I narrow my eyes at Sodie. That isn’t the story Anders told me. However, his little outburst of accusing his mate of retaliation against him by hurting his child several months earlier somehow fits this monologue. So how does Jessica fit into all of this?
Liam leans forward. “What does this have to do with Jessica and the decision you made to kidnap her?”
Sodie rubs a hand over his face. “I’m getting to it. You said you wanted the entire story from the beginning, so I’m giving it to you,” he grumbles.
Liam waves his hand for him to continue.
“Time passed, and from little conversations I overheard, Anders went looking for her but never found her. Even my Alpha and my parents sent some of our best trackers to find her, but she always stayed hidden. Then, one day, out of the blue, she sneaked onto our territory and sought Alpha Agnus’s help. She finally told them the truth.
“Not long after she was extricated from the pack, she learned she was pregnant and left the LS to find Anders and have her twin babies. Wherever she was then, she became friends with a woman, who was a seer. She was warned that the Alpha King’s life was in danger, and when the Young Alpha Prince took his place as Alpha King, he would be assassinated. She left her twin sons behind, knowing that they were safe, and she tried to stop the vision from coming true.
“But she failed, and the Alpha King died. She was framed. Anders refused to believe her when she claimed she was innocent. He threw her in confinement and refused to see her. She learned she was pregnant in captivity and gave birth to a daughter. She begged the guards to send word to Anders so he could take their child. But he never came. Not long after, her child was taken from her. Unsure if Anders planned to return, she escaped and searched for her daughter. When she couldn’t find her, as a last resort, she returned home and begged for help.”
Holding out my hand, I stop Sodie from continuing. “If you said that Alpha Agnus spoke to Anders and he went to find your sister, why didn’t she just ask for his help?” An unsettling feeling sits heavy in my chest. I can’t believe Anders did this to his mate. If she told the guards she was having his child, why did he act like he didn’t know? Anders was genuinely upset when he learned about her. He swore he had no idea where his mate was.
“She sent word to him, but all she received in response was a letter, remarking that he hoped the child was dead. He would never accept a child born of a murderer. I’ll never forget that day. I can still hear her shrill cries as she shared her story.”
I slam my hand down on the table. “That’s fucking bullshit! Anders would never do something like that!”
Sodie slammed his bottle down next. “Oh, yeah? How the fuck would you know? He forced my sister to go prison without solid evidence that she committed a crime. He left her there pregnant and alone. He gets to live like a king—no fucking cares in the world, no responsibility, and no remorse for what he did to my sister.”
“Anders isn’t like that. I know because that man raised me like I was his own!”
“Well, good for you, if that’s what it takes for him to wake up every morning, look in the mirror, and not hate himself.”
I point my finger in his face. “He didn’t know he had another child!” I snarl, “You will not disrespect him. Do you hear me?!”
“Disrespect him?! That’s the fucked-up part. When I first entered the program, I wanted to hate him. Ididhate him for destroying my sister’s life. I hated him for letting his own daughter live a life of misery and torture. I used to lie in bed at night, thinking of all the different ways I could sneak into his room and kill him in his sleep. But I needed him!”
I lean back in my seat and run my hands through my hair.
“I respect him! But you don’t get to take away my anger toward him. You didn’t hear or see what I did. You didn’t listen to your sister wailing at night from a broken heart. You didn’t experience the anguish and pain of our entire family! You didn’t see the regret my parents lived through when they forced my sister to leave the pack.”
Sodie squeezes his bottle until his knuckles turns white. The waitress delivers our food, glancing back and forth between allof us. Color drains from her face, thinking we’re about to break into a fight. She speaks in rapid Japanese. I can hardly keep up enough to translate, but Darwin answers her and retrieves the tray of food. We don’t speak for a while, as the food makes its way around our table.
Chapter 19
There Are Two Sides to Every Story
LIAM
Seven Years Ago
An uncomfortable silence sits heavy at our table. My mind is reeling over that truth bomb Sodie had just dropped. I may not have been a part of the Blackguard family for very long, but the things I had been told doesn’t compare to what Sodie just said.
I finally break the silence. “I’m sorry your sister and your family went through that,” I murmur apologetically.
“No, you’re not,” he sneers.
“Sodie, there are two sides to every story,” I proclaim. “This side of the story is nothing like what Shadow or I have been told.”
He ignores my condolences and stares at his bowl but doesn’t touch it. He finally speaks again, “It took years for Alpha Agnus to find a lead on Jessica’s whereabouts. Of all of the fucking places, Alpha Agnus found her in Territory Two. That place islike living under communism. Only the strong survive. Women are weak. The Beta micromanages everything—when to work, when to play, when to sleep. Lights out is at nine p.m. every day. The Internet is limited. Once you are in that territory, it’s hard to get out. And the best part is they hate magic wielders.”
He pauses, scooping the shredded pieces of his drink label and shoving them inside the empty bottle. Darwin slides another full one toward him.
“My sister made friends with the Alpha’s personal assistant. He’s a good guy—scared of the Alpha and Beta—but a really nice guy. I think he’s in love with her, but she’s mated to Anders. It’s a true mate bond, so she can never truly love him back. She’s destined for a life of loneliness, unless he dies.”
“Hey, you going to eat that?” Darwin interrupts.
