Page 109 of Petals and Strings
“I don’t remember much from the hospital,” I admitted, lifting my shirt to show him the old scar that was on my abdomen. There was a matching exit wound on the other side. “I took a stray bullet, went clean through and missed anything important. But they… my wife and daughter weren’t as lucky.”
“Who told you that?”
I frowned. What the hell was he on about? Something sparked in my chest. A frantic beat of hope that I had to push down, refusing to break again when it fizzled and died.
“Theo. During intake. I was confused, still disoriented from the medication. When I woke up, he confirmed it. That was when…”
“You retreated within yourself?”
I nodded, tears tracking down my face. “It was the only way I could still be with them. In the memories and fantasies my brain created for me. I could talk to them, touch them. It hurt so much less.”
“Caspian, I’m so sorry. I would have said something sooner had I known,” he said. That had me swiping at my cheeks and looking up at him, trying to figure out what he was apologizing for. “Just… look. And know that I’m here to help you process this.”
He held out the folder in front of me, waiting patiently for me to take it into my own trembling hands. Panic flared in my chest, the nerves burrowing in and holding me hostage.
I wanted to know, desperate to see what he was so unsettled about.
The other side of me was terrified to see what answers it held. I knew they were dead, no secrets or truths would change that.
I’d watched them die.
I squeezed my eyes shut as fresh memories hit me. The sound of the gunshots cutting through the night, screams, the feel of warm blood as it flowed through my hands as I clung to them, Lilly stuck between us as I watched the life drain from Tatum’s eyes.
All of it was still so vivid.
It was unfair that I was losing my good memories while these remained just as fresh and painful as they were all those years ago.
“Caspian. Seriously. Look at it,” he urged, the desperate edge to his deep voice had me meeting his gaze.
“What if it breaks me again?” I whispered.
He shook his head. “I don’t think it will. Not in the way you’re thinking. We’ll call Sarah after.”
My eyes widened, but the mention of my sister had me reaching out. Was she keeping something hidden from me?
The paper was fluttering as my hands shook. Ares dropped to the floor in front of me, hands steadying mine as I finally cracked open the folder.
Medical report. Mine. Gunshot wound.
“Keep going,” he urged.
I flipped the page, a headline in the folder that didn’t make any sense to me.
Senseless shooting ends in devastation, but one hero dad gave us hope
“‘Hero dad?’” I repeated, not understanding.
Ares took out the clipping, his steady voice reading what I couldn’t in the moment.
“Shots were fired on a busy street in downtown Sorento last night. The feral alpha and his pack were quickly detained, but the devastation has left the community shaken. Many lives were lost, and even more citizens injured, but it’s a father’s story that stands out, a beacon of light in a sea of devastation."
Ares paused, taking a breath and looking at me. More tears were flowing even as my mind was at war.
How was mine a story of hope?
It was my fault they didn’t make it. I was an alpha who couldn’t even protect his omega and their child. Let that vile man steal two precious lives that he was born to protect.
“Stay with me, Caspian,” Ares said.
