Cole's Redemption (Alpha Pack #5)(17)

“Did you witness him killing your mother?”

“No,” she admitted. “But I know it’s the truth.”

“How do you know it?”

“Because my uncle said so!” she cried, losing her composure. “Everyone knew it! The whole clan never let me forget it, either!”

“I’m sorry this is so painful to discuss,” Dr. Mallory said with surprising gentleness. “I’m just trying to understand what an eleven-year-old girl saw and heard. What she lived through.”

Swallowing against the burning in her throat, Selene looked away. “She went through hell, but never came out the other side. She was never the same.”

Never.

None of her clan, or anyone she met, knew the real Selene, that she wasn’t such a badass. That she was still just a frightened, devastated girl who’d lost her parents and didn’t understand why. A girl who wanted only to be loved.

Maybe it was a good thing she hadn’t succeeded in taking out her father. Dr. Mallory had stirred up some questions that were already nagging her like a sore tooth.

And she was going to get them answered if it was the last thing she ever did.

Four

Zan met Nick in the conference room.

His wolf was going bananas, and he was having a devil of a time keeping him subdued. As he took a seat next to the commander, he wondered at his luck, or lack thereof, in accidentally mating with the man’s angry, hurting daughter. Zan had been wanting a mate for some time, especially seeing the other guys find happiness one by one, but this wasn’t what he had in mind. The circumstances were less than ideal. And right now, he didn’t really like her that much, either.

His wolf didn’t care. His need to get to his mate, to protect her, was almost overwhelming.

Taking a deep breath, Zan turned to look Nick in the eye. “Is her accusation true? Did you kill her mother?”

Nick looked hurt, but the emotion was quickly masked. “Not in the way she means.”

“An accident?”

“In that it wasn’t supposed to happen, yes.” Staring at the table, he was silent for a long moment before he raised his head again. “You know I don’t believe in interfering with the future I see in my visions. I try never to influence people to change the outcome, no matter how horrible the event that’s coming.”

“Yeah. I always wondered about that. It has to do with Selene?”

“And her mother,” the commander said softly. “I tried to screw fate, and her mother paid the price.”

Oh, shit. “Not just her mother—you and your daughter also.”

“All of us. I didn’t know what would happen, what my actions would set in motion,” he said. Zan had never seen the man show so much raw pain.

“So tell her. She’s operating under a terrible misconception.”

“I’ll tell her the truth, but not yet. It’s a hard thing for someone to believe something all their life and then find out they were fed lies. That the person they hate isn’t exactly what they thought. She needs time to get to know me, to come to her own conclusions.”

“That might make it easier for her to swallow,” he agreed. “If she stays at the compound for a while, she’ll begin to understand on her own that what she thought was true, isn’t.”

“And then, hopefully, she’ll come to me, ready to listen. She won’t believe anything I say until then.”

“What really happened, Nick? What did you do that cost your mate her life?”

His expression was bleak. “Selene deserves to hear the story first. I hope you understand.”

“Of course.” Hesitating, he tried to quell his nerves at his next question. “I have to ask. . . . Do you have a problem with me being practically related to you?”

That earned him a small smile. “Zan, I can’t think of anyone I’d be prouder to have as a son-in-law. Assuming this mating works out, I’m happy for you.”

Relief swamped him, and he blew out a breath. “Thank you. I won’t let you or Selene down. Not if I can help it.” Holy crap, did I just say that?

“I know you won’t.”

Just then, Ryon Hunter walked into the room with his mate, Daria Bradford. The man guided her to a chair and held it out for her as she got seated, then took his own place. Zan greeted them both, wondering why they were there, until Mac and Kalen escorted Selene through the door. Then he had a pretty good idea what was going on.

Ryon and Daria took seats opposite Nick and Zan. As Mac and Kalen left, Selene hesitated uncertainly for a moment, and Zan was struck by an image of her being alone like that all her life. On the fringes, never certain where she fit in.

“You can sit over here by me, if you’d like,” he offered.

Surprise flitted across her features, and then she took the empty spot beside him. “Thank you.”

He gave her a smile, and again she appeared a bit taken aback. Though her sitting next to him would make it harder for him to read her lips while paying attention to everyone else, he preferred having her close. She was tense as a bowstring, but when he touched her knee in reassurance, he felt her relax. Even though he knew it was the mate bond, a purely natural thing for mates to gravitate toward each other, it was still nice.

To his right, Nick began the meeting. Zan noted once again that his hearing was improving, because he actually heard what his commander was saying—distantly, but still.