Chapter 32 Briar
Briar
Ash hasn’t stopped growling ever since we entered Rowan’s office. Not once.
However, my twin is really finding it a challenge now to hold back his Alpha as we stand side to side, arms crossed. We don’t take our eyes off the man who left us to fend for ourselves—to pick up the broken pieces of our mother.
A mother whose headstone rests at Silverpine Cemetery in our grandparents’ plot.
She was just fifty-five when she died. All because of this Alpha.
Fuck it. I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t finding it a challenge, either, to keep my own Alpha at bay.
Rowan is a perfect calm storm. Yet he can’t fool me. Any moment, that storm is about to blow over, destroying everything in its wake.
After all, our mother’s death affected him the most. And the Alpha responsible for all his transgressions since is sitting right on his couch.
The Alpha leans back on the couch so casually, with no care in the world. He holds out his arms. “Come on, boys. You don’t want to give your old man a hug?”
Ash growls, and our disgraced father hikes his brow at him. I reach up, placing a hand on Ash’s shoulder. My brother stops.
Rowan speaks up at last. “What do you want?”
Rowan really has surprised me the most. Out of the three of us, I thought he’d be the worst when we saw this man again. I don’t know how he is doing it, but I have a huge amount of respect for him in this very moment.
Well, just about. I’m still mad at him for that stupid text.
Dad sighs, getting up to his feet again. He holds out his hands as a sign of peace. “Look, I’m not here for any trouble. I… just wanted to see all three of you…”
Rowan scoffs. “Yeah, right. You heard we inherited our grandparents’ house and land. And you’re here sniffing around.”
The Alpha looks affronted by the accusation. But then he rolls his eyes, losing all pretense at last. “We were still married… when I left. So… some of that land should be mine.”
Growls explode from mine and Ash’s chest as I can help myself no longer.
He fucking dares…
Rowan holds his hand up, shushing us, and I guess he really is our pack lead. I don’t know how he doesn’t want to rip this Alpha’s throat out.
He smirks at our former father. “You could try to fight us in court, but you will lose. Since you left your bonded Omega and severed all ties, you have no claim to her estate or her inheritance. Legally, the estate passes onto us, your Omega's children."
That’s right. I don’t fully understand the legalities of it all, but leaving your Omega breaks all legal claims over their life and possessions. Dad voluntarily cut ties with Mom. He severed their bond, which led to her depression and eventual death.
He stands no chance.
The Alpha narrows his eyes in challenge. Then he assesses all three of us again. His gaze lingers on Ash. “You have her eyes, Ashy boy.”
He does. I got my hazel eyes from our grandmother. Ash got his green from our mom.
But Rowan got his iceberg blue from the man in front of us.
I think I am finally understanding my brother—why he keeps pushing her away. Out of the three of us, he is the most like our disgraced father. They even have the same poker face.
However, that’s where their similarities end. Rowan is a far better dresser, while this Alpha still insists on wearing the faded brown leather.
Rowan is afraid that he will end up just like our dad. That he will break Daisy like the bastard broke our mother.
But I know he wouldn’t if he just opened his heart to her. He needs to stop punishing himself over our father’s sins.
Ash snaps his teeth at the abhorrent Alpha after he mentions his likeness to our mother.
Rowan steps in front of our brother next, protecting him from further hurt.
“Don’t you patronize him. Don’t you even dare talk about her as if you still give a shit for her…
You left her to rot… You are not welcome here. ”
Our father sighs, stepping back again when he sees the threat in Rowan’s eyes. “I guess I’m sorry.”
A resounding silence follows as the four of us don’t speak. In the end, Rowan moves to the door, opening it. “It’s time you left.”
Dad glances up at Ash and me. Ash shows him his teeth again. He sighs, strolling toward the door. As he reaches the threshold, he looks back at the three of us.
The sons he abandoned.
“I’ll admit, I fucked up. But I really would like to make amends again. After all, we’re family. And family sticks together.”
He has to be kidding, right? He’s just trying to get on our good side so he can get in on our grandparents’ fortune.
Ash and I jump next as Rowan suddenly bursts into laughter. It rattles in his chest, and we just stare at him, baffled.
It’s hysterical laughter.
Dad looks at him, irritated. “What the hell’s with you, kid?”
Rowan stops, wiping an errant tear from his eye. Then he grins at the Alpha who abandoned us. “Thank you.”
Dad stretches a brow. So do Ash and I.
What is he thanking him for?
Rowan continues. “Thank you for showing me that we are nothing alike in the end. It seems I got my brains from Mom, after all.”
Dad’s brows crumple in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
Rowan meets his eyes, and there’s the ice again. “You’re an idiot if you think we want you back in our lives. You are and always will be a sorry excuse of an Alpha and a father… Now get out of my office. I have an Omega to find.”
Startled, Ash and I look around at each other.
Did he just say…?
Dad blinks a few times, trying to think of something else to say. But then Rowan shuts the door in his face. Before it closes all the way, he wedges his hand between the doorjamb. “At least tell me where she is buried. Please… so I can pay my respects.”
Holy shit. Rowan’s eyes almost burn inside his skull as he shows the Alpha his teeth. “Go and fuck yourself.”
The door slams shut at last. And then all falls quiet.
Rowan has to take a few moments to catch his breath as we all listen to the sound of our father’s retreating footsteps. It’s not until his car pulls away in the lot that we speak again.
“Rowan?” I ask.
Our brother takes a few moments to compose himself. Then he turns, facing the pair of us. A genuine smile appears on his face. “Why are we still standing here? Daisy is waiting for us.”
My heart thumps hard in my chest as my jaw hangs loose. Ash looks just as bewildered.
Rowan smiles yet again, and the expression is strange on his face. “Well? Let’s go.” He opens the door, moving down the stairs at a brisk pace.
Fuck. This is really happening…
Finally.
It looks as if our brother came to his senses. We don’t speak until we’re in the car. Not until Rowan pulls away from the lot and joins the highway.
I turn his way in the passenger seat. “What happened? Why did you change your mind?”
He keeps his eyes locked on the road ahead as he scoffs. “You heard that piece of shit, right?”
I did, but we need a little more clarification.
Rowan’s eyes jerk my way quickly before landing back on the road.
“I realized I was wrong. And that we are not the same Alpha. I also saw a glimpse of my own future…” He inhales.
“I didn’t want to become him. And I didn’t want you two to become anything like him, either, just because of my mistakes. Especially you, Ash…”
Ash stammers, burning beet red, and look who’s shy again. “Um… th-thanks, I guess.”
I regard Rowan for a few moments longer. Then a smile slowly sneaks across my face. “And what am I, then? Chopped liver?”
Rowan grins, trying to drive as fast as he can as he switches lanes. “You know what I meant. I care about you both. You’re both good Alphas. Ash is just the most innocent out of us.”
I suppose, but I was just messing with him, anyway.
Rowan sighs, all serious and business-like once again. “I just hope we’re not too late.”
My heart pounds as I look at Ash behind me. We nod.
We won’t be. I have hope. We will make it to Daisy on time.
We pull up outside the house, rushing up the porch steps to the door. Ash knocks, and now all three of us wait with bated breath.
An older Omega answers the door—Daisy’s mom. She startles when she finds the three of us.
Ash speaks. “Is she here?”
The older Omega looks at a loss for words. Then she hangs her head, sighing. “I’m so sorry. She has already left.”
My chest dips.
No…
Before Rowan can probe further, an older Alpha appears in the doorway, standing in front of Daisy’s mom.
Holy shit.
Daisy’s grandfather.
We all back off as he pulls up his sleeves, ready to fight. “You all have a nerve showing your faces here. Get off my property.”
Rowan tries to speak again, but the Alpha growls. “Leave!”
In the end, I speak. “Please, sir. But we have to see her.”
The Alpha’s eyes shoot my way, and he wants to kill me. I can see that. “Don’t you hurt my granddaughter any more than you already have. The three of you…”
None of us has any idea what to say. But we don’t have time for this.
Daisy is leaving.
In the end, Daisy’s mom pushes him aside, looking at the three of us. “She’s gone to the station. She’s getting a train back to New York. If you leave now, you could probably make it.”
Shit.
We run back to the car. I call back to the Omega. “Thank you so much, ma’am.”
The older Omega nods, smiling at us proudly as we all climb into the car. As we drive off, I see the pair bickering with each other.
In the end, Daisy’s mom orders her own father back into the house, and the Alpha concedes. I just hope that one day, we can win that Alpha over.
But it will be a while yet.
Now we set our sights on the train station.
Hopefully, we can make it just in time.