I pretend to him as if I don't know who Martha is and he begins to describe her.
"You should know Martha. She was one of my maids. She worked at my pack house alongside the girl. She is the human maid I got for Knox when he was in the hospital, remember?"
"Oh yeah, yeah. I remembe r her now." I say
"Good, so to your question. You asked if the girl was the one that convinced Martha to adopt her?..."
"Yeah..." I reply
"Well, I know for a fact that Martha adopted her, it was later I heard that the girl herself did everything in her power to manipulate poor Martha into doing that."
"Oh, really? And you believed what you heard? You don't think their words might contain a bit of exaggeration?..."
"Yes, I believe them. Do you know why?... Because I'm their Alpha. They worked for me. I know for a fact that they wouldn't dare lie to me." He replies firmly
His words surprised me. Like, what is he saying? How could he say what he just said when he knew about how Uncle Knox's elders betrayed his trust and sabotaged his good works? I wonder
"Oh, okay but the Martha that I met that day, even though she's old, she doesn't look and speak like who can be easily manipulated, you know"
He chuckles
"We shifters and humans, even though we coexist, we are still wary of each other, you know. Tell me, why would a human adopt an adult shifter if she wasn't manipulated?" He asks and pauses, obviously waiting for my reply but I don't have any to give. I realize I would probably have believed the same about Ash if I hadn't met and gotten to know her personally.
Alpha Nate chuckles then. I guess he believed he had successfully made me see reason. He continued talking when I didn't reply to his question...
"Truly, I don't know about her personally since I don't concern myself with the help. My Beta is the one in charge of them and he confirms to me that the other Omegas that closely worked with her and Martha told him about her and according to them, she was evil and manipulative as hell..."
"Hold on! You questioned the other Omegas that worked with her and they all told you she was manipulative and evil?" I couldn't keep the disbelief out of my voice as I asked.
What other Omega is there? I wonder, remembering when Martha herself told Thor and me that it was just she and Ash that worked at the pack house. So who are those other Omegas that the Beta told Alpha Nate worked together with Ash? I wonder
"Yes, I personally questioned them and they all said the same thing about her!... Okay, let's say I chose not to believe and ignore all they told me about her, what about Ethan?" He says
"Ethan? Who is that?" I ask. The name rings a bell but I can't remember where I heard it from
"He's my Beta's son..." He's saying when I remember Ethan is the name of the friend Ash told me she kissed.
"A good and obedient boy. It was in the presence of Raina and myself that he stood up to his father because of this same girl and it wasn't even up to twenty-four hours that he met her."
"Oh..." I say
"Yes. She was a bad influence on him..." He continues
"She was ungrateful. She lived with Celine all her life but the family only had bad things to say about her. They were disappointed that she left but glad to see her leave at the same time. Celine told me that before she moved out, she boasted about being the one to inherit Martha's assets since no one knew any of Martha's family.
You were there the day she fought with Miranda and Emily, my Beta's daughter. Can you imagine such strength in her human form? And even though we have no evidence yet, I learned she was the last person seen with my Gamma chief who was brutally attacked and who has been unconscious now for the past three weeks."
"Wow..." I can only say with surprise.
"Yeah..." He replies. He thought I agreed with his talks about Ash being ungrateful, evil, and a manipulator but he was wrong. I wonder how he was only full of hate for her and never thought to think about how she got the kind of power to almost kill two girls her age.
I'm not surprised by his words since I already know the kind of person Ash is. I'm surprised by the conspiracy that was woven by these unknown individuals. The faceless individuals that got my parents and Thor's mother killed. The evil genius that won't stop at nothing to achieve their goals.
The evil people who are doing all they can to turn the father against his daughter without him knowing it. The people who are determined to make sure Ash and Thor never come together so they won't be able to restore their family's lost glory and take back their place as one of the families that births original werewolves.
I am indeed flabbergasted. Now I understand why Uncle Knox panicked when he heard Thor was among the chosen ones.
With everything I heard Alpha Nate say, and even though it seems Celine was innocent as Alpha Nate believed her to be, there's no doubt in my mind that she's the key to unraveling the face of these unknown individuals. Celine and Alpha Nate's Beta are the first people we'll question after the trial.
"What about Martha? Is she at work now?" I ask. I want to know if he knew anything about Martha's body that mysteriously disappeared from her house.
"No, she's not. She tendered her resignation letter about a month ago and told me she would stop working the day the girl turned eighteen. I don't know the exact day the girl turned eighteen and when they both stopped working. I just realized she stopped coming to work.
I was highly disappointed in her though. She started working with me longer than Celine. How could she just stop working without saying goodbye or send some kind of reminder? I had plans for her. She served me for a long time, I couldn't just allow her to leave like that, You understand..." He sighs
'Martha couldn't send you a reminder because she's dead, dammit! Your bitch of a daughter killed her!' I wish I could shout that out for him. I wish I could tell him that the person he's been addressing as just 'the girl' is his missing daughter but I can't. Not until after I told Thor everything about his mate.
"I didn't even allow you to say why you called before saddling you with my problems..." I didn't realize I was lost in my thoughts until I heard his voice and I laugh
"I don't mind! As a matter of fact, I'm glad you trust me enough to be able to share such a sensitive secret with me."
"Yeah. Thanks for lending a listening ear. I wish I could call Thor to apologize to him but Knox already told me he had no idea Miranda was my daughter."
"No! He had no idea. It was part of the reason I'm calling. We want to come and see you concerning the trial. Uncle Knox said you'll be defending Thor. I just want to make sure that when we come around we won't see any of Miranda's pictures lying around, you understand"
"Yes, I do. Actually, you boys don't need to come to see me. Thor's case is an open and shut case. An open-and-shut case is a legal case that is easily decided or solved. Let's just meet in court tomorrow. I'm sure we'll be out of there in less than twenty minutes"
"That would be great then. Thank you, Alpha. I promise that after the trial, Thor and I will contribute all that is in our power to make sure you find your real daughter."
"I would really appreciate that, Eric. I would really appreciate that."