Page 57 of Finding Embers and Stars (Twin Flames Duet #1)

Chapter fifty-seven

A s soon as I shift back, I look around the clearing. Zander and Olive are already going through the pack and shadow checking the Alaska wolves.

Luckily, from what I’m seeing, there are more gray than black auras and only a few skulls so far.

“You can’t do this! This is my pack! I’m the Alpha Supreme!”

His loud outburst brings my attention back to the man I thought was my father for most of my life.

Now all I can do is laugh at him.

“Really? It looks like I am doing this. I have the blessing of all the Goddesses behind me. Your sick rhetoric of ignoring the Moon Goddess’ teachings and treating women like slaves is at an end. I honestly don’t understand how you stayed in power this long. Everything you’ve ever done has been a fuck up.”

I start ticking things off on my fingers as I list them out, enjoying the way his face is turning purple

“You tried to kill my father and failed. You tried to have a son and never realized that my mother was already pregnant at the time you started raping her. Then when you found out that one of the twins she carried was a girl, you tried to have me killed. Once again you failed.”

Sage bounces over to me. Yes, literally bounces. When she comes to a stop beside Richard, she claps her hands. “Can I? Can I do it now? Please? I’ve been waiting so long, and I was a good girl and stayed all the way over there while you and Atlas had your fun. Pretty please with cinnamon rolls on top?”

I can’t help my giggles. There is no one like Sage and I’m eternally grateful that she is my best friend. “Have at it, girl. You’ve earned the right.”

“Soooo, former Alpha that’s still a dick. For years I begged Piper to let me curse your dick off, but she would never let me because of reasons. Today is the day I get to extract my revenge for everything you did to Piper and for sending Matt after me.”

Opening her grimoire to the first page, she slaps her hand down on the page and shouts, “Poof!”

Instantly, Richard starts screaming, bent over at the waist he clutches himself like he can somehow prevent the magic from shrinking his cock into oblivion.

Sage snaps her spell book shut and glares at him. “You should be thankful I didn’t cut it off like I wanted. Though as quick as that spell worked, I don’t think there was even enough there to bloody a knife.”

With that parting shot, my twin flame spins on her heel and marches back towards our mates, leaving Jasper and me to deal with what's left of the Alpha Supreme.

Ridge comes running over to Sage. “Are you sure you won’t reconsider? I brought my sharpest people opener just for you to cut off his dick. This isn’t fair. I came fully prepared for dick slicing today!”

Shaking my head at Ridge, I look down at Richard. Seeing him like this, hunched over and whimpering, makes me realize he’s not worth the stain on my soul. It may be my right to kill him, but I don’t believe he deserves death. That’s much too quick of an end for all the pain he’s caused others.

“I don’t need to take my pound of flesh from you. You’re nothing but a pitiful waste of space. You can spend the rest of your life in Darkmoon Prison and think about all the lives you ruined.”

I turn my back on him, intending to walk away. From him and the memories of my time in this place.

I make it one step away and Jasper screams, “Nooo!”

Spinning in place, everything I see is in slow motion. Richard coming up off the ground, lunging for me with a dagger in his hand. Then Jasper steps between us, pulling a knife from the scabbard on his hip.

Jasper barely gets the blade between them before Richard’s momentum takes them both to the ground.

They roll over each other once and when Jasper ends up on top he scrambles to his feet, bloody knife in his hand.

Richard stabbed himself when he ran into Jasper, and I can’t help but think it was fitting as fuck that he brought about his own end. The stab wound runs from his belly button up to his lung and the way his intestines are spilling out tells me he won’t last long.

When Jasper looks at me, there is a question in his eyes. Should we let him suffer or be the better people?

“Finish him.” My quiet whisper is nearly inaudible, but Jasper hears it all the same. Gripping Richard's hair he makes one quick slice across his throat, ending his suffering. It’s an act of kindness he didn’t deserve, but I see no reason for us to lower ourselves to his level of darkness.

Walking over to Jasper, I wrap my arms around him. “Thank you, dad. I’m sorry I wasn’t strong enough to kill him.”

He cups my cheek gently. “Piper, that’s not weakness, it’s the most important sign of strength and a true leader.”

In a blink we’re surrounded by everyone. Hugs all around from our family.

Zander stands off to the side, shaking his head in exasperation. “Ridge, how did you even get to your knife? It was in a locked safe behind wards.”

Ridge grins proudly. “Olive sparkled it out for me. She said it would be needed today.” His expression turns thoughtful. “She didn’t say specifically that it would be needed for dick slicing, but it’s my people opener. It always tells me what it wants to do.”

Milo steps up to drop a kiss on my forehead and Ridge rushes over to us. “Bestie!! Wanna go cut some dicks off with me?”

Milo somehow manages to take the question in stride. “Do the men attached to the dicks deserve to have them cut off?”

Ridge nods emphatically. “Oh, without a doubt. Well, most likely. Probably. Maybe. This place is filled with evil shadows, so I bet there is at least one in here somewhere!”

Milo nods, managing to keep a straight face. “I’m all in as long as we have any candidates you find checked for shadows before you slice anything off.”

Olive sighs. “Ridge, I didn’t give you your people opener back to cut off cocks. It’s for the woman tied up in Richard’s bedroom.”

That gets everyone's attention, especially mine. “What woman?”

Olive starts towards the house. “She’s in here. Piper, Jasper, and Ridge come with me. Everyone else starts rounding up people, so we know who is going back to Wyoming with us.”

Walking into my childhood home, I have zero emotions. No anger, no sadness. Nothing. And speaking of nothing, that’s how much has changed since I left.

I head straight for the stairs knowing that if he does have a woman in here, she would be in his bedroom. A room I’ve never been allowed into.

The one time I tried to peek through the door as he came out, he beat me bloody. I decided that my curiosity wasn’t worth the time it took to heal.

Opening the door of the master suite, I make it two steps inside before freezing in place. There is a woman crouched inside a dog crate.

A fucking dog crate!

“He didn’t die painfully enough.” I mumble to myself, but Ridge’s snort tells me he heard and agrees with me.

Dad steps through the door and when he comes up beside me and gets the first look at the woman, he sucks in a shocked breath.

“Mate.” He whispers.

Crouching down, I move slowly towards the crate. Opening the latch, I pull the gate open. Now at her level, I can see she's tied up, her hands and feet bound behind her with harsh ropes that have rubbed her skin raw.

Moving away from the opening, I give her plenty of room to come out, but she just curls into herself more.

Dad kneels next to me, tears streaming down his face. I reach out for his hand, squeezing his fingers in comfort. “We aren’t here to hurt you. The alpha is dead. You’re free.” I keep my tone as soft and soothing as possible.

Her head whips up and when her eyes land on my dad, they widen. Ridge slowly moves around me towards the side of the crate. He sits down cross-legged with his knees just brushing the wire mesh.

When he speaks, his voice is softer than I’ve ever heard before. “I won’t hurt you. I just want to cut your bindings. If you can scoot towards the edge of the cage, I’ll take care of them and then move back. You don’t have to come out if you don’t want to.”

We watch silently when she cautiously slides towards Ridge, pressing her wrists, then her ankles to the mesh.

Once the bindings are cut, she scurries away from him, pressing herself into the far corner of her cage.

In that same sweet, singsong-like voice, he keeps speaking. “Now I’m going to take my beautiful people opener and go cut off his dick for what he did to you.”

The woman lets out a harsh bark of laughter. “That statement really shouldn’t be as comforting as it is. Especially coming from an angel. In my experience, the males from Heaven are nothing but abusive bastards.”

Ridge grins at her, a bit of his madness shining in his eyes. “I’m not like most angels. I’m not sure how long you’ve been here, but things in Heaven have changed. Would it make you feel better if I let you use my people opener to cut off his dick?” He flips the knife, so he’s holding it by the blade and rests the handle on the mesh of the cage wall.

Beside me Jasper groans, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Not that I don’t think it’s deserved but Ridge, but he’s already dead. And Sage cursed his dick off before I killed him.”

Ridge shrugs. “So? I’m willing to bet that there is at least one other in this place that has hurt or helped hurt the precious wolfie angel. We can rid them of their offending appendages.”

Olive walks past us and sits down in front of the open door. “Hi Clarissa. My name is Olive. If you touch just the tip of my finger, I can show you our intentions. I can also heal your wounds.” Olive slowly extends her hand inside the cage.

Very slowly, the woman, whose name is Clarissa apparently, shuffles to the front of the cage. The way she winces with every movement makes me think she’s more in pain than scared of us at this point.

Reaching her hand out slowly, she presses the tip of her finger against Olive’s.

A cloud of shadows releases from Olive and wraps around Clarissa completely. You would think it would be scary as hell to be surrounded by the shadows, but they look like they are giving her a hug.

When the shadows flow back into Olive, Clarissa sits up with a startled gasp.

Tears roll down her face as she stares at us in disbelief. “Is it true? Michael is dead?” When we all nod yes, she starts laughing through her tears. “How do you know Lacy? Thank you for healing me but how did you do that?”

Olive offers her a hand once more and helps her crawl from the cage and stand up. Dad and I scoot back, not wanting her to feel crowded.

I slowly walk towards her once she’s had a few moments on her feet. “May I help steady you?”

She looks up at me, a soft smile crosses her face. “Yes, Piper you may.”

When I jolt at hearing her call me by name her smile turns sad. “I’ve been here since you were little. Michael sold me to your father. I tried to get you out of here several times, but he always caught us.”

I can’t fight the tears that roll down my cheeks. I wish I remembered her. I think it would have helped me to know there was another soul here that was on my side. “I’m sorry. I don’t remember or I would have brought you with me when Sage and I left.”

She wraps her arm around my waist, leaning into my side. “No tears for me, my sweet girl. It wasn’t my time yet. I’m just glad you got away from him.”

I let out a shuddering breath. “I recently found out that he wasn’t my father.” I grab my dad’s arm and yank him forward. “Jasper is.”

Leaning down, I whisper in her ear. “Your bond was blessed by several Goddesses. He is a good man. Take whatever time you need to heal. It doesn’t matter, months or years, he will wait for you.”

Olive gently takes Clarissa’s hand to lead her out of the room. “There is a lot to tell you, but let’s get home and comfortable first. To answer your question, Lacy is my mom. She will be thrilled to see you again.”

We make our way back outside and I pull my dad to a stop and wrap my arms around him. “He’s gone. We did it, but I don’t want to be the Alpha Supreme. You killed him, you should have it.”

Shaking his head, he looks out over the yard. My mates, our family, and many wolves that look worn down and desperate. Turning back to me, he tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. Pride shining in his eyes. “We both killed him. How about we lead together?”