“I’m guessing here. But when your mom left after your dad’s spell, I was sure she would come back. She needed us. Not just to protect her, but we were her closest friends. I thought she would come back and we could work through it all once your dad found out the truth. But then Oakenfang accepted her transfer.”
“What?” I was confused. “I thought my dad wanted her to leave.”
“He did, but didn’t.” Ronnie waved his hand around back and forth. “He needed to hurt the bond, so that she was out of the way. But he thought she was going to stay in the pack, just go back to her aunt’s home. Or even transfer back to her parents’ pack.”
“But she didn’t?”
“No. She sent out transfer requests to every pack. It was first come, first serve. She wanted out and didn’t care where she went. Your grandpa was in another pack and missed the request by a day. Vince accepted her first. And so she went there.”
“Probably because he knew he was going to try the old law.” Lynn tossed out and Ronnie’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. It groaned under the pressure. I tapped his hand and he let go, shaking out his hands.
“Probably.” He took a deep breath and blew it out. “Your dad is going to lose his mind. But then again, he never doubted your mother, not even for a minute. He assumed she moved on, but he still didn’t blame her. When he finds out the truth, he is going to tear his office apart.”
“Put him in the cell before you tell him.” I offered. “He will appreciate it more.”
“I don’t think I can.” Ronnie cut his eyes to me again, but I grabbed his shoulder.
“You have to. You nearly ripped the plane apart. What do you think he will do when he finds out the truth…” Ronnie shivered. “Yeah. I wasn’t going to tell you at all.”
“Then why did you?”
Lynn chuffed in the back. “Probably because she was tired of you always talking about her mother when you didn’t know the entire story.”
I pointed back to Lynn and agreed. “I’m sorry.” Ronnie looked over at me and then looked into the rearview mirror. “I have been an ass for your entire life towards your mother, and that isn’t fair.”
“It’s okay.” I patted his shoulder. “I could understand why you thought that way. I even agreed, which is how I found out the truth. My mom…” I sighed. “My mom is of the mindset that she can handle it all on her own. She kept quiet and dealt with the pain of my father’s betrayal. Losing her home, her pack, her family and friends. She put it all to the side to take care of me. Even when she started chipping away at her own soul, she was okay with it, because she was saving me. But now, now I knowthe truth and they need to talk to each other. They need to be honest with each other.”
“They need to stop making themselves miserable.” Ronnie interjected.
“Exactly.” I agreed. “But we need to figure out what exactly is going on. I don’t want them to get back together just to end up dead.” Ronnie nodded.
“Your father didn’t want me to tell you, but since you told me a secret, I will tell you one. Aurora and this attack are tied to the first attack back then.”
“He said he thought so.” But Ronnie was shaking his head.
“We know. Beck let slip that much.” Ronnie wiped his face. “He said that the past was coming back to bite us.”
“What does that mean?”
“It was a saying that was used back when your dad lived his first life. When he was killed in his first life, the attacker said the same thing. Like a mantra. And he never forgot it. So when Beck said it this time, he knew.”
“So, we wait until this is figured out.” I sounded as defeated as I felt. I didn’t want this to continue, but I wouldn’t risk anyone’s life.
“Yeah, but at least you have something to do.” Ronnie smiled over at me.
“What do you mean?”
He pulled the car over and hopped out. He went to the trunk and rustled around for a few minutes before coming back with a laptop bag. Once he settled back behind the wheel, he handed it to me. “This is for you.”
“What is it?”
“Open it.” He tapped the bag and got the car back onto the highway. I unzipped the bag to find a new, sleek laptop and a new phone.
“I’m going to ask again…what is it?”
“This is your brand new, never used, custom-built hacking computer.”
I stared at the side of his face. “I don’t know how to hack.”
