Chapter 54
JOSH The mind link closed from my mate, which sent me and my wolf into despair. We wanted to return to her and our pups, but there was one pup we needed to help, and that one was in the house in front of me. My eyes locked with Lucian, who had been staring at me through the window. “Mate will be fine,” my wolf chimed in. “We need to look after our pup.” 1 I tensed at the word. My wolf was accepting Leah as his own, which was unheard of. But the thing was, I was accepting her too. She didn’t deserve any of this, not having rogues chasing her. Not because of a madman who was supposed to be family. I couldn’t wrap my head around what happened and what Carson had told me. I knew there were concerns because of Leah being human, but I thought they were past it all. Shaking my thoughts away, I let out a sigh and climbed out of the car. I headed toward the house but couldn’t help looking around the neighborhood. No one was out, not a soul. I took the long way here. I had to make sure no one followed me. After Lucian’s mind-linked saying that rogues were there, it made me press my foot down to get there quicker. Stepping toward the front door, Lucian opened it and motioned for me to enter. I stepped inside and looked around. There was hardly anything here. How the hell were we going to keep Leah safe? We didn’t even have any furniture. I walked further inside but stopped. I turned around when Lucian closed the door behind me. “Where is—” I asked, but Lucian placed his finger to his lips, instantly stopping me. He mouthed, ‘sleeping’ to me and walked past me. I listened in and heard slight snores coming from somewhere. “In here,” Lucian whispered, making me look at him. Saying nothing, I followed him into the kitchen and sighed. I went over to the counter and faced him. Leaning on the counter, Lucian looked at me and groaned. “This is a mess,” he muttered. “What the hell—” “Your parents are involved in this,” I blurted out, making him stare at me blankly, but I continued. “It seems they are working with the old gamma and a rogue. They helped your father and mother escape the pack when the attack happened.” “How do you know?” he asked. “Carson told me,” I muttered, letting out a sigh. “There is video footage of them escaping the cells,” I told him everything that Carson had told me, which only made him even angrier than we all felt. “Fuck,” he growled, slamming his hand on the counter. “I knew Jenny shouldn’t have told him about Leah.” Arching my eyebrows at him, feeling slightly confused about what he meant. “What do you mean by that?” I asked, making him look at me for a moment before letting out a sigh. “It means,” he said, pushing off the counter and standing before me. “That I didn’t trust my parents when it came to humans. They were pissed that Jenny fell in love with one, let alone had a child with him.” That part should have hurt, but ever since meeting Leah. I felt something with her like a father would with any child. She went through something that no child should—losing a parent, and in Leah’s eyes, she lost both until Jenny showed up, which probably brought more feelings to deal with. Lucian carried on, pulling me back from my thoughts. “Jenny knew what they were like,” he said. “But she didn’t want to keep any secrets with them.” My wolf stirred. We knew about those secrets more than anyone. Hell, we had a few ourselves too, which not even she knew. “I told her not to tell them about her,” Lucian said, pacing the kitchen. “When she told them, I can remember my father’s face. It read more than it should. He was sickened but also pissed. No grandparent should be like that, not with a child. He blamed Leah for Jenny’s fate.” “What the hell?” I asked, furrowing my eyebrows at him. “Her fate. She’s my mate.” “Not what I meant,” he muttered, looking at me with defeat. “What do you mean?” I asked, pushing off the counter and standing before him. “All this happened because your father believed humans were lower than low. No human can be lower than us. They are like us but have more heart than anyone I knew.” “Who are you trying to persuade?” he asked. Letting out a sigh, I turn my back on him and look out of the kitchen window into the darkness. “I met him, you know,” I whispered, letting one of many secrets spill out. “I met Leah’s father. I wanted to know who I was up against.” I turned around and looked at a surprised Lucian. His mouth dropped open. “I met with him,” I said, looking at him. “He didn’t know who I was. He was with Leah, but I never knew who she was to Jenny or him. There was no scent, which was weird.” “What happened?” he asked. “What was he like?” I felt my shoulders sagged slightly when I told him. “He was nice,” I muttered. “I sat on the bench and said nothing, but he looked at me like he wanted to hit me. He spoke only a few words but was a nice guy.” Lucian stared at me for a moment. “Does Jenny know?” he asked, which only made me shake my head. “No,” I muttered. “I couldn’t. It was when I came to claim her, but she was hesitant and told me she had something to do before leaving.” “She would have—” he said, but I growled and frowned at him. “I couldn’t deal with all that,” I said. “She was going through a lot. She knew I was willing to move and do anything for her. If I knew about Leah, fuck, I wouldn’t have even moved her back to the pack. We would have lived here as rogues if it meant her having her daughter with her.” Lucian’s face softened. “You would have done that,” he said. “You would have—” “I would have done anything,” I said, cutting him off. “If Jenny told me about Leah, I would have fought for that child, too. I would have done anything for your sister. She was my and my wolf’s life. We would have moved heaven and earth for her.” My wolf whimpered in my head. He was feeling the same. All this time, I have had to watch my mate suffer in silence, and when she told me about Leah, I was willing to go and get her. I opened my mouth but closed it when I heard a creak outside the kitchen door. I looked at Lucian with wide eyes and moved toward it. I opened the door and stepped inside, only to stop to see Leah staring at me. Her eyes bore into me. It was hard to look away from her. Even my wolf was staring through my eyes. Did she hear what we were talking about in there? Surely she didn’t.