Chapter 26 #3
That gets through to her. Lillian’s jaw tightens, but she carefully releases Violet’s hand and turns toward the door. “Fine. But I’m coming right back.”
“I’ll be here.” I pull up a chair and stroke Violet’s arm. Her skin is cool against mine. “Go.”
Lillian leaves with the healer, though I can see her reluctance in the way she keeps looking back, in how slowly she walks away. Once they’re gone, I’m alone with Violet for the first time since Miami.
“I’m sorry, Violet. For all of it.” The words come out hoarse.
I bring her hand to my lips and press a kiss to her fingers.
Her scent is stronger here, closer to her skin.
Jasmine and something that’s uniquely her.
My wolf whines, pressing close to the surface, wanting to curl around our mate and keep her safe.
Too late for that now.
“I’m sorry for not being there. For not protecting you.
For being too much of a coward to claim you the way I should have from the start.
” I rest my forehead against our joined hands.
“I told myself that I was protecting you by keeping us secret. That if the pack didn’t know you were mine, my father wouldn’t see you as a threat.
But it was a lie. I was protecting myself. My position. My comfortable life.”
She doesn’t respond. The monitor beeps its steady rhythm. Her chest rises and falls.
“I killed him,” I whisper. “I killed my father today. Broke his neck with my own hands. And I don’t regret it.
I’d do it again. I’d do it a thousand times for what he did to you.
” My voice breaks. “But that doesn’t make me any better than him, does it?
We’re both killers. Both monsters. The only difference is, I’m a monster who loves you. ”
Footsteps approach. I tense up, expecting Lillian. But it’s Ryker who steps inside, his expression unreadable.
“Come to lecture me?” I don’t bother hiding my irritation.
“To talk.” Ryker closes the door behind him and leans against it.
“About what?” I turn to face him fully, my free hand clenching into a fist. My split knuckles throb, but I welcome the pain.
“Actually, while we’re at it, why has your entire personality done a one-eighty?
You’ve spent years acting like you couldn’t care less about hybrids, like you don’t care about much aside from goofing around.
Now you’re defending Violet’s mother and bringing her here like some kind of savior? ”
Ryker’s mouth quirks in a way that might suggest amusement, but his eyes are serious. “I was putting on a persona. I’m also an alpha heir, remember? Politics and appearances matter in our world.”
I snort. “Right. So, you just pretended to be an asshole for fun?”
“For survival.” His expression hardens. “Your father wasn’t the only alpha who hated hybrids, Darius.
If other packs thought my father and I were sympathetic, we’d have been targets, too.
So, yes, I played the part. Said the right things.
Made the right alliances.” He pauses. “But behind closed doors? My father and I have been helping hybrids escape from your pack for years.”
The words stun me. I stare at him, trying to process them. “You’re lying.”
“I’m not.”
“Why would you…” I shake my head. “If you were helping them escape, why didn’t you help Violet? Why didn’t you get her out before any of this happened?”
“I went to save her and her mother when I heard they’d been taken.” Ryker’s jaw tightens. “My father knew they were hybrids. He’d met Lillian decades ago, before even she knew what she was. When word reached us that they’d been captured, that their secret was out, we moved immediately.”
“Then why—” I can barely get the words out. “Why is Violet fighting for her life right now?”
“Because your father’s security was tighter than we expected. Because I only had minutes to get them out before the guards changed shifts. Because…” He looks away. “Because Violet made the choice. When I could only take one of them, she begged me to save her mother.”
My throat closes. Of course she did. Of course Violet was willing to sacrifice herself. She put her mother’s life before her own. It’s exactly who she is. Who she has always been.
“I had to trust that we would be able to come back for Violet,” Ryker continues quietly. “Except, by the time I got Lillian to safety”—he shakes his head—“your father had doubled the number of guards. There was no way we could get in.”
The anger drains out of me, leaving only exhaustion and shame.
“You don’t know what it’s like for hybrids, Darius.
I do. I’ve seen them,” Ryker continues, his voice softer now.
“Lillian had been protecting Violet the only way she could. In fact, I had to knock her out to get her to come with me, to leave her daughter behind. We had to tie her down after she woke up because she was so desperate to get back to Violet. She loves her. Don’t tell her she doesn’t.
She doesn’t deserve for you to take your anger out on her. ”
I want to argue. Want to defend my wrath, my accusations. But I can’t. Because he’s right. I lashed out at a woman who has lost so much, and I did it because I needed someone to blame other than myself.
“I’ll deal with her later.” I turn back to Violet, dismissing him. “Right now, I don’t have the energy to care about politics and intrigues.”
Ryker is quiet for a moment. Then, “For what it’s worth, I think you’ll be a better alpha than your father. You already are.”
He leaves before I can respond.
I sit there, holding Violet’s hand and listening to the steady beep of the heart monitor. Proof that we’re still here. Still breathing.
But the cost…
My father is dead. By my hand.
I should feel something more than this numb anger. Grief. Remorse. Horror at what I’ve done. But all I feel is rage that he put me in that position. That he tortured my mate. That he murdered innocent hybrids. That he lied to me.
And underneath the rage is a darkness, one that whispers that I’m glad he’s dead. That he deserved worse than a quick death. That I should have made him suffer the way he made Violet suffer.
What does that make me?
I always knew Zion was lazy and unambitious, but I never thought he could stoop so low. To torture. To murder. And my father? For my father to go to the extent he did to cover up Zion’s crimes, to hide his own actions…
What else did he cover up? What other horrors are buried in this pack’s history? How many other Violets were there that I never knew about because I was too blind to see?
Footsteps in the hallway again. Different this time. Lighter. Quicker. I don’t look up. Don’t let go of Violet’s hand.
The door opens. “How is she?” Ethan asks quietly.
“Alive.” It’s all I can manage. All that matters right now.
He moves to stand beside me. We both stare down at Violet in silence. I can feel him wanting to say something comforting, something to make this better. But there’s nothing he can say that will make this better.
“I need you to look into Zion,” I say finally.
My voice is flat. Empty. “Everything about him. Everyone he’s been meeting with.
Where he goes. What he does. What resources he had access to.
” I look up at Ethan. “Tear apart his entire life. I need to know who helped him. Who knew. Who looked the other way.”
Ethan nods slowly. “And your father?”
Rage and grief again. “Him, too. Find everything he buried. Every skeleton in every closet. Every crime he covered up.” My grip on Violet’s hand tightens. “I want this pack clean. No more secrets. No more lies. No more innocent people suffering because we were too comfortable to notice.”
“It’ll take time.”
“I don’t care.” I gaze back down at my mate. “Look at what secrets and lies did to her. To us. I won’t let this pack continue that legacy. Things change starting now. They have to.”
I can feel Ethan studying me for a long moment. When I look back up at him, he nods. “Alright. I’ll start pulling threads. See what unravels.”
“Thank you.” I mean it. For his loyalty. For his friendship. For not giving up on finding Violet even when I was too blind to see what was happening.
“I’ll let you know what I find.” Ethan heads for the door, then pauses. “She’s strong, you know. Violet. Stronger than any of us gave her credit for. She’ll come back from this.”
I hope he’s right. God, I hope he’s right.
After he leaves, I settle into the chair more firmly, preparing for a long vigil. There’s work to be done. A pack to lead. A brother to find. A father’s legacy to dismantle. But none of it matters right now.
Right now, all that matters is the woman in this bed. My mate. My Violet.
I lean forward and kiss her forehead. I close my eyes, breathing in her scent. Letting it ground me. Letting it remind me why I did what I did today. Why I’d do it all again.
“Come back to me,” I whisper against her skin. “Please, Violet. Just come back to me. I need you. The pack needs you. Your mother needs you.” My voice drops even lower. “I can’t do this without you.”
Outside, the sun is still high in the afternoon sky, painting the room in harsh white light. The clinic continues its steady rhythm of beeps and muffled voices. Medical staff pass by in the hallway.
And then, so faintly I almost miss it, her fingers twitch in mine.
I freeze, my breath catching. “Violet?”
Nothing. No other movement. But her heartbeat on the monitor picks up slightly. Just a few beats faster than before.
She’s fighting. Still fighting.
I bring her hand to my lips, pressing a kiss to her palm. “That’s it,” I murmur. “Fight, my love. Come back to me.”
I pull my chair closer, my hand still wrapped around hers, and I wait.
I won’t leave her side. Not again.
Never again.