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“Different how?”
Wolf shut down in that moment, his mouth moving again with no words. He scrubbed a heavy hand into his hair, and I thought he’d rip that shit out when he gripped it. That was when I took the phone, giving him a moment. Wolf backed up; his long wingspan locked above his head.
“Ares? Son—”
“It’s me, Ramses. Dorian.” When I took over, the guys all looked at me, and Wolf whirled around. I lifted a hand, letting him and the others know I had this. “Um, he’s not lying. Wolf. He’s telling the truth. She’s back. Pilar’s back.” It felt weird calling her that. She wasn’t Pilar. She was my little fighter. She was… “You’ve got to listen to him. He’s telling the truth. She’s back.”
Nothing but silence hit after what I said, and at this point, Wolf had gone sheet white. He edged in closer, and Thatcher rubbed his shoulders.
“Put my son on the line, Dorian,” Ramses said, but Wolf had that look about his eyes again. The look where I didn’t know whether he’d be sick or spiral out.
I lifted a hand to him, again letting him know I had this. I had this.
Be strong.
Be like Charlie.
I channeled someone else in that moment, someone who had been that person for me. If Charlie was here, this shit wouldn’t have been a thing. He’d be the one talking, being strong for everyone else and getting shit done.
Stop bitching out.
I started to be that person, move my fucking mouth, but then I heard a voice.
“Ramses?” My dad’s smooth voice drifted into the line. It made me stop full stop. Gave me pause. “What’s going on? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
I was at a loss now. My dad was wherever Ramses was, and I felt suddenly like a kid then. Like I’d gone from eighteen to four and couldn’t make my lips move. Like I’d destroyed the house and blamed it on Chestnut.
Like I needed my dad like a little kid.
It was a weird place to be, as much comfort as unease knowing my dad was there. I wanted to talk to him as much as I wanted to hang up the phone.
“My dad’s there?” I asked, and Ramses said yes.
“He drove out for poker night,” Ramses continued, but his voice sounded so far away. “And I don’t know, Royal. It’s our kids, but they’re not making sense. They’re saying things and…”
Though Ramses clearly didn’t have the phone close, it wasn’t hard to make out the struggle in his voice.
“Talk to him,” I heard Ramses say, but then I heard my name. I heard my father speaking my name.
“What’s going on?” he asked after and this time, I noticed my friends around me. I took inventory of each and every one of them. I noticed the pain in Wolf’s eyes and the plea in Wells’s and Thatcher’s. They all wanted me to do something.
Even if they hadn’t asked.
When this night began, I’d planned to call my parents. I was going to call my dad, but Wolf’s family took priority. This was their family, this was them, and when it came to me, I should have only been there for support. I needed to just be supportive.
But how could I when I felt like I was dying?
“Dad,” I croaked, my throat fucking working, tight. “Dad…”
My chest tightened, my limbs heavy, and I felt cold while at the same time being hot. Like I was frozen but drowning in lava. Like I couldn’t breathe.
“Dorian Riley,” Dad whispered and unusual in the sense. My father was never one to handle me with kid gloves. That was Mom. Never dad. “What is it, son? What’s wrong?”
I turned away from my friends. Why couldn’t I stop feeling so fucking cold and hot? “Dad, you’re going to hate me.” He would. How couldn’t he after what I had to tell him? I went behind his back. I lied to him. “I lied, Dad.”
“Lied about what?” The room was so quiet, on both our ends. “What did you lie about? Tell me.”
It was the ultimate lie, the ultimate betrayal. How could I tell my dad that I’d reached out to someone who hurt him so badly? How could I tell him that same person may or may not have Wolf’s twin sister? She might go to him. She trusted him, and why shouldn’t she?
