Page 80 of Scapegoat

I turned to face her. “Greg’s gone.” She just nodded. “Mum kicked him to the curb when it all came out. I think he lives somewhere on the outskirts of town now.” No further response from her, but as Mum and Dad rushed over, she opened the car door and slid out.

“Oh my god, Kaia!” I winced at Mum using Kai’s full name. It had become clear how much she hated that, but Mum didn’t notice. Not when she threw her arms wide, nor when she rushed over to hug our mate. Mum was in her own little world, her smile huge, her eyes shining. But when she got close to Kai, my girl’s hands went up, stopping Mum from hugging her. Kai just stared at her, then Dad.

“When did you work out Anna was Greg’s?” she said and I felt a rush of pride. Kaia had always kept her thoughts to herself, not wanting to bother people, but my mate had changed. Her eyes flashed silver as she stared at both of my parents.

“Well, Kaia—” Dad started to say.

“Kai,” she corrected. “Did you know what Mum was planning? Why was Mum with you guys first before you decided Jenny was your fated mate?”

I watched Mum’s face fall, the smile fading and replaced by a frown, one that got deeper as we stepped closer to Kai. She looked at us, as if we would jump in here and help, but we were perfectly silent as we stood behind our mate.

“You want answers.” I knew that tight smile. Mum always used it when she was pissed about something but didn’t want to say it. “Of course you do. Come in off the street and I’ll make everyone a cuppa.” She looked across at Dad, who just nodded. “Then I guess we’ll have everything out.”

Going home was weird. As we walked in the front door and down the hall I was hit by memories, so many fucking memories. When I looked at my brothers, I was pretty sure they were seeing the same things. The little table by the front door where Mum made us leave our keys and anything else we didn’t want to lose. The lounge where we threw each other round, re-enacting some of the bullshit we saw on wrestling shows, then walking into the kitchen, the hub of the house, where our parents made us talk about our day, even if we just grunted over toast or bowls of cereal.

But it’d changed, just as our family had.

No Greg, that was obvious, but also the walls were a different colour. No longer a pale peach they were a much cooler faint grey. There was a new kettle on the bench, one Mum refilled and set to boil. Then a new mug was pressed into my hand. I’d missed the gap between preparing for coffee and drinking it, spacing out as I was.

Because I was tired.

Because I felt beaten down.

Because all I could see every time I blinked was the ruined corpse of what had been Ned.

Because my girl had been attacked and I hadn’t been there to stop that fuck from laying a finger on her.

I didn’t drink the coffee, just holding it tight in my hands instead, feeling the bite of heat and treasuring that.

“So you want to know about your mum and me?” Mum said to Kai, straightening up. Our mate had barely said a word, accepting the coffee she was given without thanks, not even answering the question about whether she wanted milk or sugar. Kai was completely and utterly focussed on our parents. “Well, back at school your mother was… the queen of the school.” Mum shrugged and then chuckled at her words. “Everyone wanted to be her or be with her.”

Dad moved closer, cradling Mum in his arms and while he stroked her hair, she told the story.

“Your mother wasn’t from around here, having moved to Stanthorpe from another pack. There’s always a bit of a mystique about newcomers, but your mum? It went further than that, not fading as people got to know her, rather it increased. Everyone seemed to fall under her spell and not just other students. Teachers, other parents, coaches, the principal. Everyone hung on Abby’s every word. And me?”

Mum smiled then, but there was as much pain as there was pleasure there.

“I was her best friend. Out of everyone she could’ve been friends with, she chose me. It made me feel special, ended up with me leaving behind all the girls I’d been friends with since kindergarten, just so I could hang out with her. I admit I was a little jealous when she snagged herself a couple of boyfriends.”

Dad’s hand stilled as she shot him a smile.

“Abby seemed like this golden figure, with the perfect life, perfect boyfriends…” The smile faded then and I didn’t think it’d be back for a while. “But then the choosing happened. The guys broke up with Abby—”

“I don’t even know why we were with her in the first place,” Dad said, shaking his head. I’d never seen him this… lost. “I always liked your mum and so had Greg, but for some reason I seemed to always forget about that when I was around Abby.” His head jerked up and he met my eyes and those of my brothers’. “But when I went through my first shift, I knew.” He pulled Mum closer then. “She was the one for me. Greg said the exact same thing, so I thought…”

“She got to him.” Kai stepped forward as Mum’s face became a mask of hatred. “She took him from me, my fated mate. She had to get back…” My mother blinked, coming back to herself, wiping that anger away like it was never there. “But she’s gone and Greg lives all by himself in some rundown house. I rejected the bond, so now he has no mate, no job, no friends. God knows what your mother is up to.”

Mum had meant that to be reassuring, but Kai didn’t take it that way. I caught the way her body went rigid, the sharp stink of fear wafting off her. But when we moved closer, ready to comfort our mate, Kai stayed stiff and cold within our grip.

“Hopefully we’ll never find out.” Her voice was so small, contained now, but when she looked up at me, I could see the lines of exhaustion and stress clear on her face. “I’m really tired. I need somewhere I can have a sleep.”

I was going to escort her back upstairs, back to our room. I was going to wrap my body around Kai’s until she started to warm up, soften. I was going to hold her tight, breathe her scent into my nose and thank the fucking gods she was mine, but as the others did just that, Mum called out to me.

“Xavier…” I could never understand why they thought I was a potential alpha of this pack. I was brought to heel all too easily, more like a dog than a wolf. I stayed back as the others climbed the stairs and then faced my parents once I heard the door close. “What happened?” Mum asked. “Kaia looks like hell.”

“Kai, Mum,” I told her, feeling just as tired. “It’s Kai now and, yeah, she does. A guy attacked her and…” I saw my parents stiffen, the small signs of disapproval there in their body tension, their frowns. “And she killed him.”

Chapter 46

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