Destined for Vengeance ✔️

Chapter 21

Aaron entered his family's private parlour. He was not in the right headspace to be confronted by his parents about his actions, but his father had insisted on speaking with him. He'd used his strict alpha-voice, so Aaron knew there was nothing left to do but face the music.

"You look a mess," Alder said, the moment the doors closed behind Aaron. He was standing near the window, gazing outside, but turned around. His bushy brows were angled downwards and Aaron shifted his weight. It was odd that even at twenty-seven, his father managed to make him feel like a little boy awaiting a thorough chiding. "Did you let people see you like this?" Alder gestured to the entirety of Aaron's person.

"O, leave him be," Corinne said. She was lounging on the sofa, already in her night apparel. They'd probably gotten her out of bed for this. His father was still in his normal clothes – he usually worked late.

"I will not leave him be," Alder said. "Have you taken a look at him? There is dirt on his face. Would it have been too much trouble to wash himself? And whose clothes are you wearing?"

"Ellis'. I ripped my own."

"Of course you did." Alder shook his head. "I need not tell you that shifting in the middle of a festival and running off into unfamiliar woods is not merely a show of bad manners, but dangerous. What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking I could not let my mate get away again," he said. "Tell me you would not have done the same."

"O, he did, darling," Corinne said. She rose from the sofa. "He was much worse."

"Corinne," Alder said.

She smiled and moved to Alder's side, slipping her arm around his. "Do you wish to deny it? You lost your head when you met me. I don't blame you. I tend to have that effect on men."

Alder closed his eyes, sighing. "For Goddess' sake, Corinne."

"I had to go after her," Aaron said. "What else was I to do? Let her go? The last time I did that, I did not see her again for four years."

"You did the right thing," Corinne said.

"No, you did not," Alder said. "You ought to have sent a couple of your guards after her. This was reckless. Did it occur to you that perhaps it was a trap – that she planned to lure you into the woods?"

"Why?" Aaron asked. "Because she is a Shadow Walker, she must want to kill me? Perhaps if you had not wiped her pack off the map, she would not have feared me, and then she might not have run in the first place."

Alder's jaw ticked. "I do not appreciate your tone, Aaron."

"And I do not appreciate that if you had your way, you would have murdered my mate fourteen years ago."

The room grew deadly silent after that. Alder stood as frozen, and so did Aaron. He'd caught himself off guard by his words.

"Alright," Corinne said. "This is not how we have conversations. Sit down. No, don't give me that look. Sit down. The both of you. Come." She tugged at Alder's arm, guiding him towards the parlour's seating area. She put him down on the sofa and sat down beside him, beckoning Aaron to take a seat across from them. He did. "That's better. Now, Aaron, I know that you know you can't speak to your father like that, so I'm not going to dwell on it. It's late, we're all tired, you've had an intense evening, so we must all take each other's words with a grain of salt. Not to say that we should not at least attempt to remain polite. You know you're crossing lines when I'm the most civil person in the room."

Neither of the men spoke. Corinne suppressed a yawn, pressing a hand against her mouth. "It is really late, and if the two of you are going to keep as silent as a rogue approaching prey, I'm going to fall asleep on the spot. So let's work this out. Aaron, do you realise you took a risk by shaking off your guards and running off by yourself?"