Chapter 522 Chapter 522
Alpha’s though, that system needed to be re-examined and the worthy should hold that position. Who would she talk to about that? She rolled her eyes at the darkness outside, because one woman’s jaded opinion would be taken seriously.
Turning, she looked at Tripp, he seemed as thoughtful as she was, “where do you live if not with your family?”
He didn’t look away from the road, “Mae took me as one of her clan, so I could work with the team.” She watched him take a deep breath and then exhale, “when Kenzo and Calum dragged me away from your father’s land, I thought I was done.” He shifted around in the seat and then looked more relaxed with one hand on the wheel instead of gripping it hard with both, “I cooperated,” he smirked at her, “mostly. So, Mom and Ginny would have clan protection.”
Amari needed something to take her mind off her life but was interested in his history too. “How did you go from being forced off the land to working on the biggest bad team we have?”
He looked at her for a second, a serious expression on his face, then turned back to watch where he was driving. “It’s kind of a blur, actually.” He was quiet for a few moments, “Kenzo stayed with me at some camp,” he reached and adjusted the brightness of the dash lights, so they weren’t as bright, “I didn’t know at the time it was a training site for the special operations team.” He brushed his hair back from his face and then glanced at her briefly, “when Calum returned a few days later, Mae was with him, and I was offered a position in her clan if I agreed to train to help the Alliance.” He shrugged, “apparently I impressed them by getting the three of us here undetected and onto your father’s land without anyone knowing.”
Amari grinned, “he wasn’t happy.” She kicked her boot off and pulled one leg up onto the seat, “I remember that much.”
Tripp turned to look at her, amusement in his eyes, “no he wasn’t.”
“Calum must have pleaded your case to Shepard Addison,” she knew all about that, “he’s good that way.”
“Is that what happened with you?” he held her look for a second and then turned back to the road, “when your father banished you?”
“Eventually.” She hugged her knee to her chest and watched out the windshield, “I was on my own for about six months before I came across other clan members.” She remembered how cold that time had been, and surviving through the winter, she’d spent most of it in cat form to stay warm. He was quiet, not pushing her to talk about it, but she wanted to share it with him. Only a few people knew her story and they had saved her from a life that could have ended much differently. “I figured,” she shrugged, “well, once I settled down and didn’t want to burn my father’s house to the ground,” she glanced over to see him smirking, but looking into the night and not at her, “I figured that guy I’d killed, you know, that he had other clan scents on him and his gear—so I thought it must be a thing and not some one-off, right?” She turned back to watch the path cut by the lights in front of them. “I spent a few months lurking around the outer perimeters of other clans, watching to see if any others were targeting our kind showed up.”
“Did they?”
She knew he was watching her but didn’t look over at him. “Yeah.” In the dark she looked down at her hands like she expected to see blood on them, “more than one.” She said without shame.
“Did they live to stalk others?” His voice was quiet.
Amari shook her head and turned to watch the dark out the window. “No. They were maimed by a rogue mountain lion and left to rot.” She paused to see if he had anything to say about that. When nothing but silence filled the vehicle, she looked over at him, “I kept some of their stuff, evidence of what they were doing—intending on doing. I went to Cecil’s clan to plead my case and contact the Alliance.” Dropping her leg, she reached back and got a bottle of water from between the seats. “I thought for sure I was an outlaw at that point, that my father would have reported what I’d done.”
“It was a ballsy move,” he said quietly, “taking that chance.”
She opened the bottle and took a drink, “I know, but they needed to know what was going on.”
“You probably saved a lot of lives,” he looked at her, “taking care of those hunters.”
She held his look for a moment, there was no shock or surprise in his eyes, no judgment either. “That’s what Shepard Addison told me when Calum came to retrieve me and take me to see him.”
Tripp smirked, “ever noticed Calum seems to be everywhere at once?”
Amari smiled, happy for the break from the serious talk, “I have.”
He watched her for a few seconds and then looked away. “You’re brave. It couldn’t have been easy out there on your own.” He reached over and touched her hand, “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
It was stupid that a brief touch from him meant so much to her, but it did, and she couldn’t pinpoint why. She looked at the hand he had touched, “I’m not, I might have been pissed at the time, but I like who I am now. If that hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t have gotten this far.”
He moved his head in agreement as he watched the road. “I get that. Sometimes you have to dredge through the sludge to reach a better location.” He glanced at her with amusement in his eyes, “I guess you’re not going to thank your father for it though.”
Her smile was quick to form, “Never.” She sobered quickly, “I know I overstepped, I get that now, but what he did without hesitation, that wasn’t right.”
“He’s good at that. Quick judgment.” He reached over and took her hand and brought it to his mouth and kissed it. “I don’t mind that I’m playing a big part in your revenge.” He squeezed it gently before releasing it, “hopefully Ken gets someone there, so I don’t end up dead.” He put both hands on the wheel and she watched them flex, “because if your old man starts on me this time, it’s not going to end well.”
Amari could feel the aggression rolling off him and didn’t blame him at all. He’d brought his mother and sister all the way there only to end up separated from them because of her father. “Don’t worry, he’ll be too preoccupied with my presence to even notice yours.”
Tripp snorted, “upsetting you in any way isn’t going to end well for him either.”
There was nothing she could say to that. Looking out in front of the vehicle, she had to wonder what she was going to feel when she saw her father again after all this time. The last time she’d seen him her heart felt like it had shattered into a thousand pieces. The cold look in his eyes meant for her was something she didn’t think a parent could feel when they looked at their child. She’d saved her sister’s life and had been repaid with harsh words and a life of lonely existence.