Chapter 41: Help me, Eva
"Who would have thought you would ask me into your chambers once again, Soren." Ayla’s mother, Brenna scoffed. "Last time I was here, you swore to me you would never acknowledge Ayla as your child."
Soren turned to face her.
"I may have something very bad happening to me, Eva."
Brenna lowered my arms slowly. "Does this have to do with what Ayla overheard? The rogue king?"
He did not answer but he did not need to. The look on his face told her everything.
She stared at him.
"Who is he?"
"I do not know." Soren answered. "No one has seen him and lived to tell the tale."
"And how does he have you doing his dirty work, Soren."
He looked away, his jaw tightening.
"Was he responsible for the attack on Prince Cassian?"
Soren closed his eyes.
"Yes."
"I cannot believe you! How could you be so stupid? You are Beta of this pack with sworn loyalty to your Alpha and now you work for his enemy?"
"Now is not the time to cast blames, Eva." Soren cut her off.
"Moon goddess, Soren." her voice cracked. "What do they have against you? What could possibly be worth all of this?"
Soren looked stricken.
"I cannot tell you that."
"You cannot tell me?" she laughed. "You drag me into your chambers, you confess to treason, you admit you are working with the man who tried to kill the Alpha’s son, and you cannot tell me why?"
"It is not that simple."
"Then make it simple, Soren."
"I cannot." His voice was barely a whisper. "We just need to figure something out."
Brenna stared at him like he had lost his mind.
"We?" she scoffed. "There is no we. I do not even want to know what is going on and I do not want to be involved in whatever scheme is sure to blow up in your face very soon."
She turned toward the door.
"Do not involve my daughter either. Keep her out of whatever mess you have made of your life, Soren. She has suffered enough because of you."
Soren chuckled, freezing her in her tracks.
"Listen, Eva... if this blows up in my face. It is also taking you and your daughter down with me."
Brenna’s hand hovered over the door handle before she turned slowly to meet his eyes.
"What did you say?"
"You heard me, Eva." His voice was cold. "I am in too deep to protect anyone else. If the truth comes out, it will not matter that you knew nothing. It will not matter that Ayla is innocent. They will paint her with the same brush they paint me and you know this."
Of course she knew this.
This was the reason Brenna had not wanted Ayla to say anything.
The people of the pack might be forced to accept her as the princes’ mate but all of that would not matter in the face of her father being a traitor.
They would both be branded and exiled or worse killed.
"Bastard." The word left her mouth like poison. "You are a bastard, Soren."
"I know what I am."
"Do you?" she stepped closer, her hands trembling. "Because I do not think you do. I think you have spent so long burying your secrets that you have forgotten what it means to be a man with any shred of honor left."
He did not answer.
"Who is he?" Brenna asked. "The man who attacked the prince. I am sure whoever it is is in the pack doing the rogue king’s dirty work and yours so except you shot the prince... who was it?"
A knock sounded at the door, halting every further conversation between them.
The door swung open before Soren could even ask who it was and Willow stepped inside.
She froze, shock then disgust flooding her face at the sight of Ayla’s mother.
"What the hell is she doing here?"
"Willow." Soren’s voice was sharp. "This is not your concern."
"Not my concern?" She laughed. "I walk into your chambers and find you alone with her... the woman who destroyed our family and you tell me that it is none of my concern? What does she want from you?"
"Willow, leave."
"Are you about to fuck her?" Her voice rose. "Is that what this is? You cannot keep it in your pants, so you drag your whore back into our home?"
"Willow!" Soren’s voice cracked like thunder. "I said get out!"
She did not move. She stood in the doorway, her chest heaving and her eyes blazing with fury. Willow looked at Brenna with such hatred that she felt a chill race down her spine.
"You are pathetic." Willow spat at her father. "You are a pathetic excuse for a man, and I hope she gives you a disease that rots your cock off."
She turned and walked out, slamming the door behind her.
The silence that followed was deafening.
"I can see exactly where she gets her kind character from." Brenna commented.
"You can understand why she would be angry at seeing you." Soren answered.
"You cannot be serious." Brenna scoffed. "You know what happened to Gia, Soren... you know she did not kill herself as you let everyone believe. Now I wonder if she had somehow found out about this secret you are desperately trying to hide. I wonder if that is the reason you killed her."
Soren’s eyes darkened with anger.
He did not like to remember his wife.
Her death had taken more from him than he would ever admit to anyone.
If only Brenna knew how close she was to the truth.
Yes, Gia had found out about his secret and she had confronted him with the truth but she had also threatened to expose him to the whole pack.
There was no way he could let that happen.
He could still remember the shock in her eyes and the realization of what he had been about to do.
She had looked at him with pity as he snuffed the life out of her.