Page 130 of The Beta's Heart

I will be. I’m a tough little son of a gun.

Yes, you are,I agreed with him fiercely,and don’t you forget it!

Thanks, Per,he sent me a small smile.

Then, giving me and Ty a quick nod, he slipped past us and hurried out the door.

Mrs. Merriweather watched him go with a sneer, muttering under her breath about wasted potential, and I wanted to punch her in the throat.

“Let’s sit down,” Ash suggested in a tone that said it wasn’t a request.

She hesitated, clearly unhappy with the intrusion, but she couldn’t refuse her alpha. With a curt nod, she stepped aside to let us in. The interior of the house was tidy but cold, lacking any personal warmth, not even any photos anywhere. She led us to the living room, where we all took seats.

“You and I will get to the issue of your son later,” Ash told her, “but first, Tyler here is looking for information about his parents.”

“Roger Poe said my mother was the daughter of Abraham and Heather Merriweather.” Ty took a deep breath, and I squeezed his hand. “He said you were related to her.”

“Notme, but Rob was.” She stared at us, her expression hard to read.

“Rob was your mate?” Ash clarified.

“Yes. Robert Merriweather. He insisted on naming our son after his father instead of himself.”

“That means my mom was your sister-in-law,” Ty murmured. Feeling him reeling, I sent him waves of love and support through our mate bond and knew Ash was doing the same through the alpha-beta bond. “You’re my aunt? And Bram… Bram’s my cousin?”

“Yes.” She shrugged, and I narrowed my eyes at her.

Why is she acting like she’s not connected to any of this?I wondered to myself.

“Why didn’t you take Ty in when his mom died?” Ash demanded.

“Why would I?” She raised her eyebrows, looking as shocked by the suggestion as I was by her lack of emotion. “I didn’t like Bekah. She was always trying to steal all of Rob’s time and attention. Besides, why should I take on raising her child when I had enough on my plate with my own useless son? I should have known better than to have a pup with someone who had an omega in their bloodline.”

“We’ll get back to your bias against omegas in a minute,” Ash promised her with narrowed eyes. “For now, can you confirm that Abraham and Heather Merriweather were Ty’s grandparents and your mate, Rob, was his uncle?”

“Yes, that is all true.”

“And you left him to be raised in an orphanage?!” I squawked, then pinched my lips together when Ash laid his hand on my knee and squeezed, silently reminding me I was there to support my mate, not to rip this woman’s eyes out.

“Ty, do you remember a man named Rob ever coming to visit you and your mom when she was still alive?” Ash asked.

“My memories from before Seymour…” Ty paused for a second, and I rubbed my hand up and down his back and shoved even more love at him. Clearing his throat, he started again. “The silver poisoning from that night left my memories hazy at best, but therewasa man who often visited us when we lived at Moonset. He always brought me a little bag of barbecue chips, and Mom was always so happy to see him. She called him Bert, though, not Rob.”

“That stupid nickname!” Brenda sneered. “Like he was a character in Sesame Street or something! Your mom never did grow up, always relying on her big brother for every little thing—”

“Don’t,” I barked, letting Dove out my voice just a little. “We’re not here for your opinions, just information. Now, who was Hunter Duke James?”

Crossing her arms, she looked down her nose at me, and I wanted to give her a good smack, but minded my manners.

At least for the moment.

“Answer her,” Ash commanded.

“Bekah’s Goddess-given mate and Beta Tyler’s father. He was Alpha Gabriel’s beta and died when Dark Woods fell.”

“Then who was Seymour?” Ash demanded, and I could see the same question burning in Tyler’s eyes as he sat there, too shocked to speak.

“Seymour was Beta Hunter’s older brother.”

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