The Alpha and The Enforcer [TATE]

Chapter 30

Jacob's P.O.V 

I ended the meeting early. The room had gotten too tense, the air too tight. Ever since Ted told Ellie the truth about that night, I knew it would shake her. Of course, it would. If someone told me I had a sibling all this time and they kept it from me... I wouldn't have taken it well either.

Mom and Dad dropped the news on me the night I became Alpha. I'd come home late from the office, still riding the adrenaline of finding out what happened to Ellie with Christian. They were waiting for me—faces serious, eyes shadowed with something I didn't recognize right away. Then they told me.

Told me about Ellie. About the night she was found. About the second baby—abandoned, barely clinging to life—and the impossible choice Ted had to make.

I remember being furious. Not just because they'd kept it from me, but because they had kept it from her. I remember one night Ellie had joked about wanting a sibling—someone to annoy, someone to scream "get out of my room!" at. She played it off like she always does but I knew it was something she truly wanted. Now they're telling me it was something she could've had. 

But then I realized why Ted made the decision he did. It was unchartered territory. There was no telling what could've happened if he had stepped off land. He made a difficult choice and sometimes, leaders have to make decisions that no one should ever have to make.

I understood. I did. But what broke me was when they told me I had to keep it from her.

"She's already been through too much, they'd said. We don't want to cause her any more pain" My mom said, 

"Why are you telling me this knowing that I can't tell her?" 

"Because as Alpha, it is your job to know everything that is happening in our pack," my dad responded. 

Now she knows.

Now, we're all outside the interrogation room. Ellie's supposed sister is sitting inside—calm, unmoving, cuffed to a cold metal table. She stares straight at the one-way glass, unblinking. Like she knows we're watching.

"I think you guys should go," I told my parents.

Mom's eyes narrowed. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me, mom. I appreciate everything you've done, but this is mine to handle. I'm Alpha now. You need to trust me to do my job."

Dad let out a long sigh and finally nodded. "What about Ellie?"

"She'll be okay," I replied. "Just give her space. She needs to breathe."

Reluctantly, they left. I turned to Ted.

"You should go too. Ellie will be fine, you just have to give her some time."

He hesitated, looking toward the mirror, but nodded and walked off.

The rest of us gathered near the glass.

"So she just walked into our territory?" I asked the warrior on guard.

He nodded. "Surrendered without a fight. Said she'd only talk to Enforcer Ellie."

"Could be a trap," Carl muttered. "Any hint at why she's here?"

"She claims she has information on Kyle."

I turned to Ellie. She hadn't said a word since we arrived. Her brown eyes were locked on the girl beyond the glass, unreadable. I wanted badly to reach out to her and tell her how sorry I am, or to even give her words of comfort and encouragement. But I know that no matter what I say right now, it won't change the fact that I betrayed her trust in me.