23. Revelations

twenty-three

Revelations

*ELDEN*

V incent only has the cheapest booze on hand, but neither of us cares. “I don’t know what to say,” Vincent admits. “Aside from the usual bullshit that won’t mean anything to you.”

“I am sorry for unloading my drama on you.”

“Are you kidding me?” Vincent frowns. “That comes with the job description. Beta, friend, therapist! The only thing I won’t do is fuck you. You aren’t my type, sorry.”

I snort. “Thanks for clarifying that. Very disappointed.”

“For real though,” Vincent says. “Whenever you need me,” he pauses. “And just for the record, your father is an ass and a loser. I bet he has a tiny dick and a tiny lycan.”

“Goddess,” I groan. “Please, don’t mention my father’s penis ever again.”

“Just saying,” Vincent grins.

“I don’t understand why he even married and had a child,” I point out. “He is no family man. I don’t even know him as a person, because we barely interact with each other. I don’t know how he is with Emilia or with his friends. I don’t even know if he has friends, but he must have something about him that attracts people. He got Emillia to take him as her second chance after all. But still… why did he settle down if he hated it?”

“You said he wanted the freedom.” Vincent lets his head drop back and leans against the cushion of the sofa. “It’s a pathetic reason, but it does make sense in a weird and twisted way.”

“Yes, it seems like marrying my mom and taking over the pack that should have been hers gave him the freedom to do whatever he wanted without many consequences. I can’t believe my mom was at home, battling with her depression, and he couldn’t even bother giving her the help she needed because he was embarrassed by her. That’s how little she meant to him. Instead, he went off to his mistress.” I rub over my face.

“He is an abusive asshole,” Vincent mutters.

“I wouldn’t call him abusive,” I say.

Vincent looks up at me. “Are you serious?”

“This was the first time he actually beat me. Usually, he only slaps me.”

“Are we seriously going to have that talk now?” Vincent asks. “Why are you still protecting him? He neglected you, he was emotionally abusive to your mother, he hits you. Regularly!”

“I don’t want to be a victim,” I admit quietly.

“Okay,” Vincent takes a deep breath. “I am not good at this stuff, and I am definitely not going to find the right words now. But your father abused you and your mom, and just because other abusers are worse or more violent doesn’t mean it’s not abuse. There is nothing for you to be ashamed of. He is the one who should be ashamed, not you! From what I can see, you are already doing everything to break the cycle. You already are a better mate than he ever was, and you are trying to think for the pack and make decisions that are good for the pack members, and I bet you will be a much better alpha and parent than he ever was,” he pauses. “I think you are almost doing too much.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You are good the way you are,” he says. “But you are always trying not to burden anyone around you, not even your mate.”

“I just want to show her that I am different,” I argue. “That I am not-“ I pause, “like Dad,” I finish, my voice breaking slightly. “Fuck!”

“Do you want another drink?” Vincent offers. “Or maybe something to eat? I got some extra lovely chocolate soufflés from my friends, in the kitchen.”

His love language must truly be food. To imagine he shares his beloved soufflés with me means a lot. “Yes, please.”

Vincent looks relieved that he was successful with his offer and shuffles off to retrieve the dessert and something to drink. We eat it in silence, both of us lingering in our own thoughts. That is until there is someone hammering against the door. “Elden, are you in there?”

“That’s Flora!” I look up at Vincent. “Did you-“

“No. When could I have? I was with you the whole time,” he pauses. “What now?”

“Let her in, of course,” I say.

Vincent does as I told him and opens the door. Like a whirlwind, Flora comes inside, dragging Calvin along with her. “This was like an impossible quest!” she complains, narrowing her eyes to a glare as she looks at me. “And you thought you could hide it? We share a bond, Elden! I could feel everything through it!”

When I gaze at Vincent, he raises his hands. “Not my circus, not my monkeys,” he mutters. “That’s on you, bro.”

“I even went to check in your father’s office. Guess what? He and Geneva were having the weirdest glare-off I have ever seen. She looked seriously upset. And she is never upset! When I ran out of options, it forced me to work together with this weirdo,” she says, gesturing towards Calvin.

“Sorry for being weird,” Calvin says politely. “I am working on it.”

His calm and polite approach seems to surprise Flora. “Well, I don’t know you yet,” she admits.

“That’s fair enough,” Calvin reassures her. “I will earn your trust, Luna.”

Flora turns her attention back to me.

“I am sorry,” I say. “I didn’t want to unsettle you.”

She throws her arms in the air. “That’s so you,” she exclaims. “Not hearing from you at all, is much more unsettling than anything else! And I can’t believe you are running off to Vincent instead of me.”

“In his defense, he was really looking bad when he came here,” Vincent tries to defend me.

I glare at him. “That’s exactly the part you should have kept to yourself.”

“Sorry,” Vincent mutters.

Flora looks at me. “How bad?”

“I’m better now,” I reassure her.

She is neither stupid nor blind. She is obviously seeing my face now, and she definitely felt my anger and sorrow through the bond. “That was not my question,” she says quietly.

When I open my arms, she sighs deeply. Then, however, she runs to me and jumps in the spot next to me on the sofa, before hugging me. “Do that again,” she whispers into my ear. “And I will bite you.”

“That sounds more like a promise than anything else,” I chuckle.

When Flora glares at me again, I raise my hands in defense. “Alright, time to fill all of you in on what happened yesterday and today.”

Vincent organizes more drinks for Flora and Calvin, then, I do as promised and tell them what I overheard yesterday. To say Flora is shocked would be an understatement. Vincent looks displeased too, but for Flora it hits differently. She knew my mother. Hazel and Mom were friends.

“That pathetic piece of shit,” Flora cusses, which is very rare for her.

No one has anything else to add to her words, all of us just nodding.

“Do you think my parents knew their fated mates?” I ask into the silence.

“Maybe his mistress was his fated mate?” Vincent offers.

“I doubt it,” Calvin says.

“How come?” Flora wants to know. “It is a plausible option.”

I gaze at Calvin, taking in his pondering expression. As usual, when he seems to contemplate his options, he just stares at us blankly without blinking even once. “What do you know?” I ask him.

“My prince is fast to catch up,” Calvin comments without denying knowing anything.

“Wait, you know something?” Vincent asks.

“After I walked around with the young alpha yesterday and heard the conversation-”

“Wait, you knew?” Flora exclaims. “You didn’t even mutter a word to me and let me stroll around like a helpless chicken!”

“Well, my alpha told me not to utter a word to anyone,” Calvin says.

“But she is his luna,” Vincent says, dumbfounded.

“And he is our alpha,” Calvin comments.

I furrow my brows. I hate to admit it, but Calvin has a point. As my beta, his loyalty lies with me. It’s obvious he was very well prepared for this task. It makes me wonder how long my father has planned on introducing us. “Okay, new rule,” I say. “I appreciate you having my back, and I expect that from you as my betas. But Flora is my equal. If you ever think my judgment is not to be trusted or I am erring somewhere, don’t hesitate to tell her. I will never alpha command you to keep secrets from her.”

“Sounds good to me,” Vincent says.

“Hm,” Calvin frowns. “It’s going to be difficult for me, but I will try. As long as my main focus can continue to be you, I think I will handle it. Eventually, the young luna will find her gamma, so the priorities will shift a little then.”

Again, he isn’t wrong.

“We can discuss that once it happens,” I say.

Just so you know, Regis says all of a sudden, Celeste is swooning. Whatever you said just now really made our mate happy.

I smile slightly at his words, but keep my attention on my friends. “Alright, back on topic.” I turn to Calvin. “What did you find out?”

“After we eavesdropped yesterday, I decided to do my own research,” Calvin says. “I hope I didn’t overstep.”

“Not at all.”

“I found the name of both your father’s former mistress and their child.”

“So, she truly is his former mistress?”

“Yes, they are not seeing each other anymore,” Calvin says. “I traced his steps. The only slightly suspicious route your father takes sometimes is leading him to a pack here in the States, but definitely not to the mother of his bastard child.”

“Can we not call an innocent kid that?” I mutter. “My half-brother didn’t choose to be born into that mess.”

“As you wish,” Calvin says.

“You managed to find out all that in a day,” Flora says, stunned.

“I have lots of contacts,” Calvin explains.

“Some shady ones, it seems?” I ask.

There is a sudden glint in Calvin’s eyes, like he truly appreciates what I just said. “My alpha is certainly not stupid.”

“I am going to take that as a compliment.”

“As it is,” he says.

“So, his ex-mistress isn’t his fated mate,” Flora muses, “or he would still be meeting her.”

“I have news, too,” Vincent says. “Through all that drama, I almost forgot, but I got word from my kitchen contact today.”

“You don’t say?” I ask. “About the person going through my stuff?”

“Yes. She said she spotted a guard going into your room. When he saw her, he told her he was acting on orders he couldn’t share. She is a cute and bubbly one, so she got him to talk. Something about a letter. She couldn’t get more information from him due to their difference in ranks, but it was clear to her that he wasn’t acting on his own accord.”

“Interesting,” Calvin says with a frown.

“A letter?” Flora looks at me. “Could it be…”

I fall into a deep silence, too stunned to form a coherent sentence. I only have letters Flora wrote to me, and certainly no one looks for them. The only other letter I possess is… “Mom’s letter.”

“Her goodbye letter,” Flora whispers.

“What did she write in it?” Vincent asks. “Sorry for prying. I know it’s awkward to ask that.”

“I never read all of it,” I admit, before laughing. “Whoever is looking for it, is in for a disappointment. I never had it laying around openly.”

“Right,” Flora grins.

“Why? Where is it?” Vincent wants to know.

I smile slightly. “It’s with the person I trust the most.”

Flora doesn’t say anything, just hums slightly while the other two look at us curiously. I handed her the letter long ago, asking her to hold onto it until I was ready to face my emotions concerning my mom’s death. I couldn’t bring myself to read it, no matter how often I tried, so she had kept it all these years.