Page 108 of Scapegoat

“The keys, Anna. I need the keys.”

My fingers gripped the bars of the cage, tightening to the point of pain as I watched her look around aimlessly, while the sounds from outside made my teeth grind together. But I forced myself to speak in an even, polite tone as I said, “I think they’re in his pockets.”

People stop calling corpses by their names, probably because all that was Greg was gone. Anna froze at that, revulsion on her face.

“No, ew—”

“Anna, I need you to do this. In his left pocket.” It was the hip that was tilted upwards, thankfully. “If you don’t, you know what will happen.” She stared fixedly at her father, then her hand crept forward. “I can do this.” My voice broke then. “I can be the big sister you need, just this once.”

And save her while saving myself.

“Stay inside the cottage until I tell you to come out,” I said, as soon as the gate of the cage swung open. When I stood up, I felt it. Mum had tried to bring me down, grind me into the dirt, reminding me of all the wounds she’d left in me, trying to keep me down.

But as I stood up, I realised that the negative voice I’d been listening to was wrong. Because here was the thing.

Why did she have to try so hard? If I actually was such a lowly piece of shit, then she wouldn’t need to say anything about it. It’d be clear to the whole world. But when I left Stanthorpe, that wasn’t the impression of myself that I got from others. Kai is competent, I was told. Kai works hard. She cares about others, is a little wary, but friendly once you crack her shell. Kai is strong and can take everything life throws at her and stand tall while it happens. And that’s just what I did.

“Baby…”

Jayden stopped mid-fight at my appearance, eyes wide, and Mum took advantage of that, launching herself at him, claws outstretched and that’s what it took to break the hold she had over me. I might have let her hurt me, but I wasn’t going to let her hurt him.

My mother’s control over me snapped. And when I realised that I knew how to break her control, I revelled in the fact that she’d never pull that shit on me again.

The wolf sprang from my skin, sailing through the air, snarling her outrage, right before we shoved my mother down to the ground with our entire body weight. I heard the thump and the click of my mother’s jaw as she landed. That was all the encouragement I needed as I unloaded.

My childhood was like a fucking boil that needed to be lanced, an infection inside me, swelling with pus, and it was only now it burst. There would be no reconciliation with my mother, because I didn’t give her a chance. I bit and clawed in a terrible frenzy, shredding her back as she screamed and when she rolled over, trying to attack me back, I lunged. First at her wrists, biting down on them until blood flowed freely, then when she screamed, I went for her throat. She’d slashed Greg’s with her claws, but I went in for a much more personal kill.

My jaws snapped around her throat, tasting blood, hearing her muffled screams. She shouted at me, trying to order me, force me to let her go, but I wouldn’t. Her alpha bark slid off my skin and was whisked away with the breeze. Her hands raked my face, her thumbs trying to find my eyes, and that’s when my jaws clamped shut.

When Anna appeared, it was obvious this wasn’t what she wanted. She burst into tears at the horror of it, and then rushed into my father’s arms. She’d been rude and cruel to him before, but now he was Daddy as she sobbed into his chest. I felt sorry for her, hadn’t wanted her to see this, but she didn’t understand.

She’d never had to fight to exist in the face of our mother’s wrath. There was only one way out of this. Sending a scapegoat out into the desert is fine if the goat dies, but you’re fucked if it comes back.

“Fuck… Kai.”

I felt their bodies as each one of my mates slammed into me, as I came back to skin. They held me so tight I could barely take a breath. I must’ve looked a sight, my mouth dripping with blood, my clothes torn. I opened my eyes and looked up to see Jamie, injured but undaunted, her butt perched on the bonnet of a sedan parked far enough away to have kept her safe from the action. She nodded slowly before shooting me a smile. A light one that lit me right up. Because if I was anyone’s daughter, I was hers and all I needed was her approval, not anyone else’s.

Chapter 61

Atlas

The alphas arrived right as the fight was over. Convenient that. They quizzed everyone there, getting the whole story out from everyone else, but not us. I’d just looked at Mike, daring him to ask when he approached us, then nodded at him when he stopped in his tracks, then turned around. When Jamie came over, we pulled back, watching our mate throw herself into the other woman’s arms.

“You know, wherever we end up, you’ve got a place with us,” Xavier told Jamie. “You took on Kai’s mother—”

“I did what I had to.” She winced as she adjusted the arm that was now in a sling then wrapped her other arm around Kai’s shoulders. “It wasn’t very effective—”

“Call us next time. Let us do the fighting,” Jay told her.

I didn’t want to pull Kai away from the one woman who seemed to look out for her, but I was unable to stop myself from moving closer to my mate. Kai gave Jamie another hug and then came to my side. It was only then I could let out the breath I’d been holding.

Mine.

“Let’s go,” she said in a low voice. “Away from Stanthorpe. Away from all of it. I don’t want to stay anymore. I’ll go to jail if I have to—”

I pressed a kiss to her lips, smelling the artificial stink of her heat on her, my cock stiffening in my pants in response, but I ignored that in favour of answering her.

“Wherever you want, that’s where we’ll go.”

---