chapter 7

Chapter Seven

I stared at my wall in utter shock. I didn’t know what to think, I didn’t know how to feel, I didn’t know what to do. All I could do was stare.

“Are you going to say something?” Louis asked.

“How could your father have killed his mate? Is that even possible?”

“Yes, it is. It would be ridiculously painful but it is possible. And I believe that for whatever reason, my father did”

“But, how can you believe that?”

“We can’t talk about this here” he grabbed my hand and pulled me to him, then I was airborne.

“Hold on” he said. Then he sprinted for my window with in his arms. I almost screamed. There was no way he could make that jump safely while carrying me. In the seconds it took for him to get to the window, I went through varying degrees of panic as I tried to hold on and trust him. And then he was on the ground and sprinting through the forest. I had run wolf fast before, obviously. But I could never hope to reach the speed at which he was travelling.

In less than a minute, he arrived at the edge of our border. The same place where we had our little rendezvous. A blush stained my cheeks as I thought about it.

He put me down carefully, then leaned against a tree and watched me from beneath his lashes.

“When you found the journal, why didn’t you show it to me?”

“Well I wasn’t sure who I could trust or if I should trust anyone. I was confused and not even sure if what I was reading was real”

“Okay. So what did you decide to do with it?”

“I decided to get to the bottom of who killed her” I said then immediately regretted it. It was incredibly insensitive of me to be so blunt about it.

“Okay. And you never thought of my father as a suspect?”

I shook my head no. “I didn’t think it was possible. And even if it was, why? Why would he do such a thing? It doesn’t make sense”

He nodded. “It doesn’t make sense to me either. It’s not exactly a conclusion you can jump to lightly. When I read the letters it took days for me to digest it. My father has never been a lovey dovey person toward me for lack of a better word but I knew he loved my mother at least. For a time they were inseparable. What could have happened to cause a rift big enough that he would kill his own mate?”

“What exactly was in those letters?” I asked after a pause.

“Things about how getting rid of the Luna was the right choice and it was important to move on the phase two of the plan”

I shivered in fear and absolute revulsion. “That’s sick. It was in his handwriting?”

“Yes, it was”

“And you have no idea whose handwriting is on the reply letters?”

“That’s the thing though, there were no reply letters. It doesn’t make any sense. Why would he be with all the letters he sent and not the replies?”

I frowned in thought.

“Maybe they each thought it best to keep their incriminating evidence to themselves. Like, they both hand wrote these letters, and they’d feel better safeguarding it themselves so no one finds it”

He nodded slowly. “That makes a weird sort of sense”

“Okay. So we need to find the second person. Or at least gather irrefutable proof that your father was behind your mother’s um, death. I think first things first, we need to discover how it happened. If it’s even possible to force someone to go rogue, especially someone as strong as your mother was”

He nodded, then pushed off the tree.

“The bonfire celebration for the winner of the Hunt is tonight”

“Oh. I completely forgot about that. Let me guess, you won?” I asked dryly.

“No” he said simply. I frowned in confusion. How was that possible? He was the greatest hunter in all the packs this side of Colorado.

“How?” I asked.

“I quit. I couldn’t concentrate with the pain of your damn wounds scratching at me” I recoiled in shock. He’d forfeited the hunt for me?

“I’m sorry” his glare softened but he didn’t reply.

“What would you have asked for if you’d won?” He asked.

“The restoration of my family’s name to good standing so my brother doesn’t have to grow in such a hostile environment”

Louis winced but remained quiet.

“What were you going to ask for?” I asked when it was obvious he wouldn’t respond.

“My father to step off as Alpha and leave the role to me immediately. And then I was going to banish him”

My eyes widened in shock.

“Can you even do that?”

“Yes, I can and I was going to. If I couldn’t find proof enough to make him stand trial, the next thing was to dethrone and banish him. Then, the rogues would take care of the rest because I would make sure no other pack took him in. It wouldn’t be hard; no pack would want a former alpha with them. It would threaten their command and if he’s stronger he might even take over. So I’d banish him and the rogues that roam the forest would do away with him for good”

I shivered in fear at the blunt way he’d just described planning his own father’s death.

“But Louis, he’s your father”

He turned sharply and levelled a harsh glare on me.

“Yes, and? What kind of father uses his fists rather than words on his son? What kind of father subjects how son to brutal punishment just for wanting to play with him. His six year old son. What kind of father kills his own mate, his son’s mother, the only person who ever showed him any affection and proved to him daily that he was loved? I know. A father that’ll soon die by his son’s hand”

Preparations for the bonfire were underfoot but to be honest, I didn’t feel like attending. Not because I was bitter, because of all the information that had been dumped on me in the last twenty four hours. I couldn’t imagine what Louis was going through. He lost one parent at the hands of another and he was planning to end the other’s life. That was a lot for one person to have to go through.

After we spoke, he carried me back home and left to prepare for the bonfire. And hours later I sat in bed lost in thought and not preparing for the bonfire I was obligated to attend as a member of this pack.

I was at a loss. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t even know if I was allowed to tell Melissa all that had happened. She was my best friend and we started this together but it wasn’t exactly my secret to tell.

The door flew open, interrupting my thoughts.

“What are you doing? Why are you still not dressed? We are leaving in five minutes. Come on, get dressed!” Melissa said as she walked in with Devon right behind her.

“Shit is it time already?” I asked in shock.

“No we just decided to come get you two hours early for the fun of it. Of course it’s time!” Melissa sassed.

I groaned and stood up, letting Devon take my place on my bed after a quick hug. Then I got some clothes out of my closet and walked to the bathroom to change.

A minute or so later, give or take, I was done and not feeling very happy about my choice of outfit. It was a thigh length, dark blue dress that was form fitting at the top but flayed from the waist down.

“I think I’m gonna change” I said as I stepped out.

“Hell no!” Melissa protested.

“You look great” Devon said, his eyes scanning the dress.

“Thanks. But it feels too dressy for a bonfire” I complained.

“Oh come on, what are you talking about? I’m more dressed up than that” Melissa said. And she was right. Hers was a red skin tight dress that stopped mid thigh. But that was just Melissa’s style. No one would bat an eyelash.

“Because you’re you”

“I choose to take that as a compliment. Let’s go!” She grabbed my hand and began pulling me toward the door. Devon rose from my bed.

“This room smells like Louis. Was he here?” He asked.

I didn’t know how to reply. I had never kept Devon so completely out of the loop before. But it just felt like he never liked Louis and he wouldn’t approve of anything that had happened in my life so far. And I didn’t want to be judged when I wasn’t even fine judging myself.

“We don’t have time for that. Come on!” Melissa said, coming to my rescue after reading the look on my face.

She grabbed both our arms and pulled us out of the room. I stopped to say goodbye to Lincoln who wasn’t coming because he was still too young, and then we were off.

When it looked like Devon was going to ask again, Melissa yelled, “Last one there’s a rotten egg” and zipped off.

Devon and I gave each other a look and took off behind her. No one ever turned down a chance to run with Melissa. Beating her would get you the title of fastest wolf in this area. It wasn’t something anyone would pass up.

Obviously, Melissa beat us by a full minute. It was devastating but really not our worst. I think she reduced her speed so she could interrupt if Devon tried to ask questions I didn’t know how to answer again. She was a good friend that way.

When we finally settled and brushed all the leaves and twigs from our bodies, we looked around.

It was beautiful. Fairy lights were hung on the trees around the large clearing that gave the place an eerie glow. The bon fire in the middle already glowed bright and fierce, the embers flickering so high it looked like they wanted to touch the full moon. The rest of the pack was already there mingling, all looking much more dressed up than I was, a small comfort. Unbidden, my eyes began searching for Louis. I couldn’t spot him anywhere and I tried to keep my worry down.

“Come on, there’s drinks over at that table” Melissa dragged us to the aforementioned table.

We spent the next few minutes socialising with Melissa never leaving my side until Devon finally got distracted by some friends.

“You don’t wanna tell him?” She asked bluntly as soon as he was out of earshot.

“I don’t know. He just seemed so disgusted when I told you guys that Louis was my mate. I feel like he’d judge me for what I did with him”

Melissa rolled her eyes. “Angie, he’s your best friend, you tell him everything and has he ever judged you?”

I shook my head no.

“There you go! And if you don’t want to, you don’t have to tell him that part. Just tell him the rest”

I chewed my lips in thought. I hadn’t even told Melissa all of the rest yet. Plus, I wasn’t sure if Louis would be okay with me telling Devon all he’d told me. I would have to talk to him. I wasn’t happy about keeping secrets from my friends.

Speaking of Louis, why wasn’t he here yet? A thought of him snapping and killing his father flashed in my head and my worry grew. He couldn’t kill his father. Not only would that devastate him emotionally, he would have to stand trial. If he was found guilty, he would be executed and without an Alpha, the entire pack would scatter. Some would even go rogue before finding a pack that could take them in. It would be a disaster.

Before my mind could spiral more, I felt his presence and turned around immediately. Across the field, out eyes met. And my heart leapt.