Chapter 207 The Shelter in the Mountains

"I know Eira," Serena said, bitterness sharpening her voice. "She’s not the saint everyone makes her out to be. Sebastian is still obsessed with her. He’s so desperate to get her back that he doesn’t even want his own baby."

Lainey paused with her wine halfway to her lips."If Alpha Sebastian is chasing his ex-wife while you’re carrying his child, that’s messy,"

"And now Alpha Killian’s involved. One ugly headline could turn into a political headache for both Packs."

"Exactly." Serena leaned closer. "Finally, someone gets it."

Lainey took a slow sip of wine, studying her over the rim. Serena mistook good manners for sympathy. That was fine. Growing up Crawford had taught Lainey how to smile through almost any conversation.

"How well do you actually know Eira?" she asked. "The articles say she grew up in an Omega group home, but they never name it. Do you know where it was?"

Public searches had turned up nothing. Eira’s childhood records were sealed, and the few official profiles about her jumped straight from the group home to Stanford.

Serena gave a dismissive shrug. "What is there to know? She grew up with nothing, got a scholarship, and lucked into Dr. Thorne’s lab. Then he handed her his entire project."

"She got lucky," Lainey said, letting the insult pass. "But I still want the name of the group home."

"I don’t know it. Sebastian might." Serena thought for a moment. "He used to take Eira back every year. Check the Carter Foundation’s donation records. I remember hearing that the place was somewhere in the mountains near the Oregon border."

The Oregon border.

Lainey’s fingers tightened around the stem of her glass.

Crawford Pack’s northwestern territory ran through the Klamath Mountains and western Siskiyou County. Henry had spent years stationed there.

"Why do you care which group home it was?" Serena asked.

Lainey relaxed her grip. "I want to know what Alpha Killian sees in her."

She gave a small, embarrassed laugh and added just enough jealousy to make it believable.

"If I’m going up against her, I should at least know who I’m dealing with."

Serena nodded, satisfied. "Smart. But Alpha Killian took her home to meet his parents? The Sterlings can’t be happy about that."

"They’re being polite." Lainey swirled her wine. "Alpha Killian may be Alpha, but an old Pack like Sterling comes with a lot of voices. His mother’s family, the Reeds, has opinions about everything, especially who carries on the bloodline."

The Sterling and Reed Packs had been joined through a strategic mate bond. Behind Alpha Killian stood generations of relatives who treated marriage like Pack policy. Luna Seraphina had spent years keeping the Reed elders from pushing their handpicked heiresses at him.

An orphaned, wolfless Omega with no Pack or known bloodline should never have made it past the front door.

Unless Eira was not who everyone thought she was.

Unless the resemblance to Henry was more than a coincidence.

The thought turned Lainey’s stomach.

She set down her glass before Serena noticed her hand shaking.

--

Two days later, Lainey sat across from Fiona Carter in a glass-walled office overlooking downtown.

At their last campaign meeting, Lainey had suggested pairing the new brand shoot with a charity feature. The same model could appear in two separate campaigns, one commercial and one focused on community work.

Fiona, recently promoted to brand director, had liked the idea but wanted time to review it.

Now Lainey placed a gallery invitation on her desk.

"There’s a photographer I met during a shoot in Milan," she said. "He’s showing new work downtown next month. I’m not really interested in the gallery crowd, so I thought you might enjoy it."

Fiona picked up the invitation. She could get into almost any gallery, but reaching the artists themselves was another story.

"Thanks." She looked at Lainey. "What do you want?"

Lainey smiled. "Nothing dramatic. I thought you might let me see the Carter Foundation’s charity records. I’m helping put together the community campaign, and I want to understand where the brand has invested in the past."

Fiona studied her for a moment, then unlocked her phone.

"Fine. My father wants me to handle the year-end donations anyway. I’ve been going through the files."

She opened the foundation’s records and waved Lainey over.

Lainey stood beside her, careful not to touch the phone. Fiona scrolled through pages of donations to schools, food banks, medical clinics, and Omega support programs.

Then Lainey saw it.

The same small group home appeared four years in a row.

"Hold on."

Fiona stopped scrolling. "What?"

Lainey pointed to the screen. "That location looks beautiful. All those mountains and fog. Is it near the Oregon border?"

Fiona gave her a skeptical look. "Are you choosing charities based on the view now?"

"I’ve never been there." Lainey kept her tone light. "I like finding new places."

Fiona shrugged and closed the file. "Good luck with that."

Lainey thanked her and left.

Fiona returned to work, but the file stayed in the back of her mind. A recurring donation was not unusual. The amounts were modest, the paperwork was clean, and every payment had passed the foundation’s review.

Still, four consecutive years felt personal.

She opened the record again and checked the delivery logs.

One name appeared on every trip.

Sebastian Hale.

Fiona leaned back in her chair.

Why had Alpha Sebastian personally delivered supplies to the same remote group home every year?