Page 63 of The Alpha's Heir

Justice

*** Amber ***

We run to my father's house the following morning. Preston comes with us and insists on the Beta Guards being on stand-by in case we need assistance.

“I’m not taking any chances, Red. I need you to be safe,” he tells me as he caresses my back and ass.

Aiden is fired up and ready to confront the beast who sentenced our mother to the most painfully excruciating death ever, the selfish man who allowed us to think that she was alive and deliberately ignoring us. My blood bubbles in unspent rage. I will extract answers today. I will do whatever needs to be done to get the truth today.

When we arrive at his cottage, Marissa, his mate, is sitting outside the garden on a large boulder. She weeps and shivers, so after I shift back into my human form and quickly re-dress in my clothes, I approach her.

“Why are you crying, Marissa? Is there anything I can do?” I ask her. Her head darts up quickly at the sound of my voice.

“Amber? What are you doing here? Your father won’t be happy.” She quickly wipes her tears away and plasters a serene expression on her face, but it is futile. The evidence of her upset is still plain to see.

“Aiden and I need to talk to him, but first, I want to know what has upset you. Why isn’t your mate here trying to make it better?”

Her eyes fill with fresh tears and the sobs that wrack her body breaks my heart. This is a desperately unhappy woman, and I know in my gut that this is my father's doing.

“I’m not pregnant again and John blames me, but my wolf tells me everything his wolf says. She tells me it's John’s fault. This is his punishment from his wolf.” As Lizzie laughs and rolls about in my head, I try my best to comfort my stepmother.

I sit beside her and drape my arm around her shoulders and allow her to cry all over me. While I comfort her, Aiden and Preston approach the cottage. Despite summoning our father, he did not come out.

“Get out here now!” Aiden roars from outside his door. From my position, I can see the anger displayed physically on his body. He is tense and tightly wound, and his fury causes the back of his neck to turn red.

Our father is unable to refuse a direct order from his Alpha and begrudgingly opens his door and steps outside.

“What do you want? Who do you think you are, summoning me in my own home? You’ve got some nerve, boy.”

I don’t often see my brother taking full advantage of his Alpha position, but today, Aiden shows no mercy, just like our father showed our mother no mercy. He is taking no prisoners; he exudes power and my pride in him swells inside me.

“Bow to your Alpha, you insolent old fool,” Aiden spits out at him through gritted teeth. “I’m not a boy, I am a full-grown Alpha werewolf, it would do you well to remember that. And don’t ever question why I am here. I say jump, you ask how high. I am your Alpha, understand? Now BOW.”

My father bows to his Alpha, falling to his knees, and exposing his neck. His body does it involuntarily, without question. When he straightens up, the venom is clear to see in his eyes. He has nothing but hatred and resentment towards us.

“You allowed us to believe that our mother abandoned us. You caused us pain. Tell me why I shouldn’t take your throat, right here, right now.” As Aiden starts talking, Marissa walks towards him until I pull her back.

“Don’t get involved, Marissa. We need to confront him.” Despite my words, she shakes her head at me as she pulls away from my grasp.

“I’m already involved, don’t you see? John, tell them everything or I will. Tell them now.” I can’t comprehend how Marissa knows and yet we don’t. Didn’t we deserve to know what happened to our mother?

“Go inside, Marissa. I want to talk to my children.” My father’s voice is fierce and, despite her shaking, Marissa stands up to him and defiantly refuses.

“No. You ruined Coral’s life and now you’re ruining mine. I used to love you and admire you, but now I can see you for what you are. A bully. A pathetic, controlling and insecure bully.” Marissa turns to Aiden and continues to talk. “Your father has been blaming me for not getting pregnant, he says he can obviously conceive because he has you two. But his wolf told mine that he is punishing John for hurting his mate and children. He will never be blessed with another child because of the appalling way he treated the mother of his pups.”

My father pounces on her before we can stop him, clawing and screeching at his mate as she wails in agony. The snap of her neck echoes around the woods surrounding the little quaint cottage. Aiden shifts and pins our father to the wall, but it is too late. Marissa is dead. Her beautiful face is unrecognisable because of the welts and scratches her mate inflicted on her. The person who was supposed to love her and protect her has destroyed her.

“You fucking bastard. How could you? She was so sweet. And young. How could you treat her like that? What is wrong with you?” I scream at the top of my voice; the horrific scene is burned into my memory for all eternity.

I have seen many things in my life. However, when my father’s face starts to contort and change, I freak out. “Preston, what’s happening to him?” I ask him, repulsed by what I am witnessing. Preston doesn’t answer though, he doesn’t have the answer.

However, my father's wolf answers instead. “You need to kill him. Kill him now, and me too. He is evil, he has always been evil. I made him transfer the position of Alpha. I threatened to kill us if he didn’t.” I can visibly see my father fighting against his wolf, but his wolf has taken advantage of him being weakened by the death of his mate.

“He refused to tell you even when we could see how hurt you were, thinking sweet Coral didn’t love you. The truth is, she wasn’t allowed. He smothered her but wouldn’t mark her and when her true mate came, he punished her.”

His own wolf has turned against him. He must have caused his wolf unknown pain for him to willingly sacrifice himself in this way.

“I, Alpha Aiden Goldrick, find you, John Goldrick, guilty of causing the unnecessary death of Coral White, guilty of causing mental and emotional damage to your children, Aiden and Amber, and guilty of the unlawful killing of your chosen mate, Marissa Goldrick. I sentence you to death.” He rips out our father's throat so fast that his body remains upright a couple of seconds after his heart stops before slumping in a pile on the dirt floor.

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