Sacred Honor; Sacred Sin

Chapter 8

Perrin

"There was an attack."

I'm packing back and forth in the small patient room, listening to my father, The Alpha, give me an account of what happened.

"Well, thank you Captain Obviou--"

My father silences me with a look. But I quickly recover and continue, trying to get answers.

"Why was Ethan on Afternoon Guard duty? We'd been training all morning! You know we're not supposed to be assigned duty unless we have a day off from training. WHY WAS HE ON GUARD DUTY? THIS WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED!" -- my temper is clearly getting the better of me.

"That's not really the point, Perrin," my father growls. He doesn't enjoy being interrupted.

"WELL WHY WAS HE?" I counter, still pissed. "I've been sitting in a waiting room for hours. Nobody will tell me anything! MY BEST FRIEND IS IN LIFE-SAVING SURGERY AND I'M NOT ALLOWED TO KNOW WHA--"

"SHUT. UP." My father roars in my direction. The ferocity of his voice and the heat behind his eyes force my knees to buckle. I may be the Alpha's son but I'm no Alpha. And certainly no match for my father's temper. I stop pacing and sit down, giving in and trying to be patient for more information.

"Gamma Janas wasn't feeling well and called in. I believe Ethan stepped in ... to try...." his voice trails off.

We both know what he means.

Even though Ethan, Kira, and Mistra will always be welcome in our Pack and maintain residence in the pack house, I can't help but feeling sometimes that they're guilty for being there. Like they don't have a right now that Beta Kyle isn't alive anymore. I don't know where it comes from. Ethan's one of the most hard-working guards we've ever had and he's only 17, well, soon to be 18... and Mistra's dedicated to maintaining the packhouse lines of business, everything from the grounds, coordinating pack meetings, handling my father's schedule--which bothers me because really, you'd think she'd handle Deidre's schedule, but Mistra seems to despite her for some reason--and a bunch of other stuff. Let's just put it this way: It's not as though that family isn't pulling their own weight.

But even so, my dad, a very strong, independent, fair, but strict Alpha, maintains a soft spot for them for some reason. I'm not sure if it's because of his relationship with Kyle. They grew up together, just like Ethan and me have, but... it's almost as though my dad feels guilty about the raid that night. But he wasn't even on it. It was regular Night Guard patrol. I just don't get it. I shake my head.

"I get why Ethan wanted to step in," I let me dad off the hook without needing an explanation. "But was he allowed?"

"Kira I think..." My father replied, scratching his silver chin. Despite having brown hair with a little gray starting at the temples, my dad's beard had always been white. His brown eyes flash in my direction. "I think," he continues, "that Kira was next up in rotation, but he didn't know where she was."

"She was missing?" I ask, confused.

"Not missing, just. Out of the pack house. I saw her here when I came to find you earlier and--"

"Yea yea, ok" I squirm, not wanting to relive the uncomfortable discovery of me and Jasmine half naked in my patient room earlier that afternoon. God, had it really only been earlier today? I was exhausted.

My father put a hand over his eyes, as if he was trying to hide his own embarrassment. 

"Wait." I turn to him once again. "Where is Kira? She called Jasmine hours ago. Why isn't she here?"

"I had the Night Guard take them back to the Packhouse. I expected Mistra to be beside herself. Until I knew how bad it was and could control the situation, I didn't want her here--"

"Who can blame her--?"

"--and if the Ascended stood any chance of helping him, I didn't want them to be in the way. I came over here once I had a chance to set out on another patrol with my personal guard to make sure that our borders were secure. I wanted to check in for myself to see what happened."

"Have you called them yet?"

He raised his eyebrows at me. "No, because as soon as I got within 2 miles of the infirmary I could hear your temper getting the better of you. You owe that nurse an apology."

I look at my feet in shame. I may be turning 18 next month but he still had a way of making me 5 years old.

"Can I see him?"

"Let me talk to the nurses. If it's ok, yes. I'm hoping he's out of surgery by now."

"How bad was it? What do you know that you're not telling me?"

My father's face turns grim, his eyes suddenly slits, showing creases at the edges. I suddenly realize how tired he looks.

"C'mon. Let's go."