Rage cleared his throat. “I feel I should tell you … I’m nothing like my uncle. I’ll do everything I can to protect Nai, and I respect her. More than that, I love her.”
My dad nodded, and his features relaxed—slightly. “Thank you for saying that.”
Awkwardness crawled under my skin, and before this could go to any further levels, I brought us back on topic. “So … about my mom…?”
My dad rolled out his neck. “Right … so what do you already know?”
I caught him up on the mid-year games, Honor’s death, and how Rage and I had made a trip to the Realm of the Dead where we saw my mom and funcle together, holding hands. Then I raced through the brief almost-respite at John and Sara’s, the selkie detour, and the skirmish with King Douche before adding what Elaine told us in the car.
Dad absorbed it all quietly, and when I finally finished, he nodded. “My brother Mackay was a troubled man those last few years. Even though he was alpha, he’d disappear for days on end. I can’t tell you how many times over those three years he said he didn’t want to be alpha and had me take over duties while he was gone. I knew he was keeping secrets, but I didn’t know what to do. I wasn’t going to fight him for alpha status, I loved him too much—and even though your aunt Lilith raged about his absence, she wasn’t strong enough to do anything—at least not while Mackay and I were around.”
Clenching my own hands, I leaned forward. My father hadneverspoken of any of this. Ever. My breathing grew shallow, and my heart raced. The entire world disappeared as the truth of my birth was slowly unfurled.
“Then, one night,that night, he came to me in tears. My big brother stood in the doorway of my home on Shifter Island and said he’d brought death upon the pack. He begged me for forgiveness.” My dad closed his eyes and shook his head before meeting my gaze. “I thought he was drunk.”
I grimaced, every muscle in my body tensing for what was surely coming. Rage slipped his hand into mine and scooted closer so his body pressed into me—a subtle reminder I could lean on him if I needed.
“I was tired, and it was the middle of the night…” My dad’s expression took on that faraway gaze, and I knew he’d slipped back into the memories—reliving them. “I asked him what the hell he was talking about—told him to stop being dramatic. I grumbled about wanting to go back to bed … then this ethereal angel of a woman stepped out from behind him, and that’s when I met her.” Reaching out, he touched a lock of my silvery-white hair. “Your mother, nine months pregnant, breathing through a contraction.”
He paused, and I stopped breathing, feeling Rage still beside me.
My mom. In labor.
“Mackay went to her side,” my dad continued, “took her hand, and showed me. They had mate marks just like that.” He pointed to Rage’s and my interlocked fingers.
“All those missing nights,” I mused.
My father nodded. “He was with her.”
Could I blame them? Nope. I’d doanythingto be with Rage. Rules be dammed.
“Were they running from something?” Rage asked. “My mother said they seemed shaken by the time they got to Midnight Pack lands.”
My father curled his lip in disgust. “Yes, son, they were. Elia said the High Mage Council knew her baby’s father was a wolf and that they’d kill the baby. Their laws are very strict. Elia and Mackay wanted Shifter Island to be a safe place for their baby.”
“What happened?” Rage asked, echoing my thoughts.
My father took a deep breath. “I suggested they hide there, on Crescent lands. Our pack would rally behind Mackay. He was the alpha. But Mackay said that they’d never be safe without the support of your father, the alpha king. The longer he talked, the more certain he became that he’d be able to talk reason into Valor, and the wolves wouldn’t bow to the high mage’s kill order. Nor would they step foot on our Shifter Island lands without the alpha king’s permission.”
I swallowed hard. “So who killed them?”
He sighed. “Your mother’s labor was progressing, so I went with them to the castle. It was only a short distance from Crescent lands.”
My father was silent for a long moment. The silence stretched until I thought I might go mad. Jumping from the sofa, I shouted, “Dad! What happened?”
My father shook himself.
“Valor offered to help. I wasfloored. The alpha king hid us in his guest house, but a moment later, Declan arrived, pounding on the door and screaming about a high crime. I don’t know how he knew, but he did. Valor said he’d talk sense into his brother.” My dad swallowed, and his voice dropped. “Val said to wait, and then he slipped out the door.”
Nausea rolled into me.
My dad closed his eyes and seemed to be holding back tears before he continued. “Elia was in full-on labor. Valor and Declan were both fire elementals, but Mackay didn’t think either would fight each other over this, nor would they use their magic so close to the castle and the school. When Valor screamed, and we smelled … smoke … Mackay told me to stay and help Elia with the labor before he left to try and help his friend…” My dad opened his eyes and looked at Rage. “Your dad. Mackay was a water elemental. That’s why…” His voice cracked, and my dad forced a swallow. Shaking his head, he continued, “I’m sorry, while Elia silently gave birth to Nai, Declan slaughtered Valor and then Mackay, burning them alive in the garden.”
“No!” Rage jumped up and grabbed at his face.
The pained expression my father wore looked like he’d swallowed acid. “I wanted to help, but … I was literally delivering a child. By the time Nai took her first breath, I knew Mackay was gone. I felt it through the pack bond.”
Rage’s hands shook, and I stepped over to the couch, sinking to my mate’s side to rub his back. The entire time, my mind raced a mile a minute.
