Page 70 of Midnight Mate
“Nothing,” Tobias said, and rage rose within me. Some of the pack edged toward me, and I realized this is why they’d been summoned. To keep me from attacking their alpha. But if he was going to ignore the problem, just like the cops had always done, the bastard deserved my wrath.
“Why the hell not?” I growled, my bones trembling with the urge to shift. To attack.
“He’s gone, East.”
Tobias’s voice was gentle. Too damn gentle for my father to have just run off. This didn’t make sense.
“What the hell do you mean ‘gone’? Of course he’s gone. You banished him for two weeks, and he couldn’t even obey that order.”
“That’s not what I meant.” Tobias motioned to a large tree stump. “Would you like to sit?”
“I’m good.”
“Your injury?” He studied my leg then looked back at me again questioningly.
“Healed,” I said flatly, stomach churning. “Where’s my father, Tobias?”
“Your mother was released from the hospital yesterday evening,” he began.
What the hell? I’d just spoken to her around dinnertime.
“She isn’t supposed to go home until tomorrow.”
“She was sent home early under the care of a neighbor who apparently left to get some clothes and personal items. During that time, your father came home.”
My body went numb.
I’d been so wrapped up in helping Cat with her transition I’d left my mother alone. Exposed.
Beside me, Cat tensed, and I knew she was just as on edge as I was.
“They argued,” Tobias went on. “Your father attacked her, and she stabbed him in the heart with a fire poker.”
I stared at Tobias, too shocked to speak.
“He’s dead, Easton. I’m sorry for your loss.”
Cat’s free hand came up to squeeze my arm in comfort. Angus moved in closer, eyeing where she touched me.
I blinked. “She stabbed him?” I repeated.
“In the heart,” Tobias added.
Holy shit. “He’s gone.”
Tobias nodded, waiting for me to absorb it.
I looked at Cat whose expression was full of sorrow.
“Mom killed him.” I couldn’t believe it. After years of refusing to fight back or hold him responsible—
“She won’t be charged for this, will she?” I asked, turning to Tobias then Angus for answers.
Tobias shook his head. “I’ve spoken to Barnett already. It was clearly self-defense, and after all the previous reports that have been filed against him, she’s the victim in all this.”
My throat closed, and I had to fight for words to come. “Thank you.”
“I meant what I said about protecting her,” he said.
