Page 103 of Scar

Alpha dropped like a log when Scar released him from his chains. He landed in whatever liquid was still draining on the floor. A swift kick to the man’s side encouraged him to his hands and knees. Naked, Tally’s father crawled forward with Scar shepherding him like a sheep.

At the bottom of the stairs, Scar threw a pair of Grumpy’s gym shorts at the man. He was the closest to Alpha’s size. While the man was her father and Tally was blind, it bothered Scar to take Alpha out of the cellar unclothed. He didn’t spend time analyzing that feeling or his decision to break into Grumpy’s apartment in the middle of the night while his brother was sleeping to steal a pair of his shorts.

Because Grumpy certainly wasn’t getting them back.

When Scar grew impatient during Alpha’s struggles to dress, Scar broke two of Alpha’s fingers. Scar’s earlier torment of the man had been mostly done by his fists, so there were still plenty of Alpha’s bones to break.

Once outside, Alpha gasped upon seeing Tally standing under the covered patio amongst the picnic tables.

But when Alpha tried to speak, Scar put his hand to the man’s throat and squeezed. He held on long enough for Alpha to nearly lose consciousness before letting go. Alpha collapsed against a picnic table as he fought to catch his breath.

The club’s property was several acres. The owners of the property before it was a distillery had been farmers. When the distillery purchased the property, they purchased all of the land, though they’d only used a small portion of it. The club had purchased everything as well, since the distillery did not want to deal with multiple sales to get rid of all the property and had undersold the value of what the land was worth by a good deal.

Scar took Tally’s hand as he led father and daughter into the trees to the left of the clubhouse. Past the pond where the kids swam during the summer and ice skated during the winter, they continued. The trees would help muffle any screams.

Alpha stumbled and struggled in bare feet, but he followed. When they were a significant distance from the clubhouse and any of the members’ homes, Scar stopped. He turned Tally around to face her father.

“Why, Dad?”

That seemed like a loaded question, but Scar mentally shrugged. This was her show.

“Tally, baby,” Alpha gasped, leaning against a tree to catch his breath. “What are you doing here? Why are you withhim?”

“You don’t get to ask the questions here, Dad. Not about me, and certainly not about Scar. I want to knowwhy. Why would you do any of this? Primis, capturing and torturing Scar, abandoningMom…? I deserve the truth. How much of my life has been a lie?”

Alpha’s eyes flicked between Scar and Tally, and then landed on their clasped hands. There was a possibility that he’d been under the assumption Scar had only taken Tally’s hand to guide her through the woods, but now that they were stationary, it was obvious there was a different reason for their touching.

“You’refuckinghim?” Alpha sneered. “You’refucking the enemy! Tallulah, how could you? Youbetrayedme.”

Scar pulled a blade from his tactical vest but did not throw it. Instead, he handed it to Tally. She accepted the handle, and without hesitation, threw it into her father’s hand that was braced against the tree. It speared through his flesh and bone, embedding into the bark beneath.

“Answer my fucking questions, Dad!”

Scar pulled another knife, holding it ready for her if she desired it.

Alpha’s screams of pain went on for several minutes, but eventually he started speaking. “Do you have any idea how valuable a man like Solo is? If trained appropriately, he could startwars.”

Tally stiffened on Scar’s behalf. Alpha’s confession didn’t shock Scar enough to bring a reaction out of him. “You were going tosellhim?”

“He’s a cutthroat! That’s all he is! I was so close to having him in the palm of my hand eight years ago! He was mindless, a machine! He did everything I asked of him and never questionedanything!” Alpha’s anger seemed to be clouding his pain. “I hadcountriesasking for him, but I hesitated, not wanting to lose him myself.” The man shook his head. “Fucking mistake and I lost my opportunity.”

Tally’s chin quivered, and she looked like she was going to be sick. Scar moved. Placing the blade in her right hand, he released her left to shift behind her and wrap his arms around her lean waist. Her left hand came up to grab his bicep.

“He’s aperson, Dad. How…?” Her voice cracked. “How couldyou?” Scar didn’t know if she was referring to the color of their skin or to her father as a person.

“He’s amurderer. Has he told you just how red his hands are? About what he did to the men who murdered his team? How he ripped them apart with his bare hands? How about the hundred and seventeen hits he took out while under my employ? Or the twenty-two he committed last month in Atlanta? Really, Tally, I thought you had better taste in men.”

Tally stiffened, her nails biting into Scar’s arm. “What Scar has or hasn’t done isn’t up for debate, Dad. I am asking aboutyou. Why didyoudo it?”

“Because war is profitable!” Alpha spat, his voice practically a roar. “I fought in it. I bled for a country that has done nothing but exploit my ancestors. So I thought, why not get even? Why not use their bloodlust to fill my pockets?”

Tally shook. When a tear escaped her left eye, Scar bent to lick it away. He pressed his nose into her hair, which was back up in that fucking braid, to lend her strength and comfort.

“You sicken me,” she finally said in a wobbly voice.

“I only took advantage of what the world was already doing,” her father defended, a little breathless. “I did not start any wars.”

“But you did nothing to end them either!” Tally shouted. “You had the money, you had the people. I thought you werehelpingto make the world a better place, but all you were doing was making it bloodier!”

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