*Rion*
I was getting ready to do my early morning rounds with Jasper, but sothing was keeping from leaving right away.
Daphne seed to wake up especially wound up. She was out of bed before I was, which wasn’t typical anymore since she was pregnant and twins and the girls were sleeping until dawn nowadays. Even so, I was under the impression that she had been awake for most of the night.
I went into the nursery, sure that Daphne would be in there tending to our children, but the room was dark, and the kids were still fast asleep. This wasn’t surprising, but Daphne wasn’t in our room, so I assud the only other place she would be this early was in our children’s room. I kissed each of them on the forehead before quietly exiting the room.
I frowned, rembering the night I had returned from my most recent trip. I made my way down the stairs and was unsurprised to find the light on inside of the office. As I approached the little wooden door, I could just barely make out Daphne whispering on the other side.
I felt my eyes narrow as I tried to make out what she was saying. She was clearly on the phone with soone.
I ducked my head, desperately trying to hear the conversation, but with no luck. I hesitated briefly before knocking firmly and not even waiting for an answer before shoving the door open.
My eyes narrowed further when my wife whirled around to face as she practically slamd the phone down on the receiver as soon as I stepped inside our office. Her light brown eyes rounded as she stared at , her jaw dropping slightly.
“Rion!” she said, forcing a smile onto her face. “I thought you would be gone already. Did you decide against doing the rounds this morning?”
I raised both eyebrows before stepping fully into the room and shutting the door behind , closing us both inside the small room together. “I was just about to leave,” I said casually. I tilted my head slightly to the side, eyeing my wife. “Who were you on the phone with just now, and this early in the morning?”
Daphne’s breathing quickened slightly, and her lower lip slipped between her teeth for a mont. Her eyes repositioned to one side and her voice was barely above a murmur when she finally responded.
“Nothing for you to worry about. Just so business-related stuff I’ve been trying to figure out.”
I felt my whole countenance darken with both suspicion and concern. I crossed the room and opened my arms to her. “Co here.”
Daphne froze for a mont but then obeyed, stepping toward and into the circle of my arms. I wound my arms around her loosely, leaning back a bit so I could still see her face. I couldn’t read the expression that settled across her features, but I thought she looked wary.
I took a steadying breath and then pinned her with a serious look. “I’m worried about you,” I finally admitted, tightening my hands around her hips. “Please, Daphne. I can tell that sothing has been bothering you ever since I ca ho last week. Please tell what it is.”
Daphne was looking up at again without directly looking into my eyes. She seed to be focusing on a spot on my forehead. “Everything’s fine, Rion.”
Sothing in snapped at that mont, and I gritted my teeth. I despised whatever this was, the distance that seed to be growing between us exponentially by the day.
Here I was trying desperately to reconnect with her and to rember what we had before my mory loss, but she didn’t seem to be interested in making an attempt at all.
It was almost as if she had already given up.
I gazed into her hazel eyes that I knew used to glow with life and happiness. They were still beautiful, a light brown that was so light and vibrant that it almost looked more golden. Her dark irises were surrounded by green specks that looked like tiny gemstones in the sun. They were still pretty, but significantly duller and emptier than I’d ever seen them before.
I dropped my arms so that I could grab her hands, tugging on her slightly so that she was forced to look in the eye. I hoped she could see how serious I felt about the whole situation. “I know that this must be hard for you, having without my mories,” I said, hearing my voice harden as I spoke. “But I’m doing the best that I can. I won’t give up until I fully rember everything about our family, about us.”
Daphne pressed her lips together, her eyes showing so life now as she gazed up at . “I know,” she murmured in a low voice.
I felt my temper flare and I dropped my hands from hers and took a step back. I couldn’t help but scoff at her. “You claim to know that I’m doing my best, but you’ve been acting as if you’re pulling away despite my efforts.”
Her eyes widened and she shook her head. “No, Rion. That’s not—”
I cut her off, putting my hand out to silence her. “You’re hiding sothing.” It wasn’t a question.
She sucked in a breath and looked down at the floorboards beneath her feet.
“No,” I ordered. I put a finger beneath her chin, pulling her face back up to face mine. “Tell what it is.”
I watched the panic spread out over her face. “I can’t, Rion. I—”
It was almost physically painful to look at her, knowing that I was right and that she was possibly falling out of love with . I wasn’t sure I could survive it. “I won’t force you,” I said, hearing my voice crack slightly toward the end as I turned to go.
Small, slim hands suddenly grasped mine. I turned slowly back to face Daphne, watching her warily.
“I’m sorry if I’ve seed distant,” she said at once, her lodic voice calming ever-so-slightly. She bit her lip again, her wide eyes seeming to beg to understand. “I have been hiding sothing, but I intend to tell you everything soon.”
“What do you an?” I asked in a flat voice.
Daphne hesitated. “There’s sothing that I need to tell you, but I don’t have all the information.”
“Tell what you do know,” I said, growing more concerned with each word she said.
Daphne shook her head. “I’ve been wanting to,” she said in a low, soothing voice that didn’t affect in the desired way at all. “But I can’t risk you acting on the information since we still don’t know everything.”
That just confird that this was serious. I narrowed my eyes down at my wife. “That isn’t for you to decide,” I told her firmly. “I will do whatever I think is necessary based on what you have been keeping from . Now tell what it is.”
Daphne’s eyes narrowed as well, her jaw locking at the way I started to command her. I knew that Daphne was a strong woman who wouldn’t take kindly to being ordered around, but she was leaving with little choice.
I had a sinking feeling that she was keeping sothing from that could potentially be a danger to her. I had to protect her, so she was going to tell what was going on whether she liked it or not.
Before either of us could snap at the other, a firm knock sounded on the door. I jumped and imdiately grabbed Daphne and put her behind . Soone had broken into our house.
A man in dark clothing entered. He was probably in his thirties and was tall and had just a bit of stubble on his angular jaw.
Was this what Daphne was hiding from ?
Red tinted the edges of my vision. “What the hell are you doing in my house?” I bood, feeling my hands clenched into fists.
“Rion, don’t!” Daphne cried, putting her hands on my chest and pushing back slightly.
A growl threatened to rip from my throat until my eyes fell on the large envelope that the man had tucked under his arm.
I relaxed at once, realizing the man was here on so kind of business.
Daphne blew out a breath when it was clear I was no longer on the verge of attacking the stranger in our house. “Rion, this is Kai,” she said, gesturing toward the tall man. “He’s a royal investigator with whom I’ve been working.”
I felt my shoulders sag slightly as so tension released from my body. I nodded to the man, who offered his hand. We shook hands firmly, and I couldn’t help the warning look that I pinned him with.
“Good to et you, Alpha Rion,” he said in a low, slightly gravelly voice.
I glanced over at Daphne, waiting for her to reveal what it was that she had been investigating behind my back for who knows how long.
It was clear that she hadn’t been expecting this little eting of hers to include as well. Now I was definitely grateful that I had trusted my instincts and hadn’t left for my morning rounds with Jasper.
“Were you able to collect what I requested?” Daphne asked the man.
“Yes, Princess,” he said, handing her the large envelope, which Daphne took with a grim expression.
She turned to look at . “I’ve been working with Kai to uncover information on the leader of the Lycaon extremists who tried to kidnap our daughters. We’ve been able to find out quite a bit of details concerning them.”
I felt my entire countenance darken at the news. I didn’t like the fact that Daphne had been looking into such a dangerous topic without . The protectiveness I felt toward her flared up as I thought about the dangerous extremists who had ruined my baby sister’s life.
Even so, I couldn’t pretend that I didn’t at least partially understand why Daphne decided to keep any information she found about the Lycaon faction from . She knew well, probably better than I knew myself. I was rational to a fault at tis, but I would have dropped anything and tracked down the sorry bastards for harming my sister and attempting to kidnap my daughters.
But just because I understood why she kept things from didn’t an that I was happy about it.
Daphne turned to face , clutching the envelope tightly in her hands. “What I’m going to show you doesn’t necessarily an what it looks like,” she told carefully, taking a step toward . “We don’t know what this actually ans.”
I nodded tersely, even though I had no idea what she was trying to say. I took the large brown envelope from her and made quick work of the thin string that held it closed. I felt my lips tighten when I realized that there was hardly anything in the envelope. Daphne was watching intently as I opened the flap and pulled out the two pieces of paper that were inside.
I looked at the two photographs. One was of an older man, the other of two young boys who looked like toddlers.
I studied the images and felt my heart begin to pound furiously.
It felt as if it was trying to beat right out of my chest.
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