Chapter 275 The First Clue

Chapter 275: Chapter 275 The First Clue

A little before noon, Barry showed up at Alpha Killian’s top-floor office at Sterling Tower. Susan was already there, standing beside the windows with a sealed file open in her hands.

"Small world," Barry said, dropping onto the leather sofa.

"Afternoon, Dr. Wood."

He gave her a quick nod and leaned forward.

"I went through Miss Gwen’s old intake records. One detail keeps bothering me. When the orphanage found Eira, she was wrapped in a baby blanket made for a boy."

Susan looked up. "A boy?"

"Blue wool. Hand-stitched. High-end fabric." Barry rubbed his jaw. "Not something an average family would buy on a whim."

Susan’s expression sharpened. "What was Eira’s recorded birth date?"

Alpha Killian gave it to her.

For a moment, she said nothing.

"That year," she murmured.

Alpha Killian’s gaze narrowed. "What about it?"

Susan closed the file."That was the year the Pack Council strengthened protections for abandoned pups. Before that, powerful families could make scandals disappear. Leaving a newborn behind was shameful, but rarely treated as a crime."

Barry leaned forward. "So whoever left her may have been trying to avoid the new law?"

"Maybe." Susan closed the file halfway. "But the date doesn’t prove that. Neither does the blanket. It only tells us Eira may have come from a family with money, connections, or both."

Susan thought for a moment.

"Then we start with old business families. Political families would have had more to lose, but they would also leave more paperwork behind. Campaign records, medical files, Pack registries. Secrets rarely stay clean when that many people are involved."

"So we’re looking for a powerful family that had a baby girl disappear from its records," Barry said.

"Not necessarily disappear," Susan corrected. "She could have been placed somewhere under a false name. Or handed off quietly before the birth was officially registered."

Alpha Killian had said nothing. His eyes remained fixed on Eira’s date of birth.

Barry glanced at him. "Is Eira looking for her birth parents?"

"No."

The answer came too quickly.

Susan and Barry exchanged a brief look.

Alpha Killian’s voice hardened. "Neither of you tells her about this. Not yet."

"Killian—"

"We have a blanket and a date. That’s not a family tree." He closed the file. "When we find names, records, and something solid, then we decide what she deserves to know."

Susan studied him before nodding.

Barry leaned back. "Where do we start?"

"Old business dynasties," Alpha Killian said. "Quietly. No rumors, no digging that leaves a trail."

--

Across town, Alpha Henry sat in the back of a black SUV with a slim dossier open across his knees.

Serena Winthrop’s résumé looked polished at first glance. Respectable grades. A prestigious family. A handful of overseas publications.

But the substance was thin. Her academic record was passable, not exceptional. Without the Winthrop name behind her, she would never have come close to the Sovereign Processor Initiative.

"Any update on the lawsuit?" Alpha Henry asked.

Yale glanced down at his tablet. "It was a civil property case. The court rejected Serena’s investment agreement and ordered her to return the disputed funds and traceable assets. She was named as a third-party respondent. The plaintiff was Eira Crawford."

Alpha Henry looked up.

"That name again."

Yale pulled up the case summary and forwarded the link. "Eira is also listed as the lead engineer on the Sovereign Processor Initiative."

The photograph loaded.

Eira stood beneath the project banner beside Alpha Killian, dressed in a simple dark suit and rimless glasses. Her expression was composed, her posture straight.

Alpha Henry stopped breathing for half a second.

The shape of her eyes. The line of her mouth. The quiet, guarded look in her face.

It wasn’t an exact match to the woman in his memory. But it was close enough to make his pulse jump.

"She looks like her," he said quietly.

Yale turned toward him. "That’s what struck me yesterday. I only caught a few seconds of her face, but I had the same reaction."

Alpha Henry stared at the screen.

"Do you think she could be the child?"

"I don’t know." Yale’s voice lowered. "A resemblance isn’t proof."

"Her background?"

"Limited. Eira was abandoned as an infant and raised in a group home. Her original records are sealed or incomplete."

Alpha Henry’s gaze sharpened.

Yale continued, "She has government clearance through the processor project. We can’t start pulling sealed files or digging into protected records without a legitimate reason. If you want answers, we need to approach her properly."

"Through Killian?"

"Or Lila Sterling."

Alpha Henry closed the dossier.

"Make it happen."

By four that afternoon, Alpha Henry and Yale were parked across from Sterling Tower. They had chosen a public street, well away from the entrance.

Even so, Yale kept glancing at the security cameras above the glass doors.

Employees streamed onto the sidewalk as the workday ended.

Then a slim woman stepped through the revolving doors.

Alpha Henry caught only a brief glimpse of her profile before a sedan pulled up and blocked his view.

The windows were clear, but the angle gave him little more than a blurred silhouette.

He leaned toward the windshield.

A moment later, Alpha Killian emerged and climbed into the same car.

"Follow them," Alpha Henry said.

Yale caught his arm. "No. If anyone notices us tracking a woman with government access, we could trigger a security investigation before we know what we’re dealing with."

The sedan disappeared into traffic.

Alpha Henry watched the taillights fade.

After a long silence, he asked, "Do you think she’s the one?"

Yale chose his words carefully.

"Maybe. Or maybe we’re seeing what we want to see. People can look alike."

Alpha Henry kept his eyes on the empty street.

"Maybe," he said.

But the resemblance had already lodged beneath his skin.

--

The sedan turned onto Ashford Lane and stopped outside Number 10.

Eira glanced through the windshield. "Why are we in Lila’s car?"

Alpha Killian didn’t even blink. "Because this is the only vehicle registered with Ashford Lane’s security system."

"That’s not what I meant."

He knew exactly what she meant. Why was he driving his sister’s car, and did Lila know?

Lila, apparently, had no idea.

Alpha Killian led Eira up the concrete steps toward the newly renovated house.

His phone buzzed.

He declined the call.

It rang again.He declined it again.

Eira gave him a sideways look. "You’re not going to answer?"

A third call lit up the screen. Alpha Killian sighed and accepted it, immediately lowering the volume and holding the phone well away from his ear.

Lila’s voice still filled the entryway.

"You absolute jerk!"

Alpha Killian’s expression remained perfectly calm.

"My own brother stole my car?" Lila shouted. "You couldn’t even ask? You are so dead, Killian. Do you hear me? Dead!"

Eira pressed her lips together.

"Lila, I needed a car."

"You have three cars!"

"They weren’t available."

"You took mine without asking!"

"I’m bringing it back."

"You’d better bring it back with a full tank, no scratches, and a decent apology. And don’t think your scary Alpha stare is going to get you out of this!"

Alpha Killian glanced at Eira, who was making a heroic effort not to laugh.

"Anything else?" he asked.

"Yes. Don’t touch the seat settings. I finally got them right."

"I won’t."

"And stay out of the glove box."

Alpha Killian paused. "Why?"

"Because it’s none of your business!"

He ended the call before she could continue.

For a moment, the entryway was quiet.

Then Eira looked at him. "You stole your sister’s car?"

"Borrowed."

"Without asking."

"I was in a hurry."

"That’s what thieves say."

The corner of his mouth lifted. "Are you calling me a thief, Rae?"

"I’m calling you reckless."

"Careful. You’re standing in my stolen vehicle."

Eira finally laughed, soft and bright.

Alpha Killian watched her, his expression easing as the sound filled the empty house.