“There was apparently a social worker in the Tampa area named Kenneth Reid. He was the go-to guy for handling shifter babies. He had lots of contacts with local shifter clans and was pretty well-liked in his agency, so no one ever looked into his shady dealings. I found these…” He pulled two documents out of his file folder and handed them over. “In that one, there are some descriptions of an unborn baby girl. No name, just a due date and the address of a shifter clinic. The due date is about nine days before your birthday, Maddy.”
I stared at the paper. It was basically an email with almost no information on it. “What is this supposed to be?”
“I found it in an ancient filing cabinet in the bowels of the agency Reid worked for. There were two dozen more for different babies. I think this was a simple description that he could use to find takers for the babies when they came. The other paper is the one that’s even more interesting.”
I glanced at the other document. It looked like a contract. I read it twice to be sure I understood what it was saying. It more or less promised the unborn baby girl to Kenneth Reid.
Luis pointed at the paper. “That is the very last thing I found from Kenneth Reid. No other papers, no other documents. His employment record ended not long afterward. Once this transaction was completed, he vanished. I think this contract is about you, Maddy. If you are who we believe you are, it must have been incredibly dangerous for this guy to do what he did.” He pulled a third sheet of paper out and handed it over. “This is your birth certificate.”
I pulled the paper from his hand greedily, desperate to see it. At the top was my name, Maddison, but the last name was different. It said Samuels. Maddison Samuels? That was my real name? On the line with the mother’s name were two words. My breath caught in my throat as I read the name. My birth mother. The woman who had carried me for nine months and birthed me. Gabriella Karson.
Luis pointed to the top of the paper. “This is a shifter clinic, which is weird, because your birth mother wasn’t a shifter.” He pulled yet another sheet of paper out. “This is your biological mother’s birth certificate. Human. And this clinic? It shut down and all staff members disappeared less than a week after you were born.”
A chill ran up my spine. It was like something out of a movie. This couldn’t be real life, could it? I turned the birth certificate around. “I don’t see a father on this.”
Luis nodded. “I think she knew you were going to be targeted, so she didn’t put anything on the certificate. It looks like she had good reason to be afraid.” He opened his laptop. “I used her name and the area to find out where she went to high school, which led me to finding these.”
He turned the computer around and clicked to expand an image. It was the smiling face of a beautiful girl. It looked like a senior picture from a yearbook. I looked into her face and felt a twinge in my chest. My birth mother. I had her eyes.
“This is her. I got the school to let me in and scanned some images from the library where I found the yearbooks. It gets more interesting.” He started clicking through more images. They showed the woman and another boy. My jaw fell open, and Nico whispered a curse. The guy looked just like me. The resemblance was uncanny. There was no way he wasn’t my birth father. One of the images was of the two of them embracing and laughing. Above the picture were block letters that read
Cutest Couple. Luis pointed at him. “This is David Samuels. Four months before you were born, this happened.”
He clicked open a link that brought up an old newspaper story about a high-school graduate who had been found murdered in an alley only a mile from the school. There were lots of quotes from friends and family. Beside the headline was a close-up of David Samuels with a huge smile on his face. Again, I had that strange sense of dissociation. I had a father, the one who raised me and loved me, but this was the man who’d helped make me. I shared his DNA. I had his facial features and dark hair. This man was my father, too. It was so strange to finally see him, and bittersweet to know that I’d never get to meet him. Knowing he was dead didn’t hit me the same as it would have if my dad had died, but I still felt a deep, weary sadness. It was especially tragic looking at how happy he’d seemed to be in life.
“This is the heir of the Edemas family bloodline. I think someone figured it out and killed him because of it,” Luis said. “He was nineteen when he died, and your bio mom had just turned eighteen when she gave birth to you. She was young and terrified. The love of her life had just been killed, and the baby she carried was likely to be a target. I don’t know if David Samuels knew his lineage, but from what Gabriella did to hide you, I think he did and told her about it. She gave you up to save you. It was done out of love,” he finished, his voice gentle and quiet.
I nodded. “I think you’re right.” I shook my head, confused and overwhelmed. “How the hell did you figure all this out?”
Luis cleared his throat and glanced at Nico before answering. “It’s kind of my gig. I’m a private investigator. I’ve got contacts and experience doing stuff like this. As good as I am, though, this was still pretty hard to dig up. I’m still looking into your birth father, but I’m positive he was killed because of the Hollander lineage. It was the royal family who found him and had him killed. I don’t think they ever found out about the girlfriend and baby, otherwise they’d have hunted you down before you ever even learned to walk.”
“What about Gabriella? Where is she now? Can…could I try to meet her?” I asked. The idea suddenly started building in intensity in my mind.
Luis glanced away, his face falling. “I don’t think that’ll happen. The last thing I found for her was her name on an organ donor list. She needed a transplant, and everything I could find seemed to point toward her not getting it. I’m pretty sure she’s gone. I’m still checking on her, though. There could be a chance some records weren’t updated…I’m not holding out hope, but I’m still looking.”
I sank back into the couch. Suddenly, a deep and exhausting weariness washed over me. I’d napped, but I still felt like I’d been going for days. There was so much to think about. I’d found my birth parents, seen their faces, and found out their names. All that should have been exciting, but instead, it only filled me with sadness. They were both dead. David had died because some weird royal shifters had decided he was dangerous. Gabriella had to give up her child to keep her safe. I wondered if she’d actually died of a broken heart. I couldn’t imagine giving away a child, never knowing what happened to her. To never see her smile, hear her cry. No first steps, no twinkling eyes on Christmas morning. It had to have weighed on her.
“Anyway, that’s all I’ve got for now,” Luis said, standing.
Nico stood and gave him a quick hug. “Thanks, bro.”
“I’m gonna head out unless you need anything else.”
“We’re good. See you tomorrow?”
Luis nodded and headed for the door. Nico showed him out and locked the door behind him. He came back over and plopped down on the couch next to me. He rubbed my thigh and let me sit in silence for a few minutes before speaking. “How are you? After all that?”
I sighed and gave a one-shouldered shrug. “It’s a lot to process.” I leaned forward and grabbed the file folder Luis had left. It had printouts of all the yearbook photos of my parents. I flipped through and couldn’t help but laugh at some of them. They looked so young and in love. So much promise and happiness ripped away for something so crazy.
Nico pointed to a picture. “I still can’t believe how much you look like your dad.”
“Yeah. It’s crazy. I never knew them. Never even saw their faces until today, but I already miss them. Is that stupid?”
Nico shook his head. “No. Especially now that you’ve learned they didn’t give you away for no reason. Your mom tried to save you. I think if your dad hadn’t died, your life would have been really different.”
“I would have never had my current parents. That’s…God, there’s no way any of this could have played out without some kind of tragedy.”
“Well, now we’ve at least got some answers. We have a place to start. Luis will try to find this Kenneth guy. The fact that they never found him dead means he probably went into hiding. If we find him, we get even closer to the truth.”
“Yeah, you’re right. It’s all going to play out the way it’s supposed to. All I can do is go along for the ride.”
Nico leaned over and kissed me. A soft, lingering kiss on the lips that almost completely pulled the stress from my body. He pulled away after a few seconds and looked me in the eyes. “We’ll figure out all of it. I promise you that. Until then, I’m going to protect you. I promised to keep you safe, and I keep my promises. I’m not afraid of a royal family that hasn’t mattered in hundreds of years. They won’t take you from me. I’ll do everything I can to make sure we get to have our happily ever after.”
More Kickass Werewolf Reads
Dive into our collection of free werewolf romance novels—where fierce Alphas, daring heroines, and heart-stopping twists await. Every story burns with forbidden desire, loyalty, and destiny. Don’t wait—here’s a world where love bites hard and nothing is stronger than the call of the mate.
Leave a Reply