The Dark Side Of Fate

~Sylvester~

Tamia woke me up from sleep, and I realised it was nighttime. I must have fallen asleep while resting.

"Sleeping," she teased, and I managed to sit in bed.

"Where are you going?" I asked, noticing she was in her casual outfit.

"You do not expect me to go to dinner in my nightwear,” she said, and I looked at the clock.

It was seven-thirty. I managed to get off the bed to get ready for dinner.

"Were you with Nicole all the while?" I asked her while I changed my clothes because I had slept in the ones I had on.

"No. I went to see Amanda. Learned a lot of things and then had tea with my friends. Nicole joined us during tea, but they will have dinner in our former dining room. I did not want awkwardness there, and besides, we have an operation to discuss,” She pointed out, and I nodded.

"What did you learn from Amanda?" I asked her, and she sighed.

"Well, for starters, I have a flash drive she claims has the names of all Ramsey's associates,” she said, and I looked at her, leaving my shirt unbuttoned. She showed me the drive in her hand and giggled. "How?" I asked her.

"According to her and Annika, she has been lying to her father. She knew he would find out soon, so she took an insurance policy to make sure he left her alone when he found out. She hid it in Leo's bag. I sent Wilson to get the bag, and I asked Leo to hand it over to me. This is it," she said, grinning, and I buttoned up my shirt and went to her.

I took the drive from her while kissing her. There was peace and giddiness in me.

"It is all strange. Why didn't she give it to Leo before he brought her here?" I asked her, and she shrugged.

"I thought as much, too, but right now, we need all the information we can get,” Tamia said, and I sighed.

"Can we trust what she has?" I asked Tamia, and she shrugged.

"Trust is a strong word when it comes to Amanda. But we can check it out and see if she is telling the truth. I also released her silver bracelet and had two maids attend to her,” she said, and I was a bit uncomfortable.

"Don't you think you jumped the gun there?" I asked, and she shook her head.

"She is still under lock and key. I just wanted her to be comfortable because of her condition. We can't rule out the part where she fed her father information. Whether they were lies or not, the man almost succeeded.” She said, and I understood her point.

"Have you checked the files?" I asked her, and she shook her head.

"I was going to leave that bit for you," She said, and I was too eager to check it out.

The drive would need studying. We would have to spend a whole day figuring out the information on the drive.

"We will still carry out our plan, and then we will arrest the remaining people some other time. That is if they do not go into hiding by then,” Tamia said, and as hard as it was to admit, she had spoken the truth. There was so little we could do between tonight and the next day.

"How did you get her to give it to you?" I asked her, and her smile faded.

"She claims she is like us, trying to survive her father. Too bad Leo isn't willing to give her a chance,” She said, and I knew she felt bad about it.

"Let's not conclude. She is Leo's mate, and he knows her more than us. We can't rule out that she had all the opportunity to come clean about her father's schemes to her mate, and she kept silent. Ramsey wouldn't have been able to do anything to Leo. He is your ex, and you know him better than everyone. He might like peace, but he isn't a weak man. I am sure there is more to their problem, but I doubt Leo wants her back. Even his wolf hates her.

I have never seen something like it where fated mates are concerned. However rare it may be, fated mates don't hate each other. Leo's wolf detests her. He does not even want to speak her name. Let's survive this and see where it takes them, but I doubt there would be reconciliation between them," I said, and she smiled.

I put the drive in my pocket and buttoned up the rest of my shirt before we headed out.

I noticed my mother was absent when we got to the dining room. When I learned she was having dinner with David and his family, I was glad she had decided to try to know the guy. Dominic was with us, and I suspected he had not checked on David. I did not bring it up but let it go.

We discussed the drive Amanda had given us, and I deliberately thanked Leo for letting his mate help us even though I knew he had no say in it. He warned us not to trust her, and the feeling was mutual. We just wanted peace so we could get on with our lives.

I also noticed Leo did not like that I referred to Amanda as his mate. But that was precisely what she was, whether he liked it or not. It was easy for the guy to forget his role in messing his marriage up and blame it on the woman. I was glad Tamia was out of their mess.

"My daughter has been brought to the north. She doesn't know what is happening yet. Her brother brought her. I do not know if we would be arresting her or if she should be brought to the mansion immediately,” Jake Brighton said, and I knew it was a difficult thing to do.

"Tell Donald to bring her here. Make it seem like we are having a party. The rest would be taken care of.” I said, and though it was eight thirty, I knew they could arrive before ten

I was looking forward to our activities in Lucland. Questioning Iris would have to take a back seat even though I wanted to punish her for poisoning Tamia and almost killing her and my unborn child.

The rest of the dinner went quietly, and I advised Dominic to try and see David.

He protested, claiming he wanted to rest because of our activities the next day. That was when I decided to explain something to him.

"You won't be making the arrests with us,” I said, and he frowned at me

"I do not have to be an Alpha breed to be useful, Sylvester. I am your big brother, and I have a stake in this too." He protested, and I shook my head

"No one said you won't be doing anything. In fact, you will be doing much. You will help us keep up our appearance and remain at the arena for the party of the medalists. One of us has to be there. The cups will be presented before the closing ceremony the day after tomorrow, but there will be a party for the medalists after the games tomorrow. I need you there." I said, and he shook his head. "Mother can do it," He protested, and I looked at him.

"We both know our mother isn't cut out for things like that, neither are we, but we must do it. It is part of our duty and a sign of respect and gratitude to our people. A Volkov has to be there,” I said, and he bowed his head. He really wanted in on the action

"Okay, Sylvester. I will remain at the arena, but I must be a part of the interrogation,” He said, and I nodded.

"Of course, you will be. The arrests would be silent. There will be no interrogation, so it is quick. I just hope none of them would fight back,” I said, and he smiled.

"As long as no one tips them off, they won't fight back. It would be too sudden for them to even consider it,” Dominic said, making a valid point.

I hoped an unknown informant would not ruin our carefully planned arrest. Those people were too resourceful. The fact that they did not have an army made this more of a mental war, and they were brilliant.

Tamia and I returned to our room to sleep. I wanted Tamia to avoid following me to the arena for security purposes. I could not risk it if they planned to assassinate people with guns. It was one battle Tamia was going to lose with me. There was no way I would let her go. So I decided to occupy her with Iris's questioning.

The thought of the gun assassination baffled me. It felt odd, but I wasn't going to dismiss it.

The moment I laid down, sleep returned. Knight and I needed all the rest we could get because tomorrow would be a very long day.