Savage Awakening (Alpha Pack #2)(52)

Rowan paused, and he could almost see those dots connecting at warp speed. Why did the woman have to be such a goddamned smart cop? Then again, maybe a tiny part of him wanted to confess to someone who'd understand.

"Do you know where your stepfather and stepsister are these days? What they're doing?"

"Not my dear old stepdad. But his daughter?" He shook his head, stomach clenching. "I wasn't so lucky on that score. Beryl turned up in my life a few months ago, like the proverbial bad penny."

"She found you here, came to see you?"

"Worse. She showed up on Jax's arm... as his girlfriend."

Rowan's eyes rounded. Yep, she got it.

A low snarl sounded from behind them. "You goddamned son of a bitch."

Oh, f**k. This is gonna be bad.

Heaving a deep breath, he stood and turned. Faced an extremely and justifiably pissed-off Jax, who stood in the door to the rec room, fists clenched, blue eyes sparking with rage. Aric held up his palms.

"Jax-"

"Beryl is your f**king stepsister?" he choked. "You knew. For months, that bitch and her evil cohorts were planning to annihilate us, you knew. And said nothing!"

"I can explain-"

The man crossed the room in three strides and leapt over the back of the sofa, slamming into Aric like a bull out of a chute. Aric flew backward, crashing on top of the coffee table, which shattered into pieces. They hit the floor and he felt a painful stab in his back, probably a shard of wood, as Jax took a handful of his shirt and unloaded on him with a fist that packed the punch of a jackhammer.

Pain exploded in his face, reverberated through his skull. He wondered whether his jaw had been broken, but the blows powered into his head, scattering all thoughts but one-he deserved this. Had it coming for ages. He and Jax had scrapped before, but this time he didn't fight back, simply took what the man dished out.

His lip split, and blood ran down the back of his throat. Rowan was yelling for help, but Jax was unfazed. His sole mission was to pummel Aric into dust. Then, out of one swelling eye, he saw Nick, Zan, and Hammer appear behind Jax. They grabbed him, pulled him off, though it took all three of them to do it. Jax's face was a mask of fury as he struggled to come at Aric again.

"Jaxon, cool it!" Nick yelled. "Knock it off!"

Hammer got their friend's arms pinned at his back. "Jesus, man, what the hell?"

Rowan crouched beside Aric, helped him sit up. "Are you all right?"

Wiping the blood off his lower lip, he winced. "Feel like I was hit by a truck, but yeah."

"I should f**king kill you," Jax yelled.

"Maybe you should," he agreed. That admission seemed to give Jax pause, though he was still plenty angry.

So was Nick. "Anyone care to tell me what's going on in here? Why the hell are two of my best men going at it like junkyard dogs?"

Jaxon pointed an accusing finger. "Ask him who Beryl is to him! Ask him!"

The other three men looked at him in silent question. He didn't want to do this, but since he had no choice, he preferred to be on his feet. He stood, with some assistance, and his heart sank. Every single one of the team including the newest, A.J. and Kalen, were waiting for an explanation. Those who'd been around the longest, during Beryl's time as Jax's girlfriend and the disastrous aftermath, were wearing hard expressions.

Steeling himself, he told the long-denied truth. "Beryl is my stepsister," he said. "But I've never claimed her as family."

Zan gaped at him. "Why would you keep this from us? Even if you don't consider her your sister, why didn't you tell us?"

Jax lunged again, but was held back. "You should've warned us-me-about her true nature. But you never said a word."

He tried to make them understand. "Looking back, yes, I should have. I was suspicious of Beryl's motives, but I talked to her and she swore you guys made each other happy. I didn't think she could've changed so much from the selfish bitch I'd known when her father married my mother and they moved in with us. But, Jax, you thought you were in love with her, remember? You wouldn't have believed me."

"You never gave me the chance!"

"You thought she was fantastic. Anything I said would've hurt our friendship." He hated the desperate tone of his own voice. The fear.

"You could've at least mentioned her tie to you, if nothing else," Ryon put in. "That's messed up, man."

"She begged me not to, and she did a great job of faking sincerity. She said she didn't want the animosity between us to interfere with the love she'd found with Jax. I wanted to believe her, and that's why I didn't say anything. And after the ambush, the guilt was too much and I didn't know how to come clean. Please, try to understand-"

"What I understand is that you should be dead," Jax replied coldly. "It should be you."

Jerking out of his friends' grasp, he spun and stalked out of the room. Aric's heart died in his chest, crumbled to ashes. Jax was right.

He had to get the f**k out of here. Whirling, he stumbled blindly for the exit and pushed outside, ignoring Nick's shout to stop, Rowan's entreaty to stay, that his friend didn't mean it. He shut them all out and walked quickly, stripping off his shirt, kicking off his boots and unzipping his jeans. Then he jogged across the lawn, picking up speed until he was running.