Chapter 510

My dad staggered at my words. “Amy.” He tried to approach, but I raised my hand.

“No.” I looked at my father, and for the first time, I felt profoundly disappointed. “You interfered with my relationships, with Rowan’s. You manipulated us, making us dance to your tune without regard for our feelings. Now you can’t be upset because we are.”

Rowan trembled with rage. “Leave.” My dad turned to him, and I thought a fight might ensue.

“Leave, Daddy,” I said, taking another long drink from my bottle. “We played our parts. You got what you wanted. I got the information from Vince.” I looked at Rowan. “I don’t know what he wanted from you, but it’s irrelevant now. We all have a job to do.” Rowan turned to me. “I know you’re angry, but it’s over.”

“Can we just talk about this?” my dad asked.

But I shook my head. “Maybe later. Not now. You made your choices, and now you face the consequences.” I glared at him. “Please… just leave.”

My dad stared at me for a few minutes. “Okay,” he nodded. “Okay.” He turned toward the door, then stopped. “For what it’s worth…” He turned back. “I was wrong.” His eyes flicked to Rowan. “Be brave. Be honest.” He looked back at me. “Be yourself.” Then he left.

I turned to Rowan, who was still trembling. “Hey.” His gaze was fixed on the table. “Hey,” I repeated, and finally, he looked up. “Calm down,” I said, shaking my head slowly. “It’s fine.”

“No,” he growled. “I’m pissed.”

“Why?” I sighed. “Yeah, it sucks, but it’s done.”

His eyes darkened. “You hate me,” he said softly. “I was so angry with you. I thought you knew everything, and you were still upset. That’s why you weren’t answering me. I tried to understand your perspective, but some days…”

“Some days you hated me,” I finished. He nodded. “And now you feel a little confused.”

He exhaled. “Yeah,” he nodded. “I guess you feel the same?”

“A little,” I smiled. “I hated you for a long time. But before graduation, I let it go.” He grabbed the wine bottle, only to find it empty.

“But,” he said, leveling me with a look, “I know there’s a ‘but’ coming.”

I laughed. “But at graduation, you decided to throw Verity at me, while she tried to paint my father as a traitor. That pissed me off all over again.”

He grabbed the last bottle of wine, took a long swig, and pulled out his phone. “We’re going to need more wine.” He ordered more, finishing the bottle in his hand. “I thought you knew. That’s why I was so confused when you looked at me and I saw hatred. Then you shifted, and Nix was in front of me, and Erubus was ecstatic. He was practically screaming at me to claim you. He was certain you were his mate. But we were confused why you hated us.”

I furrowed my brow. “What do you mean?”

“I thought you knew and were just playing along. I thought you were fantastic until you looked at me at the end. I ran after you to see what the call was about, and hopefully, to kiss you. Goddess, I wanted to kiss you, just to make sure you still cared about me.” He paused as there was a knock on the door. Clara entered with four more bottles of wine. She placed them on the table, loaded the empty bottles and plates onto a cart, and rolled it out.

“But then you followed me into a fight.”

He nodded. “And I was nervous about showing you who I was, who my wolf was, then…”

“Carl died,” I said, grabbing a bottle of wine. “And his kid appeared.”

“You were mourning, and I wanted to support you. But when you looked back at me and saw me, not Ru… I knew I’d messed up. You weren’t a fantastic actor. You actually just hated me at that moment.” I nodded, blowing a raspberry.

“I hadn’t known anything. And I hated you,” I said, looking at him. “I wanted to hate you so much. It drove me closer to Brandon. My dad was right about that. Once you were gone, I let him get closer. And when I found out about Verity, I let him get even closer.” Rowan growled. “But it did get us what we needed.”

“We hope.”