CHAPTER 4

Ryley

I was stuffing the last of my clothes into my final suitcase. The last two weeks had flown by, and now it was the day we'd leave for our summer home. Channing had been over the moon when Mr. Miller delivered my bonus in person. Even though I was happy to give my son something he'd been wanting and working hard for, my stomach twisted painfully. If I was discovered, there would be no coming back. I'd spent seventeen years running from that life, and now I was about to walk straight into the wolf's den.

I sighed, set the suitcase on the floor, and sat on the edge of my bed. I'd regretted my decision the second I accepted Mr. Miller's offer, and I'd been quietly hoping Alpha Orion would reject my demands. Imagine my disappointment when Isaac came back to my office that same afternoon with an arrival date and the specs for my car. I should have asked for more. I knew the Orion Pack was wealthy, and I could have leveraged that but I've never been the type to demand money for its own sake. This was never about the money. It was about the simple, quiet life I'd built with my son, and whatever was waiting for us on the other side of that drive, I had no way of knowing yet whether it would let us keep it.

I took a deep breath, trying to swallow down my fear.

"Mom, you ready?" Channing asked from my bedroom doorway.

"Ready," I answered, taking another breath.

"Everything will be fine, Mom. I won't let anything happen to you," Channing said, pulling me into a side hug as I stood.

"It's not me I'm worried about. I'm the parent here I should be the one reassuring you," I told him, and he chuckled.

"I'll always have your back, Mom. I'll take your bag out you lock up." He squeezed me tight before grabbing my suitcase and heading out. Channing has always been the one to see the glass as half full, never half empty. He was so full of life, so at ease with the unknown. I, on the other hand, feared it. The last seventeen years had been one long exercise in not knowing how I was going to feed him, clothe him, make rent. I liked being in control.

I spent a few minutes walking through every room, making sure nothing had been forgotten. When I was satisfied everything was off or locked, I locked the front door behind me. Channing was already behind the wheel of his car with the music blaring. We made eye contact before I climbed into my own SUV, packed full of everything we owned. I found a song I liked and started the four-hour drive, with Channing following behind me.

The further I drove from home the house I'd worked so hard to buy the further my stomach sank. I couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was coming.

I was grateful my windows were heavily tinted as I pulled up in front of the Orion pack house. I needed a moment to gather myself, to steady my nerves before exposing who I was a lone wolf, uninvited into someone else's territory. I was in the middle of a slow breath when my phone rang through the speakers. I blew out a breath and answered.

"Ryley Halliwell."

"Miss Halliwell, this is Mr. Dillinger. I need your help with a matter of a personal nature." I'd worked on his company's accounts before, but never anything personal.

"Of course, Mr. Dillinger. What can I do for you?"

"I need you to go over my personal finances. I believe my wife hasn't been truthful with me, and I need proof."

"I'm already on a case, but if you can email me everything you'd like reviewed, I'll try to have it back to you by Monday evening."

"Thank you, Miss Halliwell. Mr. Miller told me you were relocating for the summer and offered to have someone else handle this, but I trust you. I know you're the best."

"Thank you for your trust. I'm sorry for your circumstances," I told him, and I meant it. I only knew him professionally, but he seemed like a good man he paid his employees well, and his turnover rate was almost nonexistent. That kind of loyalty doesn't come from a bad boss.

"Keep me posted," he said, and ended the call.

I'm not getting any sleep this weekend. I texted Isaac to let him know I'd be looking into Mr. Dillinger's matter on the side. My phone chimed with an email he'd already sent everything he wanted reviewed.

I set my phone in the center console and went back to my breathing, staring at the front doors of a house that wasn't mine, about to hand a stranger every reason he'd ever need to start asking questions I couldn't afford to answer.

"Let's get this over with," I said, and stepped out of the SUV.