Chapter 23 Wyatt #2
Dad cut him a look. “Spare me. I gave the investigator the bare minimum of details to confirm whatever bullshit you all told him, but something is not adding up. I’ve known the three of you who are not my son since you were preteens.
This quad does not just kill their peers in parking lots, challenged to the death or not.
You all have more power, sense, and finesse than that.
It is out of character for Aiden in particular, which is why I am baffled as to the reason you picked him to sell this truckload of horseshit to the Council. ”
“Dad—”
He held up a hand.
“Ward, there were circumstances,” Heath said carefully.
The air became oppressive with the dominance of my dad’s bear. Elijah shifted uncomfortably. Avery reacted instantly, running a soothing hand down his thigh.
“They had better have been some dire fucking circumstances,” Dad snarled under his breath.
I tried again. “Dad, it’s better if you don’t ask questions—”
“It was my fault,” Avery announced.
The pressure of Dad’s bear fell away, and he looked at Avery curiously. “Oh?”
“The fight was with me, not Aiden,” she went on. “We—Aiden and I both—killed Mahoney to protect my secret.”
“Killer, you don’t have to—”
She shook her head. “No, Heath. You’ve done so much already. I can’t let it all fall on you.” With a deep breath, she straightened her spine and looked at me. “You trust your dad implicitly?”
“Of course.”
She stood up and took one last swig of water. “Okay. Ward, please come with me. Wyatt, you can come too. Heath, can you keep everyone away from those woods until we get back?”
She pointed at the tree line twenty-five yards behind us.
Heath frowned but nodded slowly. “Anything you need.”
“Thank you.” She turned and marched toward the woods.
I scrambled out of my seat. “Come on, Dad.”
Curiosity got the better of Ward Gale, and we followed her into the forest.
Avery led us deeper into the woods until she found a clear patch of grass. “Wait here, please.”
She disappeared behind a cluster of trees, ripping her shirt off as she went.
My heart kicked into my throat.
“Dad, for the love of the fucking Moon, do not react in any way but positively to what is about to happen.”
“Wyatt, what in the world—”
A glorious silver tiger emerged from the trees.
Dad’s jaw fell open, and the force of his bear punched the air, a knee-jerk reaction to the shock of a huge Prime beast appearing out of nowhere.
Avery growled a warning.
“Get it together, Dad,” I hissed, and then I approached my mate. “Hey, beautiful,” I murmured, stroking a hand down her neck. “You’re the most gorgeous and fearsome beast I’ve ever seen.”
A purr erupted from her, and she rubbed her huge head on my chest. I laughed and began to scratch her ears.
“Wyatt,” Dad finally managed to rasp. He crept closer. “This is Avery?”
“Yeah. Isn’t she beautiful? Tell her she’s beautiful, damn it.”
“She sure is. By the Moon….” He reached out a tentative hand. The tiger took a delicate sniff, and then she let him pet her head for three seconds before she went back to rubbing it on my shirt.
My bear had never been so smug.
“She’s enormous,” Dad said, sounding awed. “Is she as good a fighter as she looks?”
“Better,” I replied, and the tiger licked my face. “And she can break Heath’s wolf’s hold.”
“You’re shitting me.”
“Nope.”
Dad finally overcame his shock, and a smile creeped onto his face. “She’s going to be one of our best warriors.”
“She already is.”
That earned me another lick. I grabbed her head and started rubbing her ears again. She rumbled happily.
Dad became thoughtful. “There are people in our world who would certainly get… weird about a female tiger. Especially one who looks like her. She’s not white but she’s damn close.”
“Right.”
“And Mahoney saw her?”
I nodded. “She destroyed him, Dad. Aiden only finished it so we could sell it as a jaguar kill.”
He beamed at the tiger. “Of course she did.”
“Dad.” I let all mirth drain from my expression. “I need you to understand something. Avery’s mother was also a silver tiger, and she was murdered.”
He jerked an alarmed look at me. “What?”
I explained what little we knew about Avery’s mother, mostly gleaned from Ian, and Avery declined to shift back to add to the story.
She’d tell us when she was ready.
“You see now?” I asked. “You see why we couldn’t let Mahoney walk away? You see why she needs to be a Guardian?”
He nodded solemnly. “She will be one, Wyatt. And the force will have her back, especially when they see what she can really do. All she has to do is survive out there, and with your quad at her back, I have all the faith in her.”
That must’ve satisfied my wildcat, because she decided this little interlude was over. She trotted back behind the trees and emerged a minute later, fully dressed again. She pulled her hair back into its ponytail as she made her way over to us.
“Thank you, Ward,” she said. “I appreciate your discretion and your support in… all of this.”
“You’d have it even if you weren’t my son’s Fated, Avery. You’re a damn good soldier and an asset to the cause.”
She practically glowed at his praise. My dad deserved ten bottles of the expensive scotch he liked for saying the exact right thing to please my mate.
I’d make Heath pony up some Blackwell trust fund money for those later.
As we walked out of the woods, I ached to hold Avery’s hand, but I managed to refrain. I wouldn’t push my luck after all the loving she’d allowed her tiger to get from me.
When we arrived back at the table where the guys waited, Heath rose and greeted my dad.
“I’m satisfied,” Dad said, shaking Heath’s hand. “I’ll handle the Council investigators from here. You boys just keep taking good care of Avery, and we won’t have a problem.”
“Thanks, Ward,” Heath replied, blowing out a breath, and then he grinned at our girl. “And of course we will.”
Avery rolled her eyes at him but didn’t protest.
“By the way, Dad.” I propped my ass on the table and gave him an exasperated look.
“Willow and Winona also happen to be aware of what Avery just disclosed to you because they were at the bar that night and witnessed the entire thing. They’re out of control, and you guys just keep letting them act up. ”
Dad scowled and pointed a stern finger in my face. “Your sisters, like your mother, are perfect.”
I sighed, defeated yet again.
Avery bit her lip to keep from laughing.
Dad sent one last look of warning around the group of us, and then he strode away.