Page 45 of Viken Command

“After you learned of their actions, you should have made them understand why their actions hurt you so much.”

Geros and Mal stood as well. “You might be on Viken, but you have not let go of your ties to Earth. Sever them, Whitney, so you can move on.”

What the hell was he talking about? I’d volunteered. I’d been tested. I’d left Earth. Given up everything there for a life on Viken. But had I? Were these guys right? Was I still so mad at my father that it tainted everything else? Had I destroyed a relationship with Alarr, Oran and Teig because I thought they were devious like my father?

I hated my father. My brother was just like him. They’d ruined me. And now, it was pretty fucking clear they still had their grips on me. They were winning, even from a jail cell.

“God, I’m a whiny bitch, aren’t I?” I asked, my shoulders drooping. “I’ve been blaming everyone else for my problems. Just like my father.”

Kayson shook his head. “No, you are honorable, Whitney. Good. I doubt you are much like him. But you must let him go.”

“How?” I asked.

“Confront him. End it and move on.”

“How?” I repeated. “I’m like, ten light-years away.”

All three males smiled. “It seems being friends with the queen has many perks. I’m sure she can arrange a comm call to another planet easily enough.”

He had spoken true. Half an hour later, I sat in Queen Leah’s office in front of a large comm screen staring at my father. What I saw shocked me. Gone was the strong, invincible leader of our family. The self-made multimillionaire. The Wall Street wizard. Before me was a haggard old man with gray hair, too little meat on his bones, and a defeated look in his eyes.

I’d been allowing him to hold my heart hostage all this time. No more.

“Hello, Father.”

“Whitney, baby? Is that really you?” He leaned forward and squinted through a pair of scratched glasses, the drab prison uniform not doing much to help the grayish tinge of his skin. He looked… weak. Broken. Pathetic, really.

“Yes, Dad. It’s me.”

“Where are you? How are you doing?”

“I’m good. I’m good. I’m on another planet. I left Earth and volunteered in the Interstellar Brides Program. I went to a planet called Viken.” I told him the truth in a matter of fact tone. I didn’t expect

him to care, not really. But then, my father never did what I expected him to do.

He burst into tears. “Are you happy, baby? That’s all I care about. Did you find a good man to take care of you?”

“Three of them. And yes.” They were good, honorable men. Or males. Whatever. “They’re good ones, Dad. I’m happy. I’m not coming home. Tell mom I love her.”

He was too busy wiping his eyes to hear what I’d said, or he didn’t care enough to be scandalized by the number of mates I had. “Your brother is a mess, baby. A mess. Are you going to call him, too?”

I thought about my brother, about all the years we’d spent barely being civil to one another. We’d never been close, and I realized that despite the fact that we were blood, I didn’t love him. Not really. I loved the idea of having a big brother, someone to protect me. I loved the idea of him. But my brother? He was an asshole. Pure and simple.

“No. I’m not going to talk to him. I just wanted to let you know that I’m all right. I’m happy.”

“Good. I’m so glad.” He wiped away another tear. “I’ll tell your mother. I promise you that.”

“Thanks. I have to go now.”

He nodded and blew me a kiss. “Be happy, baby. Live your life. Forget all about me and this mess.”

With that, I ended the comm and stared at the now blank screen. I felt a thousand pounds lighter. And just like that, I was done. Finished. Free. I let the idea of a perfect family die. I let go of the idea I’d carried of what my father should have been like, what my older brother was supposed to mean to me. How much I was supposed to love him.

And the truth was a revelation. I owed him nothing. I owed my father nothing. My mother? Nothing.

They were blood. They’d given me life. But they’d done nothing since to earn my love. My loyalty. My trust. I’d been raised in a web of lies, and I was not a spider, I was not like the rest of my family. I was different.

And so were my mates. I realized that now. Just because they’d lied to me, did not make them like my father. I needed a new perspective, which was difficult when the spider’s web was the only life I knew.

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