Page 83 of Shattered

Jefferson tilted his head to the side. “Hate to sound like an ass, but did anyone stop to consider how you made Hayden feel?”

No, Mackenzie had done it to protect her. To keep her from seeing something she shouldn’t and to keep everyone from asking questions. Now, he realized how wrong it’d been to put Hayden in that kind of situation, no matter the reasoning behind it.

Royce put his hand on Jefferson’s shoulder. “It’d been because Holly likes chicks and never told Hayden. She and my dad concocted a story to keep her here, so she wouldn’t leave Hayden.”

It was more than that, though. Mackenzie had smelled it a few times. Another man in their house. He never said a word, how could he? Mackenzie and Holly made a pact to keep Hayden happy and to help Holly out. Now, he knew better. It was all a game of manipulation. One a weak, earnest man fell for.

“Why would she have left Hayden?”

Thinking back on it, it never made sense to Mackenzie, either. At the time, in the middle of it all, he did it to protect Hayden. Now, it was just another reason to hate Holly more. She’d manipulated everyone. Used Hayden as a shield to get what she wanted.I was a fucking fool to ever believe her.

“I think it was all part of the scam,” Royce said. “My dad will tell you he came up with the idea, but I often wonder.”

“I did, boy. It was my idea. Holly didn’t ask for anything. I thought in the beginning I was safeguarding both of them. In the end, I was a selfish old fool who fucked up so many lives,” Mackenzie mumbled. “Hayden, you, Liam, and Riley, being the biggest targets of all.”

Royce shook his head. “Nope. Not going to allow you to pull the ‘blame me,’ card anymore. Holly could have turned down your offer. She could have found an apartment and stayed on her own accord. I think she planned for all this, even though I can’t prove it.”

“He’s right, you know,” Nico said. “Hayden grew up with Holly until she moved here. I think Holly planned it from the moment she took Hayden and Jase took Bodhi. Holly is a twisted fucker like the rest of the Geithner clan.”

Makenzie couldn’t disagree with Nico’s assessment. Holly’s whole family had something wrong with them. They were evil, mentally-ill people. And, though they couldn’t change half of Hayden’s DNA, so she didn’t have to see the Geithner name in her lineage, he knew she’d never become the monster Holly became in the end.

“It’s fucked up,” Jefferson agreed. “Kids need boundaries. It had to be hard for Hayden who’d had her wolf nature repressed for so long. She couldn’t be free until she came here and, some part of her, must still worry why she is here. What the point was of coming here. If you ask me, Hayden is the most damaged of this family and perhaps, instead of worrying about her walking into private moments, you should have been concerned about a fragile wolf, who didn’t even know she was one, until she arrived in Window Rock.”

Mackenzie and Royce frowned, while Nico smirked, nodding at everything Jefferson had said.

“When you put it that way,” Royce murmured. “You’re right. We were selfish. I think we all saw a hyper girl who was trying to find her place in the family, and we all slammed the door in her face.”

“We’re working on it,” Nico said. “Hayden is talking to Brie and Jasmine a few times a month. This last year has been a shock to all of our systems, especially after what Worthington told her.”

“Bastard,” Mackenzie snarled. “If he was standing here right now, I’d castrate his ass.” The sick asshole tied Hayden in knots and made her doubt everything about herself. Not only that, as one final parting shot, he told the girl she’d never conceive unless he ‘unlocked,’ her. What that meant, none of them knew. However, she’d tried to get pregnant on her own with Nico and so far, nothing.

“It doesn’t make it any easier on her that she’s had to relive some of the vilest times in her life. Nor does it help realizing Holly had been in control of all of them,” Jefferson said.

“When did you become Hayden’s biggest cheerleader?” Nico stated.

“The minute I read what she endured at five and then at fourteen and again at twenty-three. Seeing the photographs of her tiny body chained. Knowing Worthington kept those photographs in a safe at his home for all these years and seeing samples from the journal entries that bastard kept.” He let out a shuttered breath. “Understanding Holly had supported every inch of the research their forsaken family made that poor child endure... Gentlemen, it made me sick. I have two daughters of my own, if anyone would have tried to do what PBH has done to Hayden, I’d raze the ground they walked on.”

“Fuck yeah,” Nico growled.

“What are the three of you conspiring about?” Kalkin’s arms were folded across his massive chest, making one hell of an imposing visage.

“Nothing,” Mackenzie grunted. “We’re having a guy discussion.”

“Those always lead to trouble in this family. Who’s pregnant now?” Kalkin stepped closer.

“Well, that cuts me out of this conversation,” Jefferson said with a hint of humor.

“No one is pregnant, asshole,” Mackenzie snarled. Hell, the way he and Aurora had been locked together earlier, he should’ve kept his mouth shut.

“Bullshit,” Kalkin quipped. “Keeley is.”

Mackenzie blinked. “Were you feeling left out again?”

“No, asshole, I wasn’t.” Kalkin stared at his brother. “Keeley and I discussed having another child last year. All of ours are growing up. We wanted a baby.”

“Why aren’t you being smug about it?” Mackenzie’s tone held a hint of disbelief.

“Would you be smug at a time like this? One... Scratch that. Several of our packmates are dealing with serious shit right now. Add in Hayden, because I know you jackasses were talking about her, we don’t want to rub it in her face. She already smells off, and I—”

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