Page 102 of Alpha Chase

My chest constricts painfully at the reminder of his loss-will he really never set foot in this house again? Never drive his car or sit behind his desk or scold me for breaking curfew?

An avalanche of grief bears down on me, crushing me under its weight.

My dad’s gone.

“Katrina was still young,” Rob sighs, folding his hands on the desktop in front of him. “Impressionable. When your dad tracked her down, he said he barely recognized her. She was cruel and distant, and while he tried to talk sense into her, his words fell on deaf ears. She was completely brainwashed by Xavier and his purist propaganda, drunk on the power of being mated to one of his highest-ranking officials.”

“No,” I snap, shaking my head again. “That can’t be right. If she wanted power, she had it. Dad was Alpha.”

Rob scrubs a hand over his face and heaves another sigh. “Alpha of one pack, yes. But Xavier aimed to rule all the shifter packs in the country, which would’ve given him more power than any one Alpha. That kind of power corrupts.”

It feels like the room’s spinning around me, a wave of nausea roiling in my gut.

“Plus, Daniel was your mom’s fated mate, not Vaughn,” Rob continues. “There’s a connection with fated mates that transcends other bonds. It’s like they’re two halves of a whole, they’d do anything for one another. There was nothing your father could’ve said to make her leave her mate, and when he realized that, he had no choice but to leave her behind and return home. And because Katrina knew where our pack was located, your dad was afraid she’d feed that information to Xavier and we’d all be in danger. When he came back, he immediately made the decision to join the alliance and move us here.”

Rob leans forward, propping his elbows on the desk and staring at me earnestly. “Your father loved you, Chase,” he says, his voice strained as my eyes flicker up to meet his. They’re swimming with his own grief over the loss of my father; his Alpha and closest friend. “He loved you more than anything. His number one motivation in almost everything he did was for your protection.”

“Don’t,” I snap, my eyes darkening as my turbulent emotions warp to anger. I shoot to my feet, slamming my palms down on the desk and leaning over it menacingly. “He lied to me, and now he’s dead. If he just told me the truth, I would’ve been more prepared. Maybe I could’ve saved him…” my voice breaks as guilt consumes me.

He gave his life for mine.

I’m not worth his sacrifice.

“You can’t blame yourself for what happened, Chase,” Rob says gently, and I slam my fist on the desk in response, making him startle.

“I don’t!” I shout, my wolf clawing forward and threatening to burst from my skin. “I blame him! He should’ve told me. He should’ve…”

I don’t finish that sentence. Instead, I turn around, stalking out of Rob’s office, the unspoken words pinging around in my brain.

He should’ve just let me die.

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

Vienna

Chaseisstaringatthis rogue like he’s just seen a damn ghost, a name leaving his lips on a whisper.

“Daniel?”

Okay, who the fuck is Daniel and why is he holding me at gunpoint? I always knew falling for Chase Walker was dangerous, but I never thought it’d actually be lethal. The barrel of the gun is still pressed to my temple and with each passing second, it’s becoming more difficult to fight back the unease clawing at my chest in response. This gun is way too close for comfort and it’s a safe bet that the maniac wielding it has a twitchy trigger finger.I’m so fucked.

I’ve thought about my own death before. It’s only natural; especially after losing a parent at such a tender age. Before my dad died, I didn’t think much about my own death, but after I lost him and realized that you never know when your number’s up, there was a period of time where I obsessed over it. I wondered when death would come for me and how I’d go out- whether it would be in a blaze of glory or as a result of something trivial, like being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I’ve had some close calls. When we went to war with the shadow pack, I accepted that I might lose my life in the fight, but I didn’t. When I wrecked my car, I swear my damn life flashed before my eyes, but I survived that too. Is this really how I go, bound to a chair by a psychopath with a gun in my face?

“Good, so we can skip the introductions,” the rogue-Daniel- sneers, looming over me and pressing the barrel of the gun harder into my skin. The bite of the cold metal sends a shiver skittering down my spine and I fight back a flinch.

“You were my mother’s mate,” Chase breathes with a slight waver in his voice that I haven’t heard before.

“And you’re the bastard offspring that she never wanted,” Daniel bites back, his voice dripping with disdain. “You were her greatest disappointment, you know. She never wanted children, but when your father knocked her up, he made her keep the baby. Made her stick around to raise you, even though you were a sniveling, whiny little shit.” He chuckles cruelly, lifting the gun from my head to gesture toward Chase with it. “I see that not much has changed. Maybe if I’d raised you, you’d have grown up to be worth a damn.”

The muscle in Chase’s jaw ticks as Daniel’s words strike a nerve. “My father was ten times the man you’ll ever be,” he spits, his wolf shining brightly in his irises. He may have been forced to his knees, but his stance is anything but docile and submissive. Even reduced to kneeling, he still looks like an apex predator, poised to strike. “He would’ve kept my mother safe. You marked her for death when you led her to join the shadow pack.”

“Shut your mouth!” Daniel roars, and I cringe as drops of spittle land on my cheek from his outburst. He yanks on my hair again hard enough to make my eyes water, slamming the barrel of the gun back into place against my temple. “Youdid this, you and your little friends here! You’re the reason she’s dead!” He drags in a breath, his voice dropping to a deadly rumble. “And now it’s time you pay the price.”

“Don’t!” Chase shouts, throwing up his hands in surrender. His eyes are wild like a man possessed, the rage and fear rolling off of him potent.

Daniel laughs again- fuckinglaughs- like this is all just some sick game to him. He leans his face down beside mine, and if I had anything left inside my stomach, the foul scent coming off him alone would send it right back up. “See what I mean, sweetheart?” he sneers, stroking the tip of the gun down my cheek. “He’s fucking spineless. Bet you’re regretting your choice in men right about now.”

“Actually, I’d say the shifter holding a gun is the spineless one,” I grit out, earning me a sharp blow to the head with the butt of the handgun that has me seeing stars.

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