The cutlery on everyone’s plate sliced through the silence of the grand eating hall. Leo was at the head of his table, and oddly, his daughter Monica sat at the other end. His wife resided next to him, like the obedient wolf she portrayed.
Monica was born out of wedlock, and she never knew her real mother. Cristina stepped in, and loved her just like she was her own. Yet, Cristina didn’t have a child from her womb.
Whispers were scattering throughout the town they stayed in, and all made it back to Monica’s lady maid. Leo was trying to fight a battle from a distance, something Senor Johanne Ramos would detest greatly – but the old wolf wasn’t around to protest.
However, Monica had enough of a mind to possibly undermine any efforts at this point, given what she had learned about her birth and her mother. Monica was eating, taking time to glare at her father. This wasn’t unusual behavior, but this time, Leo knew something was wrong.
“Monica,” her father spoke up, “what atrocity have I committed this time?”
She laughed, shaking her head and placing her silverware down. Then she looked at Cristina, who eyed her with caution.
“Alright,” she stated, “just wondering when you were going to tell me about disbanding this Guild? The one you so ferociously trained me for.”
Leo stopped chewing, looking immediately at his wife who had her head down. How did Monica know?
“Your silence is very reassuring,” she said heavily, “I also heard we are broke.”
Her last statement echoed through the dining hall, resting on the invisible laurels of her father. That was definitely a secret.
“I’m nineteen, not twelve. You can’t tell me your bedtime stories anymore. They don’t work. So tell the truth,” Monica insisted.
Monica had a slight unibrow and her hair was dark. She was a little husky – still curvy though. Her father raised her to be one of the boys; she was wearing a dress because she had no choice. Leo, however, could not teach her the art of tact, as he had none himself.
“The solution to disband this group of misfit dogs will help with that,” Leo lied through his teeth.
“So you’ll kill others who have more? Make that make sense, father,” she protested unto him.
Leo was growing irritated. Monica usually complained about her dresses or the boys. Today, she was dabbling in adult affairs. And for good reason. She was to be an heiress.
His silence made her smile again, as she went along with everything her and Cristina had discussed. There was one rock Leo hadn’t turned over, and that was his wife’s family.
“I will always do what’s necessary to keep you fed and clothed-“
“Does that keep you honest?” Monica challenged.
Leo growled, glaring at his wife. She had more to lose if she said something. Monica would come out unscathed.
“What is your point?” He demanded, still staring Cristina down.
“My dowry is gone. Tio Castillo has offered us a place to stay because it seems like this place will be up in flames – soon,” Monica stated, “or should I say, all the little fires have grown out of control. And that is my observation. Not that of the woman who is not my real mother-“
“That is enough!” Leo roared, standing up and slamming his napkin down, “she is your real mother. Don’t you ever disrespect her like that again!”
“She knows,” Cristina finally spoke up.
Leo paled out a bit, horror filled his eyes. The last thing he wanted was to explain his indiscretion to his only child. He didn’t think he could tell her the entire truth…and no one really knew exactly what happened. He was still standing, waiting for Monica to say something else. She was picking at the bones on her plate, smiling to herself. The game she played all of her days was waning on him.
Cristina looked up to her husband through soaked lashes, shaking her head. Either someone told Monica, or she broke into his room and found her mother’s journals. Either way, Leo couldn’t say much now. Monica was right, she wasn’t twelve years old anymore. Nor had she ever been naive.
“So you stay with your uncle, I guess, until it’s safe,” Leo spat out, trying to save face.
Monica laughed and looked at her father. He always worked within others’ means and tried to take credit for it. Maybe she didn’t know the ends and outs, and currently, hadn’t brought up her mother’s death. But she knew it was better to leave now, then to wait for his plan against the Cervantez family to cave in.
“It was my decision, and I’ve already spoken with him,” Monica said confidently, “and we leave in the morning.”
This was when Leo realized that Cristina was definitely involved. However, he really couldn’t touch her. Her brothers would kill him, they knew he was a werewolf as well. They had money, prestige and influence. Leo had a title. Though Monica was born out of wedlock, Cristina’s family loved her very much. And that gave them both immunity. How long had Cristina been planning this?
“What I know, of my own accord. Is that Mateo Cervantez, whom you hate so dearly…will figure everything out. And come after you…”
Those words echoed as well. Mateo more than likely would. Leo would be paying the grungy wolf from his own family money. Once he found that out, he would definitely turn heel, and seek Leo out. Leo hadn’t changed much in nearly twenty years. Mateo turned constantly. He survived off of the land, and he slept in the shadows.
The shabbily patched plan Leo and his men forged together to retire rich was starting to bare strings, and cracks. And it had been brought to his attention by none other than his bastard child.
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The Heiress JCS 