"What the hell is this?" Dimitri said, angrily.
He tried to get up but both Heath and Cason kept him on his knees.
There was a time when I thought of Dimitri as my friend. Maybe in a different life we would have been together. All of that was gone now. I only felt anger towards him.
"The last time I saw you my dad was being killed." I crossed my arms. "Where have you been hiding?"
"What do you want from me, Chloe?"
"I just want to talk."
"And you had to send your bodyguards to jump me?" He spat.
"They saw an opportunity and they took it." I shrugged. "The least you can do is talk after plotting to kill my dad, don't you think?"
"I warned you to stay away from Vincent." Dimitri made a face. "It's not my fault you didn't listen."
I growled. "That's how you decide to clean your conscience?"
"Just tell me what you want so we can get this over with."
Get him up and sit him down on the couch.
Heath and Cason both nodded dragging Dimitri to the living room and had him sitting down on the couch. Tessa trailed behind me and stood in a protective stance next to me. I didn't think Dimitri would try to hurt me but Tessa was ready for anything.
"Leave us." I told Heath and Cason. "Make sure no one comes near this house. If you see Vincent, distract him."
"Yes, Alpha." They both nodded.
Heath and Cason both walked out of the house. Dimitri had an amused expression on his face, but it fell when he finally seemed to notice Tessa. I felt her move closer to me. I wasn't sure if it was out of fear, or if she thought Dimitri would try to hurt me.
Even though I knew I had to be cautious with Dimitri, I felt like he didn't have any fight left in him.
"Tessa, you're here. My uncle said you might have been taken by Wood Grove. He convinced everyone they had killed you but I knew Chloe would never let that happen."
"People believed that?" Tessa asked, not believing a word coming out of Dimitri's mouth.
"Doesn't matter if they do or not. No one is going to go against him right now. Not with a Council member freely roaming around. They're afraid for their lives. We all know what this means."
Tessa and I shared a look. Archer and Donovan knew exactly who I was and what that meant. They were keeping that from everyone else.
"Look, whatever it is you have planned please leave me out of it. I'm not getting involved in anything anymore. I've had enough."
"Dimitri, what about what you told me?"
"You told her that?!" He shouted, looking at her accusingly. "I didn't tell you that so you can open your big mouth."
"If you know Archer killed your parents then why aren't you doing something about it?" I asked.
"What am I supposed to do? Confront him? That turned out so well for my dad."
"What proof did you find?"
Dimitri looked down at the floor and wouldn't meet my eyes. I looked at Tessa and she shrugged. He hadn't shared that but if information with her.
"I know Donovan betrayed my dad. This was all Archer so please just tell me what proof you have. We have to make this stop and I will not allow them to drag my dad name anymore."
Dimitri stuck his hand in his pockets and pulled out something. He held it tightly in his hand and then opened it up for us to see. There was a ring in his han. A thick silver band. He tossed it to me and I easily caught it.
I inspected the band and saw that there was an overlapping symbol on it. When I looked closer I could see it was just two S'. I looked at Dimitri confused.
"Is this supposed to mean something?"
"My uncle had a matching band like that one. He and my dad were really close. Vincent and I have the same one. After out parents died Vincent never wore it again but I know where it is. I have both and always wear them."
He pulled out a chain from under his shirt and hanging off of it were two rings that were slightly smaller but looked similar.
"Okay..."
"The day our parents died was when my dad ring went missing. It was a family thing. Vincent assumes your dad took it, but I found it in my uncles things along with your packs records. Important document and information only Alpha's and their closest have access to."
"Wait, you're saying that Archer took this from your father the day he killed him?"
"We asked him about it but denied seeing it. He supported Vincent's assumptions."
"This isn't much proof to go on."
"At least it's something." Tessa said. "Maybe Vincent needs to see that so he can see what kind of a man Archer is."
I sighed heavily and sat down next to Dimitri. I didn't miss how he moved just the slightest bit away from me.
"Dimitri, did you look at the records that belonged to my dad?" I asked.
"I-I saw."
"What did it say about me?"
"There were two copies of the records kept on pack members. One had your name and the other was blank. Your family bloodline ended with Alpha Blane. The one with your name had your moms lineage. You're...you're a Grimaldi."
"I'm what?"
"Your mom came from the Elders of the Grimaldi family. That's who you really are."
"Holy shit." Tessa gasped. "You're kidding, right?"
"Am I missing something here?"
"The Grimaldi family are made of deadly wolves. They're vicious and brutal. If there is one wolf you should be scared of it's a Grimaldi. I've never seen one in person, but the stories are enough to give you nightmares. They sometimes always make up the Guard." Dimitri explained.
"The guard protects the Elders." I said trying to rack my brain for information from my history lessons.
"You belong to that family. I don't know why your mom left but I'm sure they wouldn't miss the opportunity to get you back if they knew about you."
All these years I thought my dad didn't want me with him. I thought it was too hard for him to have me close when I reminded him of my mom. He wasn't just trying to keep me safe from Archer, but also from the Elders. It wasn't because he didn't love me. Before he died I was sure those would have been his last words. That he loved me.
"Dimitri, one of my pack members was attacked yesterday. Kyle is still missing and people are trying to kill me. You have to help me."
"Chloe..."
"Dimitri." Tessa snapped. "This is getting out of hand. Don't just sit back and do nothing. This is something you can't get away from."
"Tess is right. You can pretend all you want but this involves you."
He was quiet again and I wish I could just shake some sense into him. Without knowing it I had already forgiven him. Vincent hurt me the most because I loved him so much, but he was being manipulated. We were all played so well by people we trusted.
"It was me."
I looked up at him confused. Dimitri's eyes were staring right into mine. He had the same eyes as Vincent and I bet they got it from their dad.
"When you first got here I was the one taunting you. After what happened to Maya I sent you the videos and it's because of me that she died. I was sure that I had to do it. My uncle filled me with so much hatred and I felt like I was letting my parents if I didn't do something about it."
My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach. The phone calls, the videos, Maya being marked. It was all Dimitri. He was tormenting me to get some revenge. My friend was dead because of him.
"That was you?"
"You didn't deserve it and Maya didn't deserve to die because of me. We did it all to hurt you and to get to you. I had my part and I regret it."
"You tried to turn Maya?"
"She would have never turned. Only Elders can turn humans that don't have the gene." Tessa whispered.
Tears spilled down my cheeks. Maya was dead because she was simply my friend and was an easy way to hurt me.
"Every day I wake up feeling like crap because I did have my part in all of this and in others I did nothing. I just stood there and watched. My mother and father would have been disappointed in me if they could see how far I had fallen."
"Then do something to change it. If not for me then for them. Fight with me and help me save our packs. We can't change the past now. We can only try to fix the broken pieces that were left behind for us."
"What will you even do, Chloe? If you kill my uncle will that make you any better."
"I'm nothing like him. I would never kill someone like he did."
"You're telling me you don't want revenge?"
"Of course I want Archer to pay for what he has done to me, but I also want him to pay for what he did to Tessa. I want him to pay for what he made you do and I want him to pay for making Vincent into the person he is. This is not revenge for just me."
"I'm sorry for what I did." There was so much hurt in his eyes that I had to look away.
"Show me you're sorry, don't just say it."
"I've seen the Council member lurking around. I can try to find him and bring him to you. At least tell him who you are."
"Really?"
"I'm on your side here, Chloe. I really am sorry and nothing I can say or do will ever make up for it."
I gave him a small smile. "This seems like a pretty good start."
"It won't be easy but I'll try. If he hasn't made a move it's because he's accessing the situation. Probably trying to decide what's the better way to deal with us all."
"That can't be a good sign." Tessa shook her head and was deep in thought.
"They haven't done anything yet, that's a good thing." I said.
"It only means they're deciding how big of an army they need to take us all down if they have to."