Violet Ashes: The Blood Ridge Alpha - Chapter 29: Chapter 29

My ears burn hearing those words coming out of his mouth. My throat tightens, almost taking my breath away. I never wanted to hear him say those words because it would mean one of us was accepting defeat. The part of me that adored him didn't want it to be him. These past few months, I wanted to be me. It was going to be me.
"I'm right here." I swallow the rage down.
"No, I need you home," he says, fighting the growl that threatens to come out and his wolf.
"I'm here," I repeat. "I know I haven't done much to earn it, but I'm going to need you to trust me. Even when everything in you screams not to."
"What the fuck does that mean?" Vince asks.
I keep my eyes on my father because I know he's the one who's going to watch my every move. He might already be. I know him as well as I know myself, and just because we've turned our backs on one another doesn't mean either of us has changed much. I haven't. I've just gotten craftier. He's as obvious as ever.
"You're not going to make this easy, are you?" he asks.
"Nothing worth going to war over ever is," I repeat his words back to him. He sits back and then nods.
"I want Wolfe Tech back with the Wolfes," he states.
"I can't promise you that. It all depends on what Eloise says to us. What I can promise is that by the end of this year, Thorne Labs with be mine."
"What?" They all give me their attention.
"I will be open to discussing this once everything is in place. For now, we focus on getting the pack safe."
"What did he do to you?" he demands.
"Nothing I can't handle on my own. You wanted to talk about Pepper staying with me?"
"Can you handle that?" he asks. "Have you been around our kind since you've left?"
"You know I have. You received all of my awards and grades. I made sure of it. Nova would welcome any one of us for my aid and performance on their territory," I say. I don't know why his questioning me is riling me up, but it is. Beverly hasn't been this excited since Perry suggested killing the old man.
"Relax. I got it. But this is a pup we're talking about. Pepper might be eighteen but she is still a kid. You will be her primary emergency contact if she's going to be staying under your roof. You are to teach her how to live away from the rest of us. Something she's got no experience with,"
"I'll be home on weekends," Pepper rolls her eyes.
"Shut up," the two of us glare at her.
"I understand, Dad. I'm not going to let her run around helplessly. I'm already working out my schedule. I'll have it ready for you as soon as I can."
"Thank you. Can you include training cycles so you spend time with them on weekends?"
"Yes. I've never gone into the office on weekends. Am I allowed to take her to public events with me?"
"Wolf-related ones. Nothing else," his upper lip twitches like he wants to tell me no.
"I wouldn't take her anywhere near humans without your permission. Anything else?"
"I have to leave for a couple of weeks," Verona informs us. "I'm meeting up with Alpha Nate in Redwood City. They have an overpopulation problem, and I'm hoping to recruit some deltas,"
"That's fine. Let us know if you need anything," Vince agrees immediately. Her eyes meet mine briefly, and she turns away.
"So, we've cleared everything up then?" Dad asks and looks around the table.
"Yes, sir," we all answer.
"Need anything?" he asks the pups. They both shake their heads. He gives us all a curt nod and excuses himself.
His shoulders are taut. His head bowed lower than it should.
"Dad," I call after him. He tenses up and pauses to turn to glance at me. I hold up a nail file. "You should round those things. You don't want to add scratches to your face,"
He raises his hand and catches it in his clawed hands. It's a black file made for sharpening claws like his. He can't put them away anymore. Not at this stage. He nods and waves it as he steps out of the study.
"Holy shit. Anyone else holding their breaths?" the pups laugh and huff out with relief. I get up to leave.
"We should talk," Vince stops me.
"Can we go?" Verona raises her hand.
"Yeah, I'll walk you to your car. Mind waiting?" I ask Vince before she can decline. He shakes his head.
"Can we?" the pups ask us.
"Yeah, get out of here," he waves them off. The two of them rush out of the room, snickering and bumping one another. I take my sister's backpack off her shoulder and walk her out to her car.
"You can't talk me out of it," she shakes her head when she unlocks it.
"You spoke to him?" I ask.
"I told him I would inform him when it was over," her eyes fill with tears.
I put the backpack in the trunk and hug her. Her fists grip the back of my jacket tightly.. The first sob that comes out of her is muffled as she holds on to me. All I can do is hold her. I can't remember the last time I hugged my little sister this way.
A lot was expected of us when we were too young, and while I've prioritized Vince and my situation. I never stopped to think of the weight we put on her shoulders for the sake of the pack. We've sacrificed her to save ourselves.
"We'll be here again one day," I whisper into her ear. "Properly, and this will be one of the many bad memories we get over."
"I hate him," she growls. "I hate him so fucking much,"
Then I do too. Now and until the day I take my last breath. Verona doesn't cry. She's always choked her emotions down. Even when she gagged on them. She's never complained or kicked and screamed the way I did when I lived here. But I know the Sin's Creek traditions. He was never going to come back to her. Their mate laws are absolute.
"I'll be right here when you get back," I tighten my hold on her. "Make sure you come back. I need you too,"