“We’re going to go see my dad,” I said to him, hoping that it was okay and that it’d take his mind off Marcel for a bit.
Mars grabbed my hand and walked out of the restaurant with me, silently agreeing.
Outside, the horse statue was still burning, brightening the forest around us. Bursts of flames flailed out from the horses’ manes, yet the stone wasn’t charred. I gazed at it in amazement, feeling drawn to the chariot, but I continued walking through the forest and toward the prison.
We walked past the pack house, and I saw Ruffles sitting on her windowsill, gazing out at the lightning bugs.
“One sec,” I said to Mars. I left him in the woods, ran to the pack house, and called for Ruffles. “You wanna come with us?”
She hopped down from the window and met me at the front door. “Meow.”
“Mars and I are going to the prison.”
“Meow.”
“Girl, he’s not your man.” I opened the door for her and let her hop onto the cement sidewalk. She rubbed herself against my leg and started walking toward Mars.
My stomach fluttered with butterflies as I thought about telling Elijah and Dad the good news. I wanted to go back to the cave now to see that hound again, but I knew it wasn’t the right time. Something was telling me that I should just wait for him to come to me.
Ruffles swayed her little butt back and forth, chip dust all over her long gray fur. “Meow.” She rubbed up against Mars, and I cut my eyes to her. She gazed up at me with an evil I’m going to take your man expression.
We walked farther through the woods until we reached the small cement building with a single light on and three guards posted around it.
My phone buzzed in my back pocket, and I pulled it out. “Are you here?”
There was some chatting in the background, and then Elijah finally spoke, “I’m about to start a meeting with my warriors. We’ve spotted hounds at our southern borders. I won’t be able to make it over until this is taken care of.”
I stopped dead in my tracks. “More hounds? Do you need Ares to come help?”
“No,” Elijah said. “I’m not planning to attack. Something doesn’t feel right. What did you need? Is it important?”
“I’d rather tell you in person. It isn’t … just anything. It’s important.”
“All right. I’ll be there as soon as I can,” he said.
Ruffles ran ahead to the guards, who all stared curiously down at her and blocked her passage. She meowed up at them, and they moved out of her way, as if she were a queen. She walked into the prison and disappeared down the steps.
Before Elijah hung up the phone, I warned him to be careful. Tony was still out there, and he was dangerous. If he’d betrayed our pack and let the hounds kill everyone, I wouldn’t put it past him to try to kill other packs too. He wanted to instill fear in everyone, wanted to be just like Ares.
But he was nothing like Ares.
Tony ran from battle. Ares ran toward it.
After pushing my phone into my purse, Mars and I walked past the guards and into the prison. Ruffles stood in front of Dad’s cell, staring at him through the silver bars. I had let her come as a kind of welcoming gift for Dad—a piece of home.
Dad used to love Ruffles up, but now, he just stared emptily at her and sat against the concrete wall in the same cell Ares had beaten up Elijah in. He glanced up at me when I walked into the room.
I furrowed my brows at him. “Hey, Dad … I had Ares bring you her—”
“You should’ve let him kill me,” Dad said.
I stopped in complete shock. Never in my life had I heard him sound so utterly furious yet so lifeless. Dad wanted to be dead? He’d rather have death than have me?
“He doesn’t mean it, Kitten. He’s just angry,” Mars said through the mind link.
But I didn’t believe it. All I had tried to be was a good daughter for him and Mom, yet time and time again, they had continued to disappoint me. It was never-ending. It was vicious. It hurt.
I gazed at my father, at the man who had once loved me but who was now looking at me with so much hatred. My heart shattered, and my chest tightened. Ruffles stood between my legs and hissed at Dad, baring her little teeth.
“All your mother wanted was to keep you safe.” Dad shook his head at me. “And you betrayed her. You brought your mate back to our pack, and everyone died because of it.” He walked closer to the silver bars and stared down at me. “Everyone’s dead because of you.”
My eyes filled to the brim with tears at his harsh words, but I refused to let them fall. He was just angry and sad that his mate was dead. That was why he was saying this. He didn’t mean it … did he?
“Dad, I didn’t … I didn’t cause—”
“Your mother. Your packmates. Your friends from high school. All of them are fucking dead.” He grasped the silver bars in his palms, letting the metal sear his skin, and stepped even closer to me.
Mars let out a vicious growl—and I knew it was Ares here now instead—and stepped in front of me. “Don’t try to intimidate her. You disrespect her one more time, and I’ll have your fucking head.”
“She’s my fucking daughter, Ares,” Dad said. “I can talk to her any way that I please.”
Ares grabbed Dad by his throat and pulled his whole body against the silver bars. “She is your daughter, and she’s a fucking alpha. You
