“He always treated me like a daughter, though,” she tries to reason, and I nod at her.
“He doesn’t like people he can’t control, and I think that’s why when you defied him about findin’ the pack of your choice it pissed him off. Or maybe he truly thinks you and Teresa are more important than these other Omegas he’s treatin’ like animals. I don’t know if he has the capability to really love anyone.”
“My mom?” she asks.
“I don’t know, darlin’,” I answer her honestly, and she looks away for a second.
“You really think I made him mad enough to sell me to the Wraiths?” she chokes on the words.
I groan, looking over at Axel, who throws an arm over her shoulder and helps me explain.
“Darlin’, Kurt didn’t sell you to the Wraiths. Heisthe Wraiths.”
“What?” she gasps, spinnin’ to face Axel.
“I didn’t want to believe it either, but… fuck. Just show her,” Axel says, lookin’ at me.
I sigh, and pull out my phone, clicking play on the voicemail I have saved. I put it on speaker and as soon as Leon’s voice plays, tears fall down Lily’s face.
He’s clearly drunk as his voice comes over the phone. This was well after he told me everything, it’s the night my dad had him patch into the Wraiths.
“I can’t do this anymore, Tate. I can’t do this to the guys at the compound. I didn’t wantthis.I didn’t fuckin’wantthis, man. You’ve got to watch your back. He’s goin’ to take out whoever isn’t loyal one by one. The ones he trusts he’s planning on bringin’ over to the Wraiths. You’ve got to promise me you’ll get Lily out of there. I didn’t have any other choice. I’ve got to keep Shelby safe now. He said if I did what he wanted, he’d let me bring her with me. It’s fuckin’ bad here man, I don’t know whatto do.” The voicemail cuts off, and Lily replays it three more times.
“But why? Why would Kurt do this? Why would he be playing both clubs?”
“He’s only playin’ one club, darlin’,” I reiterate, and she blinks at me.
“The Wraiths know he’s the Prez of the Dead Palms?”
“More than fuckin’ know it. I always thought the ceasefire between the clubs made no fuckin’ sense, but I was too young to understand, and then, as soon as I could, I left Tallahassee. I put this place so fuckin’ far behind me I just never thought about it till I came back,” I admit to her.
“Then slowly, each chapter kept getting busted, or blown to pieces,” Cash interjects.
“Butwhy?” Lily asks, still trying to wrap her mind around the man who raised her like his own, being an absolute piece of shit.
“Money,” Axel replies. “The amount of money he gets traffickin’ Omegas and doin’ the deals the Dead Palms aren’t willin’ to do is obscene.”
“He did all of this for money?” she asks sounding exhausted.
“It’s a big part of it, but truly I think it’s because of the power. He wants control over everything and everybody. I’m not sure he even knows when enough is enough,” I explain.
“Kurt is why my brother is dead? He’s the reason Shelby was beat to shit. Why I started my heat early?”
Sadness is written all over her face, and the look she’s giving me right now is going to haunt me forever.
“I’m not sure how much he orchestrated or how much was his guys not following orders. But I think he did it to keep Leon in line, and possibly hurt the both of us after that night he thought we were together,” I admit softly.
Guilt is one deep-cuttin’ motherfucker.
“You still plan to keep the promise you made me before I started my heat?” she asks, a blush creeping over her face when she mentions her heat.
Her warm brown eyes are filled with tears, but there’s determination behind them too. She won’t just let him get away with this.
“You know what you’re askin’?” I want to confirm.
“Just… just don’t hurt my mom,” she pleads.
“We don’t know what she knows, but we never would have hurt her.”
