Rejected, Abused, I Fall for the Forbidden Alpha (by Riley Scott) novel Chapter 66

Chapter 66

Raven POV

“Damien, you sounded quite,” Aeress tilted her head and eyed him warily, “frantic on the phone. Is something the matter?”

Alpha Daxton is noticeably absent. It’s just the three of us in the living room. Damien’s breathing is shallow, and he’s holding a file in his hand, tapping it on his knee over and over again. His eyes slide to me. There’s a strange glint in his eyes. I shift awkwardly on the seat, feeling nervous for some inexplicable reason. The tension in the air is thick in comparison to the last time we visited, when the atmosphere was lively and cheerful, except for Hade’s contribution. I swallow hard, avoiding his gaze, wondering what has him so worked up.

“Raven, what exactly do you know about your family?” he asked quietly, barely containing his anger.

I frowned at him. “Just that my father is dead and my mother is…” I’m not sure how to phrase it.

I don’t want to make things awkward. It’s not like I was the only one with a painful childhood. Others had it much worse than me. Besides which, I don’t want to give my mother’s identity away, not without a

damn good reason.

It feels like a violation somehow. But his gaze is intense, and he’s not about to give up.

“I have to know. Trust me, there’s a very good reason,” he rasped.

“My mother isn’t the nicest person in the world,” I shrugged, pretending not to be affected, “but that hardly concerns you now, does it?”

I try so hard to be nonchalant, but the sharp look on his face almost takes my breath away. He’s angry. He’s more than angry, and I can’t work out why.

“Please,” his voice is thick with emotion, “just one look. I swear on my life, I would never do anything to hurt you. I couldn’t possibly.”

I believe him. I slowly pick up the file in my hand. It’s thin. A simple beige colour. It feels light in my hand. I open it, laying it on my lap and slowly scan it. My eyes widen in disbelief.

Woman subject is a 99.9 % match to Damien Shadow and Daxton Shadow, consistent with being a blood relative and a familial match.

A DNA test. How was it relevant to me? Suspicions begin to form inside my mind. I feel sick. This couldn’t be true, but if it was…then my entire world was about to collapse on me. Everything I knew, everything I had been told since I was a child was a lie.

“What does this mean? What woman?” I demand, looking wildly at him.

“It’s you, Raven. I took some of your hairs last time we met,” his eyes filled with guilt, “you just looked so much like my mother that I couldn’t help but wonder…I should have asked you,” he said breathing heavily, “but I had to know. It’s been driving me insane. I never expected, though, that the test would come back positive. We’ve always been hopeful before only to be disappointed. I could barely believe my eyes when this test was conclusive and turned out to be a match. All these years we’ve searched for you and now you’re here, right in front of me,” he breathed, “I just can’t believe it.”