Chapter 60: Chapter 60

Sara walked into the family room to see Ryan sitting on the couch, his eyes glazed over with thought. She watched him carefully, expecting him to lunge at her at any second. When he suddenly blinked and looked at her, she immediately gave him a warning growl.

"Relax, I'm not going to do anything." He sighed.

She frowned, "Are you sure?"

He nodded silently, "I found a video clip from the camera in my father's office."

She raised an eyebrow, "Okay?"

Ryan released a breath and ran his hand through his hair, "I knew my father wasn't the greatest man. Hell, I wasn't even formed out of love. My mother hated him for...what be did to her. I just...I didn't think he was that messed up."

"I always took my anger out on Jason, I thought it was okay. I thought that was the right thing to do...that skin-walkers caused my anger. I just tricked myself into thinking that. Took away the pain. I...I want to apologize to Jason. I know it won't take away the pain, the fear, or anything. But...I don't want him thinking that I'm going to kill him."

He smiled sadly, "If anything, I should thank him."

"What for?" She asked.

Ryan shoved his hands into his pockets as he stood up. He swallowed and looked down.

"For getting rid of the monster that caused my nightmares." He murmured, a haunted look washing over his features.

Sara frowned, "If he was a monster to you, then why were you upset he was dead?"

"I didn't know what to do, he was my only parent. Even though he was an ass, he still raised me. He still made sure I was always healthy. I always thought that he would eventually love me like a father should." He admitted.

"I was just being stupid."

"Did he abuse you?" She whispered.

He shook his head, "No...he threatened me. But as a kid I was terrified of being alone at night, especially in the forest."

Sara frowned, "You're afraid of the dark, aren't you?"

He shrugged and looked away from her.

"As punishment...he left me in the forest alone...at night. I got attacked by a rogue once...and that's when the nightmares began. The patrols saved me and my dad ignored me. I'm fine now though, I got used to it."

He sighed, "Just...tell Jason I want to speak with him. I'll make sure my pack doesn't bother him anymore."

Sara nodded, "Of course."

He walked away before freezing, he swallowed and looked at her.

"How is Iris?" He asked softly.

She raised an eyebrow, "She's doing great."

For the first time, Sara saw an actual smile on his face.

"Thank god." He breathed.

She silently watched as he disappeared down the hall, a frown was plastered on her face.

Does he like Iris? She wondered.

She thought over everything, Iris was about five years younger than Jason, it had to be the same for Ryan. She tilted her head, thinking over his reaction.

He definitely cares about her. She thought to herself.

Later on, she found Jason training with her uncle. She watched as Xavier tried pinning her mate down, but Jason quickly flipped him over. She winced when he punched Xavier in the face, causing blood to flow from her uncle's nose.

They trained for a few more minutes until Xavier decided to end it for the day. Once her uncle left, she made her way to Jason.

He smiled when he noticed her, earning a smile from her as well.

"Hey." He greeted, kissing her.

She grinned, "Hey, I can see that you're getting stronger."

"Yeah, hopefully I won't have to fight Ryan though." He sighed.

Sara bit her lip and looked at him, "About Ryan..."

"What?"

She took a deep breath, "He wants to speak with you. To apologize. We talked earlier."

He froze for a second, "I don't want to be alone with him."

"You won't be." She assured him with a soft smile.

Jason thought over it, he was curious as to how this would all go down. He finally released a defeated sigh and nodded.

"Okay."

Jason stood beside Sara as Ryan met them in the gardens. He watched the young alpha with alertness, ready to run or protect his mate. When Ryan smiled at them, Jason frowned.

Ryan sighed, "I, uh...want to apologize for everything."

Jason clenched his jaw before nodding, "Okay."

"I didn't want to believe my father was an actual pedophile. The same man who raised me..." he ran his hand through his hair.

"I saw what he was planning on doing to Iris, I'm disgusted with him and myself. I shouldn't have just automatically assume you would lie about something like that. But I'm also sorry for everything before. For bullying you, abusing you, and just overall, being an ass. I'm not expecting us to be friends, but at least to be civil."

"I'll make sure my pack leaves you and your family alone." He finished.

Jason pursed his lips, "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you hate my kind so much then just suddenly...change your mind?" Jason asked.

Ryan swallowed, "Because I-I...I love a skin-walker."

"Who?"

"You don't want to know that and I'm sure she doesn't love me. How could she? I hurt her." Ryan murmured.

Sara smiled softly, "Jason hurt me...a lot, but look at me now. I'm his mate and pregnant with our first child."

Ryan smiled, "But he made up for the pain he caused. He sacrificed himself for your happiness."

"Would you do the same for this girl?" Jason questioned.

Ryan nodded, "Without a doubt."

"Then, maybe she'll forgive you and learn to love you. Until then, try doing things to earn her forgiveness. First step, apologizing to her."

"Thanks Jason...does this mean we're good?" Ryan asked.

Jason shrugged, "We'll see."

"Well, I guess that's good enough." Ryan grinned.

Jason walked into the kitchen to see Dimitri leaning against the counter, massaging his temples. He bit his lip, debating on whether or not to walk in. He sighed and stood beside the pained king.

"You alright?" He asked, bringing Dimitri out of his thoughts.

"No." He mumbled.

Jason frowned, "What's wrong?"

"Rose and I got into an argument...I don't even remember what had happened. Apparently, I was drunk again...but I've been clean for the past few years. I-I broke my promise to her."

"Your promise?"

"To always keep her safe. How am I supposed to keep her safe if I'm the danger?"

Jason chewed on the inside of his cheek, "What did you do while drunk?"

Dimitri swallowed, "I-I hit her...I slapped her across the face. I almost hit Sage too..."

A broken expression washed over Dimitri's face. The king shook his head and started to walk away.

"I'm going for a run, if Rose asks...I highly doubt that she will, but just tell her that." He said before disappearing around the corner.

Jason blinked, he furrowed his eyebrows.

How in the world would he get drunk if there's no alcohol in the castle? He thought to himself.

His eyes widened as he sprinted from the kitchen. He ran up the stairs and into Dimitri's office. He silently closed the door, feeling wrong for entering. This was the one room Dimitri wouldn't let anyone in besides Rose.

He quickly started searching for hidden alcohol, but found none. However, he did smell something strange on a glass. He furrowed his eyebrows and took a sip.

Definitely not alcohol, but this isn't normal water either. He thought.

He placed the glass down and sighed. He knows Dimitri doesn't like going to bars, even if he did go to one, they would have found out. They had five guards at each bar, making sure the king wouldn't be able to enter.

He snapped his head up when the office door opened, he silently watched as Sage sneaked into the room and closed the door. She released a breath and turned around.

She froze at the sight of him, "Uh...hey, how are you?"

Jason rolled his eyes, "Let me guess, you're going to investigate and try to find alcohol?"

"How did you know?"

"I just did that, there's none here, but the water tastes weird."

Sage frowned and grabbed the glass, she immediately spit the water out after taking a sip.

"That's not alcohol, but it is a drug."

Jason frowned, "What?"

"I'm taking classes on medicine and drugs, since I want to be a pack doctor. I know, shocker. Anyways, we all were able to taste certain drugs. And smell them. I know this drug by heart. Some kid drank the whole thing in class and went violent for a bit." She explained.

"We were supposed to take a sip and spit it out. Not how humans do it, but you know, werewolves always do it the stupid way. Anyways, either my dad took this drug on purpose or someone slipped it into his drink. Weird how he didn't notice it though."

Jason nodded, "Makes sense, but you know your father. He doesn't take sips, he downs half the glass."

"True. Where is he now?" Sage questioned.

"Out on a run."

She froze, "Hopefully he doesn't hurt himself. Come on, we're going to find him. I'll get Mason."

As the two ran down the halls, they almost collided with Rose. She raised an eyebrow at the two.

"Why are we running?" She asked.

Sage caught her breath, "We are going to get Mason."

"Okay, well, have you seen your father? I'm really worried about him, I don't want him hurting himself." She asked.

Sage sighed, "He went for a run. We're going to find him."

"Oh...okay." she frowned. "Don't you find it a little weird that he got drunk but there is no alcohol in the castle? He didn't go to a bar, since I would have found out. Of course I think of this after arguing with him."

"That's what we thought, we think he was drugged. We'll find him." Jason replied.

Rose nodded and thanked them, Sage told her to rest before taking off with Jason.