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She groans but fifteen minutes later I’m dressed in black jeans, a dark blue silk blouse, and soft soled knee-high boots that don’t make a sound on the tile floor as we sneak through the secret passage in the bathroom.
For better or worse, I’ve won Diana over.
Now, I just hope I can do the same with her brother.
Chapter 18
Maxim
By the time he’s finished spilling his guts, my father seems to have shrunk in his wheelchair.
Looking at him, it’s hard to believe this is the man who used to throw me over his shoulder when I was a kid and run up a flight of stairs, two at a time. The man who beat everyone at arm wrestling at our annual summer picnic. The man who destroyed every challenger for pack leader who dared meet him in the ring, without seeming to break a sweat.
My dad’s the one who taught me that Alphas can bend, but they never break.
But…maybe the tough guy act was all a front.
Maybe my father has been weak all along, at least in the head.
He has to be if he’s bought into this Doomsday shit.
“I understand it’s a lot to take in, son,” he says. “But this is the real deal. The prophecy was confirmed by our last Pathfinder before he died.”
I clench my jaw and pace back across the length of the quiet meeting room, not enjoying the reminder of Willow.
Of what I discovered about her tonight.
Of how easily she might learn to manipulate people, too, if given enough time to hone her skills.
“Dad, you know Pathfinders can lie,” I say. “Just like anyone else.”
“Not Rake. He didn’t lie, and he had no reason to. When this came to our attention, you and your brother were small children, and we had no idea who the women in the prophecy were. Or that they’d be born into the Blood River pack.”
“And how did you find out?” I ask, hating to humor him, even for a second. But the more I know about this stupid story, the easier it will be to debunk. “Do the Astor girls have a birthmark or something? A lightning bolt on their foreheads?”
Dad’s eyes narrow and for a moment I see the shadow of the powerful man from my youth firm up his features. “They are the only pair of sisters born on the exact days and years foretold in the prophecy. But we didn’t know that until after Kelley and Bane disappeared and my investigative team started digging deeper into her past trying to find them. Her birth was recorded on the wrong day. The certificate said she was born on March 14th, and that’s the date she celebrated. But the midwife who delivered her said Kelley’s mother went into labor late the evening on the 14th and delivered just after midnight. The actual date was the 15th for Kelley and the 5th for Willow, just like the prophecy.”
I shake my head. “Or the midwife lied to give you what you wanted.”
“She didn’t know what I wanted. The prophecy isn’t common knowledge.”
“It’s not knowledge at all. It’s mumbo jumbo.”
He scowls. “If you’re not going to listen with an open mind, then—”
“Fine,” I cut in, fighting to exercise patience. “So, you figured this out eight years ago. Why not go after Willow then? If she’s the key to bringing peace to our world and foretold to make a king of one of the Alphas, why not bring her into our pack? We knew from Kelley that their family was on the outs with Blood River anyway. It would have been easy to convince them to defect.” I arch a brow. “Didn’t you want me to be King of the Shifters, Pops? Or maybe deep down you knew this is all a bunch of horse shit?”
He smiles, but he’s clearly not amused. “Fuck you, too, son.” My father flips me the double bird and calls in a louder voice, “Cameron, I’m ready to go back to my apartment.”
I reach out, turning the lock before Cameron can try the door.
When he does, and it won’t open, he calls out uncertainly, “Alpha, do you…need me to get help?”
“No, thank you,” I growl.
“I wasn’t talking to you…sir,” Cameron says, but he says “sir” like the disrespectful dick he is.
“I’m fine, Cam,” Dad calls out. “But stay close. I’m going to need an extra pain med or five after hacking a hole through my son’s thick skull.”
