Chapter 186

#Chapter 186 – Strategic Retreat My father pulls me along with him as he storms through the back entrance of my childhood home, his hand wrapped around my upper arm.

I gave up resisting at the car, when I had tried to pull free of him – to head back to the battlefield, to see what the hell happened after all those Betas had saluted Victor, and then turned around –

Had turned against my father, started to attack his own base –

“Come on, Evelyn,” my father growls at me, tugging me forward. Despite his age, his Alpha grip on my arm is solid and I stumble over my own feet in my efforts to keep up. He’s holding me so tightly that if I fall, I worry he’ll let me dislocate my shoulder rather than let go of me.

“Dad,” I say, my teeth clenched as he hauls me along, “let me go! I’m already in the house, where do you think I’m going to run to?”

He ignores me, moving forward through the first floor of the house and along to the living room, where two guards stand ready at the door. At the sight of him, they stand aside and he takes a key from his pocket.

I blink in surprise at the sight of the key – I hadn’t even known that his door locked.

After twisting it in the lock, my father pushes open the door, dragging me forward enter the room alongside him. The force of his strength has me stumbling again and I fall onto my knees after taking a few stumbling steps into the room, my father finally letting me go.

“Mama!” I hear, and I whip my head to see two little boys – two little boys –

“Alvin,” I gasp, moving towards him, desperate to hold my child in my arms –

But I scream when my father grabs my hair, pulling me backwards, holding me firm. My scream of pain turns into a yell of fury as I claw at his hand with mine, desperate to get free, but he tightens his grip and smacks me across the head with his other hand.

I go still at the blow, gasping at the pain, and hear my children shriek across the room. When I open my eyes to look at them – to see if they’re okay – they’re being held back by two Betas, prevented from coming to help me, as they so clearly want to.

“That’s enough,” my father growls, “from all of you.”

I go still, watching my boys do the same. Then, looking around the room, I realize that everyone is here – everyone. My mother, my sister, Delia –

The room is so dark, though, for the afternoon – I glance at the windows, and see that the shutters block out all of the light. The whole place feels like a very miserable little cage.

Once I’ve stilled, my father releases my hair, roughly shoving me forward. My hands go to my scalp, massaging the tender skin there, but I don’t make any further protestations or moves to escape. I wouldn’t leave this room without my children, after all.

“John,” my mother says, sitting forward in her chair. “What on earth –“

“That’s enough,” my father snaps, glaring at her, glaring at all of us. “What a mess of this you all have made for me. With your little plans and your sneaking – whatever it is you did with Joyce to ruin me, to make me vulnerable to Kensington.”

I look up at him, then, my eyes narrowing. He’s talking mostly to me, I’ve realized. I’m the one he thinks betrayed him.

And quite frankly, he’s right.

“You lost my allegiance a long time ago, dad,” I say softly. “I don’t know why you would ever think that you had it back.”

He raises a hand to hit me again and I flinch back, but my mother intercedes.

“John!” she says, her voice low with warning, a tone I’ve never heard from her before. “That is enough.”

My father hesitates and then clenches his teeth, lowering his hand. I’m shocked, really – I’ve never, ever seen my father obey anything my mother has said.

My mother comes forward to me then, reaching out her hands, which I take, and pulling me up to my feet. I follow her, willingly, to a seat on the couch, glad to be out of my father’s strike zone and closer to my children. My boys look at me with sad, scared eyes, but I can’t help the relief that must be clear on my face.

Both of my boys, together again. Safe, for the moment.

“What’s going on, dad,” Emma says then, crossing her arms and looking between me and him. Her assertive tone, too, is a surprise. I have to admit, I like these new sides of my mom and sister.

My father glares around the room at all of us, as if we’re as much of his enemy as Victor. Which, I suppose, some of us are.

“Kensington turned my Betas against me,” he says, “he took control of them on the field.”

I see Alvin and Ian’s eyes light up at this information, Ian’s ruse as the wounded son clearly ended. My father narrows his eyes at this reaction, figuring it out as well.

“But I am not finished, not nearly yet,” he says, his voice low. “I still have this house, I still have my forces within it.” He shifts his eyes to me. “I have the three things that matter most to Kensington in this world, and by god, I’m going to make him pay for every single thing he’s taken from me.”

At that, he turns towards the door, but my mother – panicked – stands again and rushes for him.

“John, no,” she gasps, grabbing his arm. “Don’t lock us in here again – we need to be free, we can help you.”

“Let go of me,” my father snaps, ripping his arm from her grasp. He takes a threatening step towards her, opening his mouth to say something else, when a frantic Beta suddenly appears in the doorway.

“Sir,” he says, glancing over his shoulder. “We’ve just had word – the base has officially fallen – we need to lock down in here, sir, if we’re going to have any chance of regrouping.”

“Fine,” my father growls, turning back into the room and glaring at us all. “I want silence form each of you.” Then, he turns to the Betas and waves them in. A small team comes forward, just five or six men.

The numbers surprise me – shouldn’t my father have a bigger planning force than this? Did all of his Betas truly abandon him?

They swiftly set up their headquarters at the other end of the room, muttering quietly to each other as my mother comes back over us, standing next to her usual chair.

“You may go,” she says decisively to the two Betas holding Alvin and Ian. “You’ll be needed elsewhere, surely.” The Betas hesitate but then she gives them a steely glare and they let the boys go, heading over to the Betas on the other side of the room to take their orders. My father leans over the table with them, looking at their computer screens and making plans.

As soon as they’re released, my boys come flying to me. I wrap them both in my arms at once, giving them kisses, but taking extra time to cosset my Alvin, holding his face in my hands, looking him over so to ensure that he’s all right.

“Baby,” I say softly to him. “Are you all right? How did you get here?”

“I came with dad,” he says quietly, but then he frowns, looking ashamed of himself. “But I got captured and they brought me here.”

“But you’re all right?” I ask, searching his eyes.

He nods swiftly. “I’m okay – they weren’t too rough to me –“ he looks down at the floor. “But it shouldn’t have happened. I disobeyed orders, and it got me caught.”

“You disobeyed orders,” I say, bringing my face close to his and making sure he hears how serious I am, “and saved your father’s life. If you hadn’t issued that Alpha command –“

“WHAT!?”

Both of our heads snap to Ian, who stands there looking shocked.

“You issued an alpha command?” Ian says, staring at his brother, shocked and jealous. “And you saved dad’s life?”

Alvin hesitates and then nods a little.

“That’s so unfair,” Ian moans, throwing his head back in agony. “You get to have all the fun.”

“Nutuh,” Alvin says, frowning at his brother. “You got to go to the beach.”

I can’t help myself from laughing at this – despite everything that we’ve been through today, that we’re still wrapped up in. I’m so grateful, in this moment, for my two boys, who always help me to see the light.

“Okay,” I say, laughing still, and putting a hand on each of their shoulders. “Next time, we’ll make sure that Ian gets the harrowing military experience, and Alvin gets to go on vacation. No more mixups like that.”

“Quiet over there!” My father yells, glaring at us from across the room.

Our faces are wiped of their smiles as we remember, again, precisely where we are and what is going on. I pull my boys closer, seating them on the couch next to me. Then, quietly, I look around the room at my little group of allies – three unarmed women and two children – and wonder what the hell we’re going to do next.