Chapter 601
Marcus's hands were around Evan’s neck before anyone even thought to move. “She was my daughter, you son of a bitch.”
Evan sneered. “She was not your fucking pup, and we all know it. She was a whore’s throwaway, one you picked up as a mistake.” He wrapped his hands around Marcus’s wrists and tried to pull them off. “I did you a favor.” His eyes were dead. This man, this wolf, was dancing on a thin thread of sanity.
Nix paced under my skin. Look at her eyes. Nix’s voice pulled me away from the fight and back to the photo. I shifted my focus back to the girl’s face, and while at first glance, you'd think she was dead, her eyes told a different story. They were half-closed, but it was the deadness in them that made me think I was wrong. Nix's voice broke through my thoughts. She is staring at the one taking a photo. Someone else was there. Someone she knew.
I opened my mouth, but Megan’s soft voice stopped me. “Her stomach.” There was a soft cry that came from my wolf that had my blood freezing.
“Oh, Goddess.” The words fell from my lips before I could stop them. Everyone turned, but I was glued to the screen. I zoomed in again, and there it was. “How could you?” I choked out as I stumbled from the chair. Evan’s dead eyes found mine, and I wanted to kill him. “You are a fucking monster. And believe me when I say this…I don’t say that lightly.”
Evan’s lips curled up slowly. “I know.” Marcus’s hands tightened on his neck, and I watched as red traveled up his neck. But his eyes never left mine.
“Wait.” I walked around the desk, putting myself way too close to the others. Rowan growled and stepped up behind me.
“Are you trying to give me an aneurysm?” Rowan growled in my ear. “Don’t do that again.”
Marcus turned his face toward me. “What? He deserves to die.”
“I’m not trying to save him. I just need answers.” I stepped closer to the two men.
Marcus growled. “Answers about what? Why he killed her?” I shook my head. “Then what?”
I turned back to Evan and his soulless eyes. “Who helped you?”
Everyone tensed. “What do you mean?” My father’s voice was icy as he stepped up to the desk, trying to see what I saw.
“Look at her eyes.” I looked back at the picture on the big screen. My father zoomed in on her face again. “I had originally thought she was dead because of her eyes,” I explained. “But the truth is there. She is staring at the person taking the photo.”
My father zoomed in and then growled. “The picture is too old to manipulate enough to figure it out.”
“Whoever it was, she knew, and she felt betrayed by them,” Ronnie’s voice cut through the murmuring.
I nodded. “Pan to her stomach.” My voice was barely a whisper as I stared at Evan. His eyes stared back at me, and I watched a smile bloom on his face.
“You see what most miss.” He chuckled. “I don’t think anyone who has seen this photo realized the truth. No one but you.” He grinned as Marcus turned to stare at the screen.
“I don’t see it…” My father kept staring for another second.
I swallowed before I looked back at the picture. “Her chest is broken open, and most of her organs are on display.” My voice was almost a whisper. “But her intestines were pulled out, and they are off to the side on the table.”
“You don’t have to explain it. We see what he did to her,” Marcus screamed.
“Do you know why someone might remove the intestines from a woman?” My words were soft, and Evan grinned.
“Men would miss the reason with all the rest going on.” Evan leaned closer. “But you caught it.” His eyes searched mine. “Have you lived through the same experiment?” He licked his lips. “Vince said he had caught a female a few months back…Was it you?”
Marcus growled and slammed him back against the wall. “Who cares about the reason?” He screamed as his hand tightened again.
But it was Ronnie who let out a grunt as my father passed over the spot again. “Is that a fucking foot?” His finger pointed to the tiny shape pressed up against the thin membrane.
Everything stopped as the truth settled around the room. Marcus cried as the truth sank in. “Who helped you?” His fist tightened around Evan’s throat again, and if I had been looking anywhere else, I would have missed it—the tiny flick of his eyes to the left. Marcus screamed again. “Who fucking helped you take my Sera and my grand pup and give them to the humans? Who helped you take her apart while she watched you? Who helped you betray me?”
Evan laughed. “That’s the part that stings the most, isn’t it, Marcus? You thought we were all working together to betray the royals, and now you find out that it’s everyone for themselves?” Evan growled. “But you didn’t fucking flinch when you all voted against my son’s pack.”
“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?” Marcus screamed.
“When Garith picked the first packs to be attacked by the rogue pack,” Evan screamed. “You all voted against my son. I begged for more time to turn him. But what did you say?” Evan leaned in. “What did you say, Marcus?”
“I don’t remember; it was twenty years ago.”
“You said it wasn’t personal,” Yarrow offered. “We needed to attack those loyal to the King, and it wasn’t personal with Evan’s son, but he made his stance clear.”