Chapter 102: LOVE TRULY WAS BLIND

Chapter 103

Ren

"A year ago, if I’d found out you’d been anywhere near that house, if I’d learned what you’re telling me right now under any other circumstances, I would not be sitting on this bench having a conversation with you.

I would have locked you somewhere with no light and no visitors, the same way I did my own sister, and I would have taken my time deciding what came after that." Her breath caught audibly.

"But I met Lumi," I continued, quieter now. "And she made me a better man than the one I used to be. I swore to her, and to myself, that I’d try to lead with something other than my fists from now on.

So I’m giving you a chance most people in your position would never get from me.

One chance. You help me find him, and we end this the right way. Or you don’t, and I go back to being exactly the kind of man I promised her I’d stop being. You already know what happens to people who make me break a promise, Priya. Ask my sister." I could feel her fear in the way her hands were shaking uncontrollably.

"That’s not a threat," I added, watching her eyes widen. "I need you to hear that clearly. I’m not threatening you. I’m telling you the truth, the same way you just told me yours. What you do with it is entirely up to you."

She sat there for a long moment, her hands pressed flat against her knees, staring out at the empty swing set swaying slightly in the evening wind, and when she finally looked back at me, something in her had settled, some decision made and locked into place.

"I’ll show you where he is," she said.

"Tell me the address," I said, already reaching for my phone. "I’ll have people there within the hour."

"No." She shook her head, standing up from the bench, pulling her coat tighter around herself.

"I’ll take you there myself. He’s careful, Ren. He moves. If your men show up asking questions at an address I give you secondhand, he’ll be gone before they get through the front door.

I know how he thinks now. I know what spooks him. Let me take you there directly, and I promise you, we won’t lose him this time."

I studied her for a long moment, weighing the risk of it, weighing everything she’d just handed me against everything I still didn’t know about her.

But there was something in her face I recognized. The same thing I’d seen in my own reflection every single night since I’d carried Lumi out of that house half-alive in my arms.

The look of someone who had finally decided which side of this they were standing on, and meant to prove it.

"Fine," I said. "We go together. Tonight."

She nodded once, and for the first time since I’d sat down beside her, she didn’t look like a woman drowning in her own guilt.

She looked like a woman ready to finish something.

We took my truck.

Priya sat in the passenger seat with her knees pulled tightly together, her hands folded in her lap like a condemned prisoner waiting for the executioner’s axe to fall.

The silence inside the car was deafening, broken only by the low hum of the engine and the rhythmic slap of the windshield wipers pushing away a sudden, thin drizzle.

I pulled up to the curb two blocks down from the old industrial district near the docks. The rain glistened off the cracked pavement, reflecting the sickly yellow glow of the streetlights.

"Which building?" I asked, my voice flat.

"The brick one at the end of the alley," she whispered, pointing a trembling finger toward a dilapidated three-story warehouse.

"The old shipping office. The sign out front says Vanguard Logistics, but the company closed down years ago. He told me he was staying on the second floor, in the back offices."

I studied the building through the rain-streaked window. It was dark, save for a faint, barely perceptible amber glow seeping through the edges of a boarded-up window on the upper level.

I reached into my pocket, pulled out my phone, and dialed Darren.

"We’re outside," I said the second he picked up. "South docks, old Vanguard Logistics building. Send Julian and four of our best men to lock down the perimeter. No sirens. No lights. If anyone tries to leave through the fire escapes or the alley, break their legs and pin them down."

"Copy that," Darren replied, his voice grave. "We’re five minutes out. Ren... keep your head on. Remember what Neve said. We need him alive to tear down Callum’s legal immunity."

"I know what I’m doing." I hung up and threw the phone onto the dashboard.

I turned to look at Priya. The sight of her terrified, tear-streaked face almost made me feel a flicker of pity, but the lingering memory of Lumi’s motionless body on that hospital bed instantly froze my heart back to stone.

"You stay in the truck," I commanded.

"Ren, please," she choked out, grabbing my forearm. "If he sees you coming alone, he’ll fight. He’s desperate. He thinks he’s already won because he got away from the pack house."

"He hasn’t won anything," I said, peeling her fingers off my jacket. "Lock the doors from the inside. If I’m not back out in twenty minutes, call Darren."

I stepped out of the truck and shut the door softly behind me. The cool night air hit my lungs, bringing with it the sharp, metallic tang of the nearby ocean and the stale scent of diesel fuel.

Deep within my chest, the wolf stirred, stretching its claws, eager for the hunt. I forced it down, forcing myself to remain cold, methodical, and precise.

I knew I shouldn’t be here because he might be waiting for me and might have set a trap. But I didn’t care.

He almost killed her, so he must pay. Even if it’s the last thing I do on earth.

But it won’t be the last thing because there’s someone waiting for me to come home. She’s my strength and the reason I’m doing all these.

I kept to the shadows of the alley, my boots making no sound against the wet road.

The heavy iron door at the rear of the warehouse was rusted, its deadbolt half-hanging out of the frame.

It didn’t take more than a firm shoulder nudge to pop it open with a low, agonizing creak that was swallowed by the ambient patter of the rain.

I slipped inside, stepping into total darkness.

The air was heavy with the smell of damp drywall, mold, and rot. I eased up the concrete staircase, every muscle in my body coiled tight, my hearing dialed into the faint sound of footsteps overhead.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Pacing. A man pacing back and forth on dusty hardwood.

I reached the top of the stairs and pushed open the heavy push-bar door. A narrow corridor stretched out before me, illuminated only by the warm light spilling through a cracked wooden door at the far end.

I didn’t bother hiding my approach anymore. I walked straight down the center of the hallway, my heavy footsteps echoing off the peeling wallpaper.

Inside the room, the pacing stopped abruptly.

I didn’t knock. I kicked the door flat off its hinges.

It splintered inward with a deafening crash, hitting the floor and sending a cloud of dust into the air.

A man whipped around from behind a battered oak desk, his hand diving into the pocket of his heavy trench coat.

He was older, his graying hair matted with sweat, his eyes bloodshot and wild with the cornered panic of a hunted animal.

Lumi’s father.

"Don’t move," I said, stepping into the light, my voice dropping into a low rumble that vibrated through the floorboards.

He froze, his fingers still hooked around whatever was inside his pocket. A slow, sickening smile spread across his weathered face, though it didn’t reach his frantic eyes.

"Ren," he rasped, coughing slightly. "The grand Alpha himself. I was wondering how long it would take Priya to break. Weak girl. Just like her mother."

"Hands where I can see them," I said, taking a single, deliberate step forward. "Right now."

"Or what?" He sneered, slowly drawing his hand out of his pocket to reveal a small, silver velvet box, holding it close to his chest like a shield.

"You’ll kill me? You can’t touch me, boy. Callum has the legal court orders. The boy is already out of your reach, and the moment I press one button on my phone, every document proving Lumi’s mental instability goes straight to the city press."

I looked at the silver box in his hands, then up at his face. He actually believed he held the power here.

He actually believed that laws, paperwork, and threats could shield him from what he had done to my mate.

"You think this is about paperwork?" I asked softly, taking another step.

"I know how your kind operates!" he shouted, his composure snapping as he took a step back, hitting the edge of the window.

I almost scoffed at his words. My kind? Has he lived amongst humans that he has forgotten he is a werewolf too.

The lowest of them all. Looking at him, I wonder what Lumi mom saw in someone like him.

A strong Lycan, mating with the weakest werewolf.

Love truly was blind.