Chapter Twenty-Nine
Vince and Brandon looked at Garith’s dead body, and I could see the panic in their eyes.
The bubble burst as Garith gave his final shuddering breath.
I stepped up to Rowan and licked his face.
He lifted a brow, and I just shrugged. “I don’t know how to shift back, and I wanted to kiss you.
” He threw his head back, laughing. I held out my hand. “I need your phone.”
He slid it from his pocket and handed it to me. It was my turn to raise my eyebrow. “What?”
I raised my clawed hands. “A little hard to dial here.”
He looked from his phone to my hands and then back to my face. “Right…who?”
“My father first.”
Vince opened his mouth, but it was Morgan who screamed. “What the fuck did you just say?”
I turned to look at the pale man on the ground. “I’m calling my father.”
Vince shuddered but then rallied. “He’s dead.”
“I think you overestimated my death there, Vince.” My father’s voice rang out over the speaker. He sounded exhausted. “My King…is everything okay?”
“I wanted him to call you.” I stepped closer to the phone. “How is it on your end?”
He sighed. “We are still in the caves. They ran deeper, and we’re chasing them. What about you?”
I looked down at the bodies at our feet. “Verity and Garith are dead. Vince, Brandon, Shannon and Morgan are subdued for now.”
“Are you going to kill them?”
I looked at Rowan, but he just shrugged. “It’s your choice, mate. Ru says to kill them, but he just wants you safe.”
I turned back to them and I smirked. “I haven’t made the decision yet…” Shannon whimpered, which made me smirk.
“You can’t.” Vince’s voice sounded stronger than it should have in this precarious situation.
I turned back to him and tilted my head in confusion. “And why not?”
“Because you already have us under control. The accords of the council say-”
“Say fucking nothing,” Rowan screamed. I turned, surprised to see him so agitated.
“The council is over, their power gone, and their accords are in the trash. They lost all power the moment they went behind my father’s back and colluded with Garith to kill the Lycans, my family and my mate.
” He took a step closer to Vince and dropped low enough to look him in the eye.
“You have no standing, no backing, and you are charged with treason, murder, and conspiracy. Your life was forfeit the moment you agreed to work with Garith.”
Vince paled. “You can’t make that decision.”
“I AM THE KING!” Rowan roared, and everyone on the ground trembled.
There was silence for a few seconds before my dad started to chuckle. “I am the king.” My dad mimicked my mate. “So scary.” Rowan snorted as he turned to the phone.
“You are lucky you are now my father in law, Gav.”
“Oh, I know.” I could hear the grin in my father’s voice. “How do you feel, pup?”
I pretended to hesitate. “I don’t know. I feel like it’s possible that they might have been spelled.” I heard a confused intake of breath.
“We were.” Shannon screamed. Then she started to cry. “He used magic to get us to follow him. I’m so sorry, Amy. You are my sister, and I love you so much. Everything that happened between Brandon and me was all Garith’s idea…to break you.”
Brandon was staring at her with confused eyes.
I picked at my nails as if I was trying to figure out what to do and waited for Brandon to follow suit.
“Shannon is right. You were my mate, and he used me to hurt you. I have loved you all my life. Shannon was just a mistake, one I never would have made by choice.”
My father scoffed. “You have to be kidding me.”
Vince took the cue to jump in. “Gavin, we used to be friends.” That was news to me. “We were so close growing up.” The thought of my father and Vince being friends didn’t sit right. “You know I would have never agreed to this without your father forcing me.”
Morgan was the only one who remained silent. I turned to him and lifted a brow. “What about you?”
I watched him think about what he was going to say, and then he shook his head.
I had the feeling that Morgan was going to tell the truth for once.
So I turned back to watch the other’s faces.
Shannon had a slight smirk on her lips; she really thought she was convincing with her bullshit.
“I did it all because I wanted your mother. I wanted her not only because she was beautiful but because I was hoping she would give me a son. One strong enough to kill Brandon and take this pack.” Shannon’s face fell.
But Morgan looked into my eyes. “I loved your mother in my own way. When she turned her back on me, I was angry, but I realize now I deserved it. You should kill us.”
“Daddy!” Shannon whined, but I held up my hand.
“Well…that was unexpected and actually refreshing.” My father’s voice was icy. “But Ainsley is my mate, and you will never get the chance to see her again.”
Morgan seemed to shut down at the thought, but he just nodded. “Fair. Can you do me one small favor though, Alpha Maclean?” The soft respect in his voice was even more surprising than his words.
“Maybe.” My father’s voice was still hard.
“Can you just tell her I’m sorry…for everything.” My eyebrows raised in surprise.
“Fine.” There was an enormous boom over the call.
“Daddy?” I grabbed for the phone as a loud crack that I felt in my bones rippled on his side, then there was the sound of falling rocks. “Daddy!” I called again, and I watched as a smile spread over Vince’s face. “Talk to me.”
I heard a few coughs, and then my father’s voice sounded worried.
“Explosive! Get out of the caves now. Evacuate now. Baby, I have to go. The caves are collapsing.” The call ended, and I just stared at the phone as if it would change.
Like the call would somehow pick back up and his voice would be there.
Shannon snickered. “Oh, well.”
I turned to her, and I smiled. “Amusing, isn’t it?”
Her face froze. “What?”
“It’s funny that my pack is in danger once again, right? That your plan has failed, and your life is in my hands, but listening to others potentially die is quite fun, isn’t it?”
She scoffed. “I never said that.”
I walked over to Vince and picked him up by his throat. “You didn’t have to, Shannon. You snickered while you listened to me call after my father. Pretty pointed, don’t you think?” Vince choked.
“I’m not her father. It doesn’t really hit the same way.” Vince tried to explain. “If you are going to kill someone to make a point…it should be Morgan.”
I smiled. “Who said we were going to kill you?” I turned to Rowan. “Can you release them?”
He tilted his head. “What are you thinking?”
A slow smile spread across my face. “I’m just returning every favour that they did to me.” Rowan waited for another second before he nodded. I felt his aura fade away. There was a second of relief before I dropped all of my pretense. I allowed my power to roll out like a wave.
In Rowan’s aura, they were treading water. They could speak but not move. Once his aura was gone, they started to get to their shaky feet. From one breath to the next, they were slammed back into the ground, but this time they were silent.
“Fuck.” Rowan staggered under my power and landed on one knee. His face turned from surprise to devotion. “This is all of your power, your aura?” I nodded. “Goddess, that is sexy.”
I threw my head back and laughed. “What?”
He pressed his hands into the grass, and pushed himself to his feet. Then, he slowly made his way over to my side. “Your power…is sexy.”
I dropped Vince to the ground in a heap as I turned to my mate. “You aren’t intimidated?”
It was Rowan’s turn to laugh. “Insecure men get intimidated by strong mates…and I am not insecure.” He looked at me as he stepped close.
“Your power…your strength? It will protect my pups, my pack. That is the sexiest thing I have ever seen.” He slid his hand up my neck and cupped my face.
“I love you, Amy.” Then he leaned in and kissed me.
It took a second for his words to hit me.
His lips moved over mine until my brain caught up with what he said and fell in love with him all over again.
My hands wrapped around his back, and I kissed him back…
until I heard a snicker. I pulled away and turned, finding Toya.
She raised her hands. “While I love that you two finally figured everything out. Seriously, watching you two orbit each other but never connect was a hard thing to sit through.” Hanna and Micca both nodded.
“Watching you two make out while everyone else is stuck on the ground is funny. But can you pull it back so I can get up?”
I jumped back, earning more snickers. “Sorry.” I reeled in some of my power.
“Get up and get into a line.” I aimed it at everyone who followed Garith and allowed Toya and the girls to stand and stretch.
I watched as Vince and Brandon both tried to fight the command, but I wasn’t actively hurting them, so there was no way to resist it.
“What are you fucking doing?” Brandon snarled as he stumbled over to the line.
“I already told you…just returning the favor.” I heard a few snarls. But I walked to the front, pulling Rowan with me. “Now follow me.” I started walking, stepping over the bodies we left behind us.
“Where are we going?” Shannon called.
“You’ll see.” I called back.
I walked through the pack lands to a semi-hidden building. Close enough to see the previously empty mate clearing, which now held the makeshift building for Shannon’s mating ceremony. I felt Vince stumble behind me. I turned with a smile. “What’s wrong?”
“How?” His voice was low.
“How what?” I grinned as I turned back and continued walking, pulling everyone along with an invisible string. My power tugged them along, even though Vince was fighting the pull.
“How do you know about this place?” He stumbled again, fighting with everything he had.