"He's okay, right?" Ellie asked for the third time since leaving Level Six. Grant bent down and kissed her lips. "Yes, he is. Gidan checked in early for the night shift since Emeric is still recovering in the infirmary, and he will watch over Marjoram and Benji."
Grant knocked and Sebastian opened the door. He looked at Ellie, his eyes filled with concern. "Are you well?"
Ellie took a deep breath. "I'm getting better."
Sebastian leaned down. "I opened up one of Magnus' better bottles of white wine; let us go get you pleasantly blurred."
Ellie smiled and surprised Sebastian by kissing his cheek. "That sounds exactly like what I need."
Sebastian blushed deeply. "I will go get you a glass right away." He turned and hurried away toward the kitchen.
Grant shook his head. "I will let him be smitten with you since he feeds us."
They walked into the antechamber, and Grant steered her toward the small love seat. He loved that no one else would be able to sit close to his mate.
Magnus turned to her. "How are you holding up, my dear?"
She nodded her head. "Much better now. I've been replaying what happened all day in my head. I can't believe he came after me."
"Marjoram said she may have known who it was but could not be certain due to the...damage," Magnus said delicately.
"She's right. We did know him. It was my former boss Mr. Redly."
Magnus blinked. "Why on earth would he try to kill you?"
She was about to answer when Sebastian entered. He handed her a glass of wine. "This may help, dear."
"Thank you." She lifted the glass to her lips for a taste, and her eyes widened. "This is good." She took another long sip before she continued. "I was doing research into cellular regeneration. It's years away from being ready for any medical testing, but evidently an independent privately owned lab copied my formula to create a regenerative facial cream."
"Why kill you then?" Meryn asked.
Broderick sighed. "For the patent, am I right?"
She nodded. "If he killed me, then I wouldn't be around to sue for infringement. They'd be free to use the stolen formula." She shuddered. "He said he had killed before, but that his necklace kept others from knowing he was feral."
Elizabeth tapped on her chair arm. "I bet he was involved in more projects than just face cream," she mused.
Grant hated the thought that his mate had been around that killer day in and day out for years. He looked up when the door opened. Nigel and Neil walked in carrying a large laptop.
Meryn perked up. "Is it time?" They nodded. Meryn turned to him. "Don't hate me. But if it were me, I would want to know, and if I'd told you, you would have worked yourself into a tizzy, and after what happened to Ellie today that wouldn't have been cool. You probably wouldn't have shown up at all."
Grant's insides froze. For Meryn to be apologizing meant he wasn't going to like what was about to happen because she understood his anxiety better than anyone. "What did you do?"
"Meryn?" Aiden asked.
She ignored her mate and opened up the laptop before hooking it up to the large television. Moments later, a person appeared on the screen. Grant stood, snarling at the image.
"Hold your nuts!" Meryn said, setting the laptop on a stand so it faced the entire room.
"Is that him?" the male voice asked. Grant stopped mid-snarl. Though the man on the screen looked like his father, it didn't sound like him.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
When the male broke into an easy smile, Grant knew for sure it wasn't his father.
"Oh my gods, he could be your twin, except, you know, he's smiling," Ellie whispered.
The male nodded to someone off screen, and a familiar face appeared. "Mother?" he gasped.
"My baby boy! She said you were alive, but I dared not hope. Your father told me you were dead!" his mother broke down in front of him. He helplessly held out his hands to the screen. "Meryn, do something!"
"What? Invent teleportation? Try talking to her," she suggested.
"I have her Grant," the male said, wrapping an arm around his mother, holding her close.
"And who in the hell are you?"
"I'm your brother Grayson."
Grant felt his legs give out, and he fell back onto the love seat. "Brother?" Grant's vision swirled. "You have to get away! You can come here!" He surged to his feet.
"Grant! Easy brother, he can't hurt us anymore," Grayson said, his eyes hardening so much he now looked exactly like him.
Grant froze. "What?"
Grayson straightened his back and met Grant's eyes. "I killed him nearly two hundred years ago and took over the pack."