Chapter 52 Liza
LIZA
My body automatically recoiled at Castro’s voice booming through the speaker.
Ty turned to face his father, who stood frozen like a statue. “What the fuck is he talking about?”
The look on Dominic’s face told me he was just as bewildered as the rest of us. Nico leaned over and whispered something into his ear.
Dominic’s perplexed expression quickly morphed into devastation. “I didn’t know,” he whispered, his breath catching in his throat.
My voice was much smaller than I intended when I finally spoke up. “What’s going on? I don’t understand.”
Castro’s voice boomed once more. “My patience is running thin, Alpha. I don’t have all night.” He paused before yelling louder. “Liza needs to know who really ended her parents’ lives!”
Dominic cleared his throat and eyed Nico, trying to decide what to say.
“If you don’t tell her right this fucking second, I’ll tell her. I’ll tell the whole fucking country. This secret will be exposed tonight. So, who will it be, Dominic? You or me?”
My mind raced, trying to make sense of Castro’s demand.
What could he possibly be referring to? Castro had killed my parents.
I saw it happen, and I finally remembered every gory detail of that moment.
He had shot them in the chest. Two more victims, he decided, were necessary to have me to himself.
Whatever Dominic had to say must’ve been severe, and the last thing I wanted was for him to broadcast information about my parents to the entire country.
I turned to Dominic, pleading with my eyes, gesturing toward the phone. No matter how horrible the truth was, he needed to speak now before we lost our chance to keep the secret between us.
It wasn’t Dominic’s voice that broke through the silence, though. It was Nico’s.
“Dominic had no idea.”
“That’s a fucking lie!” Castro screamed.
“No. It’s not a lie, Castro.” Nico’s voice remained calm and steady, and I wondered how the hell he managed that in such a stressful situation. “Dominic has no fault in what happened after Liza’s parents were found shot and believed to be dead.”
Wait a fucking second. Did he say believed to be dead?
The room spun, and I grabbed Ty’s arm to keep my balance, trying desperately not to fall over. My stomach lurched, and I covered my mouth with my hand, hoping I wouldn’t vomit all over the row of fiction books.
Nico took a step closer to the phone Ty was still clutching with a death grip. “Dominic instructed us to burn down all of the cabins, but then I realized Liza wasn’t in the house.”
I gripped my stomach, not knowing if I could stand to listen, but I had no choice. I needed to hear the truth.
Nico turned to face me. “Dominic didn’t want you dead, but I advised him to take you out.”
I took a step back as Ty growled.
Nico’s gaze never wavered from mine as he continued.
“Your parents were still breathing when Dominic ran off to find you in the woods, though your father was on his last breath, and your mother was barely alive. Could they have been saved?” His lips flattened into a tight line.
“I think so. But their living meant a drug war could leak over into Presley Acres. I know that to you, Liza, your parents were your parents, but to everyone else, they were a cartel that dealt in weapons and drugs. This is probably hard for you to hear, but the facts are the facts. They were dangerous people, and they were a threat to our pack. My loyalty was and always will be to Dominic, so I had no choice but to eliminate the threats against him.”
I closed my eyes. I couldn’t stomach looking at Nico any longer. Everything was quiet, the silence thick as we all stood there, not knowing what to do or say next. Then finally, Nico cleared his throat.
“That is why I did what I did, Liza. You can hate me for it, but I am not sorry. I am loyal to Dominic, and that means protecting him, no matter the cost.” When I opened my eyes, he looked away, unable to meet my gaze.
Before he could turn away completely, he added one final sentence.
“This is what it means to be loyal to the alpha.”
I couldn’t find the words to respond. I had so many questions, but the words just wouldn’t come.
I’d almost forgotten Castro was still on the phone until he finally spoke again, spitting his words out with rage. “It’s a lie, Nico. You’ve always protected Dominic, but today, the truth will be out in the open. Dominic burned down the cabin while Liza’s parents were still alive. I can prove it.”
Nico scoffed. “You can’t prove anything. How can you possibly think that Dominic was behind this?”
Castro ignored him, hatred spewing from his voice. “Liza, I have evidence that proves your parents died because of Dominic. He ordered his pack to burn everything down, and they followed his orders without question. I have the transcripts of a recorded conversation.”
“You’re wrong, Castro, because Dominic didn’t even know they were still alive when the cabin was burned down.
” Nico’s voice raised just enough for us to notice that he was losing his typically calm demeanor and constant composure.
“I never told him. I was the one to make the call, and I have my own proof of the event.”
Castro was furious. He growled into the phone, and a loud crash in the background made me jump.
I wondered what expensive equipment he’d just shattered by having a temper tantrum.
“You are all snakes.” He growled, deep and guttural, and the hairs on my arms to stand on end.
“That’s fine,” he continued. “I have plenty more on you. You have more disgusting secrets. You’re safe for now. ”
Castro ended the call, and it unleashed a flood tears. Seconds later, rage surged through me.
It was swift, like a living thing that couldn’t be controlled. The sensations took over my body before I could recognize and push them back down. My neck snapped back as a vicious snarl escaped my throat, my claws and fangs appearing against my will.
It wasn’t my fault. I’d been pushed to this point. My entire body shook as the mania built from the image of my parents lying on the cold floor, Nico’s face being the last they ever saw.
I imagined my mother pleading for her life, watching the love of her life bleed out only a few feet from her as the cabin lit up in flames.
Nico had chosen murder and loyalty to his alpha over the sanctity of life. The realization was so stunning, so jarring, that I didn’t question my extreme reaction to the truth.
I turned to face Nico and Dominic; my lips curled back to display my fangs. “You’re both murderers. My parents may not have been the best people, according to you, but at least they weren’t murderers.”
I wanted to hurt them, to rip them apart limb by limb, to make them bleed and beg for their lives before I ended them.
My heart broke all over again, just as it was beginning to heal and find peace.
“When will this family stop taking from me?” I screamed, raking my claws through my hair so violently that my hand came away bloody.
“How can you ask me to be mated to the next leader of this pack when all you do is take and take and fucking take?”
“Liza.” Ty whispered my name, but I was too far gone. There was no coming back from the brink of insanity the Kellers had pushed me to.
I was too deep in my heartbreak to even react to his soft and broken tone. He was there by my side, not recoiling in fear. It didn’t matter, though. Once again, I was broken, and this time I wasn’t so sure I could come back from it.
“I still hate Castro. I don’t want that to be confused, but I hate you all just as much.”
I didn’t stop to look at their pathetic faces to see what type of response I’d elicited with my fury. Maybe something I’d said rang true to them and they realized what monsters they’d been. Even if it did, it wouldn’t make a difference. I was done with them. I refused to stand there another second.
I stormed past Nico, needing fresh air. He didn’t try to reach out to me, but he did turn and speak as I rushed past him.
“I’m sorry you’re hurting, but you shouldn’t blame Dominic.
He had a soft spot for your parents, regardless of the threat they were to the pack.
I’m sure if he had known they were alive, he would’ve had them saved.
” I slowed down but didn’t stop moving as Nico’s voice became louder.
He wanted to be sure I heard his final plea.
“I’m the one to blame, Liza. I made the call. Not Dominic.”
I paused when Dominic’s quiet voice reached me. “Liza, I would have saved them.” He sounded so broken. “I would’ve saved them.” When he repeated himself, his voice cracked, and he stared at the floor.
Nico stood tall, showing his resolve for the situation.
“And that’s why we had to see to their end.
” He turned back to me, his eyes narrowed in determination to make his final case and somehow convince me that killing my parents was the best decision he could have made.
“I’m sorry for your loss, Liza, but I did what I had to do. ”
I stormed out of the library. Ty called after me, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t. My arms tingled, and I knew I needed to shift before I broke out of my skin in the middle of the library.
My wolf needed to sink its teeth into something, so I ran toward the trail where Ty and I would have had our first date. The one where he stood me up. To be fair, he’d had a good excuse.
At this time of night, the park was empty, allowing me the freedom to run through a public place only half shifted—part human and part wolf. I silently thanked the gods for keeping people away, not knowing how I’d react to their stares.
As soon as I reached the tree line, I stripped out of my clothes and shifted fully, running deep into the densely wooded area. I bounded over logs and leaped over streams, finally coming to a stop on a massive boulder overlooking the river.