Chapter 26 #2
My friend’s grip on my shoulder tightens. “I tried to find her, Darius. I questioned everyone in the pack who might have known something. Looked everywhere. But your father…” He trails off, and I hear the frustration in his voice when he finally continues. “He covered his tracks well.”
I push away from the wall, turning to face him. “It’s my fault.”
“Don’t do that.”
“But it is.” I can barely get the words out past the tightness in my throat.
My hands are shaking again. I shove them into my pockets so he won’t see.
“If I had just accepted her openly from the start. If I hadn’t been so caught up in politics and appearances and what everyone else thought, she wouldn’t have been vulnerable.
If I hadn’t had such blind faith in my father… ”
The word “father” tastes like ash in my mouth. I killed him. Broke his neck with my own hands. And the worst part? I’d do it again. I’d do it a thousand times for what he did to her.
“If I had marked her,” I continue, my voice hollow, “nobody would have dared touch her. Hybrid or not.”
Ethan is quiet for a long time. When he speaks, his voice is soft. “She withstood your father’s torture, Darius. She took a bullet for you. She’s not giving up now. She’s strong.”
“Strong enough to survive silver spreading through her veins?” I drop onto one of the benches, my legs suddenly unable to hold me.
“Strong enough to come back from everything they did to her? Even if her body heals, Ethan, the trauma…” My voice shakes.
“I can’t take that away. I can’t undo what she went through. ”
He takes a seat beside me, and we fall into silence. The fluorescent lights continue their irritating buzz. Somewhere down the hall, I can hear muffled voices, the beep of medical equipment. Normal sounds. But nothing feels normal.
I don’t know how much time passes before I hear new footsteps. Multiple sets. I’m on my feet before they round the corner, my body tensed for a fight.
Ryker appears first. He holds up both hands in a placating gesture. “I’m not the enemy, Darius. I just brought someone who needs to be here.”
Lillian steps out from behind him. Her eyes are red-rimmed and swollen, and her gaze darts around the waiting area, frantic and worried.
She looks like hell. Her clothes are hanging off her frame because she has lost significant weight.
There are bruises on her arms, yellowing at the edges but still visible.
Dark circles ring her eyes, so deep they look like bruises themselves.
But it’s the look in her eyes that makes me hesitate.
It’s wild. Desperate. The look of a mother who has already lost so much and is terrified of losing more.
“What are you doing here?” The question comes out harsh. Accusatory. I know I should probably show more restraint, more control, but I’m too raw right now for diplomacy. My father may have tortured this woman, kept her prisoner, but she left Violet behind.
“Where is she?” Her voice trembles. “Where’s my daughter?”
I take a menacing step toward her. “You’ve never been any kind of mother to her. You don’t get to show up now and—”
“You don’t know anything.” Ryker shoves me back, and I’m so surprised by the boldness of it that I actually stumble. “So, stop reacting and start listening for once in your life.”
Lillian isn’t looking at me anymore. She has moved on to Ethan, her expression pleading. “Will Violet be okay? Please, tell me she’ll live.” Her voice breaks as tears start streaming down her face.
Ethan’s face softens with sympathy. “I just got here myself. We don’t know anything yet. The healers are still working on her.”
Lillian’s hand comes up to cover her mouth. A broken sound escapes her; it’s raw and animalistic, the kind of sound that comes from deep in the soul. Abruptly, she turns to me again. The anger in her eyes is palpable.
“If my child dies,” she says, her voice low and shaking with barely controlled fury, “it’s on your hands, Darius.
Your father and brother took everything from me.
My mate. My son. And now, you”—she takes a step toward me—“you stand there covered in my daughter’s blood, and you have the audacity to ask what I’m doing here? ”
“Enough.” Ryker’s voice is sharp like a whip, and Lillian looks at him incredulously.
“I lost most of my family to his.” She gestures at me, and there’s venom in the movement. “I’m not going to lose the rest of it. If she survives this, I’m taking Violet away from here.” She looks back at me threateningly. “Far away, where your pack can never touch her again.”
“She’s my mate!” The words explode out of me. My wolf surges forward, and I feel my eyes flash. “You’re not taking her anywhere!”
“She’s my daughter first!” Lillian’s voice rises to match mine. She’s shaking harder now, her whole body trembling with rage and grief.
“Yes, because you’ve treated her so well.” I sneer at her, all my anger and anguish finding a target.
Lillian stares at me. For a second, I think she might slap me. Or shift. I can see her wolf in her eyes, just as wild and desperate as mine.
Ryker steps between us again, his expression thunderous.
“Enough. Both of you.” He looks from Lillian to me and back again. “The two of you should sit down and talk rather than throw accusations at each other. Violet needs both of you right now. Not this.”
“I’m not talking to anyone.” I turn away, unable to look at either of them. “Not until I know she’s going to survive.”
“I have nothing to say to him, either.” Lillian’s voice is cold. “So, that works out perfectly.”
Ethan sighs. It’s a long, exhausted sound that makes me wonder how he puts up with all of us. “Then maybe you both should just sit down and wait. Together. In silence. For Violet’s sake.”
I don’t respond. Just stare at the double doors the healers took Violet through, willing them to open. Willing someone to come out and tell me she’s going to be okay.
The silence that falls is thick and uncomfortable. I can feel Lillian’s presence like a thorn in my side, her grief and anger mixing with mine in the small space. Ryker and Ethan exchange looks I pretend not to see.
Hours crawl by. I pace and sit and stand again. The fluorescent light continues its maddening buzz. I’ve worn another path in the linoleum, deeper than the first, when the doors finally open.
We all rush over. The older healer steps through, her scrubs stained with blood. Violet’s blood. My stomach clenches.
“She’s stable.” The healer’s voice is tired but steady. “We removed all traces of the silver and treated the poison. She’s weak, and she’ll need time to recover, but she’s going to survive.”
The relief that crashes through me is so intense, it’s painful. My legs nearly give out. Beside me, I hear Lillian make a choked sound.
“Can we see her?” Lillian is already moving toward the doors.
The healer nods. “She’s unconscious. Probably will be for several more hours. But yes, you can see her.”
Lillian doesn’t wait for more. She’s through those doors before the healer finishes speaking. I follow, my heart pounding against my ribs. We are led into a treatment room by the other two healers from the arena.
Medical equipment beeps softly in the corner, a steady rhythm that matches the monitor displaying her heartbeat. And there, in the bed, surrounded by white sheets and tubes, is Violet.
She looks impossibly fragile. Her skin is too pale, lacking the warmth I’m used to seeing. Bandages, stark white against her skin, cover her shoulder where they removed the bullet. Someone has cleaned the blood from her face, but I can still see traces of it in her hairline.
Her chest rises and falls. Her heart beats on the monitor. Her scent, though faint, still finds me.
My mate is alive.
I move to one side of the bed while Lillian takes the other. We don’t speak. Don’t acknowledge each other. All our attention is focused on the woman between us.
I reach out to take Violet’s hand, and Lillian’s fingers wrap around the other one, gentle and desperate. Tears stream down her face and drip onto the white sheets.
“I’m sorry,” Lillian whispers. “I’m so sorry, baby. I should have been stronger. Should have found another way. Should have protected you better.”
The raw grief in her voice makes my own guilt twist deeper, so I focus on Violet’s face. There’s a bruise on her jaw I didn’t notice before. My father’s work. Or Zion’s. The rage that surges through me is so strong, I have to grip the bed rail to keep from putting my fist through a wall again.
The healer who allowed us in clears her throat softly from the doorway. “Alpha Darius, a moment?”
I don’t want to leave Violet’s side, but the healer’s expression tells me it’s important. With one last look at my mate, I step out into the hallway. The antiseptic smell is stronger here, but it’s mixed with vanilla. An attempt to make the clinic feel less clinical, I suppose.
“What is it?”
“It’s Lillian.” The healer glances back toward the room, then lowers her voice.
“She is severely weakened. Malnourished. Dehydrated. There are signs of prolonged torture. Broken bones that didn’t heal properly.
Internal injuries that need treatment.” She pauses.
“Alpha, I’m surprised she’s able to stand at all. ”
I close my eyes, fighting the urge to wash my hands of my stepmother. To let Lillian deal with her own problems. To hold onto my anger because it’s easier than facing my guilt.
But Violet wouldn’t want that. And despite everything, despite the monster I’ve become today, I’m not heartless enough to let her mother suffer when I have the power to help.
My father did enough damage to this family. I won’t add to it.
“Fine.” I move back into the room. “Lillian.”
She doesn’t look up from Violet’s face. “What?”
“You need treatment. The healer says you’re weak.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not.” I keep my voice level with effort. “And when Violet wakes up, she doesn’t need to see you like this.”