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“Thank you for waiting for us. Shay and Hunter were in the middle of training and I wanted them to finish up,” Ryder announces, to a string of ‘sure’ and ‘rights’ from the braver people in the room.
“Zip it, everyone. Let Ryder brief us on what he needs to tell us, so we can get some food. Worked up an appetite sparring today.” Hunter winks slyly at me as he heads over to an empty spot on the couch beside Damien, with me in tow, and sits, pulling me down on top of his lap.
“Okay, so there’s a couple of things. We had a team of wolves watching your father's house after we took him, Shay.” My eyes immediately shot to him. “Early this morning, a group of Mr. Michaelson’s men showed up. Our wolves were not to engage only to observe. They went into the house, and from the shadows, they could see them moving from room to room, ransacking it like they were searching for someone or something. Jones reports they were there for about an hour before they left the house, the final person that come out fit the description of Hugo, and he was on the phone. They went to their cars and as they headed down the driveway, the house exploded. We think they were looking for your parents, Shay,” he pauses there.
“Okay, so they didn’t find them and the house exploded. It’s fine, I never liked it anyway, it never felt like home. We’re here and safe,” I explain, as I sit up straighter on Hunter’s lap. The way Ryder is intently looking at me, his lips pursed together, I feel there's more.
“Shay, did your father have pictures of you or Chelle?”
“Of me, yes, Chelle, none recently. I stopped sending them after she turned six. Hell, I don’t even think they ever hung them up; they were so embarrassed of her. Why are you asking?”
“Because he had pictures clutched in his hands. Jones couldn’t see who, but we do know he also had a private detective following you,” he continues before Maverick interjects.
“Shay, Chelle looks exactly like me. There is no denying she is my daughter. If Hugo saw a picture of her, then he’s going to know and relay that back to my father. He’s going to come for you, and now her, and it’s going to be at full force. He will round up every supporter he can find that will go to war with him.” Maverick’s clenching his fists as he speaks.
I know what I need to do; find out what pictures my parents had because there’s no way anyone is getting their hands on my daughter. “Can you take me to my parents?” Standing from Hunter’s lap, I head over to Ryder.
“Of course, but are you sure? I know you didn’t want to see them,” Ryder asks as he takes my hands into his, pulling me into his chest as he wraps his arms around me, comforting me.
“No, I don’t want to see them. But we really need to find out if they had any pictures of her in the home or if they got rid of them all. I need to know if that asshole is coming for my daughter.”
“Our daughter,” Maverick interjects with all the guys agreeing.
“Can we go now, before I lose my nerve?”
“Anything you want, baby. Want us to go with you?” Ryder takes my hand in his, showing his support, and I can tell by the glazed look in his eyes he wants me to say yes.
“Yes, and no. Come with me, for support, but I think I really need to talk to him alone. Tala, Beba, could you watch Chelle for me?”
“You never have to ask if I want to watch my goddaughter, woman. Now go handle your dad.” She’s already rising from the couch. She’s still moving just a tad slower, but she already looks so much better than the first day I saw her after our rescue.
“Okay then guys, let's get this over with,” I tell them, already heading for the door.
Chapter 17
Shay
Ryderhasmyparentsin a cell, a cage. A fitting place for them if you ask me. My father’s face is smug as he glares at me. A sinister smirk on his face when he sees me shift my stance as my mother sits on the cot behind him, a vacant look in her eyes as she stares at the wall.
“Come here to beg us to help you? Well, you can fucking forget it!” comes snidely from him.
I tremble momentarily in my spot at the harshness of his words, memories of being a child in his home rushing into my mind, taking over. But the vision of my daughter overshadows all those thoughts and I steel my nerves. My father will not intimidate me.
“The only thing I want from you is an answer to a question. Nothing more, nothing less. Did you have any pictures of Chelle in your home?” I stare coldly at him as he laughs.
“Oh, I see now. Why don’t you go have a look for yourself if you’re so concerned? Not like I can keep you from doing anything, seeing how you got your wolfmen holding us here against our will.” He feigns an act of mock despair as he puts his hand to his chest.
“I would have done that if it wasn’t a crumpled pile of burnt wood. But seeing how it is, I had to come to speak to you.”
“My house is gone?!” he cries out in anger. “Fuck you, Shayna, guess you’ll never know now. Why should I tell the bitch who's cost me everything?”
“You’d really sell out your daughter, your granddaughter, like a piece of meat? For what? Magic? Power?”
“Yes, the magic would have elevated me within the coven. No longer would our family name be tinged by the atrocities of our forefathers. They would be cowering at my feet, fear ravishing their bodies as they beg for forgiveness for the way they treated us. But you went and fucked it all up, getting pregnant, leaving. All you had to do was keep your legs and mouth shut.” His words make me sick.
I turn to leave, knowing he isn’t going to tell me anything. “I hate you,” are the only three words I plan to tell him. He could burn in hell; I don’t care what they do to him.
He begins to laugh uncontrollably. “I knew it the minute he came to visit me with the boy. Your bastard was the spitting image of him. A little bit of information I wanted to keep to myself. My bargaining chip. He could have you. Then in case, he decided not to restore my magic, I had your brat.”
