I smiled down at her, her dark grey eyes sparkling. I was glad she was far too young to understand what was happening. I gave her another smile before glancing at Uncle. He sighed, and I could tell whatever it was weighed on his mind.
“It’s about the Sangue Pack… I’ve never asked you the extent of what went down back then. Marcel never said anything either... but the other day, when I rang Leo to congratulate him on his shift, he said something that has been on my mind, and I can’t fucking get it out,” he said seriously, his dark eyes boring into mine. I frowned, remembering those who had hurt Delsanra and feeling anger flare up inside of me at just the thought.
“What do you want to know?”
“Leo said you punished those who were under Endora’s control and were forced to hurt Del-”
“Those who didn’t have any remorse, yeah. Those who were forced to do it and regretted it were let off lightly. However, those who didn’t seem to care because she was a witch, forced or not, were punished. I still let them live.” Delsanra had suffered so much, and that trauma lingered. What I did was nothing in comparison to what they had done to her.
Uncle looked thoughtful, a deep frown on his face.
“There was a group who were kept in prison for a time, from the group that lived I mean, correct?”
“Yeah, I told you that,” I replied, sounding colder than I meant to.
The topic got to me, and although I had tried to talk to Leo, the fact that he couldn’t bring it up with me directly was beginning to irritate me. Of all times, he found now to be the best time to add stress to Uncle’s already heavy workload. Kiara was in the cells, too, and I knew it was probably ripping him apart just as much as my feelings about Delsanra.
“He made a point which made me think. The ones who were beaten, and those who were also kept in prison, bound by silver… the pain they went through... he asked what about their mates? Did you not think that, by punishing those, you were also hurting their innocent counterparts?” Uncle’s voice was quiet, almost as if he didn’t want to say the words out loud, and I froze.
No. I hadn’t considered that.
I was so consumed by my own pain, by the pain Delsanra had gone through, that I didn’t consider anything else. For the first time in the last six years, I questioned if I did the right thing… but still… I couldn’t have just let them off…
“I’m not blaming you. Marcel, myself, neither of us said anything either. I’m going to have a fucking word with Marcel, too, because didn’t he consider this shit? I wasn’t there… we all may have fucked up, but I know shit happens, and what Del went through, we would all kill for our mates. I get that. But once this fucking Djinn is taken care of, I do want you and Leo to have a sit-down. It’s high fucking time we talked this shit out. Properly.”
I didn’t reply for a moment, running my fingers through Sienna’s soft curls. She was humming. It reminded me of a cat. I nodded.
“If you can get him in the same room as me, I’m game.” Uncle scoffed, giving me a cold smirk.
“I’m still the fucking king. He may have shifted, but I’ll put his ass in the right place if need be. He’s hurting, and I’m not going to allow this shit to continue. He’s always spoken about that night, but it’s obviously affected him far more than he lets on. He wasn’t like this when the pack was first formed. We both know growing up and always being around Endora would fuck anyone up. We can at least try, one more time.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m ready to listen, but I won’t forget what happened to my mate either. Those men and women were given a chance at a new life, but we both can’t deny that not all of them were innocent.”
“The worst were thrown in prison,” Uncle replied, crossing his arms.
“Yeah, but there were enough criminals in that pack that remained,” I said, frowning.
“Everyone deserves a second chance.”
I didn’t entirely agree, so I didn’t bother replying. To each their own. He came over and slapped my shoulder.
“You’re a good man, Rayhan. We just need to get through to Leo as Raf would have wanted us to,” he said quietly. I smirked slightly before looking at my sleeping beauty.
“It’s good to hear I’ve gone from kid to man,” I replied cockily.
“Man!” Sienna piped in, giggling before planting a kiss on my cheek. Uncle chuckled dryly before taking her from me.
“This one looks like a fucking angel, but I swear she’s going to become a little demon,” he said, tossing her up into the air and making her giggle.
“That could possibly be literally true, considering her mama’s part demon,” I replied with a smirk, leaning back on my elbow and kissing Delsanra’s lips, enjoying the sparks that coursed through me.
“Hm, that’s a fucking good point… witch, demon and werewolf genes, the fuck are these kids mutating into? I’m getting too fucking confused with all the shit I’m hearing lately. Nothing would surprise me. So, there’s a chance your pups could be hybrids or tribrids, if that shit even exists,” Uncle remarked, tossing her up again and making her shriek in excitement.
“Who knows?” I glanced at them, watching her kiss Uncle’s cheek before getting all shy. I smiled, watching them. It impressed me the pups were not scared of him.
I sighed inwardly. Uncle was right… and I knew Delsanra would agree. I needed to put aside my ego and have a conversation with Leo... no matter how hard it was going to be…
“I’ll take her down. Get some rest or some shit,” Uncle said, placing Sienna on his shoulders and walking to the door, watching her try to grab his dangly earring.
