Chapter 268

I go a little pale when I hear my mother’s words – not out of shock, but mostly out of guilt. Never, really, did I think of her sitting here alone in this house, missing him. The idea that I’ve kept him away from her for so long – and that she’s been pining for him –

Instantly, I nod, trying to keep my tears from my eyes. “I’ll tell Victor,” I say in a rush. “Immediately –

we’ll have him released –“

“Don’t rush, darling,” my mother says gently. “Make sure it’s done right. Your father – he should not think that he’s won.” Slowly, she shakes her head. “I don’t want any risk or trouble for you, but if Victor can arrange it so that he can live out his final years here, with me…that would be my preference.”

I nod, understanding, unable to speak around the knot forming in my throat.

Emma leans forward, no such emotion stopping her. “Really, mom?” she asks. “Do you…do you miss him? After how he’s treated you over these years?”

“I know that it is hard for you to understand,” my mother replies, her eyes heavy with emotion. “But he is…my Alpha. We were born to and lived in a different world – perhaps a worse world. And when it is just the two of us…it is different. And yes…I miss him. I want my husband by my side – the man with whom I have lived my life. I do perhaps want things to be different…”

She looks down at the floor then, considering. “But I can handle that.” She glances back up at us then, a small smile on her face. “I’ve been managing him quietly for years, I can do it for a few more. And even if I can’t…” she smirks and glances pointedly around the room, “at least I’ve got lots of lamps at my disposal.”

A little laugh bursts from me then as I stare at my gentle mother, hardly able to believe what she just said.

“What?” she says, straightening her shoulders and grinning at both of us. “You think you’re the only tough women in the group? Who do you think raised you?”

I can’t help myself, then – I dash across the room and into my mother’s arms, curling up in her lap a little bit and giving her a kiss on the cheek.

“I love you, mom,” I murmur, holding her close.

“I love you too, darling. Thank you for coming back into my life. For introducing me to your boys.”

“We won’t leave again,” I promise, happy tears streaking down my cheeks. My mother holds me close, sniffing my hair and giving a little hmm of interest.

After a pleasant afternoon, Emma helps me pack my boys into the back seat of my car. When they’re safely shut away, we both wave to our mother, and then she turns to me. I meet her steady gaze, ready to hear what she has to say. It hasn’t escaped my attention that even though my mother gave me her answer, Emma has not.

But I can tell by her steely demeanor that she’s ready now, even if she wasn’t before.

“Were you serious earlier?” my sister asks, “when you said what happens to Joyce is up to me?”

I nod. “Yes. Whatever you decide, that’s what I’ll do.”

“Even if it’s bad for Victor’s politics?” she asks, turning her head to the side.

I nod again. “The politics don’t matter as much as you do, Emma. We want to do what is right by you. If it’s right with you, then it’s right with us, and everyone else can just…deal with it.”

She takes a moment then, her arms folded, to stare off at the horizon where the sun is just starting to set. I watch the sun’s golden rays as they glint against my sister’s lustrous hair, bringing out the pretty blonde highlights she’s had since she was a child.

Then, she turns to me, her face set.

“Let him rot, Evelyn,” she says, her voice low and steady. “If it’s up to me, then let him rot. Because that’s what he would have left me to do, had I been forced to stay in that marriage – he would have locked me in a room for the rest of my life, metaphorically if not in reality. So that’s what I’ll do to him.”

I hold back my tears and simply nod sharply to my sister, letting her know that I have her back.

“And now, my life begins,” she says softly, taking a deep breath and turning away from me without another word.

I can see the decision weighing on her as she walks away from me, over to her own car. But as she goes, I see her straighten her shoulders and lift her chin.

Justice, I think as I watch her go. My sister is finally getting justice. And I’m so glad I can be the one who gives it to her.

__________________________________ The boys are quiet on the ride home, perhaps sensing my mood. I don’t say a word, rather wrung out from all of the emotions that I’ve been feeling. I glance at them often in the rearview mirror, thinking about…

Well, what my life would be like, if either of them put me in the positions in which I’ve put my mother these past few years. I would die – absolutely die of grief – if either of them ever spent six years not talking to me. If they had children and didn’t tell me about them – if I couldn’t be part of their lives –

If they had a father from which I couldn’t protect them, who was ruining their lives –

My heart wrenches at the thought of how my family has been pulled apart.

But I realize, as I pull into my driveway, that that’s what I was running from the whole time. That it wasn’t just that I didn’t want Victor to take them away from me – it’s that I didn’t want them to have an Alpha father who treated them the way that my father treated me, who was going to tear us all to pieces whether we were together or not.

As I put my car in park and open my door, I’m suddenly again so, so grateful that Victor isn’t the man I thought he was. And so, so guilty that I kept him away from his children for so long.

Victor and Rafe are on the porch when we arrive, chatting quietly, perhaps waiting for us. But as soon as I turn towards him, and Victor sees my face, he’s on his feet and heading down the stairs.

The boys move towards the house, perhaps intuiting that we need a moment alone, and I throw myself into Victor’s arms, letting myself cry into the fabric of his shirt.

“Evelyn,” he breathes, holding me close. “Are you all right? What’s wrong –“

“I’m s-sorry, Victor,” I say, gasping a little with the tears. I look up into his face. “I’m so sorry I kept them away from you for so long –“

“Who?” he asks, confused.

“The babies! Alvin! Ian!”

“Evelyn,” he says, his voice full of regret. “We’ve been over this – that’s all in the past – why –“

“I was just so scared you’d be him,” I sob, tucking my face back against his chest as he folds his arms more tightly around me, letting me cry. “And you weren’t – and it was horrible, for me to think that you were –“

“I might have been,” he says softly. “Honestly, Evelyn, it was a close call. I think…I think maybe everything worked out the way it should have…”

I let my mate hold me, shushing softly into my hair for a few minutes, before we hear footsteps on the gravel drive behind us. Victor turns, and I look with him, surprised to see Rafe there.

“Evelyn,” he says, hesitant, his face worried. “Are you…are you all right?”

I nod, giving him a little smile. “Yes,” I say, nodding to him and then up at Victor. “Just…an emotional day. Lots of hard conversations, bringing up tough memories of…of the way I was raised.”

Rafe nods to me, understanding, and I look up at Victor. “They made their decisions, though.”

“Oh?” he says, clearly eager to know but not wanting to push me.

I nod. “Yes. Joyce stays locked up for good. But my father…goes free.” Victor nods, holding my eyes for a moment, and then leans forward to kiss me on the forehead.

“If that’s what you want, Evelyn,” he says softly. “That’s what we’ll do. Tomorrow, first thing.”

I close my eyes and rest my head against my mate, relieved that it’s over and done. That I can finally relax.

But unfortunately, my respite is interrupted.

“Wait,” my brother-in-law says, his voice shaking with rage. “Are you kidding me? After all of this, Walsh goes free?”

I feel my mate tense in my arms, ready for a fight.

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