Page 47 of Pack Nightmare

He holds her gaze for a long moment, then drops his head to his hands and sighs heavily. “Okay. The truth—the whole truth—is that Pack Montrose sent me to find and kill the Harridan heir.”

“You piece of shit, I knew it!” Jared growls, already stepping forward with fists clenched.

“Jared, stop.” Layla rolls smoothly into the alpha command like second nature. “No one touch him. I want to get the full story, because he’s been telling me everything in bits and pieces and it hasn’t made a bit of sense until now.”

Jared backs up but continues to glare daggers at Derrek. I never particularly liked the guy, but I never hated him as much as Jared did. Now, however, white hot fury like I’ve never experienced boils in my veins. I’m able to move, but I know that if I moved against him, the alpha command would restrain me. I focus on remaining still.

“The whole truth, Leaf.” Layla’s voice is flat, emotionless, as she prompts him to continue.

Derrek’s eyes close as he pulls in a steadying breath before continuing. “Everything I told you about growing up was true, Lex. I didn’t have much magic. My mom hid me from the pack. But they grew suspicious. They were asking for a demonstration of my powers. So my mom dug through Grannie’s old spell books and found one filled with blood magic spells. Essentially, the spell promised that if you vanquish your enemy, you could use their blood to enhance your powers. My mom told me it was my only way of coming into my powers. Otherwise, I’d be kicked out of the pack. So I accepted the knife, and I went to LA—that’s where they said the runaway heir was hiding.

“I was looking for your mom, Lex, and I never found her. You’ve got to believe me. I didn’t know anything until I saw a news piece about their car crash and their surviving daughter going into foster care. I recognized her face—how could I not? So now I had only one option: I had to pivot. It took some work, but I got a job with Child Protective Services and figured out where you were being fostered. And then I just had to wait for an opportunity.”

“You sick piece of shit,” Jared mutters under his breath.

Even Roxanne looks disgusted, the bloody knife clutched in her hand.

“So the night we met, you were going to attack me? Use my blood to get powers?”

“No! No, I swear. The more I watched you, the more I knew I could never do it. You were just a kid who knew nothing about this world. I felt a connection to you—we were both two people who didn’t fit, who had no one. By the time you ran away, I’d already decided I couldn’t go through with it. But I couldn’t go home, and I couldn’t leave you to get attacked, or worse, on the streets. You’d already gone through too much. So I intercepted you, got you to trust me, and mailed the knife back to my mom, telling her I was never coming back.”

I don’t know what to think. My heart is conflicted, with one part of me wanting to rip him to pieces for all the duplicity and deceit—exactly what we’ve always been told Pack Montrose was like.

The other part of me almost sympathizes with him. He can’t help how he grew up, and when it came down to it, he made a different choice.

Layla stares at him, unmoving, for a long, painful moment. “So, how did this knife end up in my chest four years later?”

Derrek’s pleading expression melts to absolute horror. “You can’t think I had something to do with that? It was Azalea! She hunted us down. I did the best I could to shield us. My weak magic could barely help me manipulate people to provide us protection, or look the other way occasionally. I had no idea they’d send Azalea after you. When I left, she was supposed to be a dud.”

“A dud?”

“A magical dead end. She displayed no powers. That’s why the pack pinned their expectations on me. Typically, it’s the first female child in the family, but between my mom and my aunt, they each only had one kid. Azalea presented with a complete lack of magic.”

“So what changed? Because she clearly has magic now.”

He sighs heavily. “If I had to guess… I would say she killed her mother. For the blood magic spell.”

“I thought you said that was if you vanquished an enemy?”

“I believe Azalea considered her mother an enemy. With no magic to speak of, she was a complete disappointment to her mother. She treated her pretty terribly, growing up. I suspect my aunt was trying to punish her into manifesting, like some sort of gross tough love. In the end, I suppose she got what she wanted.”

“So she’s the one who attacked me in LA.”

“Yes. I felt her magic. I guessed it was someone coming after you. I summoned enough power to force her off of you and keep her at bay until there were witnesses and she had no choice but to run. But I didn’t get there in time to stop her, and I couldn’t heal you.” His voice crackles with emotion.

“And you’re the one who told my uncle where I was.”

“Yes. I told you, I knew that knife. You needed magic to heal, or you’d have died in that hospital. I had no other choice. I swear Lex, I would have kept you hidden, safe, forever, if I could.” His voice hitches, then drops. “I’m sorry.”

A heavy weight pressed on my chest, and I can’t imagine how Layla feels. Her expression is frighteningly emotionless.

“I’m sorry too, Leaf. I really am. But it’s time for you to go. Please leave Smoky Falls and don’t come back.”

Layla doesn’t spare a backward glance, just turns and says, “let’s go home,” to me and the guys, then climbs into the passenger seat of my Grand Cherokee.

I raise my eyes to Roxanne, and she tips her chin toward Layla. “Go on, I’ll finish up here and meet you guys at home.”

We pile into the car, and no one says a word as we start up the long, winding path to Harridan House.

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