Chapter Three

James

My mind is reeling from everything I have heard in the last few hours. Between Peyton, Caine, and Talon, they have laid out everything for me and I swear to the Goddess if he wasn't dead I would rip Slade Porter limb from limb myself. Slowly.

He destroyed the pack I took years to build and so many lives in the process. Who the fuck forces someone into a mating with someone they don't want? He didn't give a damn about tradition or fate. He was only out to better his own life, no matter who got hurt in the process.

But he is gone and all I am left with is impotent rage and no way to release it. I want to kill someone to make myself feel better about every bad thing that happened to my daughter, Talon, and every other member of my now nonexistent pack. But there is no one to kill, no way to avenge the treatment they suffered through, and that just brings me full circle to the bubbling, overwhelming, useless rage.

How the hell am I supposed to just accept the way things are now? My pack no longer exists, my home is no more, and my daughter is a grown-ass woman living with her own mate and helping him run the pack they have together. I feel pride in who she has become and everything she has achieved. Her home is beautiful, and her pack clearly loves and respects both her and Caine.

I'll spend some time here, getting to know the person she is now, but then I will move on. I don't see myself playing second fiddle to another Alpha so I will either become a nomad and roam the world on my own or I could even start a new pack. I am sure there are other wolves out there that need somewhere to go and someone to lead them.

Our attention is drawn to a young man as he walks in through the back door after knocking.

"News spreads fast around here," Talon says with a roll of her eyes, and I can't help but smile.

I knew both her parents and they would be thrilled to know she has become a fine female with a mate and children of her own.

This man is the sixth impromptu visitor in the past few hours. It seems I have become the talk of the pack.

"This is Marc," Caine introduces us.

The young man leans forward to shake my hand. "Pleased to meet you."

I hear the words, but they sound distorted like I am listening to him talk under water. My focus is the scent clinging to him. Jasmine and fresh rain. I am immediately addicted, and I need to know the source, right now. My wolf howls in my mind, pushing to the forefront so quickly I barely have time to keep a hold on him.

Several things happen at the same time. Marc frowns at me, quickly pulling his hand back while Caine pins me in my chair.

"Fucking hell!" Talon curses. "What did you do?"

"Nothing," Marc replies, holding his hands in the air.

"Where is she?" I roar, trying to fight free of Caine's grip. But the Alpha has me fully contained.

Marc blanches, his eyes the size of saucers as he backs away while shaking his head. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"My mate! Where is she?"

My voice distorts as my wolf once more fights me for dominance, trying to force me to shift.

"Stop!" Caine commands, his voice tinted with Alpha infliction. "Everyone sit the fuck down."

I never thought it would happen. I am an Alpha in my own right, after all, but even my wolf obeys his command and falls back to allow me control once more. I can still feel his agitation as he prowls the corners of my mind and biding his time until he can be in control once more. The need to find our mate is overwhelming but he is obeying the command of the pack Alpha, for now at least.

"What are you talking about?" Caine asks.

"He smells like her," I say, nodding in Marc's direction. "My mate's scent clings to him."

"What the hell?" Peyton asks. "You just got here, and you've already found a mate?" She turns her sharp gaze toward the young man. "Where have you been, Marc?"

Marc lowers his head, looking at the floor. "Sapphire said I need to keep my trap shut."

"Unless you want me to let this Alpha loose on your ass to get the answers, you better start talking now," Caine counters. "And I can assure you he won't be using his words to get what he wants."

Marc's gaze swings from Caine to me and back again.

"Fine," he sighs. "But if she kicks me out, I'm moving in here."

"Spill," Peyton demands.

"It's April. She came over in a daze saying her fated mate was here."

"Where is she now?" I ask.

"With my mate. She's safe," he says. "But she is freaked out."

"Why?" Both Peyton and I ask at the same time.

"Because of you," Talon explains, looking directly at my daughter. "He's your dad and you just found out he's alive. Plus, she's twenty and he's what, fifty-five? I can totally understand why she is spinning right now. To be honest, I would be too, and I've known you for years."

"I'm only forty-eight," I mumble but neither of them is listening to me.

"I know better than anyone that we don't get to pick our mates," Peyton snaps, folding her arms over her chest.

"My moon," Caine cuts in. "You can talk this out with her later, explain you aren't averse to them being mates. For now, we need to figure out what to do."

"I'm going to find and claim my mate," I announce before standing.

"Sit down, Dad," Peyton snaps. "This isn't your pack. We need to talk to her first before you run off like some damn caveman."

"What is there to talk about?" I ask angrily, leaning into her space. "She is my mate, and I am hers. We belong together."

I feel Caine's presence behind me but Peyton waves him off.

"I am happy to have you here, it's my greatest dream come true, to be honest," she says with a smile. "But none of our females are forced into mating. She will have a choice in this and if she decides she doesn't want to be your mate, that's it. You can accept our way of life, or you can leave. But know this—I will not endanger my pack members to have my long-lost father around. No matter how happy I am to see you."

"Shit," Caine says lowly, watching the two of us carefully.

"Now sit down. Marc, please bring April here so we can all talk about this."

****

April

I finally feel like I can breathe again. Sapphire has put me to work making a different batch of cookie dough to keep my hands busy. I know this isn't a permanent solution but it's good enough for now. My mind slips into the rhythm of rolling out the dough and cutting the various shapes before placing them on a tray and sticking them in the oven.

"What did you do, Marc?" Sapphire calls out before he even opens the kitchen door to enter.

"Nothing…"

"Bullshit. You've been pacing outside for the better part of five minutes."

His gaze swings to me. "Peyton wants to see you."

"You told her?" I cry out.

"No! He smelled you on me and almost ripped my head off."

"Whatever," I say, stomping past him.

I don't want to hear his sorry explanations and I know I can't deal with Peyton or her father right now. I know this is going to be a complete shit show and I would prefer not to have my heart broken today. Not on my twenty-first birthday.

Instead, I do the one thing I can think of, the only thing I can control. I shift.

My paws hit the ground just inside the tree line where no one can see and I'm off like a shot. This is the only thing I know how to do. I run and run until my flanks burn and my lungs protest. When I stop, I find myself on the cliff overlooking the entire area.

From here I can see the town in the west and the Katu pack compound in the north. I know from all the other times I have been up here in the past months that the waterfall is to the east and the city I grew up in is to the south.

I sit here in my shifted form as darkness descends and the moon rises to fill the sky with its light. I know I will have to make a choice eventually. Either leave the pack for good or return and lay bare the only secret I have been keeping from everyone. Not that it matters. Once they know the truth, I won't be welcome anymore and the only home and family I have ever known will be lost to me.

Those thoughts finalize what I will do and soon enough I am headed back to my pack for the last time. I won't just disappear and leave people worrying. I also have a mate that needs to refuse me so we can both move on with our lives instead of pining for eternity.

I make my way through the forest a lot slower this time around, but it helps me stay calm. Once I reach the compound, I grab one of the robes Sapphire has taken to hanging outside each gate. When shifters are emotionally charged or in a rush we tend to shred our clothes during the shifting process. This way, no one has to walk through the compound naked. Originally, I thought it was a silly idea but right now I couldn't be more grateful for her out-of-the-box thinking.

Wrapping the white terry cloth fabric around myself, I walk through the compound with my head held high. I don't go home to change, there's no point after all, instead making a beeline for Peyton's house. I don't get the chance to knock before the door is opened and I am pulled into a tight hug.

Once Peyton releases me, she smiles brightly, holding me at arm's length.

"I don't care. Really. If you want my father as your mate I won't stand in your way." She smiles while she speaks, giving me her blessing.

Her words grind the tiny pieces of my broken heart into dust that blows away with the breeze. Stepping away from her, I take a deep breath and steady myself before speaking.

"Is Caine here?"

"He's in the kitchen with my dad. Come on." She waves me through, but she is no longer smiling. She knows something isn't right.

I walk through the house I have been in a hundred times, a place that used to offer me comfort and is now just another building. Keeping my breathing steady, I fight my animal to remain in control. All I want is to say my peace and get the hell out of here.

"April," Caine says with a smile that quickly turns to a frown.

"Mate," I hear growling from the other side of the kitchen, but I don't turn to look at him.

This is going to be hard enough without the image of him burned into my mind.

"I am here to tell you the truth," I say looking at the man I have accepted as my Alpha. "Afterward, you can do whatever you see fit, but I can't keep lying."

"What are you talking about?" he asks seriously.

I smile at him sadly before shaking my head. "It's easier to show you."

Letting my robe fall to the floor I shift. Now my secret is on full display.