Love And Betrayal | ✔️

57. Always have, always will (I)

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I was in the middle
Before I knew that I had begun.

—Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice)

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A D E N

IT DOESN'T TAKE much to ruin a perfectly good day.

Father is waiting for me in my office when I return. He swivels in my chair, one hand propped over the rustic table while the other toys with a miniature glass dome. "Son." He says, when our eyes meet.

The term curdles in my gut like sour milk. I don't bother hiding the grimace.

In broad daylight, I catch sight of the wrinkles around his eyes, ones that hadn't been present previously. His hair is slightly unkempt as if he had been running a hand through it while I was away.

He rises from my chair and approaches, steps sharp over the pristine floor. "You're avoiding me."

The words of the man who ran from me like the plague struck him, the second he found out I was dying. The man who wouldn't enter my room. Wouldn't even look in my direction fearing it was contagious.

"You look better." He adds after a lengthy pause.

I sidestep him and head towards the door. "Sorry, I'm busy."

He blocks my path. Eyes narrowed. "There's something I need to talk to you about. I've noticed, you've been spending time with that girl again. We discussed this, Aden. She's bad influence."

A growl emanates from the back of my throat. "It's none of your business, dad. Step aside."

He doesn't.

"Are you going to meet her?"

My teeth clench so hard my jaw hurts.

He grips my shoulder and tugs me forcefully. "Answer me. Are you going to meet her?"

"What if I am?" I fling his hand off me. "What will you do? Hurt her, bully her, fuck up her life even more?"

A sardonic smile curves his mouth. His eyes turn dark and cruel. "So that bitch has been feeding you lies again. I expected as much."

Over the years, my father had a lot of colourful words for Kiara. Whore, liar, manipulative bitch... every time I hear them, renewed loathing ripples inside me. My hands ball into fists by my side.

I push his hand off of me. "Careful, Dad." Every syllable uttered drips with venom. "That 'bitch' you called, just so happens to be my mate."

He shakes his head.

"I'm just looking out for you, son. I keep telling you, Kiara Evergreen is bad news. She'll distract you, weaken you. You're better off without her."

"Don't—" I start, but he pushes on his expression twisting into one of viciousness.

"She's the reason, her father—my Beta died. Do you even know what his last words were? It was her name he shouted out loud just before the rogue ripped his throat out. Why? Because he'd told her to stay in with her sister and she didn't. If she hadn't been so reckless, had simply obeyed, he wouldn't have been distracted. He'd be alive today. That name he'd screamed through the pack-bond—that, that was the last he spoke."