Page 53 of Midnight Mate
Beside him, the sheriff was stiff, arms crossed as if reminding everyone this process was going to be civil.
“We’re here to discuss an incident that happened early this morning involving Bertram Raines and his wife, Trisha,” Tobias began.
I listened as he gave a quick account of my mother’s injuries.
“Shit,” Angus muttered when Tobias finished.
Angus aimed an angry glare at my father. The old man shook his head as if this whole thing were nothing but an inconvenience.
“Bertram, we’ve called you here so that I might act as an intermediary between you and your son,” Tobias said. “And so that we might help prevent something like this from happening again. What do you have to say for yourself?”
“What do I have to say?” my dad repeated, scoffing. “I shouldn’t have to say shit. What goes on in my home is my damn business.”
“When your son calls me to report his mother’s unconscious body, it becomes my business, too,” the sheriff pointed out.
“Trisha ain’t pressin’ charges, so there’s not a damn thing you can do anyway, Zach. This is horse shit.” My father scowled at Tobias. “What happened to protecting our own?”
“We protect our own until they harm others,” Tobias said.
“Especially innocents,” Angus muttered.
“Mind your fucking business,” my dad snapped.
I ground my teeth together to keep from losing it. This was Tobias’s show, not mine.
“Look, it’s all under control,” my father said.
Tobias was unmoved. “You attacked your wife, Bertram. In a town filled with humans who like to gossip.”
“Trisha won’t be a problem,” my father said. “She won’t say anything to anyone about what I am. We’ve been through this before.”
“So I’ve heard.” Tobias glanced at the sheriff. “This makes the fourth report involving a physical altercation. Not to mention the noise complaints from your neighbors over the years.”
“This is slander,” My father huffed, eyes narrowed in fury. He looked from Angus to me then back to Tobias. “Y’all dragging me out here to accuse me of shit, but at the end of the day, the law is what counts.” His mouth curved in the hint of a smile. “And since Trisha ain’t pressin’ charges, I’m free to go.”
I snarled, my wolf surging to the surface. Before I knew it, I’d taken a step forward. Angus grabbed me, hauling me back.
Tobias watched me, his expression set in a hard mask.
“East, you have something to say?”
“Four times on record, but the real number’s more like four hundred.” I pinned my old man with a glare that packed a promise. “Your alpha may or may not punish you for this, but that has nothing to do with you and me. So, you watch your back, old man.”
My father turned to Tobias. “My son’s temper aside, he don’t got a voice here.” He smirked at me. “Gotta be a member of the pack, boy.”
“And I told you all before, if this is the kind of violence the pack condones, I don’t want it.”
Everyone went silent.
All eyes swung to Tobias.
My pulse roared in my ears. Vaguely, I was aware of how close I’d just come to insulting the alpha while his beta stood by and watched. Even Angus hissed at me to shut up.
But I was done anyway.
All I wanted was to finish this. One way or another, my father would never hurt my mother again.
“Bertram’s right,” Tobias said to me. “The law isn’t going to intervene unless your mother stands her ground.”
