Montana, Present day

Ezra slides into the chair across from his Alpha. The lycan's knee bounces up and down in his haste. He's anxious. Antsy. The meeting called by their leader just involves the two of them and that freaks him out.

He doesn't know what can possibly be so important to stop in the middle of a work day. All Cedric Veiler has told him is that he received a phone call. It must be some phone call. The usually crimson irises he bore are now a deep black.

There door behind Ezra slams, drawing his attention to the lycan King. The tall male quickly walks around his expansive desk. The office of the Alpha is a large room, in fact it's the biggest office in the small cabin.

The rustic wood walls hold pictures, many of them old, black and white photographs that display groups of men clearly going off to battle. Veiler is in each picture, a giant among the crowds of shorter men.

He collapses into his big chair, his nostrils flaring.

"So, what's up?" Ezra asks then, eyeing the King with wide eyes. He's never seen their leader so high strung. It's terrifying, his usual deathly calm persona is gone, replaced by this instead.

"I got a call from the Guard. Let's just say I've got good news, and I've got some bad news." Veiler says, the slow measured pace a contrast to his disheveled appearances

Ezra takes a slow inhale of breath, trying not to get his hopes up, or let his fear get the best of him. Everything will be alright, it has to be.

"Which should I hear first?"

Veiler appears to contemplate this, rubbing his chin that's always covered in a layer of dark stubble.

"Well, the Red Alpha is dead. Her identity has been released, and so has her Father's, or should I say your Father." His troubled gaze settles firmly on his Gamma before dropping a Manila folder on the desk, a stack of files nearly spilling out. "Eugene Cole."

Ezra's heart nearly stops beating in his chest. The revelation that the Red Alpha is gone is music to his ears. The pack is safe, his pups are safe, his mate is safe.

Having the enemy taken care of is a weight off his shoulders.

"That's good. It's about time." He's shocked at how fast his worry is erases. It feels great to hear the news.

"I can see your not surprised that you are related to her after all, and that the Councilman is your Father?" Veiler presses, eyeing Ezra warily.

"No. I suspected as much. I put two and two together." He whispers, shaking his head. There's not much to say on the subject. Ezra barely knows the guy, and what he does know isn't great.

"Well, he's been arrested. He admitted to murdering his daughters mate which caused her to go off the deep end."

The killing of a lycan's mate is completely outlawed, so things like this don't happen. When a lycan loses their other half they go on rampages.

"They're doing more digging on him, as am I. Tea's Mother was a lycan who is still alive somewhere, but she wasn't Cole's mate. But I did find some things on your Mother." Veiler opens the folder, sifting through the papers. In his hand is a small picture of a woman with brown hair and a big smile.

"There's not a lot. We don't know what species she was or her name, but we know she passed away."

Ezra takes the picture, staring down at the photo of the woman straight from his dream. Her hair is shoulder length and she wears a feather headband and a long shift dress that were popular for the era.

"I'm going to find out what happened to her, Ezra. I'll find everything I can." Veiler promises earnestly, his eyes brimming with dedication. It shocks Ezra. He shakes his head adamantly.

"Don't stress about it. I want to know what happened to her, believe me, but I have a family now, I have my mate and the whole white picket fence life. That's the most important thing to me right now, and I don't want fantasies to get in the way of that."

Veiler nods his head. "Keep the picture though."

Ezra smiles absently, feeling something spark in his heart. His nightmare of the woman had faded significantly. He knows that things had ended badly for the female that brought him into this world. She didn't deserve the things that happened to her.

He can only hope that he can bring her justice by finding whoever hurt her.

"Well. I'm off, there are things I need to pack before we leave. You should be packing as well."

Ezra raises his eyebrows. Looking at his Alpha as he stands up. This is all news to him. He didn't know that they're leaving.

"Where are we going, exactly?"

Veiler turns to look over his shoulder, an expression of barley restrained excitement on his face.

"You got your white picket fence, and now I'm going to get mine." He faces the door and stalks out as he murmurs one last thing to himself.

"I won't keep her waiting any longer."

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If you're reading this, I love you:)

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