Chapter Fifteen #2
“Apparently, there’s been some drama in the pack.
” Hank sounded rather pleased by the turn of events.
“She said Wyatt used to look after them. It’s only when he started bringing in shifters like Brady and Nathan that he started acting weird.
Missing pack meetings, disappearing on them for days or weeks, not being there when he’s needed—that sort of stuff we know already.
She said it really put a dent in their loyalty.
As far as she knew, only her and Nolan had talked about putting in a petition to stay in Tolstone if Wyatt moved on.
But now, with all this mess and what she’s been hearing, she just doesn’t want to get caught in the crossfire.
They don’t want to be guilty by association. ”
Dominic could understand that. It wasn’t their fault that Wyatt had gone off the deep end and searched for power and prestige in places where he didn’t belong.
He nodded. “Pending an investigation into their true motives, I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. They can stay if we find that they didn’t have anything to do with any of Wyatt’s plans.”
“I think as soon as Shane’s pack is here and settled, they’ll start to relax,” Hank said.
“I won’t defend Nathan or Wyatt, but you know that’s the reason why the others have been acting out.
The idea of having more shifters in town has everyone on edge.
They don’t know if it’ll be another small, friendly pack like Gage’s or more trouble like Wyatt and his bunch. ”
Dominic nodded and rotated his mug. “Yeah, I know. How’s that coming, by the way?”
The slight tension in Hank’s shoulders seemed to ease as they changed the subject to something more hopeful. “They’re a little delayed because of an issue with his work, but they’ll be here by the end of the month. I’ve been keeping in touch with Shane’s progress to make sure everything’s fine.”
“Good. I’d hate for …”
He paused as the mating bond within him hummed to life. Erica was near, but why? He stood from his chair and cast a wary glance toward Hank as he left the office without a word. The beta, confused, followed after him.
“I need to see Cole Spradley.” Her voice boomed from the front office of the station, laced with that anxiety he had been feeling that morning.
“He’s in a meeting at the—”
“I don’t care!” A loud bang echoed down the hall, like a fist hitting a tabletop. “I need to see him right now.”
“Is this an emergency?”
Cole entered the hall from the break room and completely bypassed Dominic on his way to Erica. The Prima Alpha slammed a hand on his chest to hold him back.
“Let me take—”
The older alpha didn’t let him finish. Cole pushed past him and hurried forward to see his daughter.
Erica stormed her way into the hall that was restricted to employees of the police station, nose red and slightly swollen, matching her eyes that were too beautiful to ever shed tears. Her chest heaved for air as her stare locked on to Cole.
Dominic was blasted by the array of emotions that unfolded through the mating bond.
A bizarre mix of anger, agony, and a deep, penetrating sadness, like she had been wounded just by looking at the sheriff.
He looked at Cole, who paled at the sight of his grief-stricken daughter.
She watched him just as closely, examining his face, as if looking for something that she dreaded to find.
For a moment, they all observed the father and daughter, so spellbound by the scene that no one asked for an explanation. Dominic gave a short, almost imperceptible nod to his beta, who slowly backed away down the hall to wait.
Answering the call of his mate, he edged forward and took her arm. “Let’s go,” he told her gently.
As if snapping out of her stupor, Erica ripped free from his grasp, and he staggered back a step. This wasn’t some matter for the police or a crime that had been committed. This was something more.
It was then that Dominic knew what must have happened. Erica knew the truth about Cole Spradley. Somehow, his wolf sensed it through their bond, and it made perfect sense with her behavior.
“Maybe you two should go talk?” Dominic offered.
Erica transferred her stare to Dominic, her eyes overly bright with tears that wanted to fall. She’d never cry here in the police station. She needed privacy. They both did.
Cole moved forward, his movements a little stiff.
She tucked closer to Dominic, much like a frightened child would.
He received her, despite her previous brush-off, and planted a comforting kiss on her forehead in front of her father.
If she could transfer some of her anxiety to him, then he had the ability to give her some of his calm with some alpha dominance.
As difficult as it was, knowing what kind of conversation was to come, Dominic and his wolf funneled that peace to her soul.
That spark of confidence returned, and she nodded in agreement to the offer to talk.
Together, Cole and Erica walked out of the police station. Cole gave one last look to Dominic, a muted question in his eyes.
Dominic understood and nodded. Yes, Erica knew about shifters. Cole was free to talk about shifters, the pack, and all his reasons for leaving his family behind in Decatur.
The heavy oak doors shut behind them, and the finality of the click from the latch upset him more than it should have. Erica was in good hands. Dominic just wished she knew that too.
*
Erica had every intention to march into the police station and scream at Cole Spradley.
She wanted to demand explanations and throw out every mean insult she had come up with over the course of her life.
She wanted to be furious and sock him one in the nose for all he had done.
He had ruined her. Ruined her mother. Ruined their life, and here he was, in Tolstone the whole time. How could he do this to them?
As soon as she saw him and the difference twenty-five years had made to his appearance, she couldn’t make the words come out. They stopped short in her mouth, drying her tongue and choking her until she thought she’d never take a breath again.
Then Dominic was there, by her side. What was he doing there? Why did he seem to understand what was going on? She hadn’t called him, nor heard from him since he left her house. Did Cole have something to do with the pack trouble?
Nothing made sense except for the way Cole looked at her.
The way he’d reacted when they first met, how he seemed to turn ashen when she said that her mother was dead, the music, the calming, inexplicable fatherly presence.
He knew who she was, but it wasn’t until she saw his face in those old photographs that she put all the pieces together.
The puzzle was finally complete, except for one last part.
They drove to Jade Lake, not a word spoken in the squad car on the way. Cole even turned off the radio. He parked in a rise that looked out over the lake, and she knew this spot well. It was where her mother had parked all the times they had visited Jade Lake in her childhood.
The lakeside was deserted, but the old picnic table was still there, shaded by the massive oak, whose branches came alive with bright green leaves, just in time for spring. Under Cole’s subtle direction, Erica went to the picnic table and sat on one of the benches that creaked beneath her weight.
Cole followed her, his steps slow and ambling as if weighed down by the inevitable. He may not have been looking forward to this reunion, but she was. She had plenty to say, and he would hear every word, even if she had to keep him there until sunset.
Erica turned her eyes toward the lake and focused on the sparkling surface of the water. After so long, it had never lost its beauty. “Were you ever going to tell me?”
Cole sighed. “How do you even tell a person something like this?”
“Well, you don’t push it under a rug and forget about it for twenty-something years.”
She felt his eyes turn hot on her. “Young lady, you don’t know anything. So, you can save the attitude.”
Erica shook with the need to belt back some smart remark, but gritted her teeth to keep herself from riling him up more. She didn’t know how any of this would turn out, but she knew she didn’t want to be on the cop’s bad side.
“All I know,” she started again calmly, “is that me and Mom struggled for years without you. I never got a birthday card, you never visited, you never called. You must have known where to find us. I found the pictures of our old house in Decatur, and you were in it with Mom. You can’t tell me that you didn’t know where we were. ”
The wind rattled the leaves above their heads and cast dancing shadows across the table between them as both looked out over the lake, unable to look at one another.
“You’re right … I knew where you were, and I didn’t do any of those things. I must have started a hundred letters, but I never finished a single one. I knew your mother would never let you see it, even if I could find the right words.”
Erica huffed. “Why wouldn’t she let me see it? If you even tried—”
“I did try,” he snapped. “I may not have come to Decatur or called, but I did try.”
She turned on him, her brown braid whipping over her shoulder. “How did you try? Tell me in what way you tried to be involved in anything having to do with me or my mom.”
Cole’s nostrils flared, and she could see how hard he held control of his own anger. He had no right to be angry with her. She wasn’t in the wrong here. He was. He was the one who’d left them.
“When your mother brought you to Tolstone, I begged her to let me at least talk to you. Just to meet you. I left before you could really carry a conversation, and I wanted to have that, even if you didn’t know who I was.”
Erica’s lips parted. “You knew we came here?”