“She’s not. That’s why I’m desperately worried for you. You cannot join that pack.”

“There’s no way around it. He’s the other half of my soul. Unless he leaves his pack, which is never going to happen.” I sat in the armchair again, resting my elbows on my knees. “What do I do?”

“I don’t know. But it’s not just Theron she’s killed…”

Wait. What? “What do you mean it’s not just Theron?”

“I don’t have any evidence.” Ciara laughed harshly. “Vivian made sure of that well enough. When my father was murdered, I was devastated, but I didn’t imagine her scent all over my parents’ rooms. It was there. She had an excuse at the ready, but it was bloody convenient.”

Oh God. Her dad?

“When my younger brother was found in pieces… I was sickened. Racked with grief. I couldn’t even begin… But she was murdering my family, and no one did a fecking thing. Not a damned thing.” Her voice shook as she spoke. Tears of anger and sadness rolled down her face. “When I spoke to Donovan, he dismissed me. Every friend I turned to denied the truth until it was me against her. I was galvanized to keep up what I was doing. I had to make the pack see that Vivian was mad, but she flipped everything I said and made them think I was mad. The harder I tried, the worse off I seemed. And of course, they thought I’d lost my mind. I was making myself crazy trying to find proof of her wrongdoing and ranting at anyone who would listen.” Ciara took a second to catch her breath. “There are some who know of her actions. Who see through her. But they’re not enough. Especially not when Donovan backs her time and again.”

I couldn’t believe that Donovan wouldn’t see through Vivian. Especially if everything that Ciara said was true, and I didn’t doubt her. She wasn’t lying. I’d have been able to smell that on her. There had to be something else at play here. I just didn’t know what, and I couldn’t quite wrap my head around what she was saying. At least not yet.

I grabbed the tissue box on her desk and held it out to her. “How’d you end up here?”

“I was cut to the onions, you know?” She said as she wiped her face. I had no idea what that bit of Irish slang meant, but I nodded. “I still had my mother and sister, but I didn’t think Vivian would dare touch a female. It’s just not done. And I couldn’t let her get away with her machinations. But when my sister disappeared—” Ciara took a shaky breath. “She was found tortured. Raped. Beaten. And I nearly died myself. I’d never hear her laugh again. Never see her sweet smile. And it was my fault. If only I’d let it go.”

“They didn’t…” No one would do that to a female. Not in our community.