Chapter Eighteen
Erica couldn’t be at ease in this house. It was Cole’s house … Her father’s house.
They told her to make herself at home, to take what she wanted from the fridge, or get comfortable on the couch.
She could do none of it. Instead, she wandered around, arms folded over her stomach, studying every detail to distract herself from the fact that Dominic was out there somewhere, picking a fight with another shifter.
She couldn’t think about the possibility that he could be hurt, or it would drive her crazy.
Cole’s home was the typical bachelor pad, the walls bare of any artwork or photographs, with a large, plush sectional in the center of the living room.
A big-screen television hung on the wall and illuminated the whole room without the aid of the overhead light.
The kitchen, surprisingly, was clean and immaculate with granite countertops free of the usual clutter of a lived-in home.
She’d half expected trash everywhere or stacked pizza boxes on the kitchen island.
Whenever she wandered back to the living room, her gaze floated to the pump-action shotgun hanging above the fireplace mantel.
A box of twelve-gauge bullets sat beneath it, the custom retail sticker seal unbroken over the lid.
A thin glove lay next to it, dusty and untouched.
The box must have contained silver bullets, and the glove was so that Cole could handle the ammo without hurting himself.
Dominic hadn’t admitted that silver was the bane of wolf shifters, but maybe that was one of the true myths she read about.
She had no interest in the baseball game on the television or sitting next to the man with the tattoo sleeves and torn jeans.
Ronan, as polite as he was when she first walked through the door, made her even less comfortable than the house.
He was a shifter, like her father, but like Hank, he was a beta and exuded an intense vibe that he could be dangerous if push came to shove.
Apart from that, she would have never guessed he was a cop like Cole.
He had more of the looks of a retired rock star, graying stubble, and a band T-shirt to complete the image.
His cool green eyes beneath thick, dark brows watched the game, but she somehow knew that his attention was divided. His ears likely tracked her throughout the house, monitoring her movements, though he never budged from his comfy spot on the sectional.
“You sure you don’t want a beer?” he asked as she made another round into the living room. “It’d probably mellow you out.”
Erica shook her head, though Ronan wasn’t even looking at her. “I don’t drink.”
The light laugh was unexpected. “Like father, like daughter.” He took a swig from the craft beer bottle in his hand.
She turned and stopped her pacing. “What?”
As far as she knew, Cole and Dominic were the only ones who knew that she was related to the alpha shifter. Though if everyone were as perceptive as Gage, maybe more people knew than she expected. She remembered his comment at the repair shop. Did they really look that much alike?
“Your dad doesn’t drink either. I know you’re Cole’s baby girl.” Ronan glanced over his shoulder. “I was the one who actually introduced your parents.”
Her stomach quivered nervously. Ronan wasn’t only a mutual connection, but maybe he would have known about her parents’ separation and all the gritty details in between.
Could he have been a witness to the fallout?
She tried not to show her curiosity, but Ronan must have seen her shifty gaze and guessed what was on her mind.
Ronan muted the television. “I remember the night they finally talked to each other. We were out at a roller rink. Back then, those were hip places to be. Every Friday night, your mom and her friends went to this rink in Decatur. Your dad wasn’t very good at skating, so we went just for the arcade games and the pizza. ”
Erica found herself edging around the side of the couch. She remembered that roller rink. She had begged her mom to take her there a few times, but she never did. Now she knew why.
The beta shifter rolled his eyes as he continued.
“I think he was in love the moment he saw her, and that’s the only reason we kept going back.
One night, he said he would finally introduce himself, but he couldn’t get up the nerve to go talk to her.
After an hour, I just went over and asked her if she wanted a pop because Cole wanted to buy her one, but didn’t know what she’d like.
She told me that she’d been wanting to talk to him too, but she’d been waiting for him to make the first move.
” Erica saw the sparkle of amusement in his eyes.
“I grabbed Cole’s sorry ass and dragged him over to Felicia and her friends so they could finally talk. The rest is history.”
Erica caught herself smiling at how Ronan talked about her parents. She lowered herself onto the cushion, and Ronan kept on with his story.
“We’ve been friends since … Shit, I don’t even know how long.
We’ve always been together. Grade school, college, and now.
I was his best man at the wedding, and the minute they found out Felicia was pregnant, they asked me to be your godfather.
Of course, I accepted. By then, Cole was my alpha, and he appointed me as his beta.
He can be a jackass sometimes, but he’s a damn good alpha. ”
At that, her smile faded. It was because Cole was a damn good alpha that her parents had separated.
“How did …”
“They fall apart?” Ronan sighed and looked away. “I’ve got my theories. Everyone knew they loved each other. They were the mushiest couple I’d ever met. Always clinging to one another, always going out on dates, and making out in public. But then Cole was made alpha, and all that changed.”
A frown formed between Erica’s brows. “He wasn’t always an alpha?”
“Not always.” Ronan propped one of his legs up on the coffee table in front of him. “He’s got the dominance for it, of course. Maybe our former alpha saw that when he appointed Cole as his successor. That’s when things started to tank for him and your mom.”
She understood that much. What she couldn’t understand was how they went from being such a gushy couple to two people who were willing to separate over that sort of life change.
“I think,” he continued carefully, “it was a combination of things. Cole couldn’t manage his time well, and Felicia got too used to him not being around.
They tried hard in the beginning. They really did.
As much as Felicia hated it, I babysat you while they went out on dates to try and rekindle that flame.
But being an alpha was changing Cole. Even I saw that.
And being alone, having to take care of a baby all on her own, was changing your mom.
They became two people who just didn’t know each other anymore.
They weren’t the same two kids who fell in love at the skating rink.
Felicia was getting too used to taking care of things by herself, and your father was getting in the way of the home she had made without him.
She hated the pack and all shifters for what they had made her husband into, but it wasn’t our fault that he took to being alpha so well. ”
The familiar lump in her throat threatened to break her calm composure, and Erica refused to let it. She looked to the tips of her shoes, fingers laced in front of her as she considered all that he said.
“I think the whole pack felt it when they severed the mating bond. Cole was never the same afterward. Never talked about you or Felicia for years. Even when I asked if he wanted to try and reconnect, he would cut me off. I think it was just too painful to think about, much less talk about.”
Ronan looked up and gave her a confident nod.
“I think it’s great that you’re here. I don’t know if Cole would have had the courage to come find you himself.
Your dad’s a brave man, a brave alpha. But some things, he just refuses to do sometimes.
Too embarrassed or prideful, maybe. Just like when he couldn’t talk to Felicia at the skating rink. ”
So, her parents did form the mating bond, and they did have to sever it in the end. Erica’s heart ached for them both. She wasn’t sure how she would take losing Dominic like that. For a moment, she thought she might have understood her mother’s pain.
The speculative comparisons of her situation to her parents’ hit her hard, but she wouldn’t let it show.
Not in front of someone else who knew her, but might as well have been a perfect stranger.
Would he have been less intimidating if he had been around for all her birthdays, Christmases, maybe even school recitals?
Would he have babysat her when she was five, eight, or twelve years old?
Would he have been like an uncle to her as well as a godfather?
Ronan stiffened, and his stare drifted as if something had caught his attention. He set his beer on the table and went straight to the back door that led out from the kitchen. “Stay there,” he ordered.
Fat chance of that. He might have been a beta, but if she heard trouble, there was no way she’d stay put.
Whether she’d run or fight, she wasn’t totally sure.
Either way, she hoped it was a false alarm.
Maybe just the neighbor’s cat wandering around in the backyard.
If it was, this gave her the perfect opportunity to slip away and continue wandering the house without supervision.