Alpha's Abandoned Daughter is the Secret Heiress novel Chapter 3

Chapter 3: An Intruder

(Amelia's POV)

I watched Theodore's sleek black car disappear down the dirt road, the dust settling in its wake like a curtain falling on one act of my life and rising on another. The afternoon sun glinted off the chrome bumper one last time before the vehicle rounded the bend and vanished completely from view.

For a long moment, I simply stood there, my arms wrapped around myself, feeling the phantom warmth of the mate bond thrumming beneath my skin. It was still new, still unfamiliar-so different from what I'd felt with Damien. That bond had been like a whisper, easily ignored. This one was a song, constant and compelling, growing stronger with each passing hour.

Ava was pleased, practically purring in my mind. 'He's strong,' she murmured. 'Even wounded, he's stronger than that weakling ever was. He'll be a good Alpha King.'

I couldn't disagree. But I also couldn't let myself get lost in those feelings. Not yet. Not when there was so much I didn't know, so many questions that needed answers. Theodore had given me information, yes, but it was just the surface. I needed to dig deeper.

Without wasting another second, I pulled out my phone and dialed a number I hadn't called in months.

"Silas," I said when the line connected, my voice crisp and businesslike. "I need everything you can find on Stone River Pack in Northgate City."

There was a pause on the other end, and I could almost hear the gears turning in Silas's mind. He knew better than to ask questions when I called, but I could hear the curiosity in his voice.

"What specifically?" His voice was cautious, professional as always.

"Everything," I said flatly. "Every member, every secret, every dirty little scandal they've tried to hide." My voice hardened, and I felt Ava's approval surge through me. "Focus especially on someone named Celine Stone."

The name tasted bitter on my tongue. My replacement. The girl who had lived the life that should have been mine, who had been cherished and protected while I'd been left to freeze in the winter woods. The girl who now thought herself too good to marry a wounded Alpha heir.

"That's a powerful pack," came the cautious reply. "This will take time."

"I need it tonight." My tone left no room for negotiation.

"Tonight?" He sounded genuinely shocked, and that was saying something-Silas rarely showed surprise. "What's happened, Amelia?"

I gripped the phone tighter, my knuckles whitening. How did I even begin to explain? That in the space of a few hours, I'd lost one mate and found another? That I'd discovered I was the lost daughter of one of the most powerful packs in the region? That my entire identity, everything I thought I knew about myself, had been turned upside down?

"Let's just say I've discovered some long-lost relatives who suddenly remember I exist when it's convenient for them." The words came out sharper than I intended, edged with all the hurt and anger I was trying to contain. "And I want to know exactly what I'm walking into."

"I'll call in every favor I have." Silas sighed, and I could hear him already pulling up files on his computer. "But this won't be cheap."

"Money isn't an issue. Just get me what I need." I ended the call before he could ask any more questions.

I stood there for a moment, phone still pressed to my ear even though the line had gone dead, my chest rising and falling with the effort of keeping my emotions in check. Money wasn't an issue-it never had been, not for years now. Most people didn't know that. They saw the simple cottage, the herb garden, the modest way I lived, and they assumed I was scraping by.

They didn't know about the rare plants I cultivated in hidden greenhouses deeper in the forest. They didn't know about the Alphas who paid me small fortunes for healing that no one else could provide. They didn't know that I had more wealth tucked away than most pack treasuries could boast.

Damien certainly hadn't known. He'd looked at my simple cottage and my dirt-stained hands and decided I wasn't worthy of being an Alpha's Luna. The irony was almost funny. Almost.

I walked slowly toward my porch steps and sank down onto them, letting myself finally process everything that had happened. The afternoon sun cast long shadows across my small herb garden, the plants swaying gently in the breeze. This place had been my sanctuary, my safe haven where I could be myself without judgment or expectation.

And now I was going to leave it.

Memories I'd tried to bury for years came flooding back, sharp and painful, each one a small cut that added up to something that hurt more than I wanted to admit.

I pushed those thoughts away firmly. No point dwelling on what could have been.

"Who was that handsome fellow in the fancy car?"

The voice startled me out of my dark thoughts. I turned to see my neighbor, Uncle Rowan, walking over from his own property, his weathered face wearing an expression of open curiosity. He was leaning on his walking stick, his eyes bright with the kind of interest only elderly pack members who'd lived too long in quiet villages could muster.

I managed a smile, grateful for the distraction from my spiraling thoughts. "My fiancé, apparently."

His eyebrows shot up so high they nearly disappeared into his hairline. "Fiancé? When did this happen? Last I checked, you were with that Damien boy."

The mention of Damien's name should have stung, but surprisingly, it didn't. The mate bond we'd shared was well and truly severed, and with it had gone whatever lingering attachment I might have felt. Theodore's presence had filled that void so completely that Damien felt like a distant memory, something that had happened to someone else.

"About an hour ago." I couldn't help but laugh at his shocked expression. "And Damien is history."

"Well, he's certainly a good-looking one," Rowan said, leaning more heavily on his walking stick as he studied me with knowing eyes. "And that car! Must be from one of those big city packs."

"The biggest, actually. Crimson Moon Pack." I enjoyed watching his jaw drop.

For a moment, Rowan just stared at me, his mouth working but no sound coming out. Then he found his voice, though it came out as more of a squeak. "Crimson Moon? As in... the Alpha King's pack?"

I nodded, feeling a small surge of satisfaction at his reaction. It was petty, perhaps, but after everything that had happened today, I was allowed a moment of enjoying someone's shock.

"Bring him over for dinner next time," Rowan insisted, his eyes wide with excitement that made him look decades younger. "I'd like to …