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“Good,” I say, then stand from my chair. “I appreciate the information about my old pack, but that isn’t important to me, but I did come here for a reason, and it seems I need your father.”
Dawsyn doesn’t bother to stand as she stares intently at me. “You want to be released from the pack.”
“I do.”
“Why?” she asks. “After all these years, why now? Why still, after what I’ve just told you? And why haven’t you asked me about your family and more about what’s happening there now?”
She’s going to make one hell of an alpha, but she isn’t mine and she can’t force me to answer those questions, but I will tell her something.
“It’s not my problem,” I say. “I don’t care that the alpha is missing or that the beta is dead. Just like none of them cared when I left.”
At least that’s what I’ve assumed all this time after years of silence from them. And what she’s told me has changed my thoughts. I’m not returning to South Carolina to find my home. I thought I could have both that and closure, but that’s only wishful thinking. I only need to see my family and however they greet me will dictate my subsequent actions. Including asking my parents and younger sister to flee whatever fucked-up situation the pack has gotten themselves into.
“Right.” Dawsyn finally rises from her chair and moves around her desk to stand toe-to-toe with me. “My father isn’t here. He and my mother are on a little vacation. They won’t be back for a week. You’re welcome to stay or—”
“I’ll be back, then,” I say. “Maybe I’ll even watch you officially get your new title.”
Not that Dawsyn and I were ever close or even friends, given our age difference. It’s only seven years, and as adults now, it doesn’t feel like such a stretch, but when I was only sixteen and she was twenty-three, it sure did. Even still, she’s always shown me respect.
When I arrived here as a messed-up teenager with a chip on my shoulder, she never treated me like the child I still was. Instead, she made sure I had access to the resources I needed in order to become an adult who wouldn’t completely fuck up her life just because she’d become a murderer at the ripe age of sixteen.
“Astor Crowe has inserted himself as acting beta,” Dawsyn adds, and the words have me tensing, something I’m certain she doesn’t miss.
“I. Don’t. Care.” The words are forced from between my gritted teeth.
Her eyes bore into me and her mouth forms into a tight line. “Sophie. Don’t do this.”
I’m torn between lying to her and telling her I don’t give a shit what she says. The truth is that I do care, but more than I respect Dawsyn and her family, I need to do what I’ve already decided to do.
Neither my wolf nor I will be able to rest until we have this closure. Sure, it’s not convenient that the pack is falling apart and the family I despise most is partly in charge, but I’m twenty-eight. Still young in supernatural years, but old enough that I need to move on. I don’t know another way to do so besides going back.
Except I don’t believe Dawsyn will just let me go if I tell her the truth. As much as I hate lying to her, I don’t stop the words as they leave my mouth. Though they’re not exactly a lie. Just an omission of what I intend to do afterward.
“I’m going to head to New Orleans,” I say, relaxing my shoulders and softening my face. “I have a…special friend there that I need to see.”
She glowers at me but can’t hold back her smile for long. “Special, huh?”
I shrug and return her grin. “I mean, not that special, but my wolf… She’s needy and he’s, well, easy.”
That has her laughing so loudly that sound echoes through the office and has me chuckling as well.
“All right, Sophie,” she finally says. “You go have your fun and I expect you back here before the new moon, got it?”
“Yes, Alpha.” I wink at her and turn toward the door, thinking I’m making a clean escape, but as soon as my fingers wrap around the metal handle, Dawsyn calls my name, giving me pause.
When I turn my gaze back toward her, I’m pinned in place by golden eyes full of compassion that have my guilt rising even more as she says, “I know you think you want to be relinquished from our pack, but maybe my dad not being here isn’t a coincidence. Maybe whatever brought you here isn’t either. Just remember that you’re not alone anymore. You have people in this world that care about you right here.”
I force a smile to my face and nod once. “Yeah, maybe.”
Making a swift exit, I’m out the door and closing it behind me before she can say anything else.
Most wolf shifters are a big believer in fate, and I used to be one of them. Until twelve years ago. So, I don’t agree with everything she’s just said, but maybe I will once I’m done doing what I know I can no longer avoid.
Going home and facing my demons.
* * *
Chapter Three
