Page 25 of Tossed into the Mob
“Yes.”
“But I’m not.”
“No. When shifters mate with humans, their children can be shifters or humans. Sometimes they’re latent.”
Rudy strode in alone, so Flint hadn’t arrived.“Your father could never keep a secret from me.” Was he talking about my dad when he was growing up? But Rudy was talking to Brock. “That was what I used to tell him. He’d keep things close to his chest, but I could always wrangle it out of him.”
Rudy rambled on about them going to school together, and he had a faraway look in his eye. They must have been close. “But he never told me about you.”
“Are there any more secrets I should know about?” Brock has his palms on the table as if he was going to leap across it.
Rudy and I shared a glance. Now was not the time to tell my mate about our bond. I wasn’t sure he even liked me.
“I know there are because no one will tell me how my father died. Rudy, you’re the first person to give me a sliver of information about him.”
Brock pulled out a photo and handed it to Rudy. The two of them had a connection, however tenuous, and I was left out.
A car pulled into the drive, and I tensed. Flint was going to chew my ass out and bleed me. But that was nothing compared to me losing Brock. I cringed as heavy footsteps on the porch indicated my Alpha wasn’t alone, and I stood because it seemed right that I face them on my feet.
They stormed in, my three cousins. Grandpa followed, but he hugged me, whispering that he was glad I was okay. He put his arms around Brock and then stood back.
Flint’s eyes told a story. Yes, he was angry but he was also resigned, and he slumped into a chair while Hunter and Ranger flanked him.
“Where do I start?” Like last night, Flint appeared tired, and I’d added to his burden.
“It’s my fault we outsmarted the bodyguards, Alpha. And I’ll accept whatever punishment you mete out.”
“No, it was me. I pushed Treyton to leave, and I’m glad I did, because that killer is dead.”
Flint pursed his lips. I hadn’t mentioned the man was one of us because his wolf tattoo was our logo.He shrugged, saying ifwecould trick the guards, they weren’t doing their job properly.
“Brock, I’m going to give you good news, and I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you earlier.”
My mate scoffed. “My dad is dead. There’s nothing else that’s good about this world.”
The connection we had was severed, but I had to stop with my pity party and think of my mate. He needed something positive in his life because it’d been all downhill since his dad died.
Maybe his alpha father wasn’t dead and it had been a ruse to… to what? Lure the gunman out? No, Flint would never have deliberately put me and my mate in danger.
“Your dad, Niles, is alive.”
TEN
BROCK
“Your dad, Niles, is alive.”
That wasn’t right. Dad was dead. He died from a gunshot. This was a sick joke. I gulped and fisted my good hand, ready to punch Flint. His wolf might attack me, but I’d bloody his nose first. And if I broke my hand, it’d be a badge of honor.
I stared at this man who from everything I’d learned, commanded fear and respect, but not from me. He was an ass, and he was trying to trick me. The man who'd raised me was no longer among the living.
“I’m so sorry I kept it from you. It must have been hard.”
“What would you know about pain?” I raised my injured arm, though my wound was the least painful aspect of the past four days.
“Flint’s father and grandfather were assassinated,” Rudy intoned.
Shit. This guy was the head honcho, and his wolf might take my head for being insolent.
