Chapter 496

We pulled the sheets off everything and spent a few minutes bringing in extra chairs. My dad took his chair and patted the seat beside him. Ronnie leaned against the window, facing the door.

My dad grabbed my hand. “I have missed you, baby girl.”

“I missed you too, dad,” Nix said, pushing forward, our eyes flashing. “We have all missed you.” Nix’s smoky voice echoed from my lips. Loki pushed forward and smiled. “I still have a pup I haven’t met.”

“Once this is done, I want to go meet both of you,” Loki said; his eyes mirrored my own. Megan pushed forward, and I felt my eyes shift to her brown ones. “I would really like that.”

Loki receded, and my dad reached a hand to my cheek. “I’m sorry,” he said, his fingertips dancing under my left eye. “I never knew.” His thumb pressed gently.

Megan tilted her head and chuckled. “Amy didn’t even know I existed until you taught her magic. Without you, I would have stayed hidden, like last time.” Megan lifted my hand and took his. “Never apologize for something you couldn’t help.”

There was a knock on the door. My dad squeezed my hand once before releasing it. “Come in.”

Toya’s father entered, followed by a few other alphas. “Bad time?”

“Not at all,” My dad gestured to the chairs. “It’s a little tight, not like at the Agora.” He chuckled. “This is my daughter, Amy. Amy, this is—”

I stood. “I know,” I smiled at each man. “I’ve met everyone in this room when I was younger. It’s good to see you all again.”

“You have grown up,” Alpha Tim smiled.

“I have indeed,” I gave them a quick bow and settled back into my chair.

“Okay,” My dad clapped. “Amy, why don’t you start at the beginning? What happened after you left here?”

I opened my mouth to begin, but there was another knock. My dad turned toward the door, and before he could speak, a huge man entered—taller than any I’d ever seen. Nix snorted. He’s a little shorter than the king. I drew in a breath and shushed my wolf. She snorted with laughter, but I turned to my dad. “Thoth? I didn’t expect you to show up.” He sounded surprised, but my breath hitched. My head snapped back to the masked man. He turned and froze. “Thoth?”

That got his attention. He cleared his throat. “You told me you were coming back here with the alphas. I figured you wanted a meeting to plan our next steps.” His voice was low, but the mask had a voice changer, as his voice was warped. He turned to me. “I didn’t know Amy was going to be here.”

My dad waved him in. “Ronnie, grab him a chair.” My dad nodded to me, and Ronnie smirked.

“Of course,” Ronnie left and returned with a chair. He slid it beside me and gestured to it. “Thoth.”

Thoth took a breath and maneuvered through the chairs, seating himself beside me. He looked at me for a long moment before shifting his gaze to my dad. “You were just starting?” he prompted.

My dad shook his head. “Not me. Amy. Go ahead, darling.” I turned to him. “Start when you left here. I already caught everyone up to speed on what happened before you left.”

I nodded and began talking. I had just reached the part about my heat and how I’d dealt with it alone when I received a message. I pulled out my phone and continued, but my voice trailed off as I checked the message from Rick.

“You went through your heat alone?” Alpha Tim asked, taking my phone from my hand.

“Yes. I had someone I thought might help,” my words were distracted. “But he wanted to wait for his true mate and he didn’t want me to resent him later.” The alphas nodded. I pocketed my phone. I told them about Nina and Nadine, about Vince Brandon, and finally, I reached the end. “They call themselves the Brotherhood of Blood.”

Thoth stiffened beside me, but my dad furrowed his brow. “Who does?”

“Vince, for one. But I think it’s the people who started all this before the old king died. Someone named Garith.”

My father, Ronnie, and Thoth froze. Thoth slowly turned to my dad. “Did you say Garith?”

I nodded. “I know the name, but can’t place it. It’s like something is making me forget, and it isn’t until the name reappears that I remember.” I shook my head. “Rick found emails between Garith and Vince. It looks like Garith started this all. But I don’t know where I know the name from.”

“He’s my father.”