Chapter Twelve
Xander stood outside his bedroom, listening to Greer’s breathing as she slept. After he’d denied her the details of his family’s murder, she’d pulled away, wanting to get some rest. He’d let her take his bed, and offered to bunk on the couch. He couldn’t blame her for being pissed at him. Although she’d only known him a few days, he’d done nothing but lie to her. Now, when she begged him to open up and let her in, to make her understand his world and his reasoning, he’d told her no.
He wouldn’t be surprised if she never wanted to see him again.
But it was too late for that. She needed him now and he had to protect her. To keep her safe. Once Pax and Dakota were dead, he would do whatever she needed, even if that meant walking away from her.
Until that moment though, he wasn’t letting her out of his sight.
He went downstairs and dialed Clyde. He needed a safe place for Jill while she adjusted to being a shifter, someone who could show her how to live.
“Hey, there’s my boy! How’s the weather up there?”
“Storms a brewing, actually.”
“Uh oh, what kind of trouble have you gotten into now?”
That was just one of the things that Xander loved about Clyde. He didn’t bullshit and pussy foot around a topic, he jumped right into it.
“Pax and Dakota have started targeting the locals as a way to get to me. I need to finish this now, before more people die, but there’s a…complication.”
“Are we talking about a girl?” Xander could hear the smile in Clyde’s voice. Barbara Wolfe wasn’t the only parent who liked matchmaking.
“Actually, we’re talking about the girl’s friend. Pax bit her.”
Clyde cursed. “Is she alright?”
“Freaked at first, but she passed out. I just can’t deal with holding her hand through her transition and fighting Dakota and Pax.”
“We’ll take off tomorrow and give you a hand.”
Xander didn’t want Clyde and his family getting in the way of what he needed to do. “Dakota and Pax are mine, Clyde.”
“Easy there, boy wonder, I mean we’ll come up to take care of the girl. But you know if you need some backup, we’ve got you covered. I love you like a son. No sense in you dying because you were too damn stubborn to accept our help.”
“This is not about pride. This is about me finishing what I started.”
“Boy, you took on each of those shifters one on one. Pax and his bitch don’t strike me as the type to play by the rules.”
“I can handle it.”
He heard Clyde sigh. “I hope so. We’ll see you tomorrow. Try not to get yourself killed before I can give you a hug, alright?”
“I’ll do my best.”
“That’s all I can ask. Night, son.”
“Bye.”
Xander ended the call and set his phone down on the counter. If he was being completely honest with himself, he didn’t expect to make it out of the show down with Dakota and Pax, but he was damn sure going to at least take Pax with him. Clyde wasn’t wrong about them not playing well with others, and judging by the way she’d reacted when he’d warned her about Pax, Dakota’s devotion couldn’t be shaken. It was sad that she was completely under the sociopath’s spell or else she might have gone down another path.
Xander poured himself a glass of whiskey and sat on his couch, closing his eyes and going back to that morning. His parents had been planning the scenting ceremony for months, inviting females for their three sons. He’d gone out with his friends as a last hurrah in case he met someone. As the youngest at twenty-three, he hadn’t felt ready for it, but was willing to try at least to make his mother happy.
He could still remember coming home, high on life after a long weekend with his boys. He’d walked through the door, the smile still on his face when the blast of death had washed over him. His duffle bag had fallen from his shoulder to the floor as he rushed forward, the smell of blood and decaying bodies choking him.
He found his father first, although he hadn’t recognized him. His face had been completely bashed in. His two older brothers were lying halfway down the stairs, practically on top of each other. It looked as though they had been shot a hundred times until their insides were just mush. They each had their own apartment, and Xander remembered wondering what they were doing there, thinking that it must have gotten late so they just stayed over.
After that, Xander had screamed his mother’s name as he’d leaped up the stairs.
When he’d seen what they had done to her, he’d lost the contents of his stomach all over the floor.
They’d taken all of the jewelry and electronics in the house, even ripped into the safe. A robbery gone wrong is what authorities had called it.
How could he express all of that pain and horror into words that Greer would be able to understand? The sheer hate he carried in his heart for those responsible wouldn’t diminish by talking about it. An eye for an eye.
It was his right to take his revenge.
He heard a cry and rushed upstairs, abandoning his whiskey. He stood outside Jill’s room, and all was quiet. Then he heard Greer’s gasping breaths.
He knocked on the door. “Greer? Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
Her choked reply ripped his heart out and he turned the knob. “I’m coming in.”
She didn’t tell him to stop, so he pushed the door all the way open. As the hallway light streaked in, he saw the tears on Greer’s cheeks and closed it behind him.
“What happened?”
“Nothing, it was just a dream.”
He sat on the side of the bed, and started to reach out and tuck her hair behind her ear but stopped. He dropped his hand, resting it on his thighs. “Do you want to talk about it?”
She snorted in the dark. “Why would I share something personal with you when you can’t do the same?”
“Talking about my family’s murder is not the same as a nightmare.”
Her sigh was deep and heavy. “I know. I’m sorry for being a bitch. I just…I might be able to understand better than you think. I lost my parents three years ago in a car crash. They hit a patch of black ice, and flipped over and over down the mountain. Some people who lived in a house at the bottom heard it and called for help, but they didn’t even make it to the hospital. I was angry at everyone, even the paramedics who tried to save them for a long time.”
He laid his hand over the blanket, resting it on her knee. “I am sorry about your parents. You weren’t with them?”
“No.”
“That’s why talking about my family’s death is different. I walked in a few hours after my parents were butchered. I saw their bodies. It’s hard to think about, worse to talk about. I have to live with the images in my head for the rest of my life, but there is no reason you should too.”
Greer scooted closer, placing a hand on his shoulder. “The fact that I want to know you is reason enough. There is something here, Xander, whether you want to admit it or not. I’m scared to death of everything that’s happened, but I’m here, willing to overcome it for you. Can’t you do the same?”