Chapter 430

I sat for a second, staring off to the side. “No, Daddy, I didn’t like him. I loved him, as stupid and reckless as it was. I was stupid enough to fall in love with him.” I looked back and felt a tear, so I quickly swatted it away. “But he was always honest with me. If it was his choice… he would have chosen me. But he had to work with his wolf, who was in love with someone else.”

My father growled. “He’s a dumbass.”

“Not really.” He looked at me. “His wolf was in love with Nix, but we were both too stupid to realize it. Our wolves were in love and so were we. But there was never any crossover, so we didn’t know.” I rubbed my forehead. “But when I was forced into a heat, he refused to help.”

My dad was silent. “Rowan is saving himself for his mate.”

I nodded. “He is.”

My dad then growled. “He could have helped you.”

I sighed. “I thought that too at the time.” I wiped away another tear. “I hated him for a long time because it was just that simple. He could have helped me.” I turned to look at my dad. “But if you were an honest man—one I know you are—if you were in love with the wolf that was in heat in front of you, and she was throwing herself at you, would you have been able to resist?”

My dad met my eyes, and I saw he was considering it. “So say if your mom wasn’t my fated mate, just a wolf I loved, and she was in her first heat, begging me to help. Are you asking me if I could have held back?” I nodded. He considered it for a second. “Not a fucking chance.”

I nodded. “It took me a while, but I came to the same conclusion. I was everything he said he wanted in a mate. I just wasn’t his mate. And I was begging him to help me.” I dropped my head into his hands. “And if he would have helped me, I know deep in my heart, eventually, if I ever met my fated, I would regret it, and him. And I would have resented him.”

My dad whistled. “That is a lot to think about.”

I nodded. “And he did it in a second. He tore himself away and stayed away.” I sighed but looked at him, realizing Thoth had joined back when I wasn’t paying attention. “Rowan saved me that day, and I hated him for it, but I understand it now. I just wish I could help him now.” Then I turned to my dad. “And to your original question… yeah, I do. But does it even matter?” I sighed.

“What are you two talking about?” Thoth’s voice cut through my pity fest.

“It doesn’t matter.” I smiled. “Just wishful thinking.”

My dad put his head in his hands but stayed silent. Thoth coughed once. “Sorry about that. But you were being taken to a cell.”

I nodded. “Yeah, they tossed me in, and I had to rebuild my power, so I used it to gather information.”

“What did you learn?” Thoth asked after my dad stayed silent as he stared at me with sad eyes.

“Not much. Rick woke up one day with the brand, Vince’s way of controlling him after he tried to turn him against my dad, but failed. He was still going to let himself die, but then Vince infected his daughter. Rick wasn’t the bad guy. And he gave me a plan to get out. I just had to wait until Vince became too obsessed with me.”

“How did he not recognize you?” Thoth asked, and then he knocked on his desk. “You were running as your wolf and not Nix, weren’t you?”

“Bingo.” I smiled. “Vince, for some reason, loved Megan.” A growl came from my lips, and I chuckled. “A fact she doesn’t like one bit.” I shook my head. “Brandon came in to taunt me the last day. He thought he could scare me, but I never found him to be a threat. Not even when I couldn’t shift.”

“You couldn’t shift?” Thoth questioned. “When?”

“In my first life. I never shifted. I didn’t even know I had Megan.”

His voice was soft. “That must have been hard.”

I laughed. “Being a Luna who couldn’t shift was. But I’m not that woman anymore.” I turned to my dad, who was still staring at me. “Why are you so quiet?”

My dad stared at me for another minute and sighed. “I’m just thinking.”

“About what?” I tilted my head.

“That I might have messed up.” He straightened when I just lifted my brow.

“Why do you say that?”

He countered me with a question. “Why do you say you and Rowan weren’t mates?”

I froze. “Because we weren’t.”

My dad leveled me with a look. “Baby girl… you have kept your true scent hidden since you were eighteen, and he has since he was a child.”