Page 6 of Forcing Fate (Wildheart Pack #1)

Cole

There I was, thinking she was running away from her family the night she went into the woods. I was already prepared to rip their heads from their necks and bathe in their blood because, goddammit, nobody hurts my mate and gets away with it. Not even her family.

But this? My wolf’s growl is almost louder than my racing thoughts as I try to process what she admitted. “Why would he do that?” It’s amazing—I almost sound rational.

I feel her hesitation. That’s something she’s going to have to figure out, and fast. The fact that she can’t lie to me when I already feel her emotions so clearly. Like being hooked up to a lie detector with no way to disconnect, ever.

She doesn’t want to tell me because she’s ashamed. She’s been hiding a lot of painful truths for a very long time.

Taking a hitching breath, staring down at her hands, she mumbles, “He wanted me to die. He told me I was a mistake that should have never happened. That was why he left me. I was supposed to die in the woods. I didn’t know where I was.

I didn’t have any way to protect myself.

I tried to walk, to find my way out, but I just kept getting more and more lost. I heard movement in the darkness, and there was nowhere to go before the bears started coming toward me. And then…”

Her face goes pale enough to make her freckles stand out like punctuation marks. “And then somebody came to protect me. I’m sorry.”

Somebody happened to be Dad, who died protecting her.

Before his mate, my mom, killed herself when the pain of being without him was too much to live with.

I can’t think about that now. Not while I’m trying to piece everything together.

All I would get from thinking about Dad’s sacrifice is blinding rage.

They told us she went into the woods to play.

That she was warned but ignored them. I’ve lived with that piece of information plaguing me like an unquenchable thirst.

And it wasn’t her fault. All this time, and it was never her fault. “Why didn’t you tell anybody? Why let everyone think?—”

“Right, because everybody was going to believe the half-breed who got the alpha killed?” The defiance I witnessed across from the diner flares to life again. Her cheeks go dark red, and her eyes flash icy blue fire. “Nobody was ever going to listen. Besides…”

Her shoulders slump before she releases a deep sigh. “You’ve seen for yourself what happens when I do my best to follow the rules and keep everybody happy. How much worse do you think it would’ve been if I’d told the truth? ”

I see her point, and it infuriates me. My wolf is begging, pleading to be set free and wreak bloody vengeance on the cruel, heartless shits who inadvertently destroyed so many lives.

“Where are you going?” she asks in a tiny voice when I almost jump out of the chair. I’ve held myself back long enough.

“Don’t worry about it,” I tell her, cutting a slashing motion through the air with one hand when she opens her mouth to argue. “I mean it. Stay there, rest up. I’ll be back soon.”

“But—”

“No arguments. Let somebody take care of you for once.” It doesn’t exactly come out gentle, but her expression softens anyway. How long has it been since anyone has taken care of her? And how am I ever supposed to forgive myself after punishing her for something she had no choice in?

The fact that those fuckers even cause me to question myself makes me almost run down the stairs. As much as I hate leaving her—the pull is so strong, I can hardly think straight—what happens next is more important.

Obviously, there has been a meeting held in the kitchen. My siblings are still sitting around the table, nursing what’s left of breakfast when I burst into the room. Right away, Tara’s eyebrows jump up. “What happened? You look like?—”

“You won’t believe what she just told me.

” It isn’t easy to get it out with my wolf snarling and whining and demanding justice, but I’m somehow able to relay the story.

And as I do, I watch their faces go slack before turning red.

“She’s telling the truth,” I conclude, gritting out every word through clenched teeth. “I felt it. She isn’t making it up. ”

Tara’s lids flutter, and her mouth moves silently for a few seconds before she sputters.

“How could we know? I mean, how could we imagine…” I know what she means, and the way our brother nods slowly tells me he gets it, too.

We only ever knew love from our parents.

Discipline, yes, but there was always love at the heart of it.

How could we have guessed Nora’s dad would be capable of something like that?

Declan has remained silent, but that time has passed. Rising slowly, his jaw tightening, he mutters, “I think it’s time we paid them a visit.”

Yes, yes, that’s what we need to do, but I can’t stop there. “I’m going to kill them,” I warn, and the rush of pleasant warmth that fills me says my wolf agrees.

“We are not going to kill them.” When my mouth falls open, he shakes his head. “That’s not how we do things. But they’re leaving, all of them, today!”

“You think they should get away with this? You haven’t seen the bruises all over her body! They beat the shit out of her on a daily basis.”

“Which is why they are going to leave and never show their faces around here again. Listen to me, Cole,” he insists while my rage builds and the roar in my head almost drowns out his voice.

“That son of a bitch is the reason Mom and Dad died. You think I don’t want to slaughter the bastard?

This is the kind of thing Dad used to talk about.

Balancing what’s best for the pack and what you want more than anything.

Do you understand me? Without a pack, they are completely fucked, and they’ll know it.

If they’re dead, they can’t suffer. Right? ”

“Fine, stop trying to convince me,” I mutter, trying and failing to ignore the wolf’s howl filling my head.

Zeke volunteers to stick around and make sure Nora is all right.

That’s probably a better idea than leaving Tara here, since it’s obvious Nora isn’t ready to forgive the past. It might only stress her out more.

The truck is silent on the way across town, but there’s no silence in my head.

My wolf demands justice and won’t be satisfied with a few empty apologies.

The ugly images that flood my mind only make me smile to myself.

That heartless fuck killed my parents and almost killed my mate.

Those worthless children of his have used Nora as a punching bag for years. That ends today.

“Cole!” I hear Tara’s bark behind me as I jump out of the truck when it’s barely in park. She catches up to me by the time I’ve reached the front door, where I pound against the wood with the side of my fist. I’m barely holding on—my wolf simmering under the surface. Ready to burst free.

Derik looks surprised when he opens the door—but that surprise turns to a yelp of pain when I take him by the wrist and turn him in place with his bent arm pinned between us, with my free arm wedged against his throat. “So this is the kind of fun you like to have, fucker?” I snarl in his ear.

“What are you doing?” A teenage girl—Nora’s half-sister—comes shrieking across the living room with her phone in one hand. “Let go of him!”

“Back off,” Tara warns her while I jerk Derik’s trapped arm upward.

“What’s the matter?” I ask as he lets out a pained cry. “What, you don’t like getting roughed up anymore? I guess you took it all out on Nora. Is that right?”

“Get the fuck off me!” he snarls, but I hear the fear and the pain underneath his bravado. All of that falls apart when I give him a sharp jerk upward and something pops in his shoulder.

“Fuck!” He stumbles away when I release him, holding his shoulder with his other hand. “Motherfucker! You broke my shoulder!”

“It’s dislocated,” I snap. Now the parents are rushing downstairs, looking worried.

“Cole!” Tara warns, but it’s too late for that.

As soon as Nora’s father is within reach, I take him by his shirt collar and drive my fist into his face while his wife screams and pleads.

Again, again, it will never be enough to even the score.

By the time I’m finished, he’s unconscious and covered in the same blood coating my fists.

His wife drops to her knees next to him, taking his face in her hands before glaring up at Declan. “You’re going to stand there and let this happen?” she demands. “What kind of alpha are you? Do you let your rabid brother do whatever he wants?”

Declan takes this well, waiting until she’s finished before clearing his throat. “We’ve received information regarding years of abuse that took place under this roof. Your actions led to the death of the pack’s former alpha and his mate. As of this moment, you are no longer members of our pack.”

“You can’t be serious! What is this all about? What has that little bitch—” She’s smart enough to snap her mouth shut when I lunge for her, scrambling backward while Tara gets between us.

“You might wanna watch your language,” Tara says over her shoulder with a growl running under her voice. “You aren’t doing yourself any favors. ”

“You are to leave this house immediately, as in right now,” Declan orders. “You are not welcome here, and if you ever trespass on our lands again, we’ll deal with you the way we deal with trespassers. Don’t test me,” he warns while Nora’s sister starts to cry.

Her dad’s nose is still spurting blood as he gets to his feet, running a hand across his face and leaving a trail of red slashing across his cheek. “You’ll regret this.”

“Not half as much as you’ll regret spending another five minutes in my presence,” Declan snaps. “Go. Leave your shit here. You aren’t entitled to it.”

It’s not enough to force them to leave—even if they do look completely stricken and miserable.

That doesn’t make up for all the horror they’ve caused my mate.

It’ll have to be a start. I’ll have to carry the memory of the tears and the pain and groans and whimpers and look back on them whenever I start craving blood.

Declan and Tara wait outside, making sure nobody decides to come back, while I go up to grab Nora’s stuff.

I would know her bedroom even without her scent guiding me along the way.

It’s the smallest, practically the size of my bedroom closet, and the condition of the furniture makes me sorry those assholes are already gone.

I would love to dislocate Derik’s other shoulder for him.

They have really treated her like she’s nothing.

The bedding is worn, the furniture cheap and falling apart.

A few old crates turned sideways serve as bookshelves, which I empty into a box I find under the bed.

Her drawers are filled with old, faded clothes that probably came from a thrift store—or somebody’s garbage.

And I used to make fun of her for always dressing this way.

There is so much I need to make up for, I don’t know where to start.

This is all I can do. Gathering her things to take them home with me so she can feel like she has part of herself with her. It’s a small gesture, but I have to start somewhere. Because there is so much to make up for.