Juan craved the union of all the packs, not just the north, and he knew the only way to force that kind of need was to push us back into a war. He supplied the possibility and then sat back and waited, his own arrogance telling him that he would be the one chosen to lead them all. And now he has the answer to their weapon, to force the packs into choosing him. It’s his leverage. The wolves from every land will want the weapon to counteract theirs. It shows how insane he really is to believe he would reign and lead, when the first time my own mother pushed him off that pedestal. So easy to knock down and replace. Did that teach him nothing?
And then when he had the steps in place to ignite a second chance at his gaining a crown, the fates intervened instead, and nothing has been coincidence on either side since. Turning and imprinting me only weeks before the vampires first attack. Solidifying a white wolf in the midst in hopes of redressing the balance, because they knew what was coming. Tying me to a Santo. It all makes sense; every single piece of the puzzle fits and I was always meant to end up in Colton’s arms, in the middle of it all. I’m the fates trying to reclaim a prophecy that Juan keeps trying to destroy.
I turn my attention back to what he said, dragging my brain from that to this. Head a tangled mess of emotions, but the logic of the bigger picture is sliding neatly into place. Picking out something he said which peeks my attention.
“What do you mean bound to his loyals?” I don’t even know how he could do that.
“Carmen. She’s the daughter of his Beta, he’s always tried to push me to stick with only the wolves he approved of. He hated the fact my sub pack was never the children of his own subs. He just had to accept it, but Carmen, now, looking back I realize he kept pushing femmes at me from certain houses and he only wanted me to mark and settle down once you posed a threat.”
And we come straight to the one thing that chokes me up and makes me hate him all over again. He says it so matter of factly, like he didn’t just stab me in the chest with a dull object and twist it for good measure. He just admitted it. That he’s bound to Carmen, and his father wanted it that way. He maybe didn’t say it outright, but he said enough for me to interpret it that way. I fall silent and turn away as tears prick my eyes and that sense of ‘I knew it’ makes me feels so stupid. Crushing that stupidly, ever hopeful, annoying shining light, that pops up no matter what I tell it.
I might be the fates trying to set the scales right, but Colton is obviously not part of that plan, because no way in hell would they allow him to be such a dumb ass and do such a hurtful and stupid thing if he was my forever. How could he be if they let him mark her and break me all over again. You don’t come back from a betrayal of the mate bond, not like this.
“So, your father’s raging a war with not only vamps, whom he set in motion, but his own pack, even though his intention was to lord over you all? And half of you now live in the manor that belonged to your mom, a half witch? A manor you knew you had but didn’t need. All while I was off finding your mom who holds the key to us having some sort of powerful gifts to put things right?” I digress, trying to put everything in order and avoid all mention of what a douchebag, selfish, hurtful, cheating, dickhead he is.
“Yeah, sounds right…….. My mom’s family are mostly gone. Not that I ever knew them, and I only knew I inherited this manor because she left me it as a birthday gift on my sixteenth with a femme she trusted. It sat empty, she never lived there, so we had some cleaning up to do. Generally, though, I’m guessing she really is a witch as it was completely untouched, and no one seemed to be able to get in until I tried the door. It was weird but…. a god damn witch! The strangest part is…. I don’t feel shocked. It’s like I knew, but I didn’t. I can’t explain it.” He’s slowly coming back to that swoony high school jock as he talks, hints of normal Colton shining through at me, but it doesn’t dampen my feelings of hurt.
I allow my eyes to stray back to him, holding my outward cool and trying not to let all I’m thinking spew out at him while being really good at focusing on the important issues in this conversation. Not me and him, and I’m trying to absorb his words and that other little issue that has been getting to me, peeks out.
“At least it’s not vampire…. can’t say that was welcome news.” I answer sarcastically, a little more edge to my tone than I intended, watching that slight change to his expression and completely unable to read it. He half frowns, his jaw tensing a touch, but he doesn’t have any kind of over dramatic response at all. No instant hatred or recoiling in disgust.
“It is what it is, doesn’t change who you are. It’s just something to figure out, I guess.” He doesn’t look my way and I can tell he’s not as okay with it as he’s making out, but he’s also not freaking out and calling me a monster either. I really expected a bigger reaction to be honest and this seems anticlimactic. I probably took it worse than he is.
“The sub pack won’t accept me back when they find out.” I point out as if that was ever in my master plan, but I guess it partly is. I mean, everything is upside down and my plan of leaving and running just brought me back right here to where I started, among the people I left behind. No idea what the future holds anymore, especially if the wolves are warring too. The pack seems like my destiny, even if he is not.
“Why not? You think they’ll care? You’re Alora, and I’m Cole to them…. they won’t give a shit if we’re half breeds. That’s not how they are…. it’s how my father is. And we’re not the only hybrids hidden in the Santo pack. Nor the subs. Secrets are rife in my father’s kingdom because he’s an asshole and it took me way too many years to realize that and see through him.” He grips the wheel, that growl again in the undertone as his own words touch a nerve and I can tell the whole father things is getting to him way more than anything. Maybe finding out about his mom was the final straw.
I grasp at that titbit of information though, shocked, instantly grabbing at the file marked Colton’s memories but know I won’t even know what to look for in the nineteen years’ worth of them, and instead start pulling names out of boxes in a bid to figure out which subs are also half breeds.
“Who? What secrets?” I blurt out, overwhelmed with too many scenarios and thoughts. The downside to having a head full of someone else’s memories is they are too vast sometimes to know you possess an answer without them guiding you to the right visual. I probably have so many things in my head about him that I haven’t even opened and explored. I definitely didn’t ever stop on any conversations about hybrids in the pack.
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