The Triplets of Emerald Forest

Chapter 50 Gabriel

We all joined her for a late breakfast in the dining room. I mindlinked the rest of the crew who were all eager to see Harlow out and about. The girls, as predicted, were extremely on board to help Halrow plan the ceremony and my mother was already in party planning mode by the time breakfast was finished. We were just about to leave the girls to their party talk when Harlow grabbed my hand,

"Wait." She said and I could tell that something was bothering her.

"What's wrong, my love?" I pulled her from the chair and into my arms.

"I need to talk to you three and your parents." She said, glancing towards our mom.

Mom cocked her eyebrow but stood up,

"What is it, dear?" Mom asked.

Harlow looked around the room and I sensed that something was very wrong.

"I have to tell you all something but you're not going to like it and I don't really want to say it." She mumbled.

"You can tell us anything, angel." Griff said, laying his hand on her arm. Ric looked at her with concern.

"What is this about, precious?" He asked her.

"Something I learned when I was being held captive." She said in a small voice.

We all growled instantly, not at all ready to bring up those memories again. Mom took Harlow's hands and guided her back down to her chair, sitting beside her.

"It's okay, dear, you can tell us. What is it?" Mom said, still holding her hand.

"Christopher told me who's bankrolling the rogues." She said in a quick breath.

"He did? Who is it?" I asked, quickly sitting down on the open chair beside Harlow. Ric and Griff sat beside me.

"Did you have a brother?" She asked Mom, seeming to be changing the subject completely.

She blinked, seeming taken aback.

"Oh, well, yes I did. His name's Daniel. The kids have never met him. We didn't get along very well and there were a lot of wounds we just couldn't heal. Then, when he found out about werewolves and Lukas, he lost it and started blaming Lukas for stealing me away. He wasn't willing to accept my new life. We haven't spoken since." Mom explained, pain glistening in her eyes. Her brother was one of those off limit topics that no one ever dared to bring up.

"Why, angel?" Griff's eyes pulled together in confusion. We all knew that there had to be a reason for this line of conversation.

Harlow was wiggling uncomfortably on the chair, her hands twisting together nervously on her lip, and I heard her heart rate increasing; she was a bundle of nerves.

"Christopher said that Daneil's paying the rogues. He wanted to get revenge on Lukas and the pack, but he wanted his sister back alive. Christopher said he never planned to uphold that end of the deal, he just wanted Daniel's money." She spoke softly that, had it not been for our werewolf hearing, we wouldn't have been able to hear her.

We all looked at each in shock and then our eyes landed on our mother. She was pale and expressionless, completely unmoving. Everyone else was frozen at the table, listening in on the conversation. Luckily, our dad was still there and he rushed to Mom's side.

"Are you sure, Harlow?" Ric asked, but we all knew that Harlow wouldn't have said anything if she wasn't sure.

"I pushed him for information and he told me because he thought I was never going to leave. He was so confident but I knew you would come for me so I wanted to get as much information as possible." She said,