The Haunted Memories (Forgotten Series, #4)

Chapter 23: Part 2

Cai's voice was cold to the point that it made me almost shiver. My wolf lifted her nose, her exhaustion was heavy but even she had to react to the coldness that Cai had used. I looked over my shoulder and his dark eyes were hard as they looked at me.

"Its true." I spoke the truth and I wouldn't back away from that.

"It takes more than blood to make a father, Sorrel." He made his way down the stairs and his form seemed almost larger as he looked down at me. I didn't like him looming over me, he knew that.

"It takes more than a male who watched a mother get abused to make a father." I spat the words out, glowering at the vampire. My anger rolled through me as I looked at him. He had been a big supporter in my search for vengeance and now he was defending the male who had stood by when Maggie had suffered so horribly?

"Sorrel, enough." His form flickered around the edges and I pulled my shoulders back, turning towards him.

"Do you think I had a choice?" The words were growled as they came from the male behind me and I whirled around, pointing at him.

"There is always a choice and you chose to let her suffer!" My breath hitched in my chest at the thought of what Maggie had suffered right before my head throbbed harshly.

"There was no choice for me!" He thumped his chest with a closed fist, his teeth bared. "Malak was my Alpha and an Alpha's Command is absolute." A deep growl rolled from his chest and I matched it with one of my own.

"That is a fucking cop-out." He was removing the blame he had, bowing out of it all. I refused to allow him to do that, to remove himself from blame. He had been there. He could have stopped it and he didn't. He let it happen, let it continue.

"That is enough." Cai's voice came out on a hissing rumble and he grabbed my arm before reaching into the sunlight, his skin burning as he grabbed Arlo's aem and yanked us both through the shadows and into the coven without warning.

The moment we stumbled out of the shadows I whirled around at Cai as he let me go. My head throbbed at the suddenness of the change in environment as well as the shadow walking. "What the hell, Mordecai?!" I did not appreciate being drug through the shadows without warning.

He pointed at me, his form flickering. "You are going to listen to reason and you are going to be quiet." His tone was low and cold and I glowered at him. I didn't like being ordered around, it grated on me and my wolf, despite the fact she was down and out I knew it grated on her.

I ground my teeth together in agitation. "You honestly-"

"Shut. Up." The clipped words that came from him stunned me for a moment. Cai had never spoken to me like that before. "That male is Madeline's father. He raised her from an infanr. You will allow him to have contact with her." He gestured to Arlo and I blinked in disbelief. First he was speaking to me like he had never spoken to me before and now he was on the male's team?

"I can't believe that-"

Mordecai loomed over me once more, his dark eyes glinting like obsidian. "He will have her every second day until such a point where he can assimilate into the pack to be closer to her, then he will be allowed to see her daily." Each words came out calm and with a heavy order that I bristled against. I glanced between the two of them, making note of how at ease Arlo seemed to be with the coven, with the surroundings. I could even smell faint hints of his scent in the air.

My eyes widened with shock as I put it together. "Has he... Has he been staying here?" A tightness encased my chest as I stared between Cai and the male. My heart hurt at the knowledge.