. Sure, there are people who dislike her- and goddess knows Nolan has plenty of enemies—but other than causing drama for him, I don’t see the benefit of hurting Ellie. Maybe there’s something we’re missing. Someone from her past. Or some hidden motivation. But
“We’re doing the right thing keeping her hidden, I know that much,” Lance assured him. “And we’ll keep hiding them. We’ll keep them safe as long as we have to. No one is going to hurt those babies as long as I’m alive.”
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Chapter 86
+25 Bonus
“I feel the same way,” Cassian agreed quietly.
The two of them sat in silence, the sound of the babies breathing deeply the only sound in the room. Ellie was still sleeping in the next room. For all of her attempts to downplay it, they both knew she was in pain and beyond exhausted.
Ellie said it herself, they were family. It was up to them to make sure that she and the babies were safe and happy. They were the only ones who could do that now. They were the only family that Ellie had.
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