Page 162 of Forget

“I had to find an app for my phone to debugOmega’s Haven,”I say. “One of Evan’s cousins went to the outreach center on behalf of a family member. She was running from her pack.”

“They were abusive?” Dad asks, growling.

“Oh yeah,” I sigh. “She has a little boy, and one of the alphas was hurting, manipulating, and isolating her from her family. The entire pack was in on it, but I guess Egan was the worst.”

“Are they dead?” Dad asks. I have a feeling he’d volunteer to kill them if they weren’t.

“As Evan’s cousin, I’m sure they are,” I say. “There’s no way he would let them come after her and the baby.”

“Good,” he grunts. “So when the boys found that you hadn’t been to work, Hayes snuck into the house. They all have keys to this place, so I can’t call it breaking in, despite Evan’s ability to pick locks. I left your nest for a few minutes because I thought I heard something, and when I came back, Hayes was in there. The way he stared at you made it clear my suspicions were correct.”

“How did he stare?” I rasp.

Dad smiles softly as he gazes at me, hands open in supplication. “As if you were his,” he says. “I was pretty frazzled by the time I saw him, and told him he couldn’t leave. Hayes stayed with you during the rest of your heat, snuggled againstyou, so you’d stay relaxed. I tossed the bastard a bottle and told him that’s where he could piss.”

Bursting out into laughter, I shake my head as Chef walks in my food.

“I’ve missed that laugh,” Chef murmurs. “Welcome home.”

Thanking him, I take my plate and take a bite of the sandwich, eyes half closing. “So good,” I mumble happily.

“Good,” he says with a smile. “I’ll be back in a bit. Cappuccino or hot chocolate?”

Knowing that he won’t take ‘no’ as an answer, and I need the caffeine, I swallow my bite before saying, “Cappuccino, please.”

After Chef nods and gets Dad’s order of hot chocolate, so he’s not up too late, Chef leaves us to our conversation.

“So how did the kidnapping happen?” I ask.

“When Hayes was in your nest, I realized something,” Dad says. “Whenever he moved away, you seemed to be in pain. Since your body recognized him as your scent match, you’d never be able to have another full heat without him.”

Wrinkling my nose, I nod in agreement as I take another bite. It’s better if I keep my mouth full right now rather than stick my foot in it.

“Therefore,” Dad continues, “I did agree to let them kidnap you. I wanted to tell you about the scent you kept smelling, but it would have fucked up their window.”

Growling under my breath, I take a savage bite, and my dad sighs. Crossing his arms over his chest, he keeps speaking.

“Yes, I see it from your point of view, my daughter,” he says. “However, I was worried about your health as well. There were very few options. I kept asking if you wanted to go on that last date, since I knew the boys were hijacking it. The truth is, I don’t know how your heat would have gone without them.”

Done with my food and my distraction, I put my plate to the side on the table.

“Why did I keep smelling Aiden in the house while I was nesting?” I ask. “It was making me fucking crazy.”

“Hayes is the reason you went into heat earlier than you probably would have,” he growls. “The fucker jumpstarted things because he couldn’t stay away. That's why I almost shot him several times that day.”

“I remember you mentioning that he almost died a few times that day,” I murmur.

“Yes! It was all his fucking fault,” Dad says, throwing up his hands, which makes me giggle.

Once I start, I can’t stop, and Dad even snickers.

“I’m sorry, Aisling,” he says. “I didn’t want to hold information from you. I really didn’t think they’d fuck up as much as they did.”

“Aiden wore a mask,” I tell him. “I had no idea who he was during my heat. So when I walked downstairs and saw his face, I threw my knife at him and ran.”

“You ran outside?” Dad clarifies, eyes widening when I nod.

“I was barefoot, which pissed him off, and he caught me while screaming expletives,” I say. “Things have been really rocky since then. I’m barely speaking to them.”

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