The Enemy of My Enemy – 1

Sebastian’s POV

My rage bubbled up fast, threatening to boil over. Despite Hawthorne’s assurances that Graves wasn’t a suspect, I hadn’t dismissed him. This guy had kidnapped Thea. Nobody does that without a twisted motive. Hawthorne’s explanation made no sense. If he truly didn’t want to hurt her, why kidnap her and force me to make an impossible choice?

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I growled.

His gaze swept over me, then scanned the others. Though everyone stood alert, he remained completely unfazed. The most dangerous thing about Graves was his sheer insanity. I was cold and dangerous, but Graves took that quality to a whole new level. He was a psychopath and a sociopath. Three of the region’s most powerful Alphas were gathered here, and he looked utterly unconcerned, as if he were in his own damn room.

“I’m here to see Thea. What the hell do you think I’m doing here? Coming to see your pathetic ass?” he asked with a wicked smile.

Gold flashed before my eyes; my wolf snarled, grinding his teeth. I clenched my fists, fighting to control him in the hospital. Thea was here, and I couldn’t let anything happen to her.

“You really think we believe you?” Damien asked. “You kidnapped her just a few months ago.”

He turned to my brother, his eyes radiating bone-chilling coldness, as if devoid of a soul. Maybe he was. Who knew?

“Honestly, I don’t give a fuck what any of you think, because I’m not here for any of you,” he said calmly. “Now tell me how she’s doing, or should I find her physician myself?”

His condescending tone infuriated me. I didn’t understand why he was even here. Why should I tell him anything? For all we knew, he could be the one who ordered…

He leered at me, then threw his head back and laughed, the sound echoing off the waiting room walls. When he stopped, his gaze locked onto mine.

“Trust me, if I wanted Thea dead, she’d be dead,” he said flatly.

“If you’re not behind this, why are you here? I don’t understand what her health has to do with you,” Seraphina spoke up.

His gaze left me, scanning the others before finally landing on someone behind me. I turned to see Sophia. His gaze lingered on her, almost fascinated; she seemed unable to look away. Finally, he visibly struggled to break the gaze.

He focused his attention on Seraphina. “She’s carrying my niece; of course, I care about her.”

The statement stunned us all. The guy had to be delusional. How could he be this pup’s uncle? As far as I knew, he had no blood relation to Thea, unless he was her long-lost brother.

“That’s—that’s impossible,” Iris stammered.

From Seraphina and Maximus’s reactions, Graves couldn’t possibly be their son. If what he said was true, his connection to the pup had to be through other means.

I studied him carefully, and it suddenly clicked.

“You’re Kane’s brother,” I stated, the similarities flashing through my mind.

“Bingo,” he replied.

“But how is that possible?” Seraphina whispered. “When we adopted Kane, we were told he had no other living relatives.”

“I was in another state at the time. I learned about Kane being in the foster system from one of my father’s underlings. I had them tamper with his records to make it look like our father was his only living relative,” he paused. “Like I told Thea, I wanted him to have a chance at a normal life. So I gave him that chance. I didn’t want him becoming a criminal.”

“Yet he still ended up in prison,” I said sarcastically.

He smiled, a smile that wasn’t cold; it was almost warm.

“Thea said the same thing.”

We were silent for a moment until Maximus spoke.

“From your tone, it sounds like you’ve been in contact with my daughter.”

“I wouldn’t say ‘contact’… we’ve been corresponding,” he explained.