“I don’t understand,” I whispered to the stranger who sat across from me. “Why did they give me up?” My lip trembled slightly and I bit it to suppress the intense feeling of abandonment brought up from my past.

“It’s a complicated story.”

I had to know the truth, no matter what it cost me emotionally. For so long my heart had ached over every possible scenario and I was about to find out the truth of why I had been given up for adoption.

“I need to know why.” I hated how I faltered in my neediness, it was another show of weakness which I was certain was brought on by the events of yesterday.

The truth I had longed for as long as I could remember was within my reach. I was close. I didn’t even consider if I was ready to hear the truth.

The stranger looked to Maverick briefly before his eyes settled back on me.

He didn’t look like an unsavory character which I had expected, like the bounty hunter. There was something different about him that I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

“It wasn’t your parents who left you at the orphanage.”

His revelation was stunning.

“I don’t…understand.” I shook my head trying to make sense of what he was saying.

“Your aunt did it to protect you.”

Nothing he was revealing made any kind of sense.

“My aunt?”

He nodded. “My mother.”

I stared at the face of the stranger. Then it dawned on me. He was my cousin. A relative. I studied him more closely but couldn’t see any obvious resemblance.

His revelation left me speechless for a long moment.

“You’re my cousin.”

He nodded. “That’s why my mother entrusted me with the truth. I would never betray her.”

I didn’t know what that was like. Until I had met Maverick, I had never had anyone to trust.

“Why would she do that?” I retracted my hands to my lap, fearful of what he would reveal for the first time since he had started to talk.

“She did it to protect you.” He sighed. “Your family had an agreement with another pack before you were even born. You were promised to their first born son.”

Promised? What did that mean?

Maverick’s hand settled on my shoulder. I don’t know if it was for his benefit or mine. He squeezed my shoulder softly, reminding me of his presence. I was not alone.

The stranger took in the action without any reaction.

“From the time you were born you were to marry and unite the two most powerful families and packs.”

I shivered, looking up to Maverick whose jaw was tense as he studied the stranger. Maybe he was hoping the guy was lying. I wasn’t sure how I felt about any of this.

Feeling more fearful I stopped prompting the stranger.

“My mother was afraid for you. The family you were promised to were known for their cruelty. We have both experienced it first hand. My father was a distant relative of theirs.”

I swallowed.

“Why would my parents, my family do that to me?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Some people are more concerned with power and prestige than protecting their family.”

Maverick’s hand tightened on me, possessively. I was his.

“But Maverick is my mate.” I was struggling to understand why my family would promise me to someone who was cruel and wasn’t my mate.

“Not all packs respect the link between mates. You would have been expected to marry their eldest son as soon as you turned eighteen.”

I was horrified. I couldn’t imagine being with someone else when I felt the way I did about Maverick.

Still trying to take in what I was being told I looked down at my hands. I couldn’t comprehend what the man was telling me.

“Colt Richards?”

I looked up to Maverick as he said the name and saw Tristan nod.

“You know him?” I asked Maverick.

He shook his head. “I know of him.” The solemn expression was enough to scare me.

I felt a shiver of fear ripple down my spine as my gaze locked with Maverick’s. Trying to stave the fear off I concentrated on the man in front of me, my cousin. My family.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

“My name is Tristan Richards.” I had a name but it didn’t make him feel less of a stranger.

“Why are you here Tristan?” Maverick asked the question this time.

“I’m here to find Alexandria and protect her.”

Maverick rolled his shoulders slightly. I could feel he didn’t like that someone else wanted to the take the role he considered his as my mate. He stood strong, his shoulders wide. He embodied strength and I felt a safety in his presence. Something, no one else had ever been able to give me.

“Why?” I asked, not having a good feeling about it.

Then I remembered the bounty hunter who had been after me.

“Has this something to do with the bounty hunter?”

“There was a bounty hunter after you?” His question was sharp, his calm exterior cracked.

I nodded. “He said someone had offered a big bounty for me.”

“We took care of him,” Maverick revealed. His hand left my shoulder.

“There will be more.” His statement was ominous.

“Who sent them?”

“I suspect your father.”

“How can we trust anything you’re telling us?” Maverick questioned.

Tristan studied Maverick for a long moment. “You don’t have a choice.”

Maverick rubbed his chin. “This story, your story seems pretty far fetched.”

Tristan shrugged dismissively.

“I remember vaguely Alexandria Mason was abducted as a baby and her body was discovered shortly thereafter.”

Tristan nodded.

“How could there be a body if…if…your story is true?”

“My mother planned the whole thing. The Masons took her at her word, there was no reason to disbelieve her. She covered her tracks and ensured your safety for the last eighteen years.”

I was still trying to grapple with the overload of information and the emotions that went along with them. They may have saved me from one monster but I still held the scars of the safety they believed they had given me.

“She saved you.” His statement tore through me.

“I’ve been alone for the last eighteen years. Alone.” My insides felt raw, like I had ripped a part of myself out to reveal the loneliness I had lived with for far too many years. For someone who knew where they came from and had family, it was something they took for granted. Something I had longed for my whole life, a place to belong.

“Trust me, being married to Colt Richards would have been much worse.”

A heavy silence settled over us.

“Well if father is looking for her, they must know she isn’t dead.” Maverick had deduced the most important thing. If my family still believed I was dead, why had they sent a bounty hunter to find me?

And the fact that he had found me, meant that must have uncovered something.

“My mother’s plan wasn’t without some mistakes. Mistakes that have been recently been uncovered.”

I stood and turned to walk away, feeling more agitated by each passing moment.

“What mistakes?” Maverick questioned.

I wasn’t sure I had the stomach for any more revelations, I was at my limit. My heart couldn’t take anymore.

Tristan sighed. “My mother kept tabs on you. She couldn’t completely let you go.” He shrugged.

It made me feel something that someone who had tried their best to keep me safe, hadn’t been able to completely turn their back on me. It was something, something tangible. Someone had cared. Even when I had believed there hadn’t been anyone, there had been my aunt.

“She passed away recently. I managed to hide a lot of the information she had kept on you but some things were discovered.”

Maverick ran an agitated hand through his hair and our eyes met. He was worried.

He knew more about these families than I did and if he was worried than I knew there was a real danger.

“What things?” Maverick leaned against the table.

I closed my eyes, not sure I take anymore in.

“They know she was in an orphanage and that she left. They only have a vague description of your appearance but it won’t take them long to track you down.”

It was enough. I moved to the door and left without looking back. Like I could outrun the danger that was coming for me.