Chapter 101


    I debate carrying the books back to my room. Given that I broke the door handle, there isn’t a way for


    me to close and lock it for privacy. Not that a locked door is all that much of a deterrent. A wolf could


    easily break one down-as Aaron has done on more than one asion-and if I could break in….


    Yeah, the locked door probably isn’t stopping anybody.


    My best bet is to grab whatever information is avable and


    then return to my room or to have Adam transfer the security.


    information to theb to me.


    I make a mental note to require him to do just that.


    As Alpha, there shouldn’t be a single inch of territory on these


    I grab the first book and flip through the pages. It’s Hemingway. And one of my father’s favorites. I hold


    the book. by each cover and fan the pages upside down. An envelope drops out.


    Happy 13th Birthday Leah.


    It’s the same with the next book, a collection of poems by Walt


    Whitmann.


    Happy 14th Birthday Leah.


    And the one after that. And after that.


    Ten letters drop to the ground. One for each year I’ve been pledged to Aaron Rathborn.


    But it’s thest book on the shelf. The one set alone that grabs.


    my attention. Unlike these tomes of ssic literature, thisst.


    one is a children’s book. The Giving Tree.


    There is no envelope inside. Just a hastily written letter that is folded haphazardly.


    I’m pretty sure this is thest note my father had ever written.


    It’s his deathnote to me.


    Something falls out of the folded paper and my hands shake as I reach for the lock of light brown hair


    that’s tied with a pink. bow. It’s mine. From when I was a baby. My mother had kept this in an old photo


    Material ? of N?velDrama.Org.


    album with handprints and footprints and a slew of pictures taken of me up until about age three.


    ce his letter and the soft lock of hair at the bottom of the envelopes that I gather up.


    slide them into the waistband of my pants and pull my blouse over to cover them. I want to rush back to


    my room, m the door and read each word my father left for me.


    But that could take hours and I’m not the most stoic of individuals. Chances are I’ll be bawling my eyes


    out the minute I open one of these.


    And like it or not, there are a couple hundred wolves here.


    It ki lls me to dy, but I have to head back downstairs to finish. out the party.


    When I reach the bottom of the stairs, Aaron is waiting for me.


    His brows draw together.


    “I’m fine,” I tell him.


    He nods and doesn’t ask questions.


    Liam is leaning against the opposite bannister. “There are a few other wolves I’d like to introduce you


    to,” he says.


    “Of course,” I reply.


    But then there is somemotion at the front of the great


    hall and we freeze.


    Karolina. Tobin.


    The Elder Samsen.


    The Elder Petyr.


    Oh my goodness, I don’t think Elder Aleksei has made an appearance in years.


    And they are all here. On Pack Robertsnds.


    Presumably to see me.


    “F**k,” Aaron mutters.


    My thoughts exactly.