Chapter 63
Chapter 63: Lucas
“Alpha Lucas…” Soloman said cautiously. “This won’t solve anything. Put him down.”
My grip tightened as he fought against me. Rhonen was egging me on but Sutton’s face popped into my head. No matter how I felt about her stepfather, Sutton still cared about him. She wouldn’t forgive any harm coming to him.
So, I dropped him. He hit the floor with a thud as he coughed and spluttered.
“Mate?” he gasped out. “Mason is Sut…
“Mason was not her mate,” I bellowed, hovering over him. “He stole her. After you fucking sold her to Alpha Anders for some fucking business deal. You lost any right to know anything about her when you handed her over to those sadistic monsters.”
Langston looked shocked and confused. Shaking his head as he crawled away from me.
“You’re insane,” he argued. “That’s not what happened. I would never…”
“Don’t fucking kid yourself, Langston,” I hissed. “How much did you even question his request? Come on, Langston. Dranfort isn’t that removed from lycan culture. Did you really believe we include young girls in our business deals?”
He kept shaking his head as he pushed back to his feet. “She wasn’t part of the deal,” he insisted. “He offered her a job.”
“And you made sure she took it,” I argued.
“Because I knew it’s what her mother would have wanted,” he yelled in frustration.
“What do you mean, Mr. Langston?” Soloman pressed.
“My wife – Sutton’s mother – would always say Sutton would return to the packs,” Langston explained. “That when the time was right, she’d take her place among her people.”
“You knew she was a lycan?” I asked.
“I knew her real father was, of course,” he admitted. “It wasn’t something you could deny. But Sutton never shifted and her mother died before she was old enough for any of that stuff. And I don’t know anything about the process. So, I didn’t think anything else of it until Alpha Anders offered her the job. It was the opportunity her mother had wanted for her.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” I said, starting to pace. “Not if she knew who you were giving her daughter to.”
“What are you talking about?” Langston replied. “Alpha Anders and Beta Mason have done nothing but take care of Sutton. They’ve been desperate to find her.”
Soloman’s hand shot to my chest as I advanced on Langston again. Ready to actually wring his neck this time.
“You call endless beatings taking care of her?” I growled. My claws extending. Fur sprouting from my skin. “Years of abuse and isolation. You think nearly raping her to death is taking care of her?”
Langston’s face paled as he balked. “You’re lying.”
“She nearly died in my arms the night we met,” I bellowed. Rhonen was pushing hard at the barrier of control between us. “I’ve seen the fucking scars. I’ve heard her scream in her sleep. I’ve held her as she relived the nightmares.”
“She would have told me,” he argued. “Sutton would never let that happen. She would have come to me for…”
“She tried,” I snapped. “You didn’t care. You blamed her. She couldn’t leave because she was afraid Helene wouldn’t get the medicine she needs. She stayed in that hellhole so that your real child wouldn’t die. And you let her. You turned your back on her.”
Soloman was still holding me back. If he hadn’t been, I couldn’t say if Langston would still be standing or not. But then he pointed out something I’d missed in my rage.
“You said ‘they‘?” he questioned. “Who is looking for Sutton, Mr. Langston?”
“Alpha Anders and Beta Mason, of course,” he replied.
“Now who’s the damn liar,” I spat.
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Chapter 63
“Alpha, please,” Soloman stopped me before turning back to Langston. “You’ve seen Beta Mason? You’ve spoken to him?”
Langston’s brow furrowed. “No, only Alpha Anders,” he said. “He’s the one who came to tell us what happened. That Sutton had been kidnapped after an attack. He said Beta Mason was out looking for him.”
“Mason is dead,” I informed him. “He’s not looking for anyone.”
Langston shook his head again. “No, that can’t be. My other daughter, Hannah, she’s seen him.”
I froze. I pushed past the panic from the news that Mason could possibly be alive. If it was even possible, we had more to worry about.
“You sent another one of your children with them…”
“No, she insisted on going,” he rushed. “I begged her to stay home but she wanted to help them look for Sutton. She’s staying with them. She wants to find her sister as much as I do.”
Soloman looked at me with deep concern. He leaned in close as he spoke to me.
“I met the youngest,” he whispered. “She’s truly human, Lucas. I suspect the other one is, too. They aren’t like Sutton.”
Things just got worse for Sutton. If Hannah was with Anders and was a human, it was likely they had no real use for her. He would use her as a hostage. Something to negotiate Sutton’s return with. Sutton would never leave her sister in their hands. She’d do anything to save her.
“Why is Sutton so important to Anders?” I demanded. “What does he want with her? Who is she?”
“I don’t know,” Langston yelled. “I don’t know why he wanted her there.” He looked at Soloman. “Is that why you were asking about my wife? You think this is about Sutton’s father?”
“We need to find out who Sutton’s parents really were,” Soloman said.
Langston shot me a look. “If you really are so close to her, why hasn’t she told you? If you really are her mate…”
“What are you talking about?” I growled, pushing against Soloman’s grip.
“Her mother wouldn’t tell me anything about her past life,” he stated. “Nothing. But she left all that to Sutton with instructions on when to give it to her. I sent it to her after she was mated to Mason. It’s all in the box.”
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