Chapter 19

19

SKYE

“ W hat the hell are you doing?” I whispered, still trying to get my brain to process what I was seeing.

Nikolai tossed the bloody rag onto the floor before lifting a knife with a wickedly curved blade from the table beside him. A table that was filled with a bunch of things that made a shiver zip down my spine.

Linden looked completely broken at his feet, barely upright. I could see the glint of silver on his arm, identical to the band I had worn when my wolf was suppressed.

“Speaking with your uncle,” Nikolai replied congenially. He pointed the blade at the man on the floor. “He seems to believe whatever transpired in your pack was a simple mistake.”

“It’s...” Linden spit out a mouthful of blood with a rattling breath before looking at me. “Tell him. It’s a mistake. Your... your mother kept you—”

With a snarl that surprised even me, I stalked forward and knelt in front of him. “Don’t even say my mother’s name, asshole.”

Shock, quickly followed by fury, lit his eye. His mouth twisted into what I assumed to be a grimace.

“Ungrateful—”

He was cut off as Nikolai’s steel-toed boots made contact with his ribs. The undeniable crunch of bone and cartilage, accompanied by the animalistic howl from Linden, turned my stomach.

“Stop!” I yelled, whirling to my feet and glaring at Nikolai.

He arched his brows, amused as hell that I was stepping in. “I would have assumed you would enjoy that, little wolf.”

“He has answers I need,” I hissed. “Answers I can’t get from a dead man.”

Smiling, Nikolai held up his hands and took an over-exaggerated step backwards.

As I turned back to Linden, my eyes met Lulu’s. She didn’t look the least bit surprised or upset. Like walking into a room where a man was being beaten was a normal occurrence.

Her eyes moved to Nikolai. “I’ll be outside.”

“Thank you, Lucia,” Nikolai told her, his tone the picture of courtesy and kindness as he smiled at her.

What kind of a psychopath helped create me? This man was covered in blood—my uncle’s blood—and yet seemed completely at ease. Hell, everyone else seemed completely calm, too. Like this was just a normal day, and maybe it was.

That wasn’t my concern.

I dropped into a crouch in front of Linden. “I want answers.”

“Fuck you,” he spat, glaring at me. The effect was less threatening when he only had one eye and it looked like he was missing a few teeth.

I held up a hand as Nikolai took a menacing step forward.

“You’ll tell me what I want to know, or I’ll make sure they keep you alive for a very long time,” I whispered softly. “I’ll make sure you’re given the same treatment my mother was every single day for the rest of your miserable life.”

Linden flinched from me.

“That can absolutely be arranged,” Nikolai said in a bright voice behind me.

“What happened the night she came home?” I demanded.

Linden stared at me blankly.

“The night after she bonded with... With Nikolai,” I forced out.

Linden’s gaze didn’t break, but his lip curled slightly. “Apparently she had second thoughts.”

“You’re lying,” I replied coldly. “Mom talked to Remy tonight and she said... she said she didn’t break her bond. She said it was broken .”

Something flickered in his gaze. It swept across his expression like a shadow in candlelight.

“What did you do?” I ground out, my hands curling into fists.

Linden snorted, the sound a choked, garbled sound. He dropped onto his side, maneuvering himself so his back was against the metal framed cot that was his bed.

“I didn’t do anything,” he replied. “Is that what she said?”

“Then you know who did.” My teeth clenched hard enough to crack the enamel.

Linden lifted his good hand and attempted to wipe away some of the blood from his face. All he did was smear a grotesque streak from eye to chin. “Allan.”

I swallowed down a fresh wave of bile. “Why?”

“Because she had an obligation to our pack,” he sneered. “Father coddled her, worshiped her. But mother and I knew what she really was. Best day of my life was when she betrayed our pack. Selfish bitch.”

“She was bonded !” I shouted, getting to my feet to tower over him.

I could feel Nikolai behind me, his curious rage a palpable, tangible thing strangling the air. Thankfully, he didn’t intervene.

“How? How did it happen?” I demanded, my chest heaving as I struggled to breathe.

Linden shrugged awkwardly with one arm, looking away. “I wasn’t there for the act. All I know is it was Allan.” His gaze cut back to me, that familiar calculating glint. “He was disappointed the paternity test showed he wasn’t your father, you know.”

I staggered back a step, stunned.

“But then by the time you were ten, he was glad he wasn’t your father.” Linden glowered up at me. “You looked just like your mother. Used to constantly go on about how he planned to—”

With a broken cry, I lunged forward. My foot connected with the side of his head before I started raining punches on him. He was too weak and broken to fight back.

The skin of my knuckles broke open as I punched wildly and blindly, hitting and clawing even as my nails broke.

I lost track of how many times I hit him before strong arms wrapped around my waist and lifted me off of him. He didn’t move as I was dragged into the hallway.

The guard who had opened the door slammed it shut, cutting me off from the sight of my completely helpless, destroyed uncle.

I had wanted to see this man brought low my entire life, but I never imagined like this.

“Calm yourself, sweetheart,” Nikolai whispered, his voice soothing against my ear and fighting through the turmoil in my head.

The fight left me in a rush. I sagged against him, wanting nothing more than to bawl my eyes out.

“Can I do anything?” Lulu asked softly, stepping into my periphery. She wrung her hands, looking nervous.

“Leave us,” Nikolai ordered. “I will tend to my daughter.”

The guard locked Linden’s cell as Lulu gave me a weak smile. They both left down the corridor together.

“I’m okay,” I whispered as soon as they were out of sight.

I wasn’t okay, but I also wasn’t going to fall apart right now. My nerves were frayed and raw, and I worried if I started crying, I might not stop.

“All right,” he allowed, slowly turning me in his arms so that he was grasping me by the shoulders as he peered into my eyes. “Let’s get you cleaned up, shall we?”

I nodded mutely, not resisting as he took my hand in his and led me away from this awful place.

‘ A way from here’ was Nikolai’s office tucked inside the mountain another several floors up. The space was massive and had a large bathroom attached that I used to wash up. It took forever to scrub the dried blood from under my nails.

I splashed cold water on my pale face, wondering how long I could hide in here before Nikolai gave up and left me alone.

By the time I mustered the courage to come out, Nikolai was already changed and cleaned. His hair was even wet like he had showered.

He pointed to the door on the other side of his office. “I have a bedroom through there with another bathroom. I took the time to clean up while you did.”

“Oh,” I said, my voice impossibly small as I hesitated in the doorway.

“Please sit,” he invited, motioning to the large sectional sofa by the fireplace. Someone had already lit a fire that was roaring and crackling, throwing off waves of warmth I wanted to wrap myself in.

I moved to the spot closest to the fire, watching warily as he sat in the matching armchair across from me.

“Skye,” he started, “I know we don’t know each other very well, but I’m hoping you’ll tell me what that was about.”

I bit my lower lip. “Why don’t you tell me why you were in there?”

Nikolai’s eyes narrowed, and I thought he would object, but he simply leaned back in the chair and folded his hands over his stomach.

“Very well,” he agreed. “I inferred enough from Dimitri that your former pack was less than desirable.”

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. That was the understatement of the freaking century.

“I wished to speak with your former Alpha to ascertain what happened,” he finished. “You are my daughter, and your safety was his responsibility as your Alpha.”

“And did he tell you?”

Nikolai grinned, the look he gave me was positively wolfish. More predator than anything I had seen. “He wasn’t bleeding because he was cooperative, little wolf.”

“Oh.” I licked my lips nervously.

“He mostly blamed your mother.” He said that so aloofly that I almost missed the undercurrent of rage barely vibrating under the surface.

“He’s a liar,” I snapped.

Another thin smile. “So I figured out for myself.”

I tucked my legs up, hugging them with my arms. “Good.”

“But you said something that caught my attention.”

I froze, my gaze locked on the dancing flames.

“You said our bond was broken,” he said softly. “Not that your mother broke it.”

“She didn’t,” I replied after a beat. I finally looked at him. “I didn’t know that either until a few minutes before I found you with Linden.”

The pain and fury in his eyes made my breath catch.

“I see,” he murmured after a moment. “But I still don’t understand why she never called for me. I would have come for you. For her.”

I rested my chin on my knees as I watched him. “Where we lived... Where they kept us, we didn’t have access to things like phones or the internet.”

Or food or clean water on a regular basis.

“I spent years being hurt by her refusing our bond,” he said, his voice almost detached of emotion. “I thought her the villain.”

“She’s not,” I whispered back, my voice cracking. “She protected me as much as she could. The things they did to her...” I shuddered hard enough to rattle my teeth. Those memories were lead weights tied to my ankles. I dragged them along with me no matter where I was.

I sniffled against the back of my hand. “She did what she had to so that we could survive.”

He rubbed his jaw absently, his gaze moving to the fire. “I see that now. Perhaps one day you will tell me about it.”

I hesitated. “Honestly? There’s a lot I don’t know, and what I do know? That’s Mom’s story. I won’t betray her by telling you what happened to her.”

His lips thinned. “Very well. I shall wait until I talk to her.”

“You’re planning to talk to her?” I asked slowly.

“We share a child,” he reminded me with a chuckle. “We will always be connected by you, Skye.”

Silence blanketed the air between us for several minutes.

“Those things they did to her,” he finally asked quietly, “did they do those things to you?”

“They would have,” I said quietly, looking down at my lap. “But she got me out in time. She saved my life.”

“Then it would seem I owe her a great debt,” he replied gently.

That makes two of us , I thought. I had spent the last few days missing my mom, but also furious at her for all the truths she had kept from me.

It was getting harder and harder to feel that anger now. Not when I weighed it against everything she had been through. Especially now.

Allan had always been exceptionally, disgustingly, fond of my mother. It was her room he visited the most. The fact that he was the reason the bond was broken between my parents was a bitter pill to swallow.

I couldn’t imagine that pain. Imagine after being with Remy, having someone shatter our bond by force. Having Remy thinking I betrayed him while the pack I loved turned their backs on me. While my parents literally sold me out.

“Who is Allan?”

I was startled at the question. I’d forgotten where I was for a moment and that I wasn’t alone. My head swung to look at the man across from me.

“He was Linden’s beta,” I replied, pushing away the cringe-worthy thoughts his name evoked. “He’s a monster.”

“There are many monsters in this world,” Nikolai muttered.

“Yeah, well, he’s definitely earned a spot in the seventh circle,” I replied bitterly.

“The circle reserved for those who commit acts of brutality against others,” he said slowly.

I blinked in surprise. “You’ve read Dante’s Inferno ?”

“Literature is one of my favorite pastimes,” he answered honestly.

“Mine, too,” I admitted.

He grinned. “We’re more alike than we even knew.”

“I killed his son,” I blurted out, not sure why I felt the need to share that.

Maybe because I had walked in on this man, my father , casually ripping Linden apart like it was his favorite weekend hobby.

He arched a brow.

“Allan, I mean,” I clarified, clearing my throat. “I killed his son. He was... he raped another pack member. And I killed him. It’s why Mom and I had to leave, among other things.”

Nikolai smiled softly at me, something eerily like pride lighting his eyes. “And the similarities continue as I plan to kill his father.”