Chapter 25 #2
“Are we shocked?” Mason’s dad says, sounding altogether patronizing.
“They might have fought,” I say, feeling a little bit of fire creep into my tone. “If they felt like the packs would support them in return. But sadly, that’s not the case.”
I’m met with blank stares. I guess no one here is about to stick their neck out and suggest any real sort of change, even if it could save their lives and the lives of their people.
“I still believe if we offered the rogues some compassion, offered to help them, there could be a chance—”
“It doesn’t sound like you have the privilege of time,” Morven says, cutting me off and leaning forward. “Am I wrong?”
“No,” Salazar says, leaning forward too. “Recruiting help from the rogues was a good idea, but the bridges we’d need to build are too great for the amount of time we have left before Walter makes his move.”
Morven nods, presses his palms against the table.
“Then it seems you have run out of options,” he says.
Jasper leans forward too, angling himself toward Morven. “Except one.”
My moment ending with a fizzle, I sit as Jasper stands.
“Which brings us to the business of today.”
Here we go.
“Alpha Morven,” Jasper says. “For longer than any living wolf can remember our packs have been allies. And while your recent grievances with our conduct are warranted—I myself shoulder the blame for creating the divide between us—I implore you not to let our personal misjudgments endanger the lives of both Elite and Rocky Pack wolves. I know for certain that with the Elite Pack defeated, Walter will set his eyes on grander victories. He will look to the Rocky Pack next.”
Morven lifts an eyebrow, adjusts his posture slightly.
“And I do not mean that by way of a threat,” Jasper continues, perhaps picking up on the slight shift in Morven’s demeanor.
“I only mean to say that our enemy is your enemy and to ask you—No. To beg you to fight with us once more. Stand by our side and defend our way of life.” Silence.
Jasper presses a clenched fist into the tabletop so hard I worry it might collapse under his touch.
“Please,” he says, a hint of desperation peeking through. “Please!”
The tension in the room is thick like mud. No one speaks. Jasper’s pleading gaze remains locked on Morven, who sits back, linking his hands in thought.
“I have done a lot of thinking over the last few months,” Morven says.
“You must understand, the offense caused by your actions, Jasper Apollo, was indeed great. And you’re right about our actions and the ramifications they have.
By lying to me you have degraded the trust not just between our families but between our great packs.
If I were smart, I would leave this room, abandoning you and your people to their destruction.
” Here his gaze shifts to Mia, whose eyes are glassy and desperate.
“But I have begun to understand a little, perhaps, of the reason for your dishonesty.”
Morven’s face softens as he and Mia make eye contact, staring at each other as if from either side of a great ravine.
“And I myself am not without fault here.” His eyes begin to well up with tears as well.
“Though unlike yours, my failures are to those who mean the most to me.” He reaches a hand across the table, placing it as close to Mia as possible.
“My daughter, you have shown me the true cost of losing you. The pain I have experienced, the suffering of knowing I am the reason you ran, is greater than I have words to express. I am the reason you fled from your home, I am the very thing I swore to protect you from. And I know now that no matter who you are, no matter who you love, I will never stop loving you, and protecting you. All this time, all I have wanted is you home and safe, to see your smiling face again. And fearing I never would.”
Both Mia and Morven are fully weeping at this point. I can barely keep myself from joining them. Mason’s looking misty and I wonder if he and his father have had something of a similar reckoning. Even Olivia seems to be softening.
“Can you ever forgive me, my Mia?” Morven asks. “Can you do that for a foolish old man?”
Mia jumps up from her chair and hurries to the other side of the table. Morven stands as well and wraps his arms around his daughter as they crash into each other.
“Yes,” Mia says. “Of course I can forgive you.”
They reconcile and we wait, enjoying their reunion. When they finally break apart, Morven turns to Olivia.
“Miss Salazar, I owe you an apology as well. If you would allow it, it would bring me great pleasure to host you and your family at our packhouse, so I can get to know you all.”
Olivia looks too shocked to speak, and from the way her eyes are darting about like she’s figuring out some tricky math problem, I don’t think she’s fully on board just yet.
“That could happen,” she says. “If we’re still here in a week’s time.”
Morven nods. “Of course.” He’s still holding Mia by her shoulders, as if he’s scared to let her go again, and she looks up at him with a giant question mark floating above her head. Relentingly, he releases Mia and turns to Jasper.