Page 5 of Going Down Smooth: Part Two

“I didn’t have a choice, our parents made it very clear,” I reply, trying to contain my emotions and failing. I attempted to see my brother and sister over the years only to be told that I was no longer a member of our family. But what’s done is done.

“Oh, I am well aware. But it is good to see you, regardless.” Heath sighs. “Let’s not do this here. Your pack needs you, and I don’t feel the need to rehash old wounds. Not tonight anyway. I will be back later to check in on Mercy.”

Heath turns on his heels and leaves me standing there, my reply stuck to my tongue. I watch him go until he turns the corner out of sight. I didn’t expect to resolve our issues in one conversation, but I guess it’s a start.

THREE

KNIGHT

The room is silent apart from the sound coming from the beeps and hisses of the medical equipment connected to Mercy in various places on her body. For someone who usually looks and feels larger than life, my beautiful Alpha looks small and vulnerable as she lies still in the middle of the bed.

My stomach churns as I recall her voice on the other end of the line hours ago.“I love you.”Three soul crushing words that felt like a goodbye. I thought we’d lost her. The life we’d built, waiting for her to return, even when we weren’t sure she would, flushed down the drain in one swift move. We’d just got her back. Everything was as it should be. Mercy took control of her father’s legacy, things were falling into place, we had our futures to plan with each other. This moment should have been a celebration.

This morning felt like a thousand light years away. Her carefree smile as she waved goodbye from her reading nook, it had all felt real for the first time since she returned. This would be our life; our future, a taste of things to come. As I had walked through the meadow of wildflowers outside our cabin away from her, I’d finally felt complete.

I grit my teeth at the thought of someone wanting to snatch the rug from underneath us for their own personal gain. Looking at her now, I see her eyes flit back and forth under her eyelids, brows creased as she frets, even in unconsciousness. We should have all stayed home today. Especially if she wasn’t up for coming with us. We’d discussed the night before that something was coming. Now I’m plagued with regret and a fucking blinding rage, a complete contrast to my feelings before. My emotions bubble underneath my skin like a wild undercurrent, searching and waiting for an outlet to let itself loose on those responsible. The bastards knew they couldn’t touch her in our home and used her weakness against her. Faith. Her own sister.

The only person who knows about our Sunday hikes is Stefan. . .but they wouldn’t have known if we would be out with her though. I guess they took a chance with the information the little rat gave them. Ultimately, it worked for them. I know this wasn’t his idea. The little shit wanted to be a part of our pack so badly, it would only take a little convincing for him to fall prey to any manipulation. Not like it would have worked in his favor, Nate almost broke his jaw for the shit he spewed about Mercy. Stefan is only a small dim-witted fish in an ocean of bloodthirsty sharks. No, this is bigger than him. There is someone else calling the shots here and I can only guess who.

The door closes with a soft click behind me as Lox walks over to the window and flops down on the couch next to a pensive Trey. His eyes are fixed permanently on Mercy, unblinking, as if she’s a mirage threatening to disappear if he dares to look away. Mercy, our oasis, our life, our sustenance, she is the elixir of our existence, and we can’t survive without her. I feel that more keenly now than ever.

“So, let’s just get it out now, so that we can pick ourselves up off the floor and deal with this shit storm brewing around us. The way I see it, we can’t afford to sit around and mope about what we could have or should have done. Mercy is a big girl. We can’t stop her from doing what she wants to do or we’re no better than the other punk ass Alphas out there locking down their Omegas like prisoners,” Lox says as he sits back and leans his head against the pillows. I know for a fact that most of that was meant for me, so I take it as the reprimand it is and sigh.

“You’re right. But it doesn’t stop me from the guilt I feel. It is my responsibility—”

Nate tsks, cutting me off. “Not just yours, Knight. She belongs to all of us. We all decided she was safe enough to leave home, and technically, she was safe. We had no idea she would be lured to her demise by her own sister,” he says. The weariness in his voice makes my heart clench in my chest. My baby brother and I have had enough loss to last us a lifetime. I can only imagine where his head is at. He sighs, running his hands down his face and blows out a breath, finally rising to his feet to sit in a chair beside Mercy’s bed.

“I know,” I reply, because he’s right. I have always taken the lead in the matters of our pack, so it only seems fitting to take on the weight of what is happening now.

Trey clears his throat, as if he’s fighting to hold his emotions at bay. “Faith is just as much a victim here as Mercy. Who knows what they did to her, or threatened her with, to make that call.” He looks at me finally, his eyes shining with unshed tears and so much anger, it’s painful to keep our eyes locked. Trey is always so chill and collected, unflappable, but not when it involves Mercy, it’s always been this way.

“Look what they did to her. We can’t let this lie,” he says through clenched teeth. Trey’s voice is a low rumble of thunder. “Look. What. They. Have. Done.” His voice rises with each word, heavy and full of accusation as he gestures at Mercy. He pauses for a moment, lost in thought as he inclines his head, as if he’s hearing some unspoken revelation from beyond.We’re all losing the last dregs of our sanity over this.The behavior is so uncharacteristic of Trey that he holds all of our attention as we wait for him to speak. So much so, I feel the need to break the silence.

“Trey, we’re not going to let this go. Far from it,” I say with certainty as Lox nods slowly in agreement, still watching Trey’s profile in shock. Maybe even pride. He’s like two seconds from hulking out on us.

“Christopher. This is his doing,” Trey says finally. “There is no one else I can think of that would want the business, the property, so badly that he would go to these lengths to get it.” He blows out a shaky breath. “I want to kill him.” There it is. Point blank, no hesitation, he has said the words that I am sure we would all agree on at this very moment. Father or not, Christopher is definitely the orchestrator behind this. I know it. We all know it.

Lox whistles in surprise at Trey’s words. I look over my shoulder to see that Nate has the same murderous gleam in his eyes. I place my hands on my hips, unsure what to do with my two brothers. Usually it’s Lox and I who need talking down from our malicious intent, Nate and Trey are the ones normally wrangling us in line. Right now, it’s the complete opposite. Oh, don’t get me wrong, Trey’s revelation is no shocker. I think we all know who has the gall to utilize the people around him to get what he thinks he’s entitled to. If Mercy wasn’t laying here in this bed, have no doubt Lox and I would be on a rampage. The problem here is there are no checks to counter our balance. All four of us have retribution in our hearts and rage in our eyes.

I look once more at Mercy and try my best to consider what she would want right now. I know she wouldn’t want Trey and Nate to go popping off without a plan. I need to rein us in. Turning, I pull another armchair from the wall and drag it to the foot of Mercy’s bed and sit. Lox is right, this is not the time for misplaced guilt and internalizing my emotions about things I have no control over. Until our girl wakes and tells me otherwise, I’m going to do this my way.

I keep my voice calm as I glance at Trey. “I agree with you. This has Christopher written all over it. The fact that he was at Smooth Bourbon trying to convince the board at the last minute before Mercy arrived is not even the first indication of his treachery. Stefan, Derrick, Mal, Chasson, even Faith, are nothing but pawns here. So, we need to do this properly, brothers. As much as I want to lay that bastard on his ass, it won’t be enough. We all know he’s garnered too much power and will find a way to get away with this, while pointing a finger in our direction at the same time.”

“Unless he’s dead,” Nate hisses out behind me. I close my eyes at the vitriol in his voice. . .his anger is like a thick fog rolling around us, matching Trey’s thunder in equal measure. I’m not going to lie and say I don’t feel the war drums and the hum of vengeance in my blood, but we need to be smart about this.

“Exactly.” Lox leans forward, pointing at Nate in agreement. I roll my eyes and he shrugs. I guess I’m the only one who’s attempting to be level-headed then.

I sigh and shake my head. “Death is too easy. I want him to suffer. I want to take what he thought he was taking from Mercy. I want to burn his empire to the ground; I want him alive and in the front row to witness the chaos we will unleash. Killing him would only satisfy me temporarily. No. Total annihilation is what he deserves for touching what is ours,” I say the words with so much conviction that I know that I won’t rest until we get exactly the picture I painted.

“I almost doubted you, Knight.” Lox smiles menacingly. “I thought I was going to have to punch you all in the face to shake off the sadness in this room.” He reclines back on the couch again and closes his eyes.

“If we do this your way, then he needs to believe we are still in the dark about this,” Trey says, sounding a lot calmer now that I have given them a plan of action. “We continue under the guise of helping Mercy heal and rebuild, let it all play out while the guilty give themselves away.”

“I agree, that’s exactly what we should do.” I smile. Leaning forward, I brace my elbows on my knees. “Welcome back, Trey. Hulky green is not your color, leave the beast mode shit to Lox.” I chuckle when Lox’s mouth falls open at my supposed dig. Then he inclines his head and shrugs.

“He’s right,” Lox replies with a smile, completely unfazed.

“This is all fine and dandy. I’m all for a little slow burning revenge, but we don’t know how long Mercy is going to be in this hospital,” Nate says. I notice the slight panic in his voice, and I turn to see his face. He looks back at me, at all of us, as if we missed something somehow.

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