Mated To The Crippled Alpha-Chapter 248: Woman In a Mask

"Tell me more about her," I pressed, keeping my voice steady. "How old is she? How tall? Anything specific."

Vicky shook her head weakly, blood still staining her lips. "Like I said, she’s careful. Every time we meet, she hides her face and disguises her voice. I can’t tell her age. She’s about your height. That’s all I know."

That wasn’t enough.

"Who arranged the switch between Silas and Juilan?" I asked.

"I don’t know," she replied quickly. "I was brought in later. Do you really think they’d trust me with something that important?"

She wasn’t wrong about that part.

"How many people are in this group?" I continued. "How do you contact each other? Where do you meet?"

She licked the blood from the corner of her mouth before answering. "The masked woman contacts me. I mostly stayed here in the Hale territory. They never let me into their deeper matters. But it’s big. I could feel it. Too many scents. Too many shadows. They operate quietly. The meeting places change every time. She tells me where to go shortly before."

Lewis stepped forward, his presence heavy and commanding. "List every place you’ve met her. Every number she’s used to reach you."

She let out a weak laugh. "Do you think I memorized all that?"

Lewis didn’t argue. He turned to Theo. "Pull every number that’s contacted her. Cross-check them. I want everything."

"Understood," Theo said.

I stepped closer again. "What else do you know?"

Vicky’s answers felt like Silas’s before he died—words without real weight. She gave us scraps. Gender. Height. Meetings. Things that could easily be lies.

She wasn’t brilliant. But after years beside Camilla, she wasn’t stupid either.

"I was only ever a temporary pawn," she said quietly. "If I had been important, I wouldn’t have stayed unmarried for so long. All I knew how to do was cry, threaten, cause scenes. If Adam hadn’t been so fixated on me, they would have replaced me years ago."

There was no deception in her tone this time.

"What about Linda Snider?" I asked softly.

Her eyes flickered.

"Linda and I were both hidden pieces," she admitted. "Our job was to confirm Silas’s death. That’s why Linda got exposed."

Adam’s jaw tightened. "Confirm his death?"

I felt the air shift again.

"What do you know about Silas and Camilla?" I asked.

Vicky hesitated before answering. "They were part of that organization since they were young. Groomed. Trained. Silas was skilled—dangerously skilled. Before his true identity was revealed, he was one of their strongest fighters. Camilla and he were close. They trusted each other."

Her voice trembled. "When you captured Silas, the organization feared he would betray them. So they had Linda poison him. I was only there to watch and report."

The room felt colder.

"You’re describing a ruthless group," I said slowly. "How have you survived all these years without finishing your tasks? And Camilla—what’s her connection to the Morrigans?"

I needed answers now. Every answer.

"I stepped into Camilla’s role halfway," Vicky said. "I don’t know the full conflict between them and the Morrigans or Hales. As for why I’m still alive... they need someone inside this pack. Someone who can observe."

I moved closer, gripping her shoulders firmly. I let my Alpha-bonded strength press just enough for her to feel it.

"Everything you’ve said might be true," I told her. "But one thing doesn’t add up."

She swallowed.

"If they destroyed the Morrigans, why was only Esther killed in that crash? Why is Dad still alive? If their goal was to take control of the Hales, removing Jeffrey would have been the most efficient move. Lewis was injured and abroad. Adam was unstable. You would have had control."

Even Silas, who served them for years, was disposed of easily.

"So why," I whispered, "is Jeffrey still standing?"

Silence fell.

Vicky’s gaze shifted slowly toward Jeffrey.

"Maybe," she said carefully, "it has something to do with the Hales’ own secret."

Every instinct in me sharpened.

"Just like Juilan switching places with Silas," she continued. "Your pack hides things too. As for what that secret is... you’re asking the wrong person."

Her eyes lingered on Jeffrey.

"Just like what you did with Adam," she added softly.

The room froze.

I turned toward Jeffrey at the same time Adam did.

"Dad," Adam demanded, voice low and shaking with restrained dominance, "what did you do?"

The mystery around the Hales had always been there. Like a scent buried under layers of dirt. I had felt it before but never grasped it fully.

Now, every gaze in the room rested on Jeffrey.

His face was unreadable. Old, strong, carved from years of leading a powerful pack.

"Everything I have done," he said firmly, "has been for this family."

That was all.

But Vicky let out a hollow laugh.

"Adam," she said bitterly, "I know I won’t leave this room happily. But I do pity you. The respected son of the Hales... who never once earned his father’s true trust."

Adam’s eyes darkened. "What are you implying?"

Vicky tilted her head. "After all these years of claiming to love me, have you never wondered why, after I returned to this pack as a young woman, we never had another child?"

Her words struck like thunder.

"You said you were in poor health," Adam snapped.

Vicky smiled coldly. "Poor health? That was to protect your pride. I hid your medical reports. You’re infertile."

Adam staggered back a step. "Impossible. If I can’t have children, then what about Silas? What about the child we lost?"

"Maybe," she said slowly, eyes flicking toward Jeffrey, "you should ask your father what he did. He was afraid that if I bore a child after entering this pack, my position would solidify. So he handled it."

The implication hung in the air like smoke.

Jeffrey’s cane tightened in his grip, but he said nothing.

"He trusted Juilan as heir," Vicky went on. "He cut off all other possibilities. Even his own blood. If you’re angry, Adam, don’t direct it at me."

My mind raced.

Jeffrey had once tried to force Camilla to end her pregnancy. He had pressured Juilan to bring Alisa in. When I married Lewis, he hinted more than once about producing a legitimate heir.

It became painfully clear.

Jeffrey only valued heirs born under sanctioned bonds. Illegitimate blood meant nothing to him.

I turned to Lewis instinctively.

For a brief second, I saw it—the quiet loneliness of a child who grew up without full acceptance. A son who had strength and brilliance, yet carried the mark of being unwanted.

My chest tightened.

Adam stared at Jeffrey, something dark building in his eyes. "Dad... is she telling the truth?"

Jeffrey’s expression remained firm, but the silence stretched too long.

Vicky laughed again, broken and bitter. "This is the consequence of his choices. He never imagined Silas would die. That Juilan would fall ill. That the eldest would fail. That the youngest would be injured."

Her gaze burned with twisted satisfaction.

"He’s getting exactly what he deserves."