Page 37 of Ruthless Wolf

He pauses to take a sip from his flask, then wipes his mouth and lets out a belch. Jake glares at him as if he’s more insulting than Damian.

“And that’s why, as brothers, we are going to storm Lanny’s pack and kill every one of his wolves,” Lawrence adds.

God! My brothers are truly killers! Tears gather in my eyes, the thought of their cruelty hitting me like a crushing boulder. Luke was right. And I didn’t believe him!

“But Lawrence…” Jake begins but Lawrence stops in the rest of his words by raising a finger.

“Ah, no objections.” Lawrence drops his hand. “Tonight, we feast on Lanny’s pack. Those cheaters won’t know what hit them.”

“Are you done eavesdropping on your brothers?” someone says behind me.

I whirl around, fear clutching my heart as I see my father, his lofty figure towering over me. His eyes blaze with rage, his lips pressing into each other as he waits for me to answer.

He must have been standing behind me for a while. I’d been so preoccupied with the conversation that I didn’t smell his presence. Even without that, I probably still wouldn’t have known he’s around. My father has a way of walking into a room without gaining attention. His strides are quick, silent, as if he hovers over the ground like a ghost.

I shoot to my feet, lips trembling as I think of the right words to say. But my father doesn’t wait for my response. He grabs me by the arm and leads me to the foyer, his gray hair whipping backward with the swift steps he takes.

“Hello, boys.” He lets go of my arm. “Say hi to your sister.”

My brothers are now on their feet, surprised by our presence. I stand in the middle of the room, holding my arm where my father grabbed me. My heart begins a drum concert in my chest, pounding hard as fear envelops me, squeezing my insides. A part of me screams,Run, Addy! Run!

“Dad?” Lawrence talks first. “What’s going on?”

Our father grins. He walks to one of the chairs and flops down on it. “Addy here wants to join in the conversation, isn’t that right?”

I don’t answer. My gaze stays on my father, intimidated by those inky eyes of his, those eyes that have seen the end of many packs. His hands are on the arms of the chair, hands stained with blood, the blood of the innocent.

He’s no different from my brothers. Heck, he’s the Alpha of the pack. My father’s the mastermind behind these assassinations. He has my brothers under his thumb, controlling them, commanding them. They obey him like robots. They fear him like he’s a god.

But he wasn’t always like this. The father who raised me was quiet and caring, a man with listening ears. Growing up, I remember crawling into his bed at night when it rained and thundered. He’d let me curl up and then quietly take me back to my room after I fell asleep.

However, the man looking back at me is a stranger. He’s a broken man who has cut ties with his other self. What happened to you, dad? Did the death of my mother turn you into a monster?

“No, she’s not,” Lawrence responds. “Go back into your room, Addy.”

“I found her eavesdropping, Lawrence.” Our father grins sideways. “She knows about the attack tonight.”

“Is that true, Addy?” says Jake. “It’s not what you think.”

Damian hisses. “You don’t have to explain shit to her, Jake. Whatever you heard is the truth, dear Addy. We’re killing a whole pack tonight.”

“Because we have to,” Lawrence chips in. He approaches me, eyes studying my face as though I have something interesting plastered on it. “I know this may sound strange to you and you’re probably shocked to hear this, but we’re good people. We take out the bad people.”

How dare he lie to my face? How can my own family look at me and feed me with lies?

“That’s a lie!” I blurt out.

My outburst takes Lawrence by surprise. It’s like a ripple effect, spreading across the room and slapping expressions of shock on these men’s faces—well, except my father. He just looks at me, curiosity dancing in his eyes.

“What did you just say?” Lawrence asks, moving closer to me as if being near will change the fact that I just talked back to him.

I grit my teeth, raise my chin and repeat, “I said, that’s a lie! I know what you all are. I know what you’ve been doing to other packs. I know the truth.”

Chapter13

Luke

Addy isn’t returning her calls.

---