Gayle seemed perturbed when he voiced the last sentence. He raked his fingers through his already raked hair. A glass of water on the table beside him could quench his thirst. He picked it and chugged the content. But could it cool down the deep anguish that was burning in his chest?

He continued, "Helena's role was to lure Luke Wyatt, get the Company back, kill Luke and then get out. But she double-crossed me. She had grown used to Luke's growing affection for her, the way he spoiled her with his money and the fact that he wasn't faithful to your mother—it was something she could take advantage of. And she did! She took advantage of both of us—Luke and I."

​​

Dawn pressed a fist to her mouth. "You wanted to kill my father?" Fresh barrage of tears flooded her eyes. "Oh my God! You are so sick!"

"Really Dawn? I am sick and what about your father?" Gayle said in a jarring voice. "He deceived me and it cost Terry's life." He gritted his teeth. "Do you know that Terry is survived by a daughter who is handicapped? She is not able to walk and is paralyzed below her hips. His wife died giving birth to that child. So don't fucking tell me that I am sick!"

Cole almost had to stop himself from retching. The knot in Dawn's stomach twisted a bit more. At that point of time she didn't know who she was crying for? For her father, for Terry, his daughter or for Gayle?

Gayle got up from his place and walked to the glass door. He gazed at the dimly lit lamps and they seemed to mimic his life at the moment. "I had told Helena not to touch his family. That was the deal. You all hadn't done anything to me and so my instructions were very clear to her—take down Luke and she wouldn't touch the rest of you. However—" his voice became shaky. "However, she poisoned your mother."

Cole got up from his place and ran to the bathroom. He vomited until only dry heaves were left.

Dawn rushed after him. She always suspected that Helena had killed their mother, but now that it was out in the open as a naked truth, it hurt her so bad. She stroked Cole's back. "Hush… Cole…" The siblings came out of the bathroom fifteen minutes later. Cole's eyes were red with tears and with rage.

Daryn was looking so disgusted that he couldn't even tolerate his father's presence. He walked up to the glass wall and his fist shot out, connecting with the glass. The wall shattered and Gayle stepped back. He didn't look at his son whose fist bled. He could sense his rage to a monstrous level. Gayle knew that he had to come clean, he had to tell it all to them, else so many misunderstandings would arise that the family would fall apart. He was ready to sacrifice himself to keep them all together, to keep Daryn and Dawn together. They were mates, so rare that it had to be preserved.

When Cole and Dawn sat back, they steeled themselves to listen to him further. With the glass broken, the chilly breeze from the river blew in. Instead of intending its normal effect, it alleviated the heat in their hearts. It was like a soothing balm to their turmoil.

Instinctively Gayle sensed that they wanted to know further. He walked back to sit in his chair. Raking a hand through his again he said, "I have no proof that Helena killed your mother, but I just know it. My men carried out their private investigation and they found it." He sighed. "I confronted Helena with the truth as to what she was doing and once again forced her to come out but that woman had beyond any redemption. She asked me to back off threatening me that if I went to the police, she would take me down with her. I hesitated." He buried his face in his hands. When he looked back, his eyes appeared to have pain in them. "She wanted to gain control over your family business. One of the best ways was to call Jason, her nephew, and marry him to you."

"I knew!" Dawn shot her hands in the air in front of her. "I knew she was trying to put me with Jason." She felt disgusted at the thought.

Daryn's claws started coming out with a low growl as jealousy surged through his body.

"And the other was to murder your father," said Gayle. "She worked through her plan meticulously. She took advantage of the fact that your Grandmother Lily Wyatt never liked Clare or you. When her first plan failed miserably, and you never approved of Jason, she went ahead to kill Luke. And after that—she went after the two of you." Gayle fisted his palms in anger. "Once again I went to her and told her not to go after the children. But I didn't know of her grand plan of acquiring the entire business with the help of Anne and David. How she managed to get Anne and David as her accomplice is still a mystery to me." Gayle looked at Dawn. "She scowled at me and asked me to keep distance from her. She said that she wouldn't kill you two if I never crossed her path again. And so I retracted."

"She came after us! She offered a reward of ten million dollars to whoever found us. Do you know that?" Cole said in a jittery voice. He shuddered thinking how they managed to escape the farmers with the help of Uncle Alvarez.

"I know…" said Gayle, shaking his head. "I came to know of her shenanigans after the award was announced. Jason had sent his neotides to search for you after you both went missing. So I had to ask Daryn to nullify all the neotides who were chasing you. I couldn't ask anyone else, because I didn't want suspicions to be raised. I did this under the garb of old enmity between purebloods and the neotides."

Daryn gulped, as a frown formed on his face. So that night when he was hunting for neotides, were they the ones who Jason had sent to kill Dawn? His blood heated with anger and his face flushed. Jason was in his hit list now—at the top.

"But Jason was cunning. He asked for help from some humans who have a research facility in which they conduct analysis on immortals. And—" Gayle choked on his words as he gave a strained look to Daryn. "And Jason told them that Daryn was one of the rare Lykae who couldn't be killed with a silver bullet." Gayle shrugged. "They came like ants to sugar." He quivered and his hands trembled. "Daryn managed them well. He didn't know of what I was asking him to do and for what? So that answers your question—Daryn never knew of the plans."

A sigh of relief washed over Dawn. She closed her eyes and mentally berated herself for doubting her mate. Sensing her misery, Daryn walked to her and clutched her shoulders. He entered her thoughts and said, 'It's no one's fault…'

Oh, how she missed him for that day, how she missed his touch and his warmth. Would she be able to dissociate him from his father's action? 'Hmm…'

"Daryn was shot at with a silver bullet that day," said Gayle.

"When did this happen?" asked Cole, his heartbeat accelerating. Was it the same day when Daryn saved them?

"Yes," said Dawn. "It was the same day Cole." She fitted the puzzle pieces.