Chapter 140: Rhys
“Come in,” Grace called out when I didn’t say anything. Why would Alana and my twin be here? And honestly, why were they together like this?
Alana walked in looking a little a little frazzled. She looked better than she had earlier, so whatever Grace had done seemed to have worked to some degree. She was in pretending to be confident, but the smile on her face was forced. My brother looked like he wanted to be anywhere in the world but here, and wore a grimace on his face.
“Hi Grace, Alpha King,” Alana greeted nervously.
“Hi Alana!” Grace smiled. “I’m glad you could join us.”
Ah. Okay. My fiancé had invited her, but that still didn’t explain why Caleb was here.
“We are actually here on business,” Alana said nervously, and honestly, Caleb looked nervous too, which in turn made me nervous, but I kept my face stoic.
“Okay. Go for it.” I replied, and Grace gave my arm a squeeze as if to say, be nice, which was funny because I was always nice... Except when I wasn’t.
“Caleb, here, is worried that you are just going to throw him out at any mistake, so we need to know what the parameters are so he can stop living in fear or he can just leave now before he makes one.” Alana said after a little glance at Caleb, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here.
I narrowed my eyes at my brother. “What did you do?”
Caleb didn’t say anything, and I watched him carefully. His eyes flickered to Grace, which just made me more suspicious.
“What. Did. You. Do?” I enunciated each word, trying to keep my anger in check as Sawyer stood up from his chair in the corner.
“Rhys,” Grace’s gentle voice brought me down a little, and I turned to look at her. “Just because he’s asking these questions, doesn’t mean he did anything, and the fact that he’s coming to you is a big deal. Don’t jump to conclusions.”
“That’s optimistic.” I grumbled.
“It’s truth.”
I didn’t miss the way that Grace nodded. to him and he gave a small nod back. Was there something that I missed between the two of them? This looked like they had at the very least had a conversation without me and I did not like that…
“Why would you worry about this?” I asked, uneasily.
“Because I have a daughter... I’ve been banished from this pack before. She already lost her mother... I can’t let her lose her father too...” Caleb choked up a little, surprising the hell out of me, but took a deep breath to compose himself. “Look I know I did a lot of unspeakable things before. I was a selfish manwhore who didn’t give a damn about anyone but myself. But I’m not that guy anymore. At least, I’m really trying not to be. And I’m terrified to make any sort of mistake, but that’s not realistic. And I don’t know -” He stopped his rambling midsentence, seemingly at a loss of where to go from here.
I studied him carefully. Whatever had happened to my brother while he was gone, had really done a number on him. The man I knew before had been more child than adult despite his age. This guy was thinking things through, something I wasn’t used to in the slightest. He was scared for his daughter, and he was scared for himself, and rightfully so.
“I don’t plan to banish you again.” I told him.
“Would you kill me next time?” He asked uncertainly. “Because if you plan to kill me, I’ll leave now. I just ask that you take care of Sammy like she’s your own... I don’t want her going through what Grace did.”
“You would leave Sammy here?” Sawyer interjected with a frown.
“I can’t take her with me... It’s not safe out there. And as chaotic as it is here, I trust you guys to make sure she’s as safe as she can be given the circumstances.”
“I don’t plan on killing you either,” I interrupted before it could get too off course.
“What if I did something really bad?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Like what?”
His eyes widened when he heard the accusation.
“Maizie, Michael, Alana,” Grace cut in, “I’m sorry, but this feels like a family matter that we need to discuss. Why don’t you all go on ahead to dinner and we’ll meet you there shortly.”
Maizie looked bummed to be missing the drama, but Michael fled the room so fast, I wondered if there was something about this that hit home for him. Alana looked hesitantly between me and Caleb, torn between following directions and staying to support the person she had brought to me.
“Alana?” Grace questioned, also seeing the indecision in her friend.
“It’s okay, Alana.” Caleb said gently. I had almost never heard him talk like that before. “You were right. If I don’t want to live in fear, I have to face it. I have to lay it all out on the table, and be honest, or else I’m always going to wonder.”
Alana looked close to tears, but she nodded and exited the room behind the others.
As soon as the door shut, Sawyer moved his chair closer, and Caleb took another deep breath.
“I don’t want to live like this.” He said nervously, “And the only way I can think of knowing exactly where I stand is to tell you everything I have done, and let you decide if I’m still worthy of staying. I’ve done some bad things in my life. And I think I have started to grow from them, but I’m not perfect. I just don’t want things thrown back in my face when I’m not that person anymore. But I also want you to hear things from me, and not from others.”
“I don’t expect perfect, Caleb,” I told my twin, but my gut twisted knowing that until he cleared his conscience, he would continue to spiral, and I didn’t want that for him. Even if I really didn’t want to know everything he did, he needed this. “But okay. Let’s hear it.”
“Well let’s start with the easy... This is my first big mistake I’ve made since I came back, but just a couple of hours ago I had an altercation with Grace... Grace, I’m sorry.”
I stiffened. Grace had only been out of my sight for a short time. How on earth had I let this happen?
Grace though, waved him off. “I told you, no big deal. You were worried about your friend. I get it. Water under the bridge.”
“What did you do?” I growled.
Grace turned to face me, “Water under the bridge.” She told me with a warning in her tone. “Continue please.” She said as she turned back around.
“Uh, okay, I guess that’s the only thing recently. But you might hate me for this one...”
“Spit it out.” I said, still annoyed by his last one, trying to keep myself from beating the shit out of him.
“I’m the reason that Dad died that night...”