Chapter 10 #2
The sound of crunching gravel cuts off the end of his sentence.
I turn and watch as a cream-colored limousine comes up the driveway.
It comes to a stop behind the bikes and a chauffeur steps out and opens the rear door.
A tall, rangy werewolf climbs out. He’s in his mid-forties, with dark, receding hair, and he’s wearing an expensive suit. Anthony. My suitor.
My father’s expression transforms with relief as he rushes to meet him.
“Anthony, she’s here,” he says, with an obsequious bow.
The other werewolf raises an eyebrow. “The glitch has been resolved?”
“Ah, just a little miscommunication.” My father rubs his hands together.
The werewolf turns to me. A shudder of distaste goes through me. If I hadn’t escaped when I did, I’d be his mate right now.
He looks at me curiously, but I stand my ground. My real mate, my fated mate is here to protect me. At the thought, the mark on the back of my neck throbs.
“We can have the wedding this afternoon,” my father says.
“There’s not going to be a wedding!” Vaughn roars. He comes to me now, touches his hand to the small of my back. I understand—he’s there, but he’s also giving me my space, because I’m strong enough for this.
“—At least, not to him!” His voice thunders around the yard and I can see it knocks them both off-guard.
He tilts his jaw at my suitor. “Lily is mine, my mate.”
“And who are you, pray?” My father laces his hands together. He’s trying to act nonchalant, but I know him well. There’s an unaccustomed tremor in his voice.
“I am the Alpha of the Firemont pack,” Vaughn says. “This is my pack and Lily is our queen.”
“Queen?” my father echoes as if he can’t quite believe it. “This… this little…” He breaks off. From long experience, I can imagine the insults he’d love to hurl at me.
“Lily is already mated?” Anthony demands, catching up to the conversation. “She’s no longer untouched?”
Vaughn lets out a feral growl and Anthony and my father jump backward.
“Don’t you dare talk about my mate like that,” he snarls. “She is not for you, and she never was. We’ve come here to explain that to you. So, you don’t need to try to hunt her down. She’s already mated.”
Anthony looks me up and down in a leisurely way. “Not a virgin, but an Alpha’s mate. Well, well.” His eyes have turned beady, and I get the impression my value has somehow gone up in his estimation.
He throws my father a questioning look. “Looks like she’s capable of standing on her own two feet as well.”
“Yup, that, too.” My father throws his hands up, features twisted with utter confusion. He’d advertised me as some clueless virgin, and now he’s figuring out that he needs to recalibrate, fast.
“I’ve warned you already,” Vaughn growls. His eyes have turned red, his canines are lengthening, and I’ve never seen him look so mad. He’s a second away from shifting. Then my father pulls his gun.
My heart lurches.
He trains it on Vaughn, and over his shoulder, I see four of his thugs emerging from the dark entranceway of the house, shoulders hunched in menace.
“Leave Lily here and be on your way,” my father growls. “And as a thank you to you for bringing her back, I promise not to blow your asses to pieces. Now go!”
“Like hell!” Vaughn roars. “She’s mine. I’m not leaving without her.”
My father pulls back the safety on his pistol. “You’ll be leaving in a carrion truck, then.”
Vaughn’s voice turns low and threatening and his eyes blaze pure fire. “You’ve been a shitty father. You’ve brought Lily and her mom a lot of pain. But despite that, I don’t want her to have to see me tear you to pieces.”
My father snarls. “I’m giving you five seconds to get out of here,” he bellows, spittle spraying from his lips. “Five, four, three—”
He’s going to shoot him. I know that belligerent look of his. I dart in front of Vaughn, and stare into the eyes of the violent bully who terrorized me and my mom. “Put the gun away, Dad. And tell the others to do the same.”
“Lily, get out of the way!” my father roars.
Vaughn growls behind me, but I sense him holding himself in, restraining his beast.
I plant my hands on my hips. “Or what? Are you going to shoot me—your number one commodity? I mean, after trying to sell me, there’s not a whole lot lower you can go, is there?”
“Lily, I’m warning you. My men are expert marksmen. They’ll take all your pack out before you can blink. Now, go get in Anthony’s car, like a good little girl.”
Behind me, I hear Vaughn taking a deep sniff of the air. “There’s not much wolf in you is there?” he says to my father.
My dad lets off a snarl. “Fuck you,” he bellows, but there’s a tightness in his voice.
“Living here on your werewolf territory, lording it over everyone when you’re barely a quarter shifter,” Vaughn continues. “Sounds like there’s a lot you don’t know about us.”
“What are you talking about?” my father mutters. He gives a nervous glance over his shoulder, at his thugs.
Vaughn’s lips stretch into a cold smile. “Like, you can’t take out a werewolf with a gun.”
Then everything happens at lightning speed.
There’s a wild snarling, a cracking and crunching, a sudden rush of wind.
Suddenly, I’m lying facedown on the ground. A leather-clad figure is crouched over me. Kellie, I realize distractedly. She’s shielding me. My head is twisted to the side and I can see my father, flat on his back. A huge wolf is on top of him, jaws clamped around his throat.
Meanwhile, seven other big wolves are charging at my father’s thugs.
Three loud bangs rip through the air.
“No!” I scream, terrified for Vaughn, for my pack.
My head is ringing, but when it clears again and I open my eyes, there’s a bunch of thrashing, snapping fur.
No one’s been shot.
But a couple of guns are abandoned on the ground, and eleven werewolves are ripping the shit out of each other.
I try to get up, but Kellie’s growled warning, “stay down”, keeps me in place.
There’s a whimper, and another one. And one by one, the four thugs surrender, turning onto their backs, exposing their throats.
One of my pack members—Jed—pauses, jaws snapping above vulnerable flesh, deliberating.
“Come on.” Kellie helps me up. My eyes dart to my father. Did Vaughn kill him? I have no love for the guy, but—
He’s half-shifted, his snout and ears out, but weirdly hairless. And he’s whimpering in terror, while Vaughn’s fearsome jaws are poised a bare inch away from his trachea.
“The pack’s waiting on you,” Kellie mutters.
“Huh?”
“You need to decide whether to make the kills.” She gives me an encouraging shove.
“M-me?” I stammer. “Why me?”
“A—because it’s your vengeance. And B—because he’s your father.”
I stare at her in shock. Then I take in the pathetic spectacle of my father. The vicious bully, felled by my mate. I glance at his loyal thugs. Wolves he invested so much trust in, no match at all for my pack.
I walk over to my father, coming to a stop beside his head. Vaughn pulls back a few inches from my father’s throat and his eyes meet mine. I see love and acceptance in his glowing, animal gaze.
It’s your decision. Whatever you choose is fine by me.
“Shift back,” I command my father.
Immediately, his ears and snout recede, and the familiar, hated face returns. His eyes are bloodshot and he’s panting for breath.
“Apologize,” I say.
He screws his face up. “What for?”
“For everything!” I yell.
And, wow, my voice echoes around the yard. I always had a quiet voice—a pathetic, girly voice, he used to say—but something’s changed. I can shout, now.
“For my mom. How you made her life so miserable. Treating her like a servant. Keeping her away from her friends. For my grandma. How she also lived a miserable life on this crappy territory. And for me. Your own daughter, who you were ready to sell!”
He winces. My voice is hurting his ears. Good.
The familiar anger passes across his face, and he darts a glance at Vaughn.
“Don’t look at him.” I crouch down beside his head. “I want you to apologize because you’re sorry. Not because he’ll tear your throat out otherwise.”
A whimper escapes his lips.
“You’ve got five seconds,” I say, my voice dripping with sarcasm.
“Sorry,” he squeaks out. “Please don’t—”
I curl my lip. He’s not sorry. All he cares about is himself. To the last. I turn my head and lock eyes with Vaughn. He tilts his head.
Your choice.
The blood is boiling in my veins. My head is full of thoughts of my mom. He doesn’t just deserve to have his throat torn out for what he’s done. He deserves to be torn apart, bit by bit.
There’s a movement off to the side. Anthony is approaching, and Kellie isn’t stopping him.
Anthony squats down beside me. “It’s difficult to take vengeance on your pa, isn’t it? Even when he’s a pathetic scumbag like this one.”
I frown, confused. His craggy features have softened and there’s something like sympathy in his expression.
“Everyone knows he killed his father-in-law.”
“What?” I stare at him.
He shrugs. “He wasn’t such a great guy, either. He brought your family to ruin. But compared to this monster—” He prods my father with the toe of his shoe.
“And then he tried to sell you to me to pay off his debt. All he’s ever cared about is money.”
My thoughts spin. “What is this debt, exactly?”
“Well, if he doesn’t pay me right now, I’ll be taking his house. The entire territory.” He looks around the compound with a sardonic eye.
I look for Vaughn again. He’s right there, waiting on me. I raise an eyebrow.
He gives me a nod.
“Everything he owns?” I ask Anthony.
“Yup. I can show you the papers.”
I stand up. “Take it. All of it.”
We exchange a long look.
“Good choice,” he says at last.
I nod. I’m not sure that I would trust this sinister character as far as I could throw him, but right now, we have an understanding.
There’s a snap and a flash in my peripheral vision, and Vaughn shifts back to his human form. “Shake on it,” he growls.
A polite smile spreads across Anthony’s face as he extends his hand, and we shake.
“Get up,” Vaughn snarls at my father.
He scrambles to his feet, gathering his torn clothes around him.
“And get out.” Vaughn angles his head toward the front gate.
My father’s eyes bulge as the reality of the situation sinks in. He passes a hand across his forehead. “I-I’ll just get…” He indicates the house.
“No. You don’t own anything,” Vaughn says. He lifts his head and looks for the pack. “See him out,” he tells Farris and Stinger.
My father starts to shake. “Please,” he mutters.
But I shake my head. Then I wrap my arms around my mate and we watch as my two burly pack mates haul my father out of the territory for the last time.
“Is anything else owed on the debt?” Vaughn demands of Anthony.
“No, that’ll more than cover it,” he says.
“You’ll send us all the relevant documents?” Vaughn’s tone is polite, but it’s undercut with a growl and I see the other man doesn’t miss it.
“Of course. I’m not a crook. My head just got turned by your mate—”
Vaughn’s snarl cuts off the end of his sentence.
Anthony bows his head. “I’m sorry, I meant no disrespect.”
Vaughn gives off a bunch of snarls until he’s gotten his animal under control again, then he throws me a questioning glance.
Are you satisfied?
“We’ll spend the night here,” I tell Anthony. “Then you can take possession of the property tomorrow.”
“Of course,” he says. He darts a final, nervous look at Vaughn and he’s gone—virtually sprinting back to his limousine.
We watch until the car has squealed out of the territory in a cloud of dust, then Vaughn draws me into his arms. Euphoria pours through me as I bond with my mate again.
And then the pack piles in—eight more bodies, huddled together, letting off little sighs and growls of relief.
My pack, I think. My found family.
As much as I hated living in the house with my father, I’m glad to have one more night here.
The pack stays back, respectfully, while I lead Vaughn through the house, showing him where I spent my childhood.
When we get to the third story, Vaughn asks about the little square board that sits in the ceiling of the storage room.
It turns out to be a trapdoor. He boosts me up, and—there’s a treasure trove of my mom’s stuff.
I exclaim in delight. I thought my father threw all her stuff out, but she must’ve somehow squirreled some things away. There are boxes of handicrafts, scrapbooks, some of my baby clothes.
“I’ll arrange to get them sent over to the house,” Vaughn says, already pulling out his phone.
I nod, my eyes full of tears and my throat tight.
That night, we eat all the food in the fridge and get drunk on my dad’s beer. Then the pack sleeps downstairs, standing guard, while Vaughn takes me to bed in my old bedroom.
As he holds me in his arms in the soft old bed where I slept all my life, he’s more hesitant, less growly than usual.
“Is this weird?” he asks, eyeing the bunch of plush toys stuffed on a shelf in the corner.
I snuggle against him, staring at the familiar patterns in the plaster of the ceiling. “You know, I used to lie here, dreaming of a big fierce man who would come and rescue me from my father’s hell,” I say. “And funnily enough, he looked a lot like you.”
He breaks into a smile and kisses me. “Well, so happened you rescued yourself.”
“Kinda. But I might have had a little help,” I say, grinning back at him. “Now, just so you can quit worrying—”
I strip off my bra and my panties, and I look deep into his eyes, enjoying the way desire floods his irises.
And a moment later, he pounces.
My hero. My fierce Alpha mate.