Page 82 of Lavender and Lightning

“I’m trying, Mateo. There’s only so much I can do,” she replies, words almost sounding a little desperate.

“I’m going to have to call bullshit on that one, I’m afraid,” Lucas drawls, sticking his hands in his pockets as he strolls from the kitchen to the sitting room, positioning himself to lean against the back of the section just to my left.

“And I’ll second that. You have no problem pulling rank on any of us, so what the fuck is stopping you from doing the same to him?” Mateo adds, turning and putting his back to her.

“It’s complicated,” Alexandra replies simply, crossing her arms over her chest and rocking her weight onto her back foot.

“Is it, though?” I ask, trying to keep my tone neutral. “I mean, you’re his alpha. If anyone can bring him to heel, it would be you.”

She scoffs and tries to turn away from me, only to be met with Rhett’s chest, his feet planted and eyes stern. For a moment, she seems to consider going around him, but some silent conversation passes between them, and she turns toward the picture window instead. We all wait in the silence, but the longer it stretches on, the lower my heart sinks. She’s shut down, shut us out completely.

“If you don’t want to be here for me when I need you, if you can’t or won’t protect me from the monster you created, then there’s no point in me joining this pack,” I rasp.

Four heads turn to watch me stand from where I’ve been kneeling on the couch, tracking me as I move toward the basement door, each step heavier than the last. My broken heart pounds in my ears, my chest hollow and aching.

“I’m going with you.”

I freeze mid-step at the sound of Mateo’s voice, whipping back around to face him. But he’s already moving, stepping up to my side and lacing his fingers with mine. His skin is warm and solid and I cling to it like driftwood in a stormy sea. He kisses my hairline before turning to look back at Alexandra. She’s staring open-mouthed, truly shocked for the first time I’ve ever seen.

“I choose this; choose her. I’ll figure out how to get rid of Seth on my own, since you can’t or won’t,” he continues, words drenched in finality.

“What? No, you… Matty—”

“I’ve been trapped in this mistake for nearly four years, unable to move on because you keep dragging your feet and putting your secrets ahead of our family. Seth ran us out of our home, forced us to live behind bars for our own safety. There isn’t a month that’s gone by when someone isn’t slandering Lucas’s name on social media. I can’t even be the partner our omega deserves because you refuse to do anything to get Seth under control. But I’m done, done with the waiting, and the lies, and the secrets,” Mateo says, hand tight in mine as he stares down Alexandra, daring her to challenge him.

She blinks and tries to speak for several moments, but no sound comes out. Then she turns to look at Lucas. I follow her line of sight and breathe in sharply at the intensity in his eyes. He’s staring back at Alexandra, head cocked ever so slightly to the side, like he’s seeing something for the first time.

“Does she know about the tracker?” he asks after a moment.

“What tracker?” I demand, unable to stop myself.

Lucas doesn’t shift his attention away from Alexandra, but my heart races. What is he talking about? But by the looks on everyone’s faces, it seems I’m the only one left out of the loop here.

“That’s all I need to know,” Lucas sighs, pushing off from his leaning position and moving to my side.

“Rhett…” Alexandra whispers, voice cracking and dying before she can say more than his name.

I look to the alpha who showed me that there are good people, good men left in this world. The alpha who, despite all of my flaws and bad days, stood by me and swore to protect me from anything this world could throw at us. His crystal blue eyes meet mine, and the world falls away for a moment. The doubts swirl in the depths of his gaze, but he’s waiting for something.

“You would give up on us, on this family, after everything we’ve been through? Just like that?” Alexandra demands, voice bordering on hysterical.

Everyone turns to look at her, and the last of my anger fades away, leaving only sadness. Tears stain her cheeks, drops flowing freely as she stands frozen in place. Her hazel eyes move from face to face, searching, pleading. When they land on mine, I can only give her a sad smile.

“Give us a reason to stay,” I whisper.

The only sound for several agonizing seconds is the deep tick-tock of the grandfather clock in the formal living room. No one moves or breathes too deeply as we watch and wait for Alexandra to make her choice. I can almost see the wheels turning, and at long last, the wall between us crumbles. Her entire posture changes, shifting from defensive to defeated as she collapses into a chair, face in her hands. I take an involuntary step forward, the instinct to soothe and comfort her overpowering me before I catch myself. She’s still for a moment before she wipes her face and sits up, setting her shoulders as she faces us.

“If it’s the truth you want, it’s the truth you’ll get.”

thirty-five

Lydia

Ittakesafewminutes for the air in the room to come down from the charged, ready to explode state it reached, but when it finally does, the pack and I scatter throughout the living space. After cleaning up the broken glass and spilled coffee, Lucas has taken up a perch on the kitchen island, sitting on the counter with a cup of coffee in hand, one leg pulled up to his chest. Rhett is leaning against the wall between the mudroom door and the basement door, arms crossed over his chest. If it weren’t for the heat of his stare I can feel on the back of my head, I would have thought he’d fallen asleep standing up. Lex is looking out the picture window, her new mug of coffee clutched tight between her hands. Mateo is sitting on the back of the sectional behind me, his feet planted on the cushion on either side of my hips. His leg occasionally brushes my shoulder, and that little reminder of his presence comforts me more than I can put into words.

“I won’t pretend that I didn’t grow up in a very privileged household, but money doesn’t make someone a better person. If the soul is rotten, money only makes it easier for them to get away with cruelty. Witnesses can be bought, paid off to be complicit in the abuse. And my father is very good at purchasing loyalty,” Lex begins, not looking at anyone.

“The few times we met him proved that,” Rhett snorts darkly.

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