“Tell them that if they want to start making amends, to send workmen and supplies. I’ve got Dockside to rebuild.” With that I hung up and took in the scene around me.
Savannah.
She was like a brilliant flame in the dark of night, calling to me. Brave. Beautiful. Triumphant.
She sat with her aunt, holding her hand. Giving strength to one more person, after she’d given everything she had to the city.
I didn’t deserve a woman like her. But somehow, the fates had given me a chance to earn her love. A chance I wasn’t going to fuck up.
I started toward them, but halted at a familiar scent, and scanned the surroundings.
A werewolf stood in the shadows of an alleyway, watching me. A muscular form, but tired. I knew the silhouette anywhere.
My father.
Not what I needed right now. I strode into the darkness. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to help,” he growled.
"Why? Because you thought we couldn’t handle it. Or because you realized you’d fucked up.”
“Because I was wrong, Jaxson, and I’m trying to make amends. I shouldn’t have brought you up before the council, but I was afraid that you and that woman were bewitched by the Dark God.”
“That woman is my mate. She’s a LaSalle, but you will speak with respect.”
He looked away in submission. “Trust me, Jaxson, for what you two accomplished, I have all the respect in the world. For both of you. Regina told me you had to enter the Deadlands to stop this.”
A chill filled me, but I nodded.
He sucked in an unsteady breath, and the scent of distress was strong.
After a long pause, he spoke. “You were gone three days, and I swear to the fates, there wasn’t a minute I didn’t regret every word we’ve exchanged in the last five years. Your mother and I weren’t sure you were coming back, and it felt like my soul was breaking. I’ve spent so many years dwelling on losing Stephanie that… I can’t lose you, too.”
“Well, I’m still here,” I grunted.
“I’ll fix things between us, Jaxson. I’m going to try. I’m sorry for everything. For leaving you on your own, for dropping the pack on you, for being distant. Inaccessible.” He put a hand on my shoulder, and I tensed. “I’m here. In the time I’ve got left, I need to focus on the son I have, not the daughter I lost.”
Anger pulled at me, and I didn’t try to hide it. Why had it taken nearly dying for him to see this?
I looked away, until I got control of my emotions. Finally, I was calm enough that I could meet his eyes.
“I saw Stephanie,” I muttered.
My father stiffened and shock dilated his eyes as the implications struck home. He was speechless, and I didn’t break the silence between us.
At last, he forced out a hoarse whisper. “You saw her in the Deadlands?”
“She led us there,” I said, measuring every reaction.
“Is she…” He swallowed hard and licked his lips. Pain shown in his eyes as he searched for the right words. “At peace?”
I crossed my arms. “She is with Billy. They run together with the ghost wolves. I think she’s found a peace that she didn’t have when she was alive. We spoke a long time.”
My father turned away, every muscle in his body coiled with tension and anguish. After a long moment his shoulders drooped. “I’m glad. That’s all I want for her.”
I started to walk away, but his hand stopped me. “Jaxson.”
He met my eyes. “I know this isn’t the right time, but I hope that someday you can forgive me. For abandoning you. For losing myself. For being such a shit father when you needed me to be there. I’m going to do everything I can to earn back your trust.”
I shook my head. “There is someone whose trust you need to earn first.”
He followed my gaze to Savannah, who was helping move a wounded man to the truck.
“She’s my mate. My other half. When you’ve made peace with her—if that is even possible after what you said—then you and I can talk.”
My father nodded. “I understand. Whatever I must do, I will.”
Taking a deep breath, I nodded. “Good. Now I need you on the West Side at the hospital. They’re triaging people infected with the Dark God’s lycanthropy. They’ll need an alpha to help guide the new wolves, and I can’t be everywhere at once. The rest, we’ll talk about later.”
“Of course.” He turned to leave but paused. “You did good, you know. I would have failed this test. The pack is lucky that they had you.”
“They were lucky to have had Savannah,” I growled as I walked away from my father and the pain of our past, and back toward my mate. Toward my future. Toward my strength.
My fate.