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“You hit Tristan?!” Mom pipes up, a flicker of morbid excitement in her eyes rather than the disapproval my father is casting at me.
Okay, so guess that’s not why they’re here.
I shake my head in confusion. “If this isn’t about Tris, then…”
“Jenkins,” Dad grits out. “Is it true that you used Alpha command to make him swallow the barrel of a rifle and pull the trigger?”
“You didwhat?!” Sloane screeches, grinding to a halt in the doorway from the kitchen, her mouth hanging agape. She’s now wearing a pair of leggings underneath my tee, no doubt thanks to one of the stockpiles of clothing hidden around the packhouse. Shifters always need to have extra clothes on hand- we can’t exactly take them with us when we’re in our animal forms.
I turn back to my dad with a wince. “That little fucking snitch,” I mutter under my breath. “Of course he’d piss himself and then go tattle to you…”
“He didn’t,” Dad snaps, cutting me off. “Your sister told me.”
I swing my head back around to aim a glare her way. “Traitor.”
“Hey, don’t blame me,” Avery scoffs, leading Sloane into the living room with two cups of coffee in hand. “That was out of line and you know it.”
“You’re out of control, Madd,” Dad growls, pulling my attention back to him. “You need to lock it up right the fuck now, or else…”
“Or else what?” I challenge, my hackles raising instinctively at the threat in his tone. “You gonna come out of retirement?”
“If it comes down to that.”
I shake my head, burying my face in my hands. “It wasn’t even loaded,” I mumble from behind my palms.
“You scared the crap out of him!” Avery shouts. “Loaded or not, you scarred the poor kid for life!”
I pick my head up, narrowing my eyes on her. “Not helping.”
“Don’t care,” she huffs. “I’m always gonna call you on your shit, just like you’ll always call me on mine. That’s what we do.”
Sloane plops down next to me on the couch, blinking those big green eyes at me. “Did you really do that to Luke?” she asks quietly, a slight waver to her voice. “You know it was an accident, right?
I heave a sigh, leaning back against the cushions and stretching an arm behind her. “I wasn’t thinking straight.”
“You can say that again,” Avery mutters.
I shoot her another glare as she hands Sloane’s coffee off to her, but only because I know she’s fucking right and I hate it.
“This isn’t the type of alpha I raised you to be, son,” Dad admonishes. The disappointment in his tone cuts through me like a knife, my throat tightening, fists clenching.
“I know,” I grind out. “Fuck, I know.”
Sloane leans in a little closer, like she’s lending me her support, and something about the move soothes the storm brewing inside.
“It’s one thing to have a temper,” Mom says, and I glance up to meet her bright blue eyes. “It’s another thing to let it control you. I was a lot like you when I was younger, so I get it, Madd. But when you’re in a position of power, where everyone is looking to you to set an example, you have to think twice before reacting. Hell, three times, if you need to.”
I nod my head, her words sinking in. Mom’s always had my back when Dad and I don’t see eye to eye, but I get why she’s on his side about this one.
“I fucked up,” I admit, my voice gravelly. I swing my gaze around the room, meeting my parents’ eyes, my sister’s eyes, Sloane’s eyes. “I’ll own that,” I say. “I’ll apologize to Luke, try to make things right with him.”
Dad nods his approval.
“Well,” Mom sighs, pushing up from her spot on my dad’s lap. “Now that’s out of the way, can we talk aboutthis?” She points between Sloane and me, waggling her brows.
I roll my eyes, throwing my head back in exasperation as Avery fucking cackles from across the room. “Can we not?” I groan.
“What? I’m thrilled that you two finally worked things out!” Mom gushes. “Sloane, honey, we’ve missed you around here. And your timing couldn’t have been better, obviously. Nothing calms down a hotheaded alpha male like finding his mate…”
