MATED TO FATHER, FATED TO SONS-Chapter 41: SECRET AND LIES

RYKER

Alpha Corvin is a sadist. A power hungry brute.

I got to discover this later on in life, that he was not the man I had idolized growing up.

My mom had painted him in that image for us, shielded us from seeing what a monster he actually was. She would make excuses for his coldness, justify his cruelty as strength, spin his violence into protection.

It actually took her death to finally see him for who he was and by that time it was too late and she was gone.

Nothing he does surprises me anymore.

Cole and I walked back toward the residential wing, the sounds of the banquet fading behind us as guests started filtering out. I caught sight of Rowan across the courtyard standing way too close to Lila while she clung to his arm like she was trying to merge with his body.

I shook my head. My brother was going to figure out who that bitch really was one day, probably when it was already too late, probably after she had destroyed something he actually cared about.

"Why did your father do that?" Cole asked, breaking the silence.

I glanced at him. "Do what? Humiliate Darius in front of the entire pack or make Amaris watch while he did it?"

"Both I guess."

"Two reasons," I responded, my hands sliding into my pockets. "First, to show dominance. Remind everyone that he is still the all powerful Alpha Corvin despite the fact that Victor nearly destroyed us a year ago." I paused. "Second, to scare Amaris."

Cole’s eyebrows shot up. "Why would he need to scare her? She already knows what he is capable of doing. She was standing on burning stones a few days ago."

"She doesn’t know," I countered. "Not really."

"What do you mean?"

I stopped walking and turned to face him fully. "Amaris seems like someone who has been constantly dealt a bad hand in life and it made her develop tough skin. She doesn’t break easily."

Cole tilted his head, studying me with those sharp eyes. "You know this how?"

"You know how you can differentiate between wood and metal?" I started walking again. "That’s the same thing here. Some people are like wood, strong but not strong enough. Others are metal. Harder to break, harder to burn."

"But she looks so fragile and young," Cole protested.

I chuckled, the sound harsh in the quiet hallway. "Looks can be deceiving but that is not even what concerns me."

"What is your concern then?"

Before I could answer footsteps echoed behind us and I turned to find Nia and Rowan walking toward us. Nia was scowling directly at me and I smirked back at her because pissing her off was one of my favorite pastimes.

"I didn’t know this engagement party would turn out to be one of dad’s power displays," Rowan muttered as they caught up.

We reached Rowan’s room first and without discussing it we all filed inside, muscle memory from years of doing this exact thing pulling us into our usual spots. Nia sat on the bed next to Rowan, Cole took the couch by the window, and I leaned against Rowan’s study table.

"Guys," I dropped the bomb casually. "Victor is back."

The room’s entire atmosphere shifted.

Nia’s face went pale. "What do you mean by back? I thought he died."

Cole looked at Rowan and then back at me, his expression tight.

"His body was never found," I explained, crossing my arms. "We only said he died so the pack could go back to living normal without fear of him showing up."

Rowan leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. "But we all knew he wasn’t dead."

"What the hell guys," Nia exploded, standing up from the bed. "Why didn’t you tell me?"

"Isn’t it obvious?" I shot back. "We knew you would have blabbed about it to someone else."

Nia’s scowl deepened and she crossed her arms. "Rich coming from you considering you blabbed about Amaris’s fight with Lila to your father."

Cole cleared his throat and when I looked over he was trying not to laugh. "Is it just me or is the tension between you two these days getting hotter?"

Rowan grinned. "Maybe they will soon start hooking up."

"Never," Nia spat. "Never will I hook up with a sadist like Ryker."

I chuckled, pushing off the desk. "Of course not, you already have your mouth filled with Cole."

The room went dead silent again and everyone exchanged glances with one another.

Rowan’s eyes widened and he whipped around to stare at Nia. "Wait wait wait, you and Cole?"

Cole glared at me. "Thanks a lot man."

"When did that start?" Rowan pressed, looking between them. "How come I didn’t know?"

"Well," I drawled, enjoying the chaos I had just created, "you have such a slow skill for observing what is right in your face."

Rowan’s jaw tightened. "I know what you mean and I will choose to ignore you Ryker because I don’t go low like you do."

I clapped slowly, the sound echoing in the room. "What a fucking hero."

"Enough with the kid fight," Nia snapped, her cheeks flushed pink. "Back to Victor." She paused and I watched her face shift as another thought occurred to her. "Now I am afraid to ask, is Freya even dead?"

We all went quiet again and this time longer it was almost suffocating and I watched Nia’s eyes widen as she put the pieces together.

"Wait," she breathed. "You mean Freya, a witch from the first order, never died and you all made us believe she did?" Her voice rose with each word. "And now Victor is back? We are all so fucked."

I looked at Rowan and Cole, both of them wearing matching expressions of grim acceptance.

"Yeah," I confirmed. "We are pretty fucked."

Nia sat back down on the bed hard, her hands gripping the edge of the mattress. "How long have you known?"

"That Victor was alive?" Rowan rubbed his face. "Since the beginning. We found evidence he survived the final attack but we couldn’t tell anyone without causing mass panic."

"And Freya?" Nia demanded.

Cole shifted on the couch. "We don’t know for sure if she is alive but her body was never recovered either. The witch’s council claimed they felt her magic die that night but," he shrugged, "witches lie."

"Especially first order witches," I added. "Freya was powerful enough to fake her own death if she wanted to."

Nia looked like she was about to be sick. "Does Alpha Corvin know?"

"About Victor being alive?" Rowan nodded. "Yeah, he knows. About Freya, I am not sure. He doesn’t exactly confide in us."

"This is insane," Nia muttered. "Victor nearly destroyed the pack a year ago and he is just allowed to walk around at engagement parties now?"

"He wasn’t invited," I pointed out. "He crashed it. I found him talking to Amaris on the balcony."

All three of them turned to stare at me. Oh, I just realized that it would have been good to start with that.

"What?" Rowan demanded.

"Yeah I should have started with that," I responded. "Victor was out there having a nice little chat with my father’s bride to be."

"What did he say to her?" Cole leaned forward.

"I don’t know," I admitted, the memory making my blood boil all over again. "I came in while they were still conversing and I didn’t let him get in another word, Amaris said she didn’t know it was him."

Well she said she did later on and still chose to talk to him but that can be a minor detail I could omit.

"By punching him I assume," Nia muttered.

"Obviously." I smirked.

Rowan stood up and started pacing. "This is bad. If Victor is making contact with Amaris that means he has a plan. He doesn’t do anything without a plan."

"Maybe he is just trying to mess with Alpha Corvin,," Cole suggested. "Get under his skin by targeting his new mate."

I shook my head. "It’s more than that. You know Alpha Corvin found out Freya was his mate when Victor announced the engagement,"

"So what is this? A payback of some sort?" Rowan asked still pacing.

"Before he left he said something about telling the story to her or something, I can’t remember, I was too angry to even listen,"

"His version of the truth you mean," Nia corrected. "Which is probably ninety percent lies designed to get back at Alpha Corvin and the pack through her."

"Does it matter?" I challenged. "The pack has already turned against her. Did you see how they watched her tonight? Like she was a piece of meat they wanted to devour."

Rowan stopped pacing to look at me. "I think it is time we tell Amaris the whole truth."

"No," I shot back. "We can’t,"

"What do you mean by No, Ryker?" Rowan asked. "She is engaged to our father."

"Wait, guys, what do you mean by the whole truth?" Nia asked. "Do you mean that there is more to the story than we all know?"

I sighed and glanced at Rowan and then at Cole who gave that ’not my business’ kind of look. "Unfortunately, yes," I admitted. And that was something I have. Never been able to admit for a long time.

There was more to the story.