MATED TO FATHER, FATED TO SONS-Chapter 43: STAY BURIED

IMPORTANT INFORMATION IN AUTHOR’S NOTE PLEASE READ

ROWAN

The dead never stayed buried for long, especially those who were not really dead to begin with.

I had always known Victor would come back eventually. Men like him did not just disappear into the night and stay gone. They circled back, waited for the perfect moment to strike, fed on chaos like it was oxygen.

But I had never really been afraid of Victor.

Wary, yes. Cautious, absolutely. But not afraid.

Victor was dangerous, not because he was one of the strongest soldiers the pack ever produced, though he was that too.

He was dangerous because he was unpredictable, a pure breed lunatic who went on rampages and destroyed everything in his path without care for consequences or collateral damage.

But his power would not have been a match for three Alphas working together under normal circumstances.

The problem was nothing about that time had been normal.

Alpha Corvin had been consumed by grief after mom died, could barely function let alone lead a defense against a coordinated attack. He spent most of those months locked in his study staring at nothing while the pack fell apart around him.

Then there was the Freya issue, which complicated everything in ways I still did not fully understand.

I had been trying to hold the pack together during all of it because Victor had loyalists, followers he had recruited and radicalized, people he had convinced that Corvin was a tyrant who needed to be overthrown. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

He infiltrated minds and turned pack members against one another until we could not trust anyone.

It was Ryker who had to step up in the end and take Victor out.

"Because it took a psycho to get rid of a lunatic." I told Nia who was staring at me keenly waiting for us to get to the good part.

Ryker smirked from where he sat at my desk. "Oh very funny."

We were still in my room, still filling Nia in on everything she had missed while we kept secrets.

Cole leaned against the window frame watching the conversation, it was not his story to tell and honestly, I had always doubted Cole’s stance on the matter. He and Victor were super close when Victor was here.

We were all close to Victor but he was specifically training Cole for the role as a Beta. Which meant he had to be a warrior. But when the chaos broke and the pack splitted into two, Cole had taken our side.

"Mind you," Ryker added, pointing at me, "this part where you call me a psycho is extremely rude. That’s a misrepresentation of my character,"

"Oh, I am sorry, I meant it takes a psychopathic maniac to take down a lunatic like Victor," I teased and he chuckled.

"Now that’s more like it," Ryker grinned, his shoulder slightly raised in honor for his new found title.

Cole chuckled. "And remember, Freya was a witch. Of the first order."

Nia waved her hand impatiently. "I know all this part. Tell me what I don’t know. Y’all are just beating around the bush,"

I looked at Ryker and he looked back at me, both of us weighing how much to reveal.

Especially knowing that Nia would most likely tell Amaris.

I opened my mouth to continue when a knock on the door cut me off.

We all went silent. Nia adjusted her leg almost trembling at the sound of the door.

"Could it be Victor?" She asked and we both stared at her.

"Why the fuck will Victor knock on Rowan’s door captain smart pant," Ryker taunted her and I bit my lips trying to hold back the laugh.

"Oh fuck you Ryker," she retorted.

"Oh, you wish,"

She was about to snap when the knock came again this time louder.

"Come in," I called.

The door opened and Alpha Corvin walked in, his presence immediately changing the energy in the room.

Nia and Cole both straightened, greeting him with proper deference before making themselves scarce.

They knew whatever he was here for definitely had nothing to do with them.

The door clicked shut behind them and then it was just the three of us.

Father, sons, and all the hatred, lies and secrets that existed between us.

"I can see some routines never change," Corvin observed, his eyes scanning the room like he was trying to take in the changes.

Which honestly had not been a lot. He had not been in my room in months, maybe a year but I was one who didn’t like change. I loved things remaining as they were, and so even if something was getting old in my room, I would go out and get an exact replacement of it.

Yeah, call me wherever you like and diagnose me with the mountain of disorders there is. I am that kind of guy.

Ryker leaned back in the chair, his arms crossing over his chest. "What do you want, Alpha Corvin? Are you done jerking off to the agony of Alpha Darius?"

I watched our father’s fist clench at his side, watched the muscle in his jaw jump as he ground his teeth together. He was visibly angry but holding it back with the control that had always defined him.

"Beta Marco informed me that Victor was spotted in the pack today," Corvin announced, his voice level despite the visible unease radiating off him.

He waited for a reaction, his dark eyes moving between Ryker and me. But he got none.

"From your reaction I would presume you two already know," he continued when neither of us spoke.

"Ryker saw him during the engagement party," I supplied, deciding there was no point in pretending. "They even got into a fight."

I purposely left out the part about Amaris being involved. That felt like information that would cause more problems than it solved.

I was also trying to figure out that look Ryker had given Amaris in the banquet hall when he had strode in and Amaris was on the stage.

Was it about Victor? Or was there more?

Ryker shot me a look but did not contradict the edited version. He stayed quiet and decided to go along with my story.

Corvin’s expression darkened. "We can’t let words get out. Tomorrow we are going to meet to discuss how to flush him out once and for all."

Ryker laughed, the sound harsh and mocking. He had a way of making one infuriated by his laughter because there was every hint of condensation in them.

"Wait, sorry, do you need our help?" He stood up, moving closer to our father. "Why not wait for the son your breeder is going to bore you so you can get him to get rid of Victor instead?"

"When are you going to grow the fuck up Ryker?" Corvin snapped, his control finally cracking. "This is people’s lives we are talking about. Even if you don’t care about yours, care about others."

Ryker closed the distance between them until they were standing toe to toe, neither backing down. "Last time, when you were sulking in grief for your Luna," he paused, his voice dropping to familiar cruelty, "but come to think of it, was it really mom you were grieving? Or was it Freya?"

The accusation wasn’t far-fetched because till now, I always asked myself what hurted him more. The death of our mother or the supposed death of Freya.

"Well I don’t care," Ryker continued, "because I was the fucking one who stepped up and did what needed to be done."

"Am I supposed to build you a statue?" Corvin shot back. "For doing something you were raised to do? Something that was your responsibility as an heir to this pack?"

Ryker’s hands curled into fists and I could see him winding up for another round, could see this conversation spiraling into the same fight they always had where nothing got resolved and everyone ended up bleeding.

"Enough Ryker," I cut in, standing up and moving between them. "We will be there tomorrow, dad."

Corvin turned to leave, his shoulders tight with barely contained fury. He reached for the door handle and I almost let him go, almost let the conversation end there.

But something made me speak.

"Dad."

He stopped but did not turn around.

"Lila and I have decided to move our wedding closer," I announced.

Corvin turned slowly, his eyes finding mine. "Is she pregnant?"

"What?" The question caught me completely off guard. "No. God no."

Ryker made a disgusted noise and headed for the door. "I am out of here. You two are just the same."

Our father’s hand shot out and grabbed Ryker’s arm, stopping him mid-stride. The grip looked tight enough to bruise.

"Ryker," Corvin’s voice was different now, quieter, almost vulnerable in a way I had not heard in years. "I need to ask you a question and I need your absolute honesty."

Ryker tried to pull his arm free but Corvin held firm.

"Is Freya dead?"

The room went completely silent.

I stared at our father, trying to understand why he was asking this now, why he needed confirmation of something we had all assumed was fact for over a year.

Ryker stopped fighting the grip on his arm and looked at Corvin with an expression I could not read.

"Why are you asking me?" Ryker finally responded, his voice flat.

"Because you were the one who found her body," Corvin answered. "You were the one who confirmed she was gone. So I am asking you now, as your Alpha and as your father, is Freya actually dead?"w