Chapter Thirty-Four
You Know Nothing, Imogen Gallagher
IMOGEN GALLAGHER
Despite the serene exterior I’ve managed to plaster on, my heart beats a nervous rhythm, and my thoughts swirl like the night shadows around us.
Liam helps me out of his truck and hugs me to his chest. His warmth and the comfort of his touch ease some of the tension that’s been coiling in my chest since we climbed out of bed only a few hours earlier.
The moon hangs like a watchful sentinel overhead, casting a silvery glow on the scattered cars in the parking lot. The Signal Pass Inn stands ahead, its rustic charm illuminated by the soft, flickering lanterns that line the walkway.
The last time I was here, it was to meet those two wolves from Oklahoma. And now I’m here again, this time to meet my brother.
Liam tightens his arms around me, his fingers tracing soothing patterns on my back. “We’re right here with you,” he murmurs, his voice an anchor for my chaotic mind. “We have men all over the parking lot and surrounding the inn. And I won’t leave your side for a second.”
His words offer reassurance, but they don’t completely remove the unease gnawing at me. What could my brother possibly want to tell me?
“Gen. We have your back.”
I draw strength from the unwavering support in his words, his voice. I take his hand and we walk together toward the inn. Liam’s hand, his presence, is a lifeline as we go up the steps and enter the small lobby.
The quiet ambience envelopes us as we move through the room, past the murmured conversations and the tinkling of glasses. My heart still races with anticipation, but the knowledge that my mate is at my side, that my pack is watching over us, steadies my resolve.
We walk through the lobby, past the bar, and toward a small, secluded corner with a lit and crackling fireplace. My brother isn’t alone. He and Uncle Dave stand when they see us, their expressions grim in dancing shadows of the firelight.
I suck in a surprised breath. Why is my uncle here?
Liam squeezes my hand. “We can leave.”
I shake my head, my determination warring with my anxiety over what my brother wants. Why he’s with our uncle. What’s the ulterior motive? And how much I really do want to tell Liam to turn around and take me away.
Liam nuzzles at my ear. His warm breath sends sparks along my skin. “You’re mine,” he whispers. “Not theirs. Mine. Show them your fangs, be that tough-as-nails woman I know lives inside you.”
The smallest of smiles tugs at my mouth. I lean against him, seeking solace, and breathe in his woodsy leather scent. His solid presence, like a reassuring pillar, bolsters my resolve, and I find a newfound strength in his embrace. I’m not alone. Not anymore. “Thank you.”
“Always.”
With predatory assertiveness, Liam moves ahead of me, taking a seat on the couch, positioning himself to protect and comfort me. He tucks me securely against his side, his large hand finding its place on my trembling legs.
My brother meets my gaze and speaks. “Imogen, our uncle has brought something to my attention that you need to know.” He’s so cold. I can hear the sincerity in his voice, but there’s still no connection. No caring.
My uncle, resembling our father in so many ways, sits there, a little shorter, with slightly less salt and pepper in his hair, but every bit as formidable as Oliver Gallagher. And with the same cutthroat gaze I’m used to seeing from my father.
Shivers run down my spine, but I straighten and face him like nothing’s wrong.
From a briefcase at his feet, he retrieves a file folder and places it on the coffee table between us, pushing it toward me. “You’re mine, Imogen. My daughter, not Oliver’s.”
All the air vanishes.
My heart stops beating and I scramble off the couch, away from him, away from the revelation that hangs heavy in the air. My father?
“The fuck.” Liam jumps up and moves between us, blocking my view of our uncle. “You fucking asshole.” He slips an arm around my waist and pulls me back against his body, grounding me and creating a protective wall between me and Uncle Dave. “I don’t know what you’re after, but—”
Dave’s voice cuts through Liam’s growl. “When you injured yourself at the wedding rehearsal, I took advantage and had some tests run on your blood. I’ve always been suspicious but never had the opportunity. Oliver was always very careful.”
The room whirls around me, my mind reeling from the bombshell that’s just been dropped. “Suspicious? How? Why?”
“Oliver isn’t our father, Gen. Dave is.” Lucas speaks so calmly. Like it’s no big deal.
I look up slowly, meeting my brother’s intense gaze. He’d said our , not my .
“Oliver lied to all of us.” Lucas shoves his hands into his pockets and stares at me, his face still unreadable.
“What do you mean?” I take hold of Liam’s hand but take a step away from his side. “All of us?”
“Oliver’s always been very good at getting what he wanted. He met Celia first and whisked her away and got her to fall for him. The marriage to her came with ties to one of the largest commercial developers in Colorado.” My brother explains our father’s intentions toward our mother like they were a well-calculated business strategy.
“Sounds about right,” I say, letting the derision I feel for my father show. “I don’t see how that makes you my father instead.” I turn to look at Uncle Dave.
My uncle releases a long sigh and for a brief moment I see how tired he is...how old, how broken. The mask of anger and resentment slides back into place. “Celia was my fated mate.”
“Fuck,” Liam mutters under his breath next to me.
“So you had an affair with my mother even after you had married Aunt Kate?” My voice drips with venom, but he doesn’t even blink at the accusation. “You betrayed your bond.”
“Yes,” he answers.
I scoff, semi-shocked he answered without hesitation. “You, more than anyone, knew your brother was a hateful man. And he was bonded to Celia. How could you?” I spit out the last sentence.
“And you—” I turn on my brother. “You know what he did to me. Both you and Finn watched him. And neither of you ever protected me. You may be my brothers, but you’re not my family.”
“Gen. Oliver threatened—”
“Oliver threatened what? He beat me, Lucas. Kicked me. Chained me in the basement. Starved me. Nearly killed me on multiple occasions. And you both just stand here with a folder and some blood results and excuses and think...what? That this magickal revelation makes it all better? I lived in constant fear for my life and the life of my friends. Fuck. You. Both!”
I tighten my grip on Liam’s hand. “I want to go. Now.”
Dave and Lucas both step forward at the same time.
Liam snarls a warning, quickly tucking me securely behind his body.
“I loved her,” my uncle says, his voice cracking. “She was my mate and your father took her from me. He took her family connections and wealth and broke our pack in half. Celia said she was going to leave him after you were born. She said she’d found a way to break the mate bond.” Dave rubs a hand over his haggard face.
“And then she died.” I throw the words at him like a cauldron of boiling oil. “And if we really were your kids, you abandoned us and let us be raised by an abusive narcissistic bastard.”
“He killed her, Gen. As punishment. He found out about the affair after you were born.” My brother’s voice is raw. It’s more pain and emotion than I’ve ever seen from him. “He killed her before she could leave him. We saw him do it. And he threatened to kill you if Finn or I ever did anything to help you. He promised he’d never hurt you more than you could heal from. We were just kids. I’m so sorry.”
“You weren’t just a kid six months ago when he chained me in the basement for a week and had the guards feed me dog food because I didn’t get a rancher to sell off his land fast enough.” A brokenhearted sob tears from my chest, and I hang on to Liam to keep from sinking to the floor. “You weren’t just a kid the time before that. And the time before that!”
His eyes widen, genuine shock and disgust spread across his face. And across my uncle’s—father’s—whoever.
Liam wraps me in his arms. “Gen,” he says, like he feels my pain. And he does. He feels my emotions. He’s reliving every second of how I felt during those memories. He buries his face in my hair and squeezes my shaking body.
I continue talking. I’ve opened the floodgates and it’s all pouring out now. Might as well finish. “You weren’t a child when he beat me senseless in front of you on camera because you left town without his permission. And you never came back, Lucas. You don’t get to suddenly care about me now. You did what was best for you.”
It’s only for a moment, but I see the anger in Lucas’s eyes again. The disgust. The hatred I’ve had directed at me my whole life. The blame. I’m the reason our mother died. That’s the real truth in his mind.
“The computer files at the office are encrypted, Gen. Where’s Matthew?” Lucas’s voice is even and calm and perfectly normal now. Every shred of remorse. Poof. Any hint of brotherly love. Gone. I shouldn’t be surprised. I shouldn’t.
But it still hurts.
It was all just more manipulation.
“Was any of it truthful? Any of it at all?” I move closer to Liam’s strong solid chest before making eye contact with Dave again. Then I go tense as words register in my mind that hadn’t yet. The files are encrypted? Fuck.
“Every word of it, Imogen. You are my daughter. Finn and Lucas are my sons. Celia was my fated mate and Oliver killed her. I couldn’t act directly against Oliver without putting you in danger.” Uncle Dave scrubs his hands through his hair. “It doesn’t make any of it right. I can never make right what was done to you, Imogen, but I do want you to know that you are safe in my home should you ever need it.”
My heart is racing and I feel sick. But I play it off. I reach for my familiar armor, my boss-bitch facade, and I let my gaze trail back to my brother and ask him another question like the sky isn’t falling. But the sky is falling. And we need to get the fuck out of here. “You just want the business, don’t you?”
Lucas shrugs and gives a half frown. “I don’t care about being an alpha. Dave can have it. I just want what the old bastard built.”
“Gen?” Liam whispers into my ear. He can feel all my tension. Probably halfway taste my anger. He knows I know something.
“Liam, we gotta go now!” Bast is shouting in the lobby. “Liam!”
Liam’s hand tightens around mine. “We’re leaving.”
“Gen, wait,” Lucas snarls.
I look back at my brother with my best take-no-shit face. “Good luck taking the business from dear old dad since he’s still alive.”
Liam tugs my arm and I run beside him out of the inn. We follow Bast across the parking lot to the truck. Liam puts me inside and I move to the middle seat so he can climb up next to me. Bast has the truck running and pulling out of the parking lot in less than five seconds.
“What’s going on?” Liam asks.
“Fire at Dave’s. His whole side of the mountain is in flames.” He points out the window and I see the orange glow in the night sky. “We don’t know what started it, but we need to get back to our side of the river and out of this town.”
Liam puts a hand on my leg and squeezes reassuringly. “Gen, would you like to explain to me that last fucking fabulous jab at your brother? How do you know your father is alive?”
I don’t smile at the compliment. But it makes me feel good to know that maybe a little of my kick-ass-take-no-names attitude can be used for my own benefit without hurting innocents. “The only way those files get encrypted is through a remote control on his phone. And if Matthew is MIA, he’s with my father—with Oliver.”
Bast shakes his head. “We saw the house explode, Gen. There were witches or warlocks or whatever. The whole house went off like a bomb.”
“He’s got a safe room in his office.” The words come out like a whisper.
“We went through the rubble. He wasn’t there.”
“It drops deep into the mountain. I’ve seen the blueprints. There are multiple escape tunnels.”
“Fuck. Wait. You’re saying he’s probably alive. That he survived that crazy explosion.” Bast breathes out a slow loud dramatic breath.
I shake my head and swallow down the bile in my throat. “I’m saying he is alive. And the fire at Dave’s is only the beginning.”
Liam leans into my shoulder. “And whatever comes next, we’re going to do it together, Gen. Always.”
I kiss his cheek and nod my agreement.
Then Liam leans forward between the two bucket seats and points to the right. “Take the long way around in case either of them has people trailing us. We can’t lead anyone back to the court.”
Bast takes the turn, and we drive back and forth along the river for ten miles before circling back to the small road that leads to the forest of ash trees—back to Banfield Court.
The packs in this valley are going to war for real now, and I’m finally on the right side. I snuggle into Liam’s side and breathe in his grounding scent. I look down at the beautiful tattoos wrapped around our wrists. They represent my commitment to him and his to me.
Fate and family forever. No matter what.