Shadows of Destiny

65 Let’s Talk About Stephanie

~Tamia~

Sylvester took off his clothes, leaving his boxers on and lay on the bed facing up and resting his head

on his hand. He looked to the side and smiled at me. He motioned me to join him in bed.

“Come on, Green-eyes. I want to hold you,” He said, and I smiled.

I took off the joggers and left the T-shirt on.

It was big, and I had nothing under it.

I climbed into bed, and he sat up to hold me.

“That was intense down there, right?” He asked, kissing my neck, and I nodded.

“So, do you always solve cases like this?”

He asked me, and I laughed.

“Never solved a murder and mutiny case in my life,” I said, and he pretended to be shocked.

“You mean I have an amateur on the job? he asked playfully, and I laughed.

“You are then charging too much, green- eyes,” He said.

“I will charge you more,” I said, and he tickled me.

I laughed so hard and used the pillow to hit him.

His wolf flashed, and I found it sexy.

I stopped laughing, and my eyes roamed his body. I looked at his muscles and his tattoos. The tan on

his skin and Kaira purred in my head.

“Drooling, Green-eyes,” He said with a smirk, and I looked away, giggling.

“All yours,” He said and hugged me, pulling me close and kissing me on my lips.

I moaned gently, and he growled lowly turning me on.

I wanted to get into it, but I needed to tell him what I was thinking first.

“I want to share something with you,” I said quietly, and he nibbled my ears, making it hard for me to

compose myself. I moaned, and he put his hand under my T-shirt.

Want to speak to you,” I said between moans as he caressed my clit with his thumb. My body was

coming apart, and he looked into my eyes as he rubbed my clit gently.

“Tell me,” he said with lust in his eyes, and I could not speak. He wasn’t playing fair.

“I wanted to taste you all day, green eyes, ” he said with his dark wolf eyes, and I gently nodded, telling

him he should go ahead. Spreading my legs wide, he went to work.

I did not know what had happened to me, but I came immediately, and he smacked my clit gently.

“That is naughty, Green-eyes. I wanted it to last longer,” He teased, and the truth was, how could I

when he had already got me worked up before he delved in?

I went on top of him to ride.

I placed him inside me, and he filled me up and guided my body as I moved up and down on his cock.

He worshipped my breast, and everything was heightened. We were at it for a while, and soon we

finished.

1/16

I lay beside him, trying to catch my breath, and he looked at me.

“You wanted to tell me something,” He said, and I laughed.

I managed to sit up because what I wanted to say was serious.

He sat up, too and smiled.

“I do not want you to take offence to what

I am about to say. It is just a hunch, and I could be wrong.” I said, and he smiled.

“You can never offend me, Tamia.” He said, and I smiled at him.

“It is about Jenny and your mother,” I began.

“How could she be visiting your mother when it seemed there was a lot of bad blood between them?

Your mother found out she was having an affair with her husband and must have hated her for it.

How come she visited your mother?” I asked, and he was silent.

“Stephanie might be passive, but I also know she is vindictive. There is no way she would be okay with

it. Your father did a lot of horrible things to her. It is a miracle she is sane.” I said, and he touched my

hand gently and kissed it. 1

I did not know my hand was shaking until he did that.

I was trying hard to find a way to put my thoughts into words without offending him.

“Relax and tell me what you want to say, Tamia,” He said and kissed my hand again. I sighed.

“Your mother does not seem like the forgiving type. Were there guards in this duplex during the time of

the attack?” I asked him.

6/76

“They were supposed to be, but the wounded ones were few. They usually have a shift, and the attack

happened during the shift. They did say southern and eastern soldiers attacked them. They thought my

mother was dead. That was why the attackers left,” he said, and I sighed,

“Did you see these so-called southern soldiers? At least your mother’s guards should have put up a

fight and got one or two,” I said.

“I guess they came prepared,” he said.

“What if,” I said and looked at him, trying to compose myself and summon the courage to speak.

“I am just speculating, Sylvester,” I warned him, and he smiled and caressed my cheek, urging me to

speak freely.

“What if your mother lured Jenny to her

house and had her killed?” I said, and he

froze. (1

“Think about it. They aren’t friends; there is bad blood between them, and Jenny’s house is

impenetrable. Your mother might have invited her here in the name of truce, made sure there was a

shift and planned with the guards present to do her bidding and say it was the south. She and Dominic

were the only ones that knew I was visiting that morning. Since Devin had tried to take me from the

estate once, they might as well blame the attack on him, only that this time around, he decided to kill a

council member and injure your mother, which is a bit odd. If truly he was the one that staged the

attack, then your mother would be dead. What if Jenny was blackmailing your mother, and she decided

to silence her for good? What if Jenny was making allegations that could put you in trouble? Your

mother would do anything for you and Dominic. I am just saying,” I said, and he was silent for a bit,

digesting my words. 1

“What will Jenny have on her?” He asked me and his eyes widened because he had thought of

something.

“There was a letter where Jenny claimed my mother had my father and his officers murdered. My

mother replied to her and warned her to stop spewing nonsense. It is impossible, of course, because

we know Bane killed them, but what if Jenny was trying to pin it on her? I still doubt my mother will kill

her because of a baseless allegation.” He said, and I shook my head.

“I doubt it has anything to do with your father’s death, Sylvester. I think it has a lot to do with your

position and that of your brother. You know I read the letters you read, and your mother said something

about Jenny helping her because it would benefit Vino, who is

Jenny’s nephew,” I said, and he nodded.

“Did it occur to you that the two people that helped her overturn your father’s decree are now dead?

Vino’s father and Jenny?” I said, and he widened his eyes. 1

“I am just speculating, but what if your mother wanted Dominic to ascend her family position on the

council, and Jenny might have pushed back because that would make Vino second in command? You

know how badly your mother wanted Dominic to be in the place of power,” I said, and he realised

where I was driving.

“I hope she didn’t do it, Tamia. Please do not tell anyone this. If my mother did it, she would be in

trouble because after the blue moon, she would no longer be the lady of the north and would not have

immunity. I do not want us to give our enemies a weapon to use to hurt our family,” He said, and I could

see the fear in his eyes.

“That was why I held my tongue downstairs,” I said and looked at him.

“As much as you will want Theodore or Marcel to be in on this, I think we should investigate your

mother’s part in this between us so that no damage is caused. We need to investigate the allegations

made, and once we have enough, you should question your mother in private, I said, touched his hand,

and used my thumb to gently rub the back of his hand to calm him down. 1

“I am sure no woman would go through half of what your mother did and not snap. Your father treated

her like shit. He tried to replace her with his fated, then forced her to be his fated’s midwife. He cheated

on her, killed most of her family members and crippled them by

forbidding her from representing them on the council, almost wiping them from existence just because

he wanted to

divorce and replace her. He didn’t stop there; he had an affair with her best

friend and tried to take her family seat from her by depriving her child and giving it to his bastard-the

son of the woman that caused your mother so much pain. There is just so much a woman can take,

and these are just a few things she had been brave enough to share. When I look at Stephanie, she

looks like a battered woman that has learned to cope by living in denial. I am sure she must have

snapped and tried to push back somewhere along the line, Sylvester,” I said, and tears formed in his

eyes. He fought them, but they came.

“I never thought of it this way, Tamia,’ he said, and I snuggled into his arms to help him relax.

Listing out what his mother had been

through, the reality hit home for him. It would hurt anyone.

“She never really told us any of these things, Tamia. She only spoke praises of him and told us how he

loved her,” He said, and I could understand Stephanie’s reason.

She needed them to be proud of their father.

She did not want to ruin his image for them. She did not want to spoil their memory of him.

“Your father might have been a wonderful man to you and your brother, and she did not want to spoil

your memory of him,” I said, and he sighed.

“I guess so. He was really fun and spent so much time with us. I knew of the Harem, but since it was

tradition, my mother did not seem to be bothered about it. I let it be. I would have confronted and

challenged my father if I had known she was going through half of the things you had listed. If I didn’t, I

am sure Dominic would have. He loves her that much. If Dominic knows half of this, he will be mad,”

Sylvester said, and I sighed.

“I think he might know Sylvester. He was alive during the time of Alissa. He must have noticed the

changes. Even if he did not know of her, he must have noticed that your father was different towards

your mother,” I said, and he giggled.

“I doubt he knew. My mother kept it hidden. I am sure he did not even know of Alissa. My brother

worshipped our father. He sees him as perfect, hence why he went to war to avenge his death. He

loved our father and spent more time with him than I did,” He said, and I sighed.

“I guess your mother did a good job of protecting your innocence, which brings me back to the point

that she must have snapped somewhere down the line,” I said and turned to him.

“We will get to the bottom of it, but we must keep my mother’s investigation a secret. I do not want her

to get in trouble, “He said gently, and I nodded.

“Neither do I. She has been through enough, and if she did anything to Jenny, Jenny deserved it. That

is my opinion because the woman was a wicked and shitty friend. She could refuse the wolf

Lord, but she did it for her gains or whatever reason.

“We will go through the document tomorrow and decide what to do from there,” He said and kissed me.

We snuggled in bed, and soon sleep came.