Page 4 of Secrets and Ruin

Niko was shaking his head as if he couldn’t believe anything I was saying. He was still staring into the distance, not looking at me.

“He could have been killed, but Oliver and Carey heard what was happening to him and opened the safe room door. Oliver killed the wolf.”

“You said… you said there were no—”

“I said there were no casualties on our side nor injuries that couldn’t be recovered from,” I said, reminding him of exactly how I had phrased it when I told everyone. All in an effort to protect what had happened to Dirk.

“He can’t… recover from being a werewolf,” Niko growled softly.

“It’s not an injury,” I murmured, knowing my deceit. I had lied by omission, letting everyone believe one thing when I had meant another. “It’s a curse.”

“I don’t need an explanation for how you fooled me. My son was Changed into a werewolf without his consent… and you waited a year to tell me,” he continued, growling through every word. “Ayear, Jacky.”

“He wanted time to adjust,” I said weakly, knowing I could have gone against Dirk’s wishes any time and told his father. The man who trusted me to keep his son safe, my brother, a member of our fucked up supernatural family, which was already dealing with the strain of too many secrets and revelations in the last few years. “I honored his request for privacy and secrecy until he was ready.”

“Is he… happy?” Niko asked, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed between words.

“He’s as happy as I have ever seen him, though it’s not entirely because he’s a werewolf. There’s a lot he needs to tell you about his life when he arrives… if you want to see him.”

“What does that mean?” he snarled, finally turning back to the webcam. His eyes seemed to reach over the vast distance and found my soul. They were no longer human but feline eyes, telling me that it was for the best that he and I were several thousand miles away from each other.

“Dirk has a second ticket to leave Berlin if you aren’t there to pick him up… so he can fly back without troubling you. That’s why he had me tell you now. I can let him know if you won’t be there. Also, if you think you might get violent—”

“There are a lot of people I would be violent with right now. Dirk is not on that list,” he growled.

“I’m sorry I failed you in regard to his protection,” I whispered, lowering my head. “The wolf that attacked him is dead. The pack is long destroyed… I hope it’s enough.”

“I’ll decide what’s enough,” he snapped. “Right when I think that there can’t possibly be anything more wrong with this family, you come out and tell me Dirk has been a werewolf for an entire fucking year, and I didn’t know. Damn it, Jacky! How did you hide it from Zuri? She was in your territory!”

“I didn’t,” I admitted softly.

“Of course. of fucking course, Zuri knows another secret in this family that wasn’t hers to know, but for some reason….” He started ranting in German.

While I didn’t understand the language yet, I was starting to pick up on several words I heard from Dirk’s mouth all too often. Niko jumped up and started pacing, his hands flailing about while he ranted. Eventually, he settled and stopped in front of the webcam again.

“What’s his status? Lone wolf?”

“No. He’s a member of Heath’s pack,” I answered, having no idea what Niko would have wanted for Dirk in that regard or how he would react. “Heath and Landon said it was better for new werewolves to have a pack, and Heath is the only werewolf I would ever trust to be his Alpha. He and Landon have been close for some time, and Dirk didn’t have a problem with it.”

“Heath was right, but he’s also Callahan’s worst enemy, a Rogue Alpha with a pack that doesn’t report to him. Hasan hates him for being with you. I’m not sure what would be worse, actually. My son being forced to learn how to be a werewolf as a lone wolf or… getting caught in that situation as another rogue with your fiancé.”

“It was the best we could—”

“The best you could have done was send himhome,” Niko snarled.

I finally felt some fire and glared at Niko in return.

“In my opinion, he was home,” I growled back. Niko’s scoff only added fuel to my sudden shift in temper. “From where I’m sitting, he’s left home to visit a place he left behind years ago. As for the situation I’m in with Heath? Dirk was already caught up in it. He’s my security guy, the person who helps protect my home. He’s in it, Niko, just likeyoutaught him to be. If you didn’t want him involved, you would have sent him to get a normal education instead of raising him to be an immortal. Now he is one!” I stood up. “Now you need to tell me if I should call him back home.”

“You don’t need to do that,” he said, shaking his head. “You’re right about one thing. My son is an immortal now, and I plan on spending as much time with him as possible. Here’s my request, though. Don’t ever fucking call me again unless it’s about his health or happiness, which I hope is never in your hands again.”

He hung up on me.

My office door opened slowly.

“He’s just angry,” Heath said gently as he came in. “He’ll come around.”

“Will he?” I asked, sinking back into my chair in defeat. “He’s fine with Dirk, the werewolf. He hates that I kept a secret from him.”

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