After One Night with the Alpha (Brad and Elle) novel Chapter 58

Chapter 58

Brad’s POV

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The upscale bar in downtown Moonshade Bay was dimly lit, its amber lighting casting long shadows across the polished mahogany surfaces. I stood at the bar counter, my fingers drumming impatiently against the wood as I waited for this mysterious informant who claimed to have information about Elle and Raymond

Carter.

The anonymous messages had been eating at me all day. First, that fucking photo of Elle in Raymond Carter’s car. Then the second message, demanding I meet here if I wanted to know what they’d discussed. Every Alpha instinct I possessed was screaming that something was wrong.

A figure slowly turned on the barstool beside me, and I found myself staring into the familiar face of

Marissa Hopkins.

“Well, hello there, Alpha Brad,” she purred, leaning forward. “Fancy meeting you again after all this time.”

–

My eyes darkened immediately, a cold fury rising in my chest. I turned to leave I had no patience for

games, especially not from her.

“What, leaving so soon?” she called after me. “Don’t you want to know what your precious little human pet and Raymond Carter were whispering about today? Or aren’t you curious what your so-called mate does

when you’re not watching?”

She had no right to speak of Elle that way, no right to even acknowledge what Elle meant to me. But the

information she dangled was too important to ignore.

I paused, every muscle in my body tense with restraint as I slowly turned back. My eyes met hers. “Get to

the point, Marissa.”

Her smile widened as she gestured to the empty stool beside her. “Let’s have a drink first, for old times’ sake,’ she smiled, sliding a glass toward me. “My treat. This wolf special still your favorite? One drink, and I’ll tell you everything about their cozy little chat.”

She traced a finger around the rim of her glass.

I hated this.

But Elle – and my unborn child – took precedence over my personal feelings. I picked up the glass and

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clinked it against hers, the sound sharp in the quiet bar

The alcohol burned down my throat, but I barely noticed.

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“Oh, Brad,” Marissa’s voice dripped with false sweetness “you can’t seriously care about that human girl, can you? Once she pops out a Rayne heir, what value does she have? And she’ll just be… unnecessary

baggage.”

She leaned closer, her voice dropping to an intimate whisper. “When the baby comes, just send her back to whatever edge community she crawled out of. We can start fresh, Brad. God, I’ve missed you… We’re the same species, remember? I understand what you need, what you crave… in ways no human ever could.”

She reached out to touch my face, and I caught her wrist in a grip that could have shattered bone. Golden light flashed in my eyes as my Alpha nature surged to the surface.

“Marissa,” I growled, my voice dropping to a dangerous tumble that carried the unmistakable weight of an Alpha command. The air between us seemed to thicken with tension. “You’re treading on very thin ice.”

She flinched, her confident facade cracking as she realized how close she was to triggering my full wrath. Her expression shifted from confidence to something closer to fear.

“Fine,” she hissed through clenched teeth. “You want the truth so badly? I’ll give it to you. But remember this – I’m only telling you because I care. That pathetic woman doesn’t deserve someone like you. She

never will.”

I returned to the mansion after my meeting with Marissa, her revelations about Carter weighing heavily on my mind. The alcohol had done nothing to dull my senses or calm the turmoil inside me.

The house was silent as I made my way through the darkened hallways. Without conscious decision, l found myself outside Elle’s door. I paused, my enhanced hearing picking up her breathing patterns. She was

sleeping.

For a moment, I just stood there, listening to the gentle cadence of her breaths, Something about the sound calmed the storm raging inside me, though I was reluctant to admit it.

In my study, I closed the door behind me, the soft click echoing in the silence, I needed answers.

I reached for my phone and dialed Alex.

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“I need everything you can find on Raymond Carter and the Carter family. Specifically, any connection to a woman named Dakota Blair. And I need it now.”

After ending the call, I sat heavily in my chair, running hand through my hair.

“She’s just carrying my heir,” I muttered to myself, but the words rang hollow even to my own ears.

I poured myself a glass of water, trying to clear my head.

I growled in frustration. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. Elle was meant to be a simple solution to a complex problem: my grandmother’s insistence on an heir, the continuation of the Rayne bloodline. She wasn’t supposed to make me feel… anything.

Ten minutes later, the phone rang.

“Alpha, the files you requested are in your encrypted inbox,” Alex’s voice came through the secure line.

“Good,” I replied curtly.

I immediately powered up my computer, my fingers flying across the keyboard.

What I saw made me freeze. My hand hovered over the screen, fingers barely touching the photograph displayed there.

“What the actual fuck?” I murmured, staring at the image of a young woman who looked exactly like Elle. The same face, the same features-but this wasn’t Elle.

The resemblance was uncanny, impossible even. This kind of similarity couldn’t be coincidental.

According to the report, Dakota Blair had been the heiress of the Blair family, one of the few prominent human families in America. She would have been 23 now. She had been sickly, engaged to Raymond Carter four years ago. She died at 21, cause of death mysterious. After losing their daughter, the Blair family had withdrawn from public life. In the two years after Dakota’s death, Raymond’s life had been “suspiciously clean”-no relationships, no scandals, nothing.

The report continued with more details about Dakota-uent in eight languages, extensively educated in cultures and arts around the world, one of the few humans respected in werewolf society. Everything about her screamed privilege and refinement, whereas Elle was…ordinary. A commoner from the outskirts.

“Does she even know what game Raymond is playing?” muttered, feeling an unexpected surge of worry.”

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Chapter 58

It couldn’t be coincidence that Raymond had suddenly appeared in Moonshade Bay. He must have some plan involving Elle.

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11:03 Tue, Dec 30 GDA.

After One Night with the Alpha