Chapter 57: Chapter 56

Xander “| swear that’s what she said. She was with your dad last night.”

I'd made Zane repeat himself when he came back from Alice’s quarters and told me the news.

It sounded completely ridiculous-my father knew Zane and | loved Alice, and | was sure he’d seen her sneaking in and out of the mansion the past two years, but it’s not like they were friends.

It's not like they'd be out partying at a club together.

The image of Alice and my dad grinding together on a hot, dark dance floor floated to the front of my mind unbidden.

Go ds, at least | really f ucking hoped not.

But Gustav had just told me that my parents were the ones responsible for making sure none of us knew what really happened in the Great Wars. If they were capable of telling a lie that huge, then who knew what else they were keeping from me?

“| know it’s insane,” Zane said, reading my mind.

shook my head. “It’s a lie, is what it is.”

“Actually, it’s not.”

My father’s low, gravelly voice boomed around the dining room as he swept inside. “Alice was with me.”

| stood up so fast my chair flew over and landed with a crash on the wood floor.

“What the hell were you doing out all night with my mate?”

Why did he think he could just keep this s hit from me? Or that he could manipulate me like | was still a child?

Orion Constantine had given up the Alpha title to me. | wasn’t his f ucking puppet.

“You of all people should know what that looks like,” | roared. “You should know what kind of trouble that could get me in!”

My father rolled his eyes.

“Have you forgotten who was Alpha first? | know what I’m doing Xander, and to be frank, it doesn’t concern you.”

| slammed my fists onto the table, my wolf surging to the surface.

“G ods, if one more f ucking person says that to me...”

Zane stood, slowly, and calmly interjected.

“I'm sure your father has good reason for holding back.” He turned to my father. “But if you could share, Orion, it would help all of us.”

My father barked out a short, mirthless laugh.

“Don't even try to reason with me. No one would have known who Alice had been with if she hadn’t opened her big mouth and told you. So why don’t you sit back down and shut your mouth?

time.”

| saw red then.

Zane’s rage’ shot through my body, mixing with my own in a swirling lava rushing through my veins.

| stomped over to my father, his lips curling up in a smirk as | got closer.

He held up his hands.

“Leave it alone, Xander.”

“Like hell | will!” | snarled. “If it comes down to choosing between my reputation and you, I’m choosing my reputation every His face went stony.

“You're not going to be the reason my pack stops respecting me,” | spat. “I'll banish you and Alice before | let that happen. You won't keep things from me anymore, Father. | won't stand for it.”

He scoffed.

His lack of reaction was even more infuriating.

He was doing everything he could to remind me that my power was in his hands, and | wouldn’t stand for that.

“Are you sure about that, son? There are things you might not want to know. And once you find out, there’s no going back.”

It was my turn to roll my eyes.

That was the understatement of the f ucking century.

“Oh, like what?” | challenged. “You don’t want me to know about vampires?!”

Zane’s head whipped around to face me, his eyes wide.

| hadn’t even had a chance to catch him up on everything Gustav had told me.

But now wasn't the time to explain. “Or you don’t want me to know how you made a deal at the end of the Great Wars to make sure none of us knew vampires ever existed? Is that it?”

My father’s face drained of color.

I'd actually caught him off guard.

Asatisfied grin settled on my lips.

“You weren't there!” he snarled, his wolf flashing in his eyes. “You have no f ucking clue what you’re talking about.”

He crept toward me slowly, his claws emerging as he did.

“| made you, son. | gave you this title whether you deserved it or not. And | can take it away...just like that.”

But | wasn’t ready to back down. | felt my own claws rip through my skin as | went to lunge at him.

“You f ucking-”

But suddenly my senses were overwhelmed with that same sp icy, ancient scent I'd smelled that day when we found Lanie by the lake.

i froze.

And then Braden rushed in.

Before | could turn my fury on him, before | could wrap my hands around his slimy little throat, he spoke.

“Lanie’s been kidnapped!”