Chapter 21
TY
The short drive home seemed to take a lot longer than usual. My parents had always frowned upon speeding, since our family was the upholders of the law, but I was in a hurry. There was a discussion to be had, lies to correct, and a history I needed to understand.
Knowing my father had left out vitally important information about Liza in his confession, I had to confront him. And now.
I slammed the front door behind me, yelling as I rushed into the foyer, “Dad? Are you up there?”
“What’s all the ruckus about?” Mother appeared at the top of the stairs, staring down at me with her usual amount of disapproval. “Tyson? What’s wrong?”
“Oh, I’ll tell you what’s wrong.” I took the steps two at a time, shrugging off my mother’s hand when she reached for me. “Is Dad in his office?”
She scurried after me. “He’s on a phone call, Ty. Lower your voice!”
“Nope. Not happening.” I barged into the office, and my father’s wide eyes landed on me. It seemed he had some inkling of what was coming.
“Tommy, I’ll call you back.” He set the corded receiver back into its cradle and stood, using the backs of his legs to shove his leather chair away. “What is so damn important to have you barging in here like a maniac, Tyson?”
I strode forward and slammed my fist onto the mahogany desk.
A lesser piece of furniture would have folded under the pressure, but my father spared no expense on his furnishings.
Or his lies. “Why the hell did you keep information about Liza to yourself? I thought you were being open and honest with me the other night.” I shook my head.
“But I guess I should have fucking known, huh?”
“Excuse me?” Dad folded his arms beneath his massive chest and huffed. “What exactly are you accusing me of, son?”
I fell down into a wingback chair across from him and leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees. “Based on the conversation I just had with Stone Black, you seem to have omitted some pretty important facts from the story you told me about Liza.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I told you everything.” As my father sat down again, he challenged me with a glare.
He needed to know that he’d fucked up royally—no fucking pun intended—by keeping everything to himself.
There was, however, a very slim chance, and I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, that he didn’t know Liza was an omega.
I couldn’t blurt it out, but I could wait to see if my old man manned up and told me the truth.
For the time being, I chose to keep that bit of information to myself.
I sighed. “Stone confronted me while I was on a date with Liza tonight. We had a conversation about the Wylde pack. You said you’d killed everyone!” My father didn’t react. “Stone said he witnessed you almost murdering Liza but, for whatever reason, you changed your mind at the last second.”
“Damn it.” Dad cursed under his breath and rubbed a hand across his forehead. “What else did he say?” He was more than curious. He was wary.
“Stone told me he was supposed to be Liza’s mate and that she was promised to him many years ago.
” The words were bitter in my mouth. “He also said that if we don’t allow him to pursue her, he’ll start telling everyone the Keller family’s secrets.
Call me crazy but I’m assuming that would include the fact that we slaughtered the Wylde pack.
” I would be screaming that from the rooftops if I were Stone.
Dad shook his head, sighed, and paced the room. “All right. This is fixable. We need to come up with a plan to eliminate him … immediately.”
It didn’t surprise me that he wanted to silence Stone, that he wanted to kill him. My father didn’t like tedious details, and if there was one word that described Stone, it was tedious.
I sat back, tapping my fingers on my knee. “Dad, do I really need to remind you that slaughtering an entire pack is what got us into this situation in the first place? Do you think it’s wise to put even more blood on our hands?”
He stopped pacing and spun around to face me. “Yes, I’m fully aware of the absolute shit show I created, Tyson. I don’t need you to point it out for me.” Someone should’ve counseled him before the slaughter. His advisors had failed him miserably.
Mother sighed, and I turned in time to see her wiping tears from her face. Honestly, I’d forgotten about her.
Dad made his way across the room and put his arms around her, kissing her forehead lightly. “My love, you don’t need to listen to all of this. Why don’t you go read your book. I’ll work this out. There’s nothing to worry about. I promise.”
She nodded. I could’ve told her a thing or two about believing his brand of BS, but I kept my mouth shut.
My mother forced a weak smile. Before turning to leave, she peered at me over Dad’s shoulders.
Her eyes pleaded with me, perhaps hoping I’d talk some sense into Dad or wishing I didn’t goad him into a medical emergency.
Dad closed the door behind him, then came to sit down on the chair next to mine.
“Ty, I’m going to be straightforward with you because you’re no longer a child.
” He breathed in deep so that his nostrils flared.
“As the next alpha, you’re going to need to learn to step back from the situation and try to remove all personal feelings from the equation.
” He waited, as if he thought he would be able to see me do so right now.
There was no way I could see myself stepping back from a mass murder that didn’t have to happen, and no way was I committing murder just because he was asking me to, but I didn’t say that.
Dad continued. “The only other alternative to killing Stone is handing over Liza.” I sure as fuck wasn’t going to do that. “Even then, Stone being alive is a risk I’m not willing to take. The information he has is too dangerous for our pack.”
I sighed.
“He holds a secret that, if it gets out, would ruin us. Who’s to say he won’t come back and make more demands? When would the blackmail end?”
Fuck. He was right.
I lowered my voice. “I see your point, but I’m not killing anyone. I don’t want to start off as alpha with blood on my hands.” Secrets or not. “As someone who’s living with the guilt of murdering an entire pack, surely you can understand?”
Dad covered his mouth with his hand but remained silent. He was deep in thought. I probably only had one chance to convince him to choose another route to keep the pack safe. Although, for the life of me, I didn’t have a clue what that route would be.
“According to you, you’d supposedly put all of this behind us after you massacred the Wylde pack, yet here it is rearing its ugly head into our lives again. Murder isn’t the answer.”
“You’re right.” Dad cleared his throat. “This is all on me. I never knew there was another kid hiding and watching from afar. I should have checked. If I had, maybe I would’ve been able to bring him into the fold the same way I did with Liza.”
Could have. Would have. Should have. His regrets didn’t help us at all.
“That misstep is on me and no one else. I want to meet with Stone.”
“Absolutely not!” I responded louder than I intended, and my father twisted his head to look at me.
More accurately, to glare at me. This wasn’t a man who was used to having his word questioned.
“That’s a very bad idea. Stone will know it’s a setup and expect you to kill him.
What do you think he’ll do? He’ll come prepared to defend himself.
If he even smells a setup, I guarantee you he’ll strike first.”
My father chuckled. “Let me assure you, I can handle myself, Ty. You seem to forget who I am.” Dad stood and puffed out his chest, which though massive, wasn’t nearly as impressive as it used to be.
“I’ll try to bargain with him before I make a final decision on whether his life can be spared or if he’s too dangerous to the pack to live. ”
“If that’s what you choose to do then I can’t stop you, but I am asking you to give it more thought.
” I stood, my blood singing in my veins.
There was nothing I could do about my anger, and I couldn’t argue with my father anymore.
Every word against him planted his idea deeper in his mind.
I walked to the door. As I turned the doorknob, I turned to look at him.
“Mother’s worried enough without her catching wind that you’re inviting Stone to a private meeting. ”
“Don’t worry about your mother, I’ve got it all under control.” He scoffed. “Liza has proven to be more trouble than I thought.” He was having a bad case of if he knew then what he knew now, and I didn’t like it one fucking bit.
I spun to face him, my body tense, poised to fight for her. “Choose your next words carefully because Liza is still my mate, and I won’t tolerate anyone speaking of her in that way.” It was a good thing I hadn’t told him Liza was an omega.
Dad, weak as he was, was at my side in a flash. He grabbed me by the shirt. “Don’t forget that I’m still the alpha, Tyson. I’ll say whatever I damn well please. Your little girlfriend is causing our family more grief than we deserve.”
Deserve? He had no fucking idea what we deserved.
Letting go of my shirt, he shoved me back.
I stepped toward him until our chests nearly touched, and I glared down into my father’s eyes.
“She is my fated mate, whether you like it or not, and any grief this family receives is well deserved.” I couldn’t believe he had the nerve to defend his behavior.
“You killed an entire pack: her family, his family, all of them instead of finding another way to handle a situation you should have stepped back to assess before you did something so reckless and ridiculous. Leave Liza the fuck out of it!”
“It’s obvious your priorities are screwed up, Ty. Listen to yourself!”