Page 73

73

Simon

Stepping over the threshold of my childhood home, I smell the familiar scent of bourbon and cigar smoke floating in the air. Clearly, my father’s nightly routine hasn’t stopped.

“Sharon!” my father shouts, his belligerent voice coming from the living room. “Are you back from patrol?”

I pause my footsteps, looking at Amelia, who furrows her brows. Her eyes glaze over for a moment, most likely trying to see if anyone had run into my mother. When her gaze returns to normal, she mouths the words ‘captured earlier’ to me, and I sigh in relief. It seems my mother is taking a nice drug-induced nap with the other wolves who supported Ramos.

“Sharon? Answer me, you stupid whore!” Amelia and David wince, their concerned gaze turning to me.

I shake my head, already used to the abuse my father hurled behind closed doors. No one really knew the truth about how my parents acted. They knew the masks of the kind, loving people my parents portrayed to the pack, but when it was just the three of us in these four walls, they didn’t see the threats and dishes being thrown. They didn’t see me being slapped and beaten for not being stronger or faster than Kaylee and Lucas.

“Damnit, woman, get your ass in here now!”

I laugh, genuinely laugh at the absurdity of my drunkard of a father. To think, even after I left with Lucas, he hadn’t changed. If anything, my father has gotten worse.

“Who the fuck is in my house?”

The sounds of items falling onto the floor in loud thuds make me chuckle. If my father wants to know who is in his house, then I will damn well show myself.

Taking the lead, I walk towards the living room with Amelia, David, and Avery following me. As we round the corner of the entry hall and step into the living room, I find my father, Norris Thorn, standing on shaky legs, drunker than I’ve ever seen him before.

“Hello, Norris,” I call out, leaning against the door frame. “It’s been a while.”

He snarls, rearing the hand that holds the bottle of cheap bourbon back and throwing it in my direction. As usual, his aim is off, the bottle landing two feet to my right and shattering against the wall.

“What the fuck are you doing here, you scum?” he demands. Amelia touches my arm, making me look at her. I see concern in the depths of her eyes and give her a reassuring smile. I can handle my father without her help.

“I came back to help reclaim Oak Fur,” I answer, knowing full well my father is too drunk to link anyone. His mind is too frazzled by the alcohol he consumed, and it will be like that until late tomorrow afternoon. No wonder he supported Ramos in the end. The two men are alike in many ways.

“Ha! Like that could ever happen,” my father says, mockingly smiling. “No one is fit to rule Oak Fur but Ramos...well, except for me,” he continues, his drunken body swaying.

“You’re forgetting that two other wolves are fit to lead Oak Fur,” I taunt, slowly counting back from ten in my mind.

“Yeah, and who might they be?” Norris asks sarcastically, words slurring heavily.

“Lucas and Kaylee,” I state. Shock fills my father’s eyes as the emergency alarm blares through the pack, surprising all of us.

David lets out a curse, stepping forward to drug my father, but I stop him just as my father’s swaying stops. David goes to say something but is left speechless as my father begins to fall forward, his body falling onto the glass living room table. The scent of blood instantly fills the air, and I go to see where it is coming from, only to find a shard of glass sticking through my father’s arm.

“He’ll be out until dawn,” I state, taking out a pair of silver cuffs from my pants pocket and roughly cuffing my father’s hands behind his back.

“Why didn’t you tell us he was like this?” Amelia asks, her voice wavering as she comes to stand beside me. I feel warmth and motherly affection radiating from her and take a deep breath.

“I tried saying something when I was a pup. It landed me in the infirmary for a week,” I stated solemnly. “You, David, and Kaylee’s parents were on a mission, and Kaylee was living in the packhouse with Luna Lidia at the time. My father blamed my stay on a rogue attack,” I finish, getting a small nod from Amelia.

“You can kill him here and now. No one would blame you,” Avery states from her spot in the doorway, her eyes on me.

“I’d rather do it at the execution in front of everyone,” I state, straightening and looking around the familiar room. Maybe I’ll take a page from Marilyn’s book and burn this place to the ground. Fire will help cleanse the land and give me an excuse to build a new home for Evette and our little pup inside her.

“We better get going. The alarms will have notified everyone of our attack.”

Turning away from my father’s unconscious body, I start walking towards the exit. I’d been looking forward to beating my father into submission, but it seems I won’t get the chance to now. He’s too far into the bottle—fighting him would be pointless.

Our group of four leave my house, ready to head towards the packhouse now that we’ve completed drugging those on our list of Ramos supporters.

“Wait,” Amelia calls out, gasping as she leans against a maple tree.

“What’s wrong?” David asks, rushing to her side and fretting over his mate.

“It’s Ramos,” she calls out, tears of relief welling in her eyes. “He’s dead.”