Xen was our alpha, we were supposed to trust that he’d never lie to us, never use his position of power for personal gain. The pack was his responsibility, the welfare of its members his sole concern.
I wanted to believe Xen felt that way about his pack, aboutus.
But if I did, then that meant I also believed my dad had attacked Lee Faris without obvious provocation and ripped out his throat.
“Do you believe what Xen told us is the truth?” I asked him. “Instinct is a huge part of our lives, Dad. Can you look me in the eye and tell me that there’s any part of you that screams,yes, I did this. That deep inside, you know he’s telling the truth. Because I’ve tried really fucking hard to trust ouralpha’s word, but no matter how many times or how many ways I try and imagine it…” I rubbed a hand over my chest. “My instincts tell me that you’d never be capable of doing something like that. Drunk or not.” As I said the words, something cracked inside me, the absolute trust I’d placed in Xen splintering under the admission that I believed he was lying.
Dad moved in a flash, tugging me into his arms and clinging to me like I might escape any second. “Thank you,” he whispered, voice rough with emotion. “I’ve spent the last two months trying to convince myself that it must be true, because why would Xen lie?” He pulled back and held my shoulders, meeting my gaze. “I thought I was in denial, that it felt this way because I didn’t want it to be true, but—” He looked between me and Max, eyes glassy. “I didn’t do it. I can’t remember what happened, but I know I didn’t dothat.”
“I believe you,” I said, conviction in my voice now that I’d fully accepted it.
“So do I,” Max added. “But unfortunately none of that means anything because we can’t prove it.”
“It means everything,” Dad gritted out, reaching over to grasp Max’s arm as well as mine. “Everything.”
“Now what?”I asked as Max pulled out onto the main road. We’d left my dad with a promise to do our best to figure this mess out, but I had no idea where to fucking start. “My dad doesn’t remember anything from that night.”
“Or he can’t,” Max muttered.
“Same thing.”
“Is it though?” He tapped the steering wheel.
“What are you implying?” I turned in my seat to see him better.
“Nothing, forget I said anything.”
If there was one thing guaranteed to make me want to dig deeper, it was that. “No. Tell me what you mean.”
He didn’t answer for so long I thought he wasn’t going to, but then he sighed, the steering wheel creaking as he gripped it tight. “There are ways to stop someone remembering,” he said quietly, but it had the same effect as if he’d yelled it.
I stared at him. “What you’re suggesting…” I shook my head. I knew from assisting Max with guarding Axel that there were magic-based ways to erase or block a person’s memory. “He wouldn’t.”
Max said nothing more until we arrived back at our house. Switching off the engine, he let his head fall back against the seat. “I didn’t think he’d ever force you to marry a fucking stranger to spare your dad’s life, yet here we are.”
He wasn’t wrong, but the idea that Xen would be involved in something so illegal… I shook my head. “Where would he even get something like that?”
Max raised an eyebrow. “I just handed over three witches to the fae for manufacturing illegal magic and more. I’m not naive enough to think they’re the only ones doing it. If you know where to look, I’m sure you can find someone to make it.”
“Xen’s an alpha,” I said, lowering my voice to little more than a whisper. “Why would he jeopardise his position, hishome, by getting mixed up in anything like that?” And that wasn’t all. “And that would mean he’d have already had it on him that night. What possible reason would he need something like that for? It makes no sense.”
“I never said it did, I’m just telling you what I’m thinking because you wouldn’t let it go.” He turned to face me. “And he’s not the only one who can’t remember that night.”
Fuck, I’d forgotten about the bartender.
“We were right, weren’t we? This whole thing is bigger than proving my dad didn’t kill anyone.” I rubbed a hand over my chest, unease taking root. I wanted Max to disagree, to tell me that I was blowing things out of proportion, but instead, he reached over and clasped my hand.
The look in his eyes confirmed all my suspicions. “I think so,” he said softly. The sigh that followed held too much despair for my liking and I squeezed his fingers.
“Hey.” I couldn’t muster up confidence I didn’t feel, but if we started doubting ourselves now, then we’d never get through this. “One step at a time,” I told him, rubbing a thumb over the back of his hand. “We approach it like we do any other case we investigate.” I waited until he met my gaze, so fucking relieved to see all traces of despair now gone from his face. “We can do this.”
Silence.
As I watched, the Max I knew, the one I needed with me in this, rose to the surface. His smile was slow to form, but it was genuine, warm, and eased the tension building rapidly inside me. “We can.” His sudden laughter caught me off guard, but it was short-lived. “Fuck.” He let go of me and pressed his hands to his face, closing his eyes for a second.
I let him have his moment, because I needed one too.
Goddess knew how neither of us were freaking out. This was ouralphawe were talking about. Someone with the power to make us bend to his will.Like he already has.
