Alexei smirks, tilting his head at Kole. “I was never stupid enough to release fifteen at one time, mind you.” He shifts so he is leaning forward in his seat, his elbows bracing on the table. “I was never on board with the skin trade, but Mikhail did not care. That is when I started…making moves to remove him from power. I would frame men I knew to be loyal to him, making itseem like they sold the omegas for their own profits. Meanwhile, I was bringing on my own men and locating the ones that felt the same way I did. I couldn’t leave, because business would carry on as usual, and then no omegas could be saved.” His eyes drift to Kole, and strangely, they soften just the tiniest bit. “When he sold you to Thornfield in place of the omegas…I knew he had gone too far, and my five-year plan became a two-year, because I knew I had to get you out.”
Kole’s voice is hard. “Why? You do not care for me, you never have. You were merciless—”
“Because you were too soft, and you needed to survive!” For the first time, anguish shows on Alexei’s face. “Shemade you too soft. And then she made me promise to keep you alive, and how was I supposed to do that if your father could kill you just as easily as he could look at you? Why do you think I made you kill the man who murdered your mother? You needed to seem useful to him. So I had to. Ihadto be merciless, and Ihadto make you a weapon. So you could be used onhim.
My mouth gapes open. Kole hasn’t told me much about Alexei, but from what I do know, this turns everything he thought he knew on its head.
Both Hayden and West tense, and I squeeze their shoulders before I move back over to the alpha who needs me.
“Why would you be in a position to promise my mother to keep me alive?” Kole asks, his voice more shaky than I’ve heard.
“I think you already know the answer to that, if you were listening to what your father was saying.”
“You loved her.”
Alexei sighs, leaning back and rubbing a hand over his face. “She was…is…the love of my life. The night…the night that she was killed…”
Kole stiffens, his body going rigid. My hands start to rub into his shoulders, a gentle purr rolling out of my chest. I want to beembarrassed, but I can’t be, not when it clearly helps my alpha so much.
Alexei continues. “She was going to run. She was never going to give you up to your father. The night she died, I was supposed to meet her and help the two of you escape. When I arrived, she had already been killed, but she was able to injure the assailant before she died. I recognized the man—he worked for your father’s enemies. But based on what he said before…”
“You think he hired him to killMama?”
“Why don’t you ask him?” Hayden speaks up, looking around the table and drawing surprised looks from the twins, Kole, and Alexei, as if they forgot we were here. “I mean, he’s just in the other room, right? If he doesn’t feel like talking, I know that my Fireball here has been itching to get some use out of her new blade.”
Kole and Alexei look at each other briefly before glancing at the twins, and everyone nods once as they stand from the table and stride to the kitchen.
In the next five minutes, Mikhail Vasiliev is tied to the chair Kole was sitting in only moments before, a gag in his mouth, and his face red with rage. We’ve sent both Alexei’s and the twins’ men out of the room, leaving just me, the guys, Illya, Luka, and Alexei.
“We are going to ask you some questions, Father,” Kole says calmly. “And every time you do not answer, my omega will stab you somewhere that won’t kill you, but will be very, very painful.”
Oh, it’s like it’s Christmas.
“Is this another courtin’ present?” I ask, twirling the blade in my hand. “Gettin’ to help question the asshole responsible for your shitty childhood and so many omegas sufferin’?”
“If that is what you wish,lyubov' moya.” Kole takes my hand and presses a kiss to the back of it, then Illya removes the gag from Mikhail’s mouth.
He wastes no time screaming. “You fucking traitors! Damn pieces of shit! When I get my hands on you—” Luka snatches the gag from Illya and shoves it back into his mouth.
“We shall try again.” Alexei crosses his arms. “Perhaps we will ask the question first, and then take out the gag.”
“I coulda told you that.” I roll my eyes.
Kole smirks, shaking his head at me before turning back to his daddy. “I am going to ask you a question, and you will answer. Did you have anything to do withMama’sdeath?”
Alexei removes the gag, and Mikhail grins maliciously. I have a sinking feeling that I’m not going to like whatever he’s so excited to say. “Of course I did,durak. She was a strain on my resources—the both of you. In fact, the man I hired was supposed to kill you too, but then Alexei showed up and ruined it all. Though…I suppose it worked out for the best. I had given up on you, but he made you useful to me again—ah!”
He cries out like a little bitch when I plunge my blade into his shoe, and I’m pretty sure I just severed his big toe.
Mikhail turns even more red as he curses up a storm, and Alexei stuffs the gag back into his mouth before turning to me with an exasperated expression.
“What?” I shrug, removing my knife from his shoe as I stand. At least the floor is tile so the blood won't stain. “Thatstabbin’ had nothin’ to do with whether he answered or not. It just so happened that I didnotlike his answer.”
“You can’t just stab him whenever he gives you an answer you don’t like.” Alexei crosses his arms, ignoring the muffled screams of Mikhail.
“I can if he’s insultin’ my alpha.” I lift my chin and match his stance. “Now, I don’t know what ‘durak’ means—”
“Fool, or idiot,” Kole mutters, staring at his father.
