"What'd he say to you?" Ares asked me, staring at the exit of the restaurant while clenching his jaw. When Marcel had disappeared, Ares gazed back at me. He had that thirst-to-kill look on his face. "I'm tired of his damn disrespect for you."

Ares never liked Marcel's attitude toward me, but today I didn't mind it because I didn't take it as disrespect. Marcel liked Charolette. I grinned and grabbed Ares's hand, pulling him to his feet. And Charolette liked Marcel. Nobody could tell me otherwise.

"Nothing, Ares." I interlocked our fingers and pulled him toward the exit. There was no way that I was going to tell Ares what was going on between Charolette and Marcel because Ares would flip. I would keep their little secret for a little while longer, until one of them made a move on the other.

So, I shut my mouth, pulled him out of the restaurant and toward the prison, and said, "We're going to see my dad."

Ares grimaced but continued to walk with me toward the building. I gazed briefly at the packhouse as we passed it and stopped. The light in Ruffles's room was on. I could see her sitting on the windowsill, gazing outside at the lightning bugs. "You go see my father and meet Elijah. I'll be there in a few."

"But--" Ares started, brows drawn together.

I rested my hand on his chest, placed my lips on his, then pushed him away. "Go." I wandered into the packhouse. Ruffles greeted me at the front door. Don't ask me how she got out of her room; I had a sneaking suspicion that Ares had let her out.

"Meow."

"Ares is at the prison."

"Meow."

"Girl, he's not your man." I opened the door for her and let her hop onto the cement sidewalk. "And before you say anything else, yes, we're going to go see him." She rubbed herself against my leg and started walking.

My stomach was fluttering with butterflies, just thinking about telling Elijah and Dad the good news. I wanted to go back to the cave now to see that Hound again, but I knew it wasn't the right time. Something was telling me that I should just wait for him to come to me.

Ruffles walked by my side toward the prison, swaying her little butt back and forth. She had chip dust all over her long grey fur and was staring at the guards in the forest. "Meow?"

"Yes, Ruffles, for the second time you're going to see Ares."

"Meow."

I cut my eyes and stared down at her. She gazed up at me with an evil I'm-going-to-take-your-man expression. We walked further through the woods, the prison coming into view. There was a single light on and three guards posted out front.

My phone buzzed in my back pocket. I pulled it out and held it to my ear. "Are you here?"

There was some chatting in the background, then Elijah finally spoke. "I'm about to start a meeting with my warriors. We've spotted Hounds at our southern borders. I won't be able to make it over until this is taken care of."

I stopped and frowned. "More Hounds? Do you need Ares to come help?"

"No," Elijah said. "I'm not planning to attack. Something doesn't feel right. What did you need? Is it important?"

Ruffles ran ahead to the guards who all stared curiously down at her, blocking her passage. She meowed up at them, and they moved out of her way as if she was a queen. She walked into the prison and down the steps.

"I rather tell you in person. It isn't... just anything. It's important."

"Alright, I'll be there as soon as I can," he said. Before he hung up the phone, I warned him to be careful. Tony was still out there, and he was dangerous. If he betrayed our pack and let the Hounds kill everyone, I didn't put it past him to try to kill other packs. He wanted to instill fear in everyone, wanted to be just like Ares. But he was nothing like Ares. Tony was a wimp.

After pushing my phone into my back pocket, I walked past the guards and walked down into the prison. Ares stood across from a cell with Ruffles brushing against his leg. I had brought Ruffles here as a kind of welcoming gift for Dad, a piece of home, but all she wanted to do was rub up on my man.

Dad sat in the same cell Ares had beat up Elijah in. With his back against the concrete wall, he glanced up at me when I walked into the room. I knotted my brows together at him, unsure of what to say. "Hey, Dad," I said, frowning. "I had Ares bring you her--"

"You should've let him kill me," Dad said.

I stopped in complete shock. Never in my life had I heard him sound so utterly furious yet so lifeless. Dad wanted to be dead? He rather have death than have me?

"He doesn't mean it, Kitten," Ares said through the mindlink. But I didn't believe it. All I had tried to be was a good daughter for him and Mom, yet time and time again they continued to disappoint me. It was never-ending. It was vicious. It hurt.

I gazed at my father, at the man who once loved me, at the man who was looking at me with so much hatred. My heart shattered, my chin quivering. Ruffles stood between my legs and hissed at Dad, baring her little teeth.

"All she wanted was to keep you safe," Dad said, shaking his head at me. "And you betrayed her. You brought your mate back to our pack and everyone died because of it." He walked closer to the silver bars and stared down at me. "Everyone's dead because of you."

My eyes filled with tears but I refused to let them fall. He was just angry and sad that his mate was dead. That's why he was saying this. He didn't mean it... did he?

"Dad, I didn't... I didn't cau--"

"Your mother. Your packmates. Your friends from highschool. All of them are fucking dead." He grasped the silver bars in his palms and stepped even closer to me. Tears and rage and heartbreak all laid within his glossy eyes.

Ares growled and stepped in front of me. "Don't try to intimidate her. You disrespect her one more time, and I'll have your fucking head."

"She's my fucking daughter, Ares," Dad said. Directly saying an alpha's name without using his title was beyond disrespectful. And Ares was teetering back and forth on snapping today. Since I had gotten home, I could tell he still had that insatiable thirst for war on his face. He wanted to kill all the Hounds, wanted to hurt anyone that got into his way. "I can talk to her anyway that I please."

Ares grabbed Dad by his throat and pulled his whole body directly against the silver bars. The sound of sizzling flesh echoed throughout the room, and I winced. I grasped Ares arm and pulled him back. "Ares, stop. Please, remember what I had told you earlier."

"He deserves to die, Aurora."

"No," I said softly. "He doesn't."

Maybe he did, but I didn't want him to die. I hoped that one day we could be a happy family again, even if it was just him, Ruffles, and me. But I wasn't sure if that would ever happen. After a few more moments of tugging on Ares's shoulder, I brushed my fingers against his mark. "Mars," I whispered. "Please."

Almost immediately, Ares threw Dad to the ground. Dad smacked against the concrete, hitting it with a loud thud. There were red lines burned into his flesh from where the silver bars were.

I pushed my tears away and pulled on Ares's wrist. "Come on. Let's go." This was a mistake. My mistake. I came here to tell him one thing, and all I got was yelled at by him. Maybe trading me to Ares was the best decision of his life too. Maybe I was and had always been a burden.

"You're just going to leave me here, A?"

I turned on my heel. "You don't get to call me that anymore. When you decide you want to be civil with me and actually have a conversation about what happened, then we can talk but until then..." I paused and swallowed hard. "All I wanted to tell you was that your son is alive."