"I’m leaving the Pack," Caspian continued, saying the words with a finality in his tone.
Moonstone Pack had been the only home he knew, it was why running away had been a spur-of-the-moment decision.
But now that he had spent some time on the outside looking in, he realized that there was nothing left in the Pack for him.
He could probably get the title if he wanted but he. just. didn’t. care.
"You ungrateful little brat," Tammy stepped forward, taking the helm of the conversation.
"You’re so mouthy for someone tainted with an outsider’s blood," She went off on a rant, her eyes narrowed.
"We were gracious enough to have you mated to our only son so that you could remain in the leading family despite that, and this is how you treat our kindness?"
"Kindness, Tammy?" Caspian scoffed, "If my blood is so abominable, then let me go. I don’t care about the title of Alpha."
Tammy was about to say something else and then clammed up.
If it were up to her, she would get rid of the half-blood brat as soon as she could but her husband wouldn’t be happy about that.
"I can’t let you do that," Noah joined the conversation, "You’re still mated to me."
That was Dahlia’s breaking point, she stormed out of the room without a backward glance, and Caspian didn’t even bother stopping her.
Asher tensed up at that declaration, his hands clenched into white-knuckled fists.
Caspian was completely unshaken, however, "Do you do everything your mom tells you to, Noah?" He tilted his head to the side, his tone condescending.
"Do you even bother thinking for yourself? Or are you just incapable of it?"
Asher relaxed, enjoying the confrontation. Caspian was cutting into every single member of the family without mercy.
Jael had easily found his destination. Perhaps it had been a little unfair to ask a young Omega who had stared dazedly at him.
But he only knew how to use underhanded measures.
He broke down the door easily, the loud sound bringing no one running, much to his relief.
It would have been a hassle knocking them all unconscious to cover his tracks.
He beelined straight for the vanity he had been told about, twisting the knob.
The sound of a compartment sliding open caught his attention and he bent low to peer underneath the table of the vanity.
Getting the little wooden box out was easy, it was polished and free of dust which meant that it was taken out fairly frequently.
He opened it impatiently, frowning at the contents.
It held nothing of use, expensive jewelry sparkling at him from the depths of the little box.
Jael clicked his teeth, he supposed that it would be dumb to put proof of a murder in plain sight - this wasn’t a TV show.
He ransacked through the pile of jewelry just to be thorough, a locket with the letter ’P’ inscribed in front of it attracting his attention.
He picked it up and opened it up, finding an unmistakable picture of Caspian as a child and a picture of a younger Victor Mendez.
This was Paris’ possession...
Jael pocketed it without a second thought, finding a key in the box as well.
He frowned at it, he hadn’t been told about any other secret compartments.
He returned the jewelry box to it hidden compartment, wondering if the rest of the jewelry belonged to Paris as well.
Tammy seemed like the type of shitty person to do that.
He still hadn’t found anything useful so he was hesitant to leave, his eyes roving around the room for what the key could fit into.
It was a rather small key, it didn’t even feel like it could unlock a box or safe... maybe a smaller box? Or a... book?
That thought reminded Jael that he had seen a stack of books on the vanity.
Luna Tammy didn’t bother hiding her locked journal, her confidence was understandable if she was the only one that knew about the hidden compartment.
The key fit in the little heart-shaped lock on the book perfectly, the lock snapping open.
He quickly scrolled through it... well, he would have if he hadn’t gotten stuck on the first page.
’I hate Paris Keller’
That was a rather strong entry but it set the tone for the rest of the journal.
It was almost comical how cliche it was but Jael wasn’t complaining about criminals being obvious about their crime - it made his job easier.
The first entry was dated several years ago, it stunned Jael. He hadn’t been expecting the neatly kept journal to be that old.
It was easy to get the gist after reading a handful of entries.
it was a convoluted love triangle.
Tammy was in love with Warren but Warren only had eyes for Paris - it would explain all the creepy pictures on his laptop.
Paris however fell for someone outside the Pack and Warren had to settle for Tammy.
But all this did was give Tammy a reason to be behind the accident, it didn’t give him any tangible proof or something to work with.
It did also give Warren more reason to get rid of Victor Mendez but the Alpha seemed to be completely obsessed with Paris, it didn’t track that he would put her life in danger.
Jael flipped the pages of the thick book till he got to the time around the deaths, but there was nothing out of the ordinary.
It made him frown, Tammy’s entries didn’t even include Paris’ death which was strange because she was straight up her number one enemy.
He expected a little bit of gloating even if it was in a non-incriminating manner.
He scrolled through the entire week of entries once more, certain he had missed something.
And he had... A familiar name.
Tammy had filled in that she had met him a few days before the accident happened.
It would have been harmless in any other context but he had met Drew and the Beta looked to be hiding something.
He would be grasping at straws but it was the first proper lead he had gotten.