Chapter 110
I get through the rest of the letters. By the last one, I’m numb.
The tone changed, and I could mark the spiral my father
took in his latter years, perhaps an extension of the guilt he
couldn’t come to terms with.
Maybe I could’ve been sweeter when I visited. Maybe I
could’ve been braver. Less needy.
I don’t know.
My hand drops to my stomach and I think of my own child.
No. Never.
Never would I do to my child what had been done to me.
Is it any wonder I’m so happy to curl up with Aaron’s big wolf? I am pretty fri ggin’ traumatized. And now that my father is dead, I’ll never have the closure I need.
Aaron howls long and low.
Oh, I’m crying again.
A steady stream of silent tears.
This wolf doesn’t like it when I do that. I stroke his fur and snuggle closer. “I’m okay. I just have to process it all, so I can let it go.”
He seems to accept that because he lays his head back down.
I pick up the last letter. The one that I’ve been dreading most.
Leah,
It’s hard to see how far you veered off the road until you’re at the end of it and look back. I’ve made mistakes. So many where you are concerned. I’ve gambled with our company too many times, and those decisions that should’ve paid off set us back so far, we’re close to being declared insolvent.
I’ve made you a martyr and relied on you far beyond what any packmember could ever owe.
You’ve bled for us. Your financial contributions have supported us. Your sacrifice as wife to our enemy kept the peace for us.
I’ve never prioritized your happiness or your wellbeing. I’ve left you to fend for yourself.
I’d beg forgiveness but in this last letter I’ll ever write, I know
that I don’t deserve it.
It’s wrong of me to even ask.
So here it is. The whole truth. Of who you are. And why I’m leaving Pack Roberts for you to control.
I read the last lines and the letter falls from my hand.
Then I start screaming.
