PARIS's POV

"A conversation with me?" Jean asked, looking somewhat bemused


"Considering the fact that we don't like each other so much, I choose to believe this one could be important." he slowly rose, "alright then."

"Excuse me for a moment?" he said, turning to Ember and she nodded

"you go right ahead," she said, with a faint smile. I could tell she was doing her best to ignore me, but in spite of that, I could not just leave without a word,


"I was very worried, Ember. It's good to see you're okay." I said.

"Thank you," she said, and briefly looked at me, before turning away, so then I had no other choice but to turn to her date,


"right, let's step outside ?" I asked he turned to Ember as though seeking her permission, and I felt jealousy wrap around my neck like a vice. He had with Ember what I desired so much for myself, and watching them just so happened to be the hardest thing ever, if I was being honest with myself.

"Alright, so what exactly is this about?" jeans asked, when we got outside,

"Well, I was wondering if the men you'd taken as prisoners were finally awake?" I blurted out, and he was silent for a moment with a very faraway look before he finally shook his head,

"They haven't, and in as much as I want to get some information out of them, I truly doubt they will be waking up anytime," he replied stoically,

"And why is that? Why do you think they won’t be waking up anytime soon?"

"Because I roughened them up badly. I was trained for war, and I'm well aware of leaving a wolf with proper healing abilities with lasting injuries, and I was angry enough that day. So to be honest, I have reason to believe they will be in that infirmary for a long time. My only worry is that I might never discover the truth I want to know."

"The man in my custody is gone," I told him, and he raised a brow in what I believed was a surprise,

"He died?"

"if he died, at least I'd know where he was. No, I mean he is nowhere to be found. I woke up the next day after I took him captive and had a call that told me that he was no longer in his room. He simply vanished?"

"and there's no way to discover where he is? Were there no guards? No security cameras?"

How was I supposed to tell a man I considered my enemy that I felt like I had a mole in my pack?

"the security guards were taken down, and the security cameras were tampered with. I had no way of knowing at the moment." I said and felt my frustration,

"I guess you could say your security has been compromised," he said simply. I waited for the mockery that might ensue, but he said nothing else,

"I suppose you could say that. "

"Well, it's your pack, so I'll leave you alone to deal with that the very best you can. But then, as for the prisoner, I think it's only safe for me to add that, I don’t think the man got away on his own."

"Are you saying he was kidnapped?" I asked, and Jean shrugged,

"You can't tell me this is the first time you're considering it. c'mon, Paris, you're an intelligent man. Someone hires that man to hurt Ember. Perhaps that person is close to you. Said person realizes you brought one of them home after failing to hurt Ember. It's not really hard to see the bigger picture. Someone obviously doesn't want you to find out the truth. So they disable your guards, mess with your security cams, and take away the only person who can rat them out."

I considered his words carefully and had to see the reasoning in all that he said. It all made mighty sense to me.

"That's crazy," I said, running my hand through my hair, and Jean shrugged,

"Crazy, I agree. But you have to accept it for what it is, no sugarcoating it. That's why it's a hard truth. That man was too injured to have suddenly gotten up and done all of those things himself. Obviously. I wish my men could wake up though, if only for a moment, so they could tell me who is doing all of this. But, I have reason to believe this is all coming from your inner circle."

I had reason to believe that too, and that was why I didn't argue with him.

"If you were to ask me, I'd stop looking for him."

"And why is that?"

"because something tells me that you might actually be looking for a dead man."

EMBER'S POV

It was nearing the end of the banquet and Jean had been gone with Paris for so long. I still had one more speech to give before the end and did so before going ahead to look for Jean,

"Thank you all for gracing tonight's banquet with your presence, it means a lot. Please enjoy the rest of your night, and drive home safely. God bless."

After that, I literally had to fight the urge to race down the steps and was stopped by some women who wanted to engage me,

"Ms. Ember? Miss Ember!" they called, but I wasn't having it,

"I'm sorry, I'll be right back. If you don't find me, please write to me!" I called back, and just kept walking until I got to the entrance of the hall, and that's where I found Paris with a glass, but Jean was not with him,

"Ember," he said and began to smile when he saw me. He walked toward me, but I made it a point to turn in circles looking for Jean.

"Where is Jean?" I asked when he finally got closer,

"It hasn't been too long since we parted ways. But he did say something about his pack."

"his- well, okay. I'll just go find him." I said and began walking past, but Paris held me by my hand, making me take in a sharp breath,

"I've wanted to talk to you all night, but you've been avoiding me," he said, and so, I had no choice but to turn around and face him,

"I guess that could mean that I haven't had so much to say to you," I said, keeping my face void of expressions, and he ran a hand through his hair in a move that I knew to be frustrating.

"I know you're not my biggest fan, right now. But you need to believe me when I say I'm very grateful that you invited me. It was out of the blue, and was definitely what I needed."

"It was only right. You worked for this project to come to fruition as much as anybody else. It would have been unfair to not invite you when the rest of the team was gathered here."

"it might have been just though. I don’t think I deserve much of your kindness, not with everything I put you through."

And to that, I did not really have a reply.

"Well, like I said. The rest of the team is here. You are a part of the team."

"thanks. And about what I said earlier, about being worried, I did mean that. I was really worried. I may not be able to do much, but I am working actively to discover who sent them, I was actually on that before I saw your letter to this banquet. I've got a hitch, but I'm undeterred."

The fierceness I saw in his eyes squeezed at my heart and I had to close my eyes against it. It was unfair, really. He could hurt me again and again, but sometimes, all that was needed was a few words from him to have my senses taking flight once again. At least, now you see why I was so hell-bent on avoiding him.

"Jean's doing his best to discover who did it. You don't have to trouble yourself, Paris."

"Nothing I do for you seems like trouble, you have to believe that," he said and took my hand in his free hand. I looked down at our linked hands shook my head, and gently retrieved my hand from his hold.

"Paris, when are you going to understand that you and I have met a dead end? We have though, and this time around, I don’t plan on going back."