Oops… I Went Into Heat and My Alpha Daddies Claimed Me

Callum’s POV

The council meeting had ended, but I remained seated in the hall long after the elders had filed out.

The documents they had been arguing over were still scattered across the table, but I had stopped reading them several minutes ago.

I leaned forward, resting my forearms against the table.

Could this have started long before I realized it?

The thought wouldn’t leave me alone.

There was only one period of my life that immediately came to mind whenever I considered someone carrying a grudge against Keisha’s family. Her father’s death had left behind enemies and people I had personally hunted down because I refused to let them come anywhere near the girls.

I had believed I ended it. I had believed everyone responsible had either been killed or dealt with, and for years there had been no reason to question that belief. Yet now Keisha was being targeted with a kind of persistence that made me wonder whether someone had managed to disappear before I could reach them.

The door opened, pulling me out of my thoughts and Dane entered, closing the door behind him before walking toward the table. His eyes immediately went to me.

"Before you ask about the council, tell me how Keisha is doing. I hardly see her these days, and every time I manage to get near the mansion, someone tells me she’s resting, eating, sleeping or being dragged somewhere by Nadia." He immediately said.

My mouth twitched. "She’s fine. She’s actually doing better than I expected after everything that happened. The babies are fine too. She’s been spending most of her time with Nadia, and apparently the two of them have decided they need to occupy every waking hour they have."

Dane pulled out a chair and sat down. "That’s good. I was beginning to wonder if she was avoiding the rest of us."

"She isn’t. Please, you literally saw her a while ago, she’s fine, Dane. You’re stressed which I understand, but calm down."

He sighed. "Then I’ll leave her to it. As long as she’s safe."

I looked at him. "That’s exactly what I’m trying to make sure of."

Dane reached into his jacket and placed a folder on the table. "I have the report you asked for."

I pulled it closer and opened it. "Vera?"

"Yes. There’s a few stuff that I’m still trying to confirm before I report it, but for now? Her movements haven’t exactly been normal, but there’s nothing in the report that gives us enough to accuse her of anything."

I scanned the pages. "What has she been doing?"

"Going out a lot. She’s visited several clubs and spent time in places I doubt you’d expect someone like her to frequent. There were also a few visits to brothels."

I looked up. "Brothels?"

Dane nodded.. "That’s what the report says. She doesn’t appear to be meeting anyone from the organization we’ve been tracking, and nobody has seen her exchanging anything suspicious. Most of the time, she goes in, stays for a while and leaves."

I closed the folder and rested my hand on top of it. "So what the hell has she been doing at brothels? That’s weird."

"Exactly."

"If she was involved in something bigger, wouldn’t she have slipped up by now?"

Dane leaned back, considering the question. "Maybe she has nothing to do with it. That’s possible. But I don’t like clearing someone simply because we haven’t caught them doing something wrong yet. Vera has already lied about things before, and there’s way too many things I’m finding out I can’t ignore."

I looked up. "What did you find out?"

He hesitated. "I’m still working on it. I’ll tell you when I’m sure."

I nodded slowly. "I understand."

Dane studied me for a moment. "You’ve been distracted since I came in."

I gave him a humorless smile. "Because I can’t stop thinking."

His expression became more serious. "You’re worried there is something we’re missing."

I nodded. "There’s always something we’re missing."

I looked toward the windows. "I keep asking myself whether I’ve been looking in the wrong direction. We’ve been concentrating on the people we’ve already identified, the organization we’ve already attacked, the people who have openly threatened her. But what if the reason we can’t find the person behind all of this is because we’re searching for someone who isn’t connected to any of that?"

Dane remained quiet, letting me continue and I leaned forward. "What if it’s someone who has been waiting for years? You know what I mean?"

His face changed slightly. "You mean the people connected to her father’s death."

I looked back at him. "Yes."

He exhaled slowly.. "Callum, we dealt with that."

"I know." I sighed.

Dane shook his head, looking as though he was trying to cancel the idea completely. "We didn’t leave loose ends."

"We dealt with everyone we found." I corrected him.

Dane’s jaw tightened. "That’s not the same as saying you think someone escaped."

"I’m not saying someone escaped. I’m saying I don’t know anymore."

He leaned forward, his hands resting against his knees. "You were there. You saw what happened. You spent months hunting down everyone who had anything to do with it. You didn’t stop until you were certain there was nobody left who could come after those girls. If you’re asking whether I remember what happened, I do. If you’re asking whether I believe someone from that time has suddenly returned after all these years, I don’t."

I looked down at the table. "Then explain why it feels that way."

Dane didn’t answer immediately.

"I’m not saying it has to be someone from the past," I continued. "I’m saying I can’t afford to dismiss the possibility simply because I believed that Chapter was finished. Keisha’s father left behind enemies. Some of them hated him enough to want his entire family destroyed. We assumed removing the people directly responsible was enough, but maybe there was someone else who benefited from what happened and stayed out of sight."

Dane shook his head.. "If someone had been waiting all these years for revenge, why wait until now?"

"That’s what I don’t understand."

"And Keisha was under your protection for years. Nothing happened to her until now. It’s a wild assumption."

I looked toward the door. "You’re right. But I don’t want to dismiss it. Adrian has been bugging me in my head about it and I’m going crazy."

Dane studied me before speaking more carefully. "Never mind, we’ll find out. But Callum? We can’t start accusing ghosts because we don’t have answers in the present."

I gave him a tired look. "Yeah, I know."

Dane stood and gathered the folder.. "I’ll keep Vera under observation. If anything changes, you’ll hear about it immediately."

"Do that.". He started toward the door, but I stopped him. "Dane."

He turned. "Yes?"

"Ensure someone is still on Keisha’s tail at all times."

Dane nodded and left the hall, and I remained where I was, staring at the empty doorway. I wanted to believe Dane was right. I wanted to believe the past was exactly where it belonged and that whatever was happening now had nothing to do with the night Keisha lost her father.

But what if the enemies I thought were dead were simply lurking around like ghosts?