Chapter 99

Vivian

"You can't make me."

I wasn’t going to get out of the car. I crossed my arms and glared out the window like a petulant child, but I didn’t care. The Brightclaw shelter? Was he serious?

“You’re humiliating me,” I said, my voice brittle with rage. “You’re my father. You don’t just dump your daughter like this because you’re embarrassed!”

“I’m not embarrassed,” he said quietly from the driver’s seat, hands still on the wheel. “I’m devastated.”

“Oh, please,” I spat. “You think this makes you noble? Letting your daughter rot in a glorified halfway house while you run off chasing your little intern? You’re pathetic! You're not a Brightclaw at all, you're -- you're -- you're just having a midlife crisis!”

His jaw ticked. His grip tightened. He was still calm, too calm, and it made me want to scream.

“As I said before, Vivian, you’ll always be my daughter, Vivian,” he said again. “But you can’t be in my pack anymore.”

“You think Renee is going to magically make you a father again? You think she’s going to fix all of this? She’s not even your type. You’ve got a thing for useless women, that’s your problem. Like mom—”

“Don’t,” he warned, his voice low, deadly.

I smiled sweetly, then tilted my head and added, “You think she'll stick around when she figures out you shoot blanks?"

He didn’t speak. Didn’t move. But I knew I had him now.

"You think I'm going to keep quiet about not being your blood daughter?"

He closed his eyes.

"I'd suggest you turn the car back on and drive me home."

"… how long have you known?"

"What does it matter? I’m your heir whether you like it or not, so all you're doing is making yourself look bad."

"How long have you known, Vivian?"

“I think the real question is what you're willing to do to keep it a secret?" I hummed. "And how long have you known that you shoot blanks. Mom knew." I laughed. "Well, know if kind of a stretch. She just made it seem like you didn't have spine, and she'd right. If you think for a second I'll even humor you trying to have kids with Renee, you're out of your mind."

"I'll ask one more time," he said. "How long have you known that you're not mine?"

"It's been obvious," I hissed. "For years." He looked at me. "Since I first shifted."

"You've been shifting for years?"

I shrugged. His eyes narrowed.

"And… the rest?"

"I found mom's diary around then." He pulled out his phone and started to type. "She's just as dumb as you are to have confessed all about her long standing affair. But I guess since you can't really give anyone children, who could blame her?" I asked, leaning back against the seat. “I knew couldn't keep it underwraps for long, but you wouldn't have much choice to.”

I laughed and he said nothing. I looked at him. Pain flared across his face, quick and sharp. I felt it land, and it made me feel…powerful. Like I still had control.

“It's nice that I don't have to pretend anymore, Dominic." He worked his jaw. "Since you don’t have an heir, and you're unlikely to ever have one, all of this is just going to come back to bite you. You’re making yourself look weak. Unstable. It won’t take long before the other alphas start circling. I’ll make sure of it and Brightclaw will fall without me.”

He stared at me then. Not like a father. Not even like an alpha. He looked at me like I was a stranger.

“Is that what you think?"

"It's what I know," she said.

"Where does… Renee and Tyler fit into all of this?" He asked quietly. "Do you really have a vendetta against her over Neil."

"She's nothing." I scoffed. "She just needed to remember that and keep her grubby hands away from him."

"… why Neil?"

I cocked any eyebrow. "Because he's hot…"

"You can't expect me to believe you schemed all of this up, given your stream of boyfriends, over lust." His eyes narrowed. "You seem far more calculated than that."

She smiled. "Blackfang and Brightclaw. Power aside, any child we'd have would always have the mark of his family. No one would ever question my lineage and I'd have brought two of the biggest packs together." She looked out the window. "Mountainhowl would have had to ally with us because of Renee's marriage to Tyler, if he hadn't been so fucking stupid." I glanced at him. "Though I guess that can still happen since you're clearly going to chase her around."

His eyes closed briefly and took a deep breath. Then exhaled, long and tired. All the pain, all the betrayal, it was written into the lines of his face. It was hilarious.

"So, crank up the car, and let's go home." I pulled out my phone. "And I want new jewelry as an apology."

“Vivian, despite what you think of me, despite all of what you have done, you’ll always be my daughter,” he said once more, but this time there was no warmth in it. “But perhaps, it's time you understood something that will now be more important for your future than ever."

He opened his eyes, they glowed with an alpha red light. I flinched. Was he going to compel me?

"You were never my heir."

"What?"

"You’re cruel. Selfish. Entitled. And if Hazel had still been alive, you both would be with her family and I'd have likely remarried years ago."

I opened my mouth to protest, but he cut me off.

“Get out.”

"No."

He looked behind me, unlocked the door and the door swung open.

"Get out, or I'll have them haul you out."

"You wouldn't dare."

He regarded me, unbuckled his seatbelt and got out. I shut the door locking it and holding it closed. The gamma who had opened the door stepped back.

"Are her things out?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Head back. I'll handle this."

"You're not handling--" The door swung open with so much force, it yanked me out of my seat. Had I been wearing a seatbelt, it would have hurt like hell. I scrambled to get back in the car, but he shut the door behind me. The door locked and he looked down at me.

"I hope you learn from this, Vivian and one day I might be able to look at you and be proud of who you've become."

"You can't do this to me!"

He turned, avoiding and walking around. I looked around searching for someone, but all I saw was a few boxes. My whole life, all my jewerly and bags, my shoes, mostly gone. The rest had been liquidated to pay my fines.

"I hate you!" I yelled, scrambling toward the car and grabbing the doorknob. "You'll regret this! I'll make you regret this.

I watched him buckle his seatbelt and stare ahead. Then, he started to pull away as I beat at the window and chased after it. I gave up after a few steps, standing there alone as the other cars started to pull away.

I realized that I didn't even recognize the gammas who had come. I'd deal with that later, but there was no way in hell I was staying the shelter.

I pulled out my phone and called every man I’d ever let into my bed, starting with the most wealthy.

The call didn't even connect.

Then, I called Dominic.

No answer.

Dominic

I didn’t turn on the music. I didn’t call anyone. I just drove.

I needed the silence.

The things she said weren't lies. Not all of them. Looking back, I think I knew when she'd shifted the first time. She gad felt different. Foreign. I’d ignored it. Just like I’d ignored everything else that didn’t fit the story I wanted to believe.

I’d convinced myself that she was my daughter and that was all that mattered.

But she wasn’t.

Vivian’s words cut me deep, viciously, more importantly, hearing that's how she felt about me was like hearing from Hazel from beyond the grace.

She may always be the little girl I raised, my daughter, but my heart was cold thinking of her. I didn't think it would ever warm again.

I gripped the wheel tighter. I pulled over on a cliffside turnout that looked over the water, my favorite place to think. I could smell the salt in the air, feel the wind brushing through the open window.

I pulled out my phone and scrolled to the contact I wanted.

Renee.

She was everything I shouldn’t want, but everything I couldn’t ignore.

I hit the call button and she answered on the second ring.

"Hey."

"Are you busy tonight?" I asked.

"… what did you have in mind?"

My lips twitched. A lot of things was the simple answer.

"Tell me where I can meet you. I want to see you."