Chapter SIX: THE GREEN BOX

SAGE'S POV

I stared at Dante, then at the green box resting on my lap, then back at him again. My hands stayed glued to the arms of the chair even though he clearly wanted me to open it. I was not touching that thing. No way.

He tilted his head slightly, his steel-grey eyes squinting like he was trying to read my mind. “Open it, Sage.”

“Why? So you can spring another trap on me? I have had enough of your games today.” I shot back, holding my arms just so he could see how serious I was.

“I am not trapping you,” he said, his voice laced with boredom. “This is the truth. Nothing more.”

“Truth from the man who had me drugged and dragged here? Sure.”

Dante watched me for a long moment. When I still refused to touch the box, he reached forward and lifted the lid himself. The soft click of the latch sounded too loud in the quiet room.

I shot him another glare but he completely ignored me, nodding towards the box. "Look."

Letting out a sigh, I reached in trying to look calm but anyone with good observation skills would have noticed how badly my hands were trembling.

The first thing I pulled out was a thick stack of papers. They were medical charts; some were dated two days ago and some were more than a decade old.

Looking at the book again, my eyes landed on a familiar photo. It showed a tiny baby wrapped in a blue blanket. Her eyes were closed and she had a tight fist resting on her cheek.

Another one showed a picture of me again only this time I was in granny's hands. Questions filled my head and just as I parted my lips to ask, he beat me to it.

“I had my people run tests on you after the hospital called. Blood work, genetic markers, scent analysis. Everything matches, so there's a hundred percent chance that you were born here Sage."

The words hit me like cold water and I froze staring at the magical records over and over again. This had to be some sort of sick lie.

Born here? That was impossible. I was found more than five hundred miles away from here. The thoughts swarmed in so much that the room began to tilt.

“No,” I whispered at first only to scream out a second later. “No. You are lying.” I shoved the box off my lap letting it hit the floor with a loud thud. The papers scattered around me but I was far too upset to care.

I pushed myself to my feet, ignoring the way my legs shook. My heart was hammering so hard I could feel it in my throat.

“You forged these,” I accused, pointing at the mess on the floor. “You had someone make fake documents to trick me into staying. That is what this is. Another way to control me and this baby.”

I didn't know what I was expecting but his calm eyes were not it and it only made me confused.

“I did not forge anything. These records are real. You can deny it all you want, but the proof is right there. You must have asked your 'granny' where you came from at some point.”

“Granny found me on the side of the road. She told me that story a hundred times. I was wrapped in a dirty blanket, crying in the bushes miles away from any pack territory. Far from here. So none of this makes sense. You are just trying to confuse me.”

My voice rose as I spoke but inside my head, the panic only swirled faster and faster. The questions kept piling until I could barely breathe.

How had he gotten so much information about me in such little time? Could the documents actually be real? What if I were actually born here?

“None of these lies will make me stay with you,” I snapped. “I do not care what papers you wave in my face. I am not raising your heir and neither am I going to play alpha and Luna with you."

Dante ran a hand through his dark hair, the first real sign that he was not completely unbothered. The motion made the icy skull tattoo on his neck shift with the movement of his muscle.

He looked tired for a second, almost human, but I refused to let that soften me. The questions would not stop coming and they slipped out before I could hold them back.

“If this is all true, then why did Granny never tell me? Why hide it? And my parents… what happened to them?”

"Believe me I barely know either. Your grandma would have to answer all of that herself," he muttered rising from the chair.

I scoffed, trying my best not to look at him. “That is not possible. She is in the city hospital. She is too sick to travel.”

Cade, who had been quiet in the corner this whole time, finally spoke up. “Actually, she is already here. We brought her to the pack territory this morning so she could start treatment right away.”

"You what?" I spat in disbelief as I turned to him, rage boiling so fast I could taste it. “You kidnapped my sick grandmother? What kind of monsters would drag a sick woman out of the hospital?"

I expected him to say something, at least an eyebrow twitch but he only turned and walked out the door, his broad shoulder stiff.

Even though I was probably being dumb by insulting someone of his level that didn't stop me.

The door clicked shut behind him, leaving me alone with Cade, who raised both hands in surrender.

“Nothing bad happened to her, Sage. I promise. She was moved carefully. The doctors here are already there, once you sign the contract she will be given her first dose of the antidote."

I folded my arms tight across my chest, trying to hold myself together. “I want to see her. Now.”

“You can,” Cade said gently. “But only after you sign the waiver. The contract. It protects everyone involved, including your grandmother.”

My mouth fell open and I stared at him as if he had just slapped me across the face. “Are you serious? You are holding my granny hostage until I sign your stupid paper?”

“It is not a hostage situation,” he replied, though he had the decency to look a little uncomfortable.

“It is protection. For her, for you, and for the pup. Once the papers are signed, you can see her as much as you want.”

"Stop calling it a pup. I never said I was keeping it." I yelled, glaring at him. The panic I had been pushing down rose again, mixing with fresh anger and a deep, aching fear.

Everything I thought I knew about myself was cracking apart. What if they forced me to have the baby and worse? What if Granny was lying?