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His voice lashed like a whip, causing us to flinch. My throat swelled with betrayal I was sure everyone else felt too; I could hear it in the way they gasped, uttering David’s name in shock and pain. He told me he had loved Rebecca. He wouldn’t have left her for the world—so how could he do such a thing?

Gavin heaved the question we’d all been choking on, “Why?”

Even though the rain, I saw anguish materialize on David’s face. “I didn’t want to.” He didn’t take responsibility with pride. Years of being haunted by his actions twisted his voice into desperation to be understood, but he seemed to know it was futile. “If I couldn’t have her, no one could.”

Of all the people to connect what came between David and his fated mate, it was Oslo who confronted it first. “Joshua Rathbone.”

“I killed him too,” David snarled. “And Shannon. Poor Shannon… caught in the crossfire. I thought death would be more merciful to her than living with the knowledge of Joshua’s betrayal.” He laughed sadly, angrily.

“Then that means…”

And suddenly, all eyes turned to me.

“That’s right,” said David. “The Grandbay Betas who disappeared fifteen years ago are survived by their daughter, Elizabeth Rathbone. I’m the one that took her.”

Time stopped as I finally understood my place in the world. It all made sense now. The Rathbones had been the Betas to Gavin’s parents before Oslo and Gretel, before they disappeared—before they were murdered for my father’s infidelity with David’s wife. I had been part of the Steele Alpha Line all along. I had always been destined to lead alongside Gavin as his fated mate, as the daughter of his parents’ most trusted friends, but David stole me away for his own selfish vengeance and injected Catrina into Gavin’s life instead. My name wasn’t Billie Jesper. My name was Elizabeth Rathbone and I belong to Grandbay.

I met Gavin’s eyes, which widened with the realization of why our connection was so powerful. Our lives were meant to be invariably intertwined, our childhood together stolen. Gavin would have been my love from the very beginning. Aislin would have been one of my closest friends. I would have lived a happy, complete life, even if my father was a cheater. I would have been raised as the wolf I was meant to be, and I could have forgiven my father if he’d ever had the chance to correct the wrongs he committed. But I never had that chance. David had taken everything from me because of his own pain—but the forgiveness I reserved for my real father was not something I could extend to him. David didn’t deserve forgiveness for this, for anything he did or intended to do. I wanted David to suffer with his pain forever.

“You robbed me of everything,” I shook. “And you never would have stopped. You would have broken me down until there was nothing left of me. You… You piece of shit!” My voice rose with a fury that rivaled Gavin’s own. I spat words I never would have dreamed of uttering. There was nothing holding me back anymore, now that I knew what affection I had for my adoptive father was misplaced and undeserved. Now that I knew what he truly was. The desire to hurt him blinded me and before I knew it, I was charging toward him, my fingers arched in anticipation of ripping out his throat. Nobody moved, because nobody would have expected anger to possess me so, not even David as I clawed at his windpipe.

“Get off me, you fucking runt!” The instant David’s hands went on me, trying to push me away, was when everybody mobilized. He swung the back of his hand at me, but it was intercepted by Gavin who grabbed his wrist. Oslo gripped his other arm and kneed him in the ribs. Even Colt moved forward and was shoved by Aislin, who then wrathfully punched Colt in the jaw. This time, Lothair merely stood back and watched. Gavin, Oslo, Aislin and I clustered together while David and Colt reeled away.

David bent over, clutching his throat. My nails had dug into his skin and gouged out chunks, but it wasn’t enough to kill him. I wanted to kill him. His bright red blood gleamed under my fingernails.

Panting, I glared at David with my frenzied threat still sizzling hot. “You could die a hundred times and it wouldn’t be enough,” I cried. “You could lose everything you love and it wouldn’t be enough! Go to Hell, David! I hope you rot!”

And I meant it. It didn’t occur to me that I’d wished such misfortune on his only remaining son. I didn’t see the look of hurt my words inspired in Colt, and I didn’t want to, because as far as I was concerned he was just as bad as David. Obeying him, trying to mark me, shooting at Gavin—no, the Hexens were nothing more than criminals and low lives to me now. I was ready to sever all ties. I wanted to see them crawl back into their manor and die.

David returned my glare as he staggered upright. “Consider this a declaration of war then,” he hissed, his voice curdling from the strain of his wounded throat. “I’ll take everything from you, Gavin. The Mythguard are welcome to try to stop me, and I’ll destroy them too. I’ll kill you. All of you. You’ll regret denying Dalesbloom its right to sovereignty… Ingrates!” David whipped around to his packmates, and the dragons gathered around us. “Get my daughter into the truck.”

I didn’t even want to give him a chance to regroup. I wanted us to exterminate David and punish him for all he’d done right now, but my anger was a bonfire, and everyone else had become embers glowing in the rain. Even Gavin had come to clutch my shoulders, willing me to yield to the conclusion of the fight. He knew that if we kept fighting, it would only seal the annihilation of Grandbay and Eastpeak. David allowed us this armistice only because he wasn’t prepared to have lost Catrina.

Thunder belted solemnly across the sky and lightning lit up the bodies of David’s packmates gathering Catrina in their arms, and carrying her toward the truck. Colt followed after them, refusing to look back at us—at me—and all I could think as I watched him go was, Good riddance. He could live with the truth that his father revealed—that David has killed his mother—and if he continued to serve David, it just proved that I never could have trusted him.

As Dalesbloom and the Inkscales retreated, we were left in the heavy darkness of the storm, the yard stinking of blood, metal and bitter betrayal. There was no relief in seeing our enemies fall back. It had only unearthed in us a terrible foreboding of what would come next, and what had been revealed; what we now had to process fifteen years after it had been done.