Page 51 of Unforgivable

"Yeah, I know," I mutter. Where's he going with this?

"How're you feeling?" he asks me.

"Fine?" I say, questioning him.

"My pup is a strong female. She's been knocked down before." Ted takes a deep breath. Out on the cold, quiet street, he turns to me. His wolf has retreated. It's just the man staring at me. "I think my little female is MateLess," he whispers, blinking back tears.

"Penny?" I ask stupidly. I know he's not talking about Penny.

Ted shakes his head, looking down. One lone tear slips out of his eyes. "After Lyri shifted... that night, she ran with us and seemed fine, but agitated. We thought she had scented her mate, so we let her go. She was gone for two days. When she came back, she wasn't the same."

I feel my blood ice over. Goddess, don't I know what that feels like? The emptiness, the hopelessness. My wolf was so depressed. Confused, too.

"Did she seem, ah, confused?" I ask.

Ted nods. "All the signs were there. But, she told us she's not MateLess. She claimed she was fine, just adjusting. It was months before she got better. We... we didn't do enough. Tabby was pregnant with Tyler. Lyri shifted just before he was born. She seemed happy to meet her baby brother," he says, almost defensively. "She poured a lot of attention on him and Penny. We were tired, a little overwhelmed with Tyler. Then... she snapped out of it." He looks at me, "she started to work hard, apply herself to training, to school, to all of the extracurriculars the pack offers. She excelled, and we thought that she was doing well. Maybe... maybe she was working too hard, sometimes, but she was succeeding, accolade after accolade was hers."

He takes a deep breath. "Lyri... she's always been a planner, a thinker. We thought that she was making a play to mate to a powerful male. A MateLess male," he amends. "We never thought she would fall for Daan's trap. We... even if she seduced him, she's been through enough pain."

I nod. I get it. He's trying to justify Lyri's actions by explaining that she's MateLess. It would explain a lot, I guess. It's still not right, what she did, but if she's MateLess, then why didn't she tell her alpha? "She's supposed to inform the alpha if she's MateLess," I tell Ted quietly. That was one of the worst moments of my life; standing in front of Alpha Jax and confirming what the pack already had figured out, the pansy-killer is MateLess.

"I know. That's why I never pushed for an answer." Ted tells me solemnly, "I didn't want my daughter punished. I wanted to... I wanted to protect her." His voice cracks and bleeds pure pain.

"She's OK, Ted. She's OK," I tell him. No, I promise him. Vowing to a father that his eldest female child is okay. It hits me, hard, as we resume walking in deep silence. It's a serious pledge to make.

I pick up Inuit, and we say our goodbyes. I'm dazed. I barely remember kissing Tabitha on the cheek and ruffling an indignant Penny's hair. All I can think of is if Lyri is MateLess and what that means for us... for me.

I don't think I'll tell my brothers. Not yet. I want a chance for it to sink it. If she's MateLess, then one of us can Claim her. Mark her, mate her, Claim her in full. And, because I'm a MateLess male myself, my Mark would stand the best chance of being permanent.

I honestly don't know if I would choose to Mark Lyri over my loyalty to my brothers, but I'm leaning towards it. She could be mine forever.

We're nearly out of town when I see the black SUV hovering in the darkened streets. I feel restless, my wolf itching just under my skin. These thoughts of Lyri are driving me insane. The SUV is the tipping point. There's no reason for someone to be out right now, just sitting in a car, lights off, and parked on a side street off Main unless they're spying on me.

"In, stay in the truck." I throw the truck in park in the middle of the street just twenty feet away from the idling SUV. Whoever the driver is throws the SUV into reverse, but they're too late. I may not be as big and bad as my brothers, but I'm damn fast.

The driver's door is locked. Tires squealing, the SUV begins to back up, fishtailing on the icy road. The rear right bumper hits a fencepost, causing the vehicle to rock violently. Snarling in rage, my wolf fuels the power behind the punch to the driver's side window.

The scent of my blood mixes with the smell of fear from the driver of the SUV. Scared, washed-out light brown eyes meet mine. There's something familiar about this male, but I can't place him. He's younger than I am, early twenties, maybe late teens. Something about him makes the fur along the ridge of my wolf's spine to stick straight up.

"Who the fuck are you, pup?" I snap.

The dumb little fuck tries to drive away but forgets to put the SUV in drive. The rear bumper grinds against the fencepost. I hear metal fall apart. Laughing coldly, I reach in through the broken window and unlock the door.

The pup fights me as I drag the door open. Inuit is suddenly there, helping me get a good purchase on flailing limbs and clawed hands.

"Who, thefuck, are you?" I growl out again. I hold the punk by the collar of his light green shirt. I can hear the t-shirt ripping under my claws from his struggling.

"Liam Prescott," Inuit sneers. "This is Lyri's friend. Penny told me about him. I know him from school. He hasn't shown up at their house since Lyri disappeared. Some friend." Inuit spits at Liam's feet.

Everything in me goes still. "Lyri's friend?" I ask in a low voice. I recognize him. It's like a bullet to the brain. He was there. That night. He was one of those males. He touched my female. He hurt my Lyri.

"You fucking prick," I breathe through my nose. "You raped my female."

Liam starts to sputter. His fight becomes pronounced. It's suddenly not as easy to hold him. "Fuck you!" he screams. "You and those other bastards did too!"

I punch him in the mouth. He throws a mean chop to my left thigh, making the muscle numb. I stagger but drag Liam with me, sending his arm slamming into the cold concrete.

"Fuck," he gasps out.

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