Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Thane
After the EMTs leave, I get Harlow settled in the Den and make my way up the stairs. I hear Leo speaking quietly to Elaine.
“I suppose I should retake my seat and await my death upon my mighty throne,” Leo chuckles. Raidon growls at him as I climb the last three steps.
“Why?” Elaine asks. “I know you are part of Corbin’s pack and all, but after what you just did, I am sure all that can be forgotten.”
“Somehow, Elaine, I doubt Thane will suddenly forget I murdered his mother,” Leo tells her, just as I step into the hallway across from the kitchen.
Leo turns his head toward me and moves to step past Elaine when he suddenly stops with a gasp.
Raidon jumps. Leo’s eyes look down, and it takes me a second to process what I’m seeing.
Elaine gasps. I didn’t even see her move.
One second, she is drying her hands on the tea towel.
The next, she’s plunged a knife into Leo’s ribs.
I watch Elaine stagger back. She’s shocked by what she’s done, as if stabbing him was a knee-jerk reaction, one she had no control over.
Leo coughs, glancing down. I stand there stunned.
I was supposed to kill him, but for some reason, I am struggling with the idea of him dying.
Raidon, sensing this, rushes over to him, grabbing tea towels and placing pressure on the wound. “Mom!” he growls, snapping Elaine out of her thoughts.
“He killed her,” she says, stunned. She blinks, taking a step back, and nearly falling over her own feet. I spring into action to catch her, the movement pulling me out of my own stunned state.
Once Elaine is steady, I move to help Raidon, which is something that shocks both Raidon and myself. Leo killed my mother, brutally murdered her, yet he saved my mate and my daughter. He saved them, and now I suddenly can’t bring myself to want him dead.
“Elaine, grab the first aid kit!” I snap at her. She rushes off while Leo clutches the countertop.
“Just rip the damn thing out. I’ll heal. Pretty sure she missed anything important,” he lets out with a pained wheeze.
“Help me get him to the chair,” Raidon says.
Growling, I grab his arm, tossing it over my shoulder. Raidon gets the other as we both grab a handful of his pants, hauling him out to the living room and the chair he used to be chained to.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake! At least pull the damn knife out before I take my royal throne of death,” Leo hisses at me. With one quick yank, Raidon rips the knife out before replacing the pressure as Leo groans. Moments later Elaine rushes in, looking quite lost.
Raidon snatches the first aid kit from her, and she backs away while Raidon sets to work. Leo’s wounds heal slower than they normally would because of all the fighting today.
“Harlow?” Leo asks, clearly needing a distraction.
“She’s fine,” I tell him. I may not want to kill him, but I haven't forgiven him enough to make small talk.
“Move, let me do it,” Elaine snaps, seeing Raidon fumble. She pushes him aside.
“You don’t have another knife, do you? I expected that from him, not you, Elaine. You should be about saving lives, not taking them. Playing grim reaper doesn’t suit you.”
“I could say the same thing about you, Leo. Hana was my best friend,” Elaine says, still trying to process what she learned and clearly feeling just as torn as I am.
Raidon restrains him again and stands back.
I watch Elaine work for a few minutes before checking on my other mates.
When I return, Elaine is still stitching Leo up and Raidon is questioning him.
“So, Bree is how Talon got involved with Corbin?” Raidon asks. They both look over at me as I move across the room, taking a seat in the armchair.
Harlow is in the Den. I still haven’t held our daughter. I tried. Harlow even offered her to me, but I am terrified of breaking her. Breaking her like I broke her mother.
“You’re looking rather conflicted there, Thane,” Leo states.
My eyes flick to the bastard who murdered my mother. His hands are once again restrained as Elaine patches him up. She, too, looks conflicted.
“Because killing you doesn't seem right anymore,” I growl, annoyed. I want nothing more than to destroy the person responsible for my mother's death, yet I know she would curse me for it after what he just did.
“We’re even. Just get my daughter back from Corbin, okay?” Leo sighs heavily, clearly content to die. I shake my head. It is no longer that simple. Besides, I want to hear what he has to say about Bree and Talon.
Ignoring what he said, I ask, “What were you just telling Raidon?”
“How Talon got mixed up in this mess with Corbin,” Raidon answers, making me look at him. I turn my attention back to Leo.
Leo groans before letting out a breath. “When Talon fell into some financial trouble, Bree introduced him to Corbin,” Leo answers.
“But how does Corbin know Bree?” Raidon asks. “Did she meet him at Tal’s?”
Leo shakes his head. “No, but damn did it cause some problems when her father caught her there a few months back. We were invited to this gig, a glory hole event. Bree said some Omega girl was going to be there. Anyway, I guess the Omega backed out. If it weren’t for Bree’s birthmark, her father wouldn’t have recognized her.
And that caused some conflict, let me tell you,” Leo chuckles.
“What’s that got to do with anything? You said Corbin didn’t meet her at Talon’s,” I ask, confused at the contradictions he’s making.
“No, Corbin knows Bree from the Omega Sanctuary,” Leo says, and I look at Raidon, now more confused than ever.
“Bree is Beta,” I tell him.
“What? No, she isn’t. Bree is Omega. She just never bloomed. One of those oddities of nature, I suppose.”
I lean forward in my chair, trying to take in what Leo is saying. None of it makes sense. Bree claims she is Beta. Not that Betas have an overly strong scent, and she constantly douses herself in pheromones for work. But still, surely Talon would know if his girlfriend is Omega or not?
“Wait …” Raidon looks at me confused, like he doesn’t know what he is about to ask or needs confirmation that he heard correctly. I can offer him no help. I am just as confused.
“And let me tell you, the look of horror on her face when she realized her father attended the glory hole gig was priceless! He looked like he was going to kill her,” Leo chuckles.
“Who’s her father?” I ask.
“This is why there’s conflict between Curtis and Corbin now. We didn’t know Bree was his daughter, not until he saw the birthmark on her hip and started freaking out.”
“Whose daughter?” Raidon asks before I get a chance.
“Curtis’s. Who else? Corbin doesn’t have any kids. Girl needs therapy. I know Corbin isn’t her real uncle, but damn that shit is still gross. And that’s how we all found out about Curtis’s dirty little secret.”
“Wait, Bree is Curtis Black’s daughter?” I ask, wondering if I heard that right.
“Yes. I just said that didn’t I? Are you listening to anything I’m saying? But don’t worry, no one fucked her, thank the goddess.” Leo shudders. I shudder, too, at the mere thought.
“But you bet your ass Curtis beat her from one end of the club to the other when he found her lying on that table. Poor girl. She didn’t know she was offering herself up to her father and uncle. We didn’t even know she was his!”
Raidon clutches his hair, and I sit back in my chair, absolutely blown away by the information Leo gives us. “I can’t believe this,” Raidon mutters.
“So Curtis never told Corbin he fathered a daughter?”
“Nope. We did ask why but never got an answer.”