Page 168 of Luna: Posy 2

"I am," I disagreed quietly. "Just ... scared. Nervous. I wasn't very nice, not talking to them for three weeks. What if they hate me again?"

"Little flower," Mason gathered me in his arms, careful not to mess up my fancy hairdo, "you did nothing wrong."

"And how could anyone hate you?" Jayden said from behind me, and his fingertips brushed against my neck.

Turning my head, I saw concern in his beautiful eyes and couldn't stand it. This was supposed to be our happiest day, yet I was messing up already, and it wasn't even ten o'clock in the morning.

"Okay. I'm ready," I said, squaring my shoulders and walking forward, determined to at least see them and say hello.

"See, Dad?" Ash whispered, which he wasn't very good at, and I heard every word. "Itoldyou that our baby was a badass bitch."

#

James and Aiden looked horrible.

Sure, their suits were high quality and their hair nicely styled, but their faces were pale and haggard with bags as dark as bruises under their eyes. Neither one looked as if they had much sleep recently, and I was sure they'd both lost weight.

"Are you sick?" I asked, concern welling up in me.

I sat on the couch across from them and my mates arranged themselves around me. Jay sat on my right and Ash on my left with Wyatt next to him. Cole and Mason stood behind the couch, one on either side of me.

"Sick at heart." James' smile was sad. "We can't get over how badly we failed you, Posy."

Oh.Oh.

"We were using some unhealthy methods to cope with Father's abuse," Aiden admitted. "Not just us, either. An alpha's actions ripple through the whole pack, and our pack had - and still has - a lot of ripples to work through. Beta Roy, for example, committed suicide three days after you left."

Shocked, I let my jaw fall open.

"What?" I gasped and squeezed Ash's hand.

"He ... he left a note. Saying he couldn't live with the guilt. He set you up that morning, Posy."

"Aiden—" James tried to interrupt him.

"No, James, she has a right to know."

"Know what?" I demanded.

As if sensing Aiden was going to tell me something terrible, Jay picked up my free hand and brought it to his mouth so he could drop little kisses on the back of it.

"Father specifically told him to have you make waffles that morning. Roy knew if you didn't, Father would beat you. Roy timed everything so the king's representatives would see it as soon as they arrived."

Shock. Betrayal. Disgust. Anger. Sorrow. So many emotions rushed through me at once, I couldn't process any of them.

I suddenly remembered Father storming into the kitchen, demanding waffles, and me wondering if Beta Roy had set me up.

"Did you know? At the time, did you know he set me up?" I whispered.

Both of them shook their heads.

Their wolves say no,Lark confirmed. Slate and Agate sad and so worried about their boys.

If what my brothers had said at Green River was true, Father had hurt them, too. Unlike Mason's papa, who only targeted him, Father hurt everyone.

I wonder if he hurt my mother?

Loosening my hands from my mates, I went over and sank to my knees in front of James and touched my fingers to one of his clenched fists.

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