Vengeance Reborn

Chapter 16.2

Alpha Finn’s POV

I already know everything.

I sit and listen as my parents discuss Michael.

By the time they finish, I'm no longer surprised by their smiles.

I'm angry.

There's a difference.

Michael has spent most of his life believing consequences are inconveniences other people create for him. If he gets into a fight, someone provoked him. If he misses class, the professor is boring. If a relationship implodes, the woman became difficult.

Nothing is ever Michael's fault.

Dad finishes with Luna Sophia's warning.

I lean back.

“He nearly killed the guy?”

“According to witnesses.”

“Over Ingrid?”

“Apparently the man rejected her two years ago.”

I stare at him.

Dad stares back.

“You're joking.”

“I wish.”

I rub my jaw.

Michael and I have never been alike.

People assume our problems started when I became Alpha, but that's bullshit. The title simply gave Michael something tangible to blame.

He thinks he should have been handed Golden Elite because our parents favor him and wish it so.

He conveniently forgets years of tradition, training, council examinations, diplomatic instruction, combat evaluations, territory management, and nights I spent shadowing Dad while Michael was partying.

Yes, being born first made me heir.

It didn't make me qualified.

I did that myself.

Michael could have built something too.

Instead, he spends more time resenting my position than preparing himself for one.

“What are you going to do?” I ask.

Dad's expression hardens.

“I'm deciding.”

“Don't decide as his father.”

His gray eyes narrow.

I don't back down.

“Decide as the man who used to lead this pack.”

That lands.

I continue. “If one of our warriors did what Michael did today, what would happen?”

“Formal disciplinary review.”

“And if the victim presses charges?”

“We cooperate.”

“Then being your son shouldn't protect him.”

Dad's jaw works.

“I know.”

“I know you know.”

That's what makes this difficult.

Dad loves Michael.

So do I.

Goddess help me, some days I want to strangle him, but he's still my little brother.

That doesn't mean I can pretend he's ready for responsibilities he keeps insisting should belong to him.

I stand.

Dad watches me.

“Where are you going?”

“To stay for the conversation.”

“This is between me and Michael.”

“No.”

His brows raise.

I gesture around us.

“You're sitting in the Alpha's office.”

Technically, Dad still uses it when helping with pack administration. I should have insisted he move into another office but he felt that was ridiculous after decades of leadership.

His eyes narrow.

I smile faintly.

“If this were only about skipping university, I'd leave. Michael assaulted someone while representing Golden Elite in another Alpha's territory. That makes it pack business.”

Dad studies me for several seconds.

Then he nods.

“Fine.”

I head toward the window.

Something still bothers me.

“The Knights were already at the university?”

Dad pauses.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

He looks at me.

“Sophia said there was an interruption before Michael could could finish the guy off by stomping on his hand.”

“That doesn't answer my question.”

“No.”

I turn.

Dad's expression has changed.

He's thinking the same thing I am.

Alpha Sebastian and Luna Sophia Knight don't personally rush to a university because Ingrid gets into an argument.

Something else happened.

Something Sophia deliberately didn't tell Dad.

I file that away.

Not because I distrust the Knights.

Because whatever happened was serious enough for Sophia to omit it.

And somehow my brother was standing in the middle of it.

Wonderful.

---

Michael’s POV

“Home.”

One f*****g word.

That's all Dad needed to ruin my day further.

I lower the phone and stare at the screen.

Thirty minutes.

It takes almost twenty-five to get home if traffic cooperates.

Which means he's not asking me to come home.

He's ordering me.

My wolf growls.

I glance toward where Gabrielle disappeared.

So much for finding her.

For now.

I look down at Ingrid.

She's still on the pavement, one hand pressed against her throat. Red marks are already forming beneath her fingers.

She looks at me differently now.

Afraid.

Good.

Maybe next time she'll think before dragging me into her pathetic revenge bullshit.

“Michael...”

“Don't.”

She flinches.

I pocket my phone.

“I have enough problems.”

Her expression hardens despite the fear. “You hit him too.”

I stop and slowly turn.

“What?”

“You could've walked away.”

For a second, I'm genuinely stunned.

Then I laugh.

“You really want to have this conversation right now?”

She pushes herself to her feet.

“You're blaming everything on me.”

“Because you started it.”

“And you enjoyed it.”

My smile disappears, and her courage falters when she sees it.

Smart girl.

“Go pay your boyfriend's hospital bills.”

“He's not my—”

“I don't care.”

I turn away.

Behind me, she says, “What about us?”

I keep walking.

“There is no us.”

My car waits across the lot.

Dad is going to be furious.

Mom will be annoyed but giddy.

And Finn?

I already know he'll be there.

Perfect Alpha Finn with his perfect f*****g judgment.

I open the driver's door.

Before getting inside, I look once toward the eastern woods.

Leona Knight.

My father's anger can wait thirty minutes.

My curiosity about her can wait longer.

But it isn't going away.

---

Leona’s POV

Dominick's shoulder is warmer than it looks.

I've never thought about that before.

Probably because resting my head on him usually ends with one of us insulting the other within thirty seconds.

Today he stays quiet, and so do I. The silence isn't uncomfortable anymore. I'm too tired.

My tears have finally stopped, although my face feels swollen and my nose is probably red.

Beautiful.

Nothing says terrifying tribid Alpha daughter like crying until your face resembles an irritated tomato.

“You better not tell Gabrielle I cried.”

Dominick looks down at me.

“I would never.”

I narrow my eyes.

“For free.”

“Asshole.”

“There she is.”

I elbow him weakly.

He smiles, but then his expression changes as his head turns toward the trees.

I feel them a second later.

Mom and Dad.

Tempest lifts her head while Snow rumbles softly.

My body reacts before my mind does. I sit upright as two familiar scents drift through the forest.

Home.

Dad appears first between the trees, moving much faster than a normal person should. Mom is right behind him.

The second they see me, both stop.

Dad's face changes.

The Alpha disappears.

My father is here.

“Little one.”

That does it.

My throat closes.

I try to get to my feet, but my legs aren't invested. Dominick catches my elbow just before Dad reaches me.

Then I'm against his chest.

His arms close around me so tightly that something inside me finally gives.

“Daddy.”

“I've got you.”

Mom wraps around us from the side.

For a few seconds, I'm a little girl again in the simplest possible way.

Not reborn. Not chosen. Not carrying prophecy, mourning dead children, a murdered future, and memories nobody else should possess.

Just their daughter.

I bury my face against my Dad's chest.

“He's here.”

Dad's arms tighten.

“I know.”

“I wasn't ready.”

“I know.”

Mom strokes my curls away from my face.

“You didn't have to be.”

My eyes burn again.

Damn it.

I just finished crying.

Dominick quietly steps away.

Dad notices.

Their eyes meet, and something passes between them before Dad gives him a small nod.

Dominick returns it.

I look between them.

Interesting.

Very f*****g interesting.

Before I can examine that, Mom cups my face.

“Look at me.”

I do.

Her ocean-blue eyes move over mine.

“No blue?”

“Not anymore.”

“Fangs?”

I retracted them fully.

She checks anyway.

“Claws?”

“Gone.”

Dad looks at the cracked earth several feet away.

“Temper?”

I glare at him.

He almost smiles.

“Improving.”

“Good.”

I pull away enough to breathe without being crushed between them.

Then reality returns.

“I almost killed him. Or I wanted to.”

Neither parent tells me I'm exaggerating, which somehow makes it worse.

Mom's expression softens.

Dad's doesn't.

His eyes become hard, but not at me.

“I know.”

“What if Dominick hadn't grabbed me?”

Silence.

I glance toward my best friend. He's deliberately looking elsewhere, giving us privacy without actually leaving.

Mom lowers her voice.

“But he did.”

“That doesn't change what I wanted.”

“No,” she says. “It doesn't.”

I stare at her.

I expected reassurance.

She gives me truth instead.

“You were traumatized, triggered, and confronted without warning by someone your mind associates with unimaginable pain. That explains your reaction, Leona. It does not mean every action you might have taken would have been justified.”

I swallow.

“I know.”

Dad touches my shoulder.

“And you stopped.”

“Dominick stopped me.”

“You stayed stopped.”

I look at him.

“That's not nothing, little one.”

Tempest shifts restlessly while Snow remains quiet.

“I don't trust myself around him.”

“Then you won't be around him,” Dad says immediately.

“Sebastian,” Mom warns.

“What?”

“We cannot lock her in the mansion.”

“I didn't say that.”

“You were thinking it loudly.”

Dominick snorts.

Dad turns.

“Something amusing?”

“No, Alpha.”

“Thought so.”

Despite everything, a tiny laugh escapes me.

Mom smiles.

Dad looks ridiculously pleased with himself for causing it.

Then I remember something.

“Gabrielle.”

“She's safe,” Mom says. “I spoke with her before we left.”

My stomach knots.

“What did she ask?”

“Everything.”

“Of course she did.”

“I told her that you were hurting and that you would explain whatever you choose when you're ready.”

Guilt settles over me.

“She knows I'm hiding something.”

“Yes.”

“Dominick does too.”

From behind us comes, “Obviously.”

I turn.

“Privacy.”

“You're talking about me.”

“Still privacy.”

He rolls his silver eyes.

Dad's mouth twitches.

I study all three of them.

Something is off.

Not bad.

Just... off.

Dominick has been watching me since breakfast. Dad keeps looking at him like they're silently discussing something, and Mom isn't surprised by any of it.

Soul Sight stirs faintly.

I narrow my eyes.

Dad notices immediately.

“No.”

I blink. “No what?”

“Whatever you're about to do.”

“I wasn't doing anything.”

All three of them look at me.

Traitors.

“Fine.”

I let it go.

For now.

Mom takes my hand.

“We're going home.”

“What about university?”

Dad gives me a look.

Seriously?

“Right. Stupid question.”

“You're not returning today.”

“Bossy.”

“Alpha.”

“Old.”

Mom closes her eyes.

Dominick coughs suspiciously into his fist.

Dad stares at me.

I smile sweetly.

There.

Normal.

Almost.

Then the image of Michael standing over that student returns, and my smile fades.

“Mom?”

“Yes?”

“Was he always like that?”

She knows exactly who I mean.

“I don't know.”

“He was hurting someone before he even saw me.”

“I know.”

“So maybe I'm not imagining it.”

Dad's jaw tightens.

Mom squeezes my hand.

“You are not imagining what happened today. Michael chose to hurt that young man. That belongs to this timeline, and he is responsible for it.”

“But it doesn't prove everything else will happen.”

“No.”

I hate that answer.

I also need it.

Dad steps closer.

“We judge him for what he does now. We prepare for what you remember. Those are not the same thing.”

I nod slowly.

Maybe that's the line I need.

Memory can warn me.

It cannot become a verdict by itself.

I look back through the trees in the direction of Salem University.

Somewhere beyond them, Michael McGarland is alive and walking through a life that hasn't reached our future.

Maybe this version of him will become exactly what I remember.

Or he won't.

Either way, I'm done walking blindly into whatever fate puts in front of me.

I turn toward my family.

“Take me home.”

Dad wraps an arm around my shoulders.

Mom takes my hand.

Dominick falls into step beside us.

And for the first time since seeing Michael again, I stop looking backward.

For now.