Ruby choked on her tears. “At least we know where we both stand,” she cried but kept her chin raised proudly in the air.
Killian watched his father undo the zipper of his pants. Roughly, he reached down and took out his cock. It was hard and pulsing, oddly ready to pulverize and penetrate. Ruby kicked forward but only managed to slip farther into his grasp. Although Killian would have loved to kill Ruby for what she’d done, he couldn’t help but feel a level of sympathy.
“Keep your eyes fixed,” Severin growled. “Gaze into my eyes as I sink into you.”
He forced her to turn by her hair. She should have shouted in pain, horror, and disgust. Instead, she turned silent. The resemblance to Rae was so uncanny Killian soon felt as if he were watching her suffer. He couldn’t take it anymore.
He kicked the door out of the way and ran forward with his blade drawn. His eyes quickly went to the pistol resting on his father’s hip. Diving forward, he tackled Severin, pulling the weapon from the holster. “You son of a bitch,” he growled. “Don’t touch her!”
Severin struggled to get out of Killian’s grasp, Killian wrestled him to the floor. “Don’t fucking move. Don’t fucking speak. Better yet, don’t fucking do anything,” Killian said.
“I am your maker. Bow before me,” he grunted.
Before Killian knew what hit him, Severin drove a blade into his side. He felt the icy cold betrayal turn into a searing pain. Nearly collapsing, he grunted and struggled to maintain his dominance. “You… you bastard!”
Severin showed his teeth, arrogantly wielding the blade to stab again. “I should have never fucked the slut who gave birth to you,” he said.
Killian felt the rush of confusion and rage overwhelm him. The pain from the knife wound wouldn’t let up. “Shut up! Just shut the fuck up!”
Killian head-butted Severin’s nose, making sure the crack was loud enough to spell out a break in the cartilage. Severin let go of the blade, and Killian quickly took it into his hand. His father grabbed the butt of Killian’s weapon, and the pair wrestled near the bed. “Father, I will end you!”
The blood from Killian’s wounds spilled against Severin’s lips, dribbling down his chin. A wicked smile formed on his face, and the blood soon filled the recess of his mouth. “Kill me. It won’t change the fact that you are my son.” His growl turned into terrifically loud laughter. “Put the knife down and take a firm grasp of power. Once we rape the world, we’ll have everything.”
Killian didn’t waste time dreaming of what could have been. The days of mending the past were long gone. Severin pushed against Killian’s forceful hand, but, slowly, the serrated blade came closer and closer to the center of his neck. Killian ground his teeth because, truthfully, it hurt him to see his father suffer. Still, he made sure to lean his mouth near his ear so he could hear what he had to say. “Mark my words. Blood or not, you were never my father.”
“You fool,” Severin said. “That’s all I’ll ever be.”
And with those words, Severin kneed into his gut, forcing Killian off him. He kicked the blade away, stepping onto his hand and kicking his jaw. Killian was shocked. He had fought countless men in battlefields all around the globe, but he still harbored love for his father, and that turned out to be one of his biggest weaknesses.
Laughing hysterically, Severin reached into his pocket and pulled out a pistol. He aimed it straight at Killian’s head. “I should have ended you the moment you were born.”
In times of war, a soldier must learn how to remain silent. He must train himself to dismiss the last sounds of his dying friends, the bullets and bombs that explode nearby, and the thought of home. A soldier is trained to think of Death as his comrade.
Killian closed his eyes and waited for the release he knew might come. He pictured himself as a younger and better man. In his imagination, he walked through a grove of green and blooming oak trees. Everyone was near him—Lucas, Vash, Rae, and, of course, their children. It was the most peaceful image he had ever seen.
“Goodbye, Dad,” he muttered.
Three shots rang out. The cold spray of blood splashed across his face. It was over. It was—
Ruby smacked his cheek until his eyes opened. “Get up,” she said.
Killian glanced down at h
is father and then at his own wound. He growled with pain, shuffling back against the bedpost. “Ruby? What are you doing?”
Ruby stood above him, handing him the gun. “Saving your life.”
Killian took one last glance at his father. The evil that once graced his eyes was completely gone. He was an empty vessel. Killian had spent so many days in his prison cell wondering who his family was. Now, he knew. It was Rae, Vash, Lucas, and the children. His father meant nothing.
A fit of rage rushed through him as he pictured once more the idyllic scene in his head. Severin had robbed Killian of a real life. All of the men’s fathers did. Now, they just had to live and deal with the consequences of another broken world.
He tried to stand but quickly collapsed onto the floor. Alphas were not supposed to feel this much, but redemption didn’t come easy for him now. It was full of madness and terrifying regret.
“Father,” he cried. “I’m so… Oh God. What have I done?”
He soon felt her hand smooth against his shoulder. Like a snake, her palm slithered up his neck, meeting his jaw. “He raped me nearly every day of my life,” she admitted.
Killian felt the urge to turn and do the same to her that she did to his father. He could barely even focus on the severity of her words. The only thing that stopped him from killing Ruby was the sight of his father’s ravaged body staring back at him. He feared he might be haunted by his lifeless image forever.