“Fine.” I move back into the room. “Lillian.”
She doesn’t look up from Violet’s face. “What?”
“You need treatment. The healer says you’re weak.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not.” I keep my voice level with effort. “And when Violet wakes up, she doesn’t need to see you like this.”
That gets through to her. Lillian’s jaw tightens, but she carefully releases Violet’s hand and turns toward the door. “Fine. But I’m coming right back.”
“I’ll be here.” I pull up a chair and stroke Violet’s arm. Her skin is cool against mine. “Go.”
Lillian leaves with the healer, though I can see her reluctance in the way she keeps looking back, in how slowly she walks away. Once they’re gone, I’m alone with Violet for the first time since Miami.
“I’m sorry, Violet. For all of it.” The words come out hoarse. I bring her hand to my lips and press a kiss to her fingers. Her scent is stronger here, closer to her skin. Jasmine and something that’s uniquely her. My wolf whines, pressing close to the surface, wanting to curl around our mate and keep her safe.
Too late for that now.
“I’m sorry for not being there. For not protecting you. For being too much of a coward to claim you the way I should have from the start.” I rest my forehead against our joined hands. “I told myself that I was protecting you by keeping us secret. That if the pack didn’t know you were mine, my father wouldn’t see you as a threat. But it was a lie. I was protecting myself. My position. My comfortable life.”
She doesn’t respond. The monitor beeps its steady rhythm. Her chest rises and falls.
“I killed him,” I whisper. “I killed my father today. Broke his neck with my own hands. And I don’t regret it. I’d do it again. I’d do it a thousand times for what he did to you.” My voice breaks. “But thatdoesn’t make me any better than him, does it? We’re both killers. Both monsters. The only difference is, I’m a monster who loves you.”
Footsteps approach. I tense up, expecting Lillian. But it’s Ryker who steps inside, his expression unreadable.
“Come to lecture me?” I don’t bother hiding my irritation.
“To talk.” Ryker closes the door behind him and leans against it.
“About what?” I turn to face him fully, my free hand clenching into a fist. My split knuckles throb, but I welcome the pain. “Actually, while we’re at it, why has your entire personality done a one-eighty? You’ve spent years acting like you couldn’t care less about hybrids, like you don’t care about much aside from goofing around. Now you’re defending Violet’s mother and bringing her here like some kind of savior?”
Ryker’s mouth quirks in a way that might suggest amusement, but his eyes are serious. “I was putting on a persona. I’m also an alpha heir, remember? Politics and appearances matter in our world.”
I snort. “Right. So, you just pretended to be an asshole for fun?”
“For survival.” His expression hardens. “Your father wasn’t the only alpha who hated hybrids, Darius. If other packs thought my father and I were sympathetic, we’d have been targets, too. So, yes, I played the part. Said the right things. Made the right alliances.” He pauses. “But behind closed doors? My father and I have been helping hybrids escape from your pack for years.”
The words stun me. I stare at him, trying to process them. “You’re lying.”
“I’m not.”
“Why would you…” I shake my head. “If you were helping them escape, why didn’t you help Violet? Why didn’t you get her out before any of this happened?”
“I went to save her and her mother when I heard they’d been taken.” Ryker’s jaw tightens. “My father knew they were hybrids. He’d met Lillian decades ago, before even she knew what she was. When word reached us that they’d been captured, that their secret was out, we movedimmediately.”
“Then why—” I can barely get the words out. “Why is Violet fighting for her life right now?”
“Because your father’s security was tighter than we expected. Because I only had minutes to get them out before the guards changed shifts. Because…” He looks away. “Because Violet made the choice. When I could only take one of them, she begged me to save her mother.”
My throat closes. Of course she did. Of course Violet was willing to sacrifice herself. She put her mother’s life before her own. It’s exactly who she is. Who she has always been.
“I had to trust that we would be able to come back for Violet,” Ryker continues quietly. “Except, by the time I got Lillian to safety”—he shakes his head—“your father had doubled the number of guards. There was no way we could get in.”
The anger drains out of me, leaving only exhaustion and shame.
“You don’t know what it’s like for hybrids, Darius. I do. I’ve seen them,” Ryker continues, his voice softer now. “Lillian had been protecting Violet the only way she could. In fact, I had to knock her out to get her to come with me, to leave her daughter behind. We had to tie her down after she woke up because she was so desperate to get back to Violet. She loves her. Don’t tell her she doesn’t. She doesn’t deserve for you to take your anger out on her.”
