My Luna's Revenge

Chapter 7: Office

-Bella-

The house had never been this quiet. It was almost eerie walking down the hallways to my dad’s office. He hadn’t left the room since my mom left. She had screamed at him, demanding he go out and bring Dean back, but he had refused.

Eventually, she couldn’t bear to stay here any longer and had gone to stay with Aunt Rebecca and Uncle Cole. She was heartbroken over Dean being sent away by my father and couldn’t remain in the house. I wasn’t walking around with a smile either.

My brother meant everything to me. Sure, he wasn’t like everyone else. He had few friends and rarely spoke, but I refused to believe for a second that he would kill Skylar. She was special to him, one of his few friends. He wouldn’t harm her. I couldn’t believe it!

I needed to find out what really happened.

Knock, knock.

“Dad?” I called, but I was met by silence.

Knock, knock.

“Dad?”

Still nothing. Now I was worried for a different reason. I grasped the handle and turned it, pushing the door open. The office was shrouded in darkness. It was just past six in the evening, but with fall well underway, nightfall had arrived early.

“Dad?” I called carefully.

I tentatively poked my head inside and looked around. The room was a mess and didn’t smell great. Papers were strewn everywhere, and shards of glass were scattered across the floor. I noticed half a bottle of whiskey near the fireplace, its glass shattered—perhaps from being thrown into the fire?

I wasn’t sure, and for the first time, I felt a twinge of fear as I approached my father. Normally, he wouldn’t even raise his voice at me. I could ask him anything, and he’d give it to me. My mother often had to remind him not to spoil me, but he’d just shrug with a smug smile before giving in. I tried to imagine that father as I stepped cautiously into the room.

“Dad?” I whispered, tiptoeing through the office to avoid stepping on any small pieces of glass. “Dad, where are—”

A groan came from the far end of the office. Straining to see through the darkness, I used the light from the hallway to help me. At first, it looked like just a shadow, but soon I realized it was my father slumped over his desk. I jumped over a large pile of papers and books and made my way around the desk. Gently placing a hand on his shoulder, I shook him slightly.

“Dad?”

He groaned softly but otherwise didn’t react. I shook him again, but it became clear that he was out cold, probably from the alcohol. Seeing him like this made it obvious how deeply it had affected him to send Dean away. But as the alpha of the pack, he couldn’t let his personal feelings cloud his judgment.

Dean had been caught red-handed, and people were demanding punishment. Even Skylar’s father—who, frankly, was an unpleasant man—had insisted Dean be punished. Truth be told, I suspected the man harbored a grudge against Dean.

He seemed to resent the close relationship Dean had with his daughter, though her father wasn’t very involved in Skylar’s life himself. He blamed Skylar for her mother’s death, which had occurred during childbirth. It was unfair to hold sweet Skylar responsible for that, and although I wasn’t very close to her, it was clear her father’s harsh words affected her, even if she tried to hide it.

I sighed as I looked down at my own father. Sending his own son away had clearly devastated him, just as it had my mother. With her gone as well, he seemed to have lost his way. I could do nothing more for them than uncover the truth, but not tonight.

I walked around the desk and began gathering the scattered papers, neatly stacking them before picking up the books and returning them to the shelves. Next, I started collecting the shards of glass.

“Need some help?” Startled, I looked up to see Kyle in the doorway.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“I came to check on you. Dad says things are really bad with Uncle Revenge, and Aunt Elena… she’s not doing well. So I wanted to see how you’re holding up.”

“I’m fine.” I didn’t look at him as I spoke. I couldn’t. My parents were already a mess. I didn’t need anyone else worrying about me.

“Bella,” Kyle said, walking over and squatting down to meet my eye level. “You’re not fine.”

“Well, what do you expect me to say? I’ve never seen my dad like this. Mom couldn’t even stay in the house, knowing her mate had exiled her son. Now I’m alone, living with a ghost and missing my brother like crazy. I have no idea if other rogues have found him yet. I don’t know anything. It feels like everything has been turned upside down, and I… I just want things to go back to normal.”

Kyle nodded slightly as I finished speaking. I could see he was unsure of how to respond. I knew he missed Dean too. The two had always been close, doing everything together along with Carter. I had always been closer to Mary, Kyle’s sister. We all had two older cousins from Aunt Claire and Uncle Rafe’s family, but we weren’t as close to them. The age gap meant we had never spent much time together, only really talking during family dinners.

“He’s strong. A rogue won’t get to him,” Kyle said, trying to offer a reassuring smile.

“But there’s more than one rogue out there,” I pointed out, meeting his eyes.

Kyle fell silent again, clearly unsure of how to reply.

“You know you don’t have to stay here, right? You could come live with us. My mom is really worried about you being alone in the house,” he told me.

“Thanks, but I’m staying. Right now…” I glanced back at my father, “I’m all he has.”

I turned back, and Kyle nodded once.

“Well, at least let me help you clean this up,” he said.

“Thank you,” I replied.