CHAPTER 155: CHAPTER 155 HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT

Draven’s POV

I was sitting in Ryan’s living room, feeling confused.He’d just told me they found the woman from the masquerade ball three years ago, but I didn’t get why he was so urgent.

"And?" I shrugged dismissively. "That mystery woman doesn’t matter to me anymore. I thought you had news about where Caroline is."

Ryan looked over at Alpha Arthur. The room felt heavy with tension.

"Alpha,"Ryan said carefully, "Remember when you fired Carrie,and I asked our investigator to look into her?"

"Yes?"I still confused.

"Carrie is very honest and trustworthy. But the investigator discovered something." He looked at Nate. "He found out who Liam’s father is."

"No way? Seriously?" Nate was surprised. "Man, I never spoke to Carrie or Elle, but I tried to find this guy when Carrie got pregnant and couldn’t. Who is it?"

"Hold on," I stared at Ryan blankly. "What are you talking about? Why suddenly mention Liam’s father?What does Caroline have to do with the masquerade ball?"

"Everything," Ryan replied. "Alpha Arthur and I got the investigation report almost at the same time. It’s about the woman you’ve been searching for. They found her."

I looked at Ryan, unsure if I should feel relieved to have found the woman or worried that Liam’s father might want his son back.

"Caroline Bennett is the woman you met at the masquerade ball three years ago. And Liam... Liam is your son."

The world around me seemed to stop.I couldn’t breathe.I couldn’t think.

Alaric howled inside me.That’s why he’d been so drawn to both Caroline and Liam from the beginning.

"That’s impossible,"I whispered, though I knew it was true.Everything suddenly made sense. Liam’s violet eyes that matched mine perfectly. The strange connection I’d felt with him. The way he seemed comfortable with me from our first meeting.

"The night Draven’s parents died, he met a woman at the masquerade ball. He stepped away briefly to take a call and received some news.When he came back, she was gone. He searched the entire ballroom but couldn’t find her. He spent three years looking for her. Well, you know the rest of the story," Ryan explained to Nate.

"I still don’t get it," Kyle said nervously.

"What we didn’t know," Ryan continued, "was that Caroline met Liam’s father at that same masquerade ball."

"Caroline is the woman Alpha Draven has been searching for.”

The room fell silent. Ryan handed me two reports. One was the detective’s investigation on Caroline. The other was about the mysterious woman from the ball.

When I finished reading, I looked around. Everyone’s eyes were filled with tears,they were as shocked as I was.

"It’s her, Ryan!" I said, grabbing the photo from the detective’s report. "It’s her! I’ve been searching for her for so long! And I’m Liam’s father! I’m his father!" I choked on the words.

"She never knew who you were," Ryan explained gently. "According to our sources in Maplewood, she told everyone she never saw the father’s face because of the masks. She didn’t know it was you, Draven."

Nate jumped up from his seat, his face a mix of shock and joy. "Holy shit! This is... this is incredible! I have to tell Elle."

I looked at Kyle. She was clearly nervous. I remembered the whispered conversations she had with Ava in the office last time.

"Now, Kyle,I want to know what happened to Caroline.Why did she suddenly leave?"I demanded, wanting the truth.

"Moon Goddess, Alpha Draven!" Kyle cursed. "I shouldn’t be telling you this. She’ll kill me."

"Kyle, you better tell him. After all,Draven is Caroline’s mate and the father of the child. She’s going to find out sooner or later. It’s best to explain so Draven knows how to handle it," Joseph said, placing a hand on Kyle’s arm.

Kyle sighed and looked at me, as if weighing her words.

"Remember the day you and Carrie were in the elevator?" Kyle asked.

"Of course, that was the last time I was with her," I confirmed.

"Well, she’s pregnant, Alpha Draven," Kyle said, and I felt the world stop spinning again.

"What? Pregnant?" Ryan and Joseph asked in unison.

"I’m going to be a dad again? Really?" I said, tears welling up once more.

"Yes, but Carrie is very fragile, and her hormones are all over the place. That’s why we’re worried about her," Kyle explained.

Nate’s head snapped around. "Pregnant? What are you talking about?"

"Wait," Nate said as he pulled out his phone. "Eleanor knew about this and didn’t tell me? What am I, some security risk?" He frantically began typing a message. "Is my mate seriously keeping secrets this big from me? We are going to have words when I find her."

My head was spinning."She’s pregnant with my child and she left... Why wouldn’t she tell me? Why would she just disappear?"

"Because you’re engaged to that walking scarecrow," Kyle said.

I stood up abruptly."I need to find her. Now. I need to explain everything, make her understand that I’ve been looking for her all this time."

"Alpha Draven," Clara said, "we need to handle this carefully. Caroline is pregnant, probably scared, and has no clue about any of this."

"She thinks I rejected her," I realized, horror washing over me. "She thinks I don’t want her or Liam, when I’ve actually been looking for them for years."

Alpha Arthur spoke up. "Draven, maybe we should..."

He was interrupted by Ryan’s phone ringing. Ryan answered quickly, listened for a moment, then looked up at me with wide eyes.

"They’ve found her," he announced. "Airport security just confirmed that Caroline Bennett and Eleanor Larson landed at Harbor Bay International thirty minutes ago. They’re back in the city."

My heart raced. My mate and my son were back,and they had no idea that I now knew the truth. I needed to find them before they disappeared again, before Caroline could slip away from me once more.

"Where would they go?" I demanded, already heading for the door.

"Eleanor’s place," Nate suggested, right behind me.

"Then that’s where we’re going," I declared.

I was going to find my family. And this time, I wasn’t letting them go.