Page 58 of Shadow of Fury
“You may have contributed to my DNA but you were never a father. A father doesn’t do the things you did. You used your power to destroy the person I loved. You killed her and you let everyone think it was me. You let me blame myself and worse, you silenced me so that I couldn’t tell anyone the truth.” Logan saw the flash of panic on his father’s face and smirked, “I shouldn’t even be able to say that, should I? But I figured something out last night. You’re weak, old man. Weaker than you’ve ever been because you don’t have the bond with Mom to siphon her strength anymore. You killed Mom and in doing so, you killed yourself because you’re not strong enough to fight without your mate.”
“I am not weak.”
“You’re not even healing, Dad. Look at your hand. You’re still bleeding because you’re weak and you’re dying and I am so, so tempted to watch you bleed out, slowly, knowing that it was my mate who got to kill you, because she deserves to have her vengeance.”
Byron glared at him with a cold, emotionless expression, “That’s what you’re really mad about, isn’t it? It always comes back to that slutty little bitch you were so enamored with, but I did you a favor taking her off your hands. After all, you’re mated to her sister now, isn’t that right, so she was never yours to begin with.”
“You poisoned her against me, against everyone. You groomed her and you raped her and then you killed her.” Logan spit the words out, ignoring the twinge of pain that still lingered in his throat as he fought against his father’s command not to speak about the past.
“I didn’t rape her.” Byron scoffed, “She was more than willing to lay with the Alpha.”
“I’m sure you tell yourself that about all of them, but we both know it isn’t true.”
“That little bitch mate of yours might not have been willing but she’d have liked it in the end, just like her sister did.”
Red flashed across Logan’s vision and he felt his father’s words like a knife plunging into his chest. It was that little half curve of his lips, that self-righteous tone of his voice, that did it. He’d warned him not to call Wren that and the reminder of what his father had tried to do to her sent him over the edge.
He snapped and lunged for his father. Byron tried to step out of the way but Logan tackled him to the ground. The old man rolled, knocking Logan in the jaw with an elbow, before he regained his balance enough to rear back and throw a punch.
His fist connected with his father’s face and he heard the satisfying snap of bone as his nose broke. Blood poured down his chin and Byron roared in pain. The sound was so loud it made Logan’s ears ring and he knew before his father even opened his mouth what he was going to do.
Before his father could use his Alpha voice to command him to stop, Logan reared back and punched him again. He was blind with the fury of his hatred and he used his other hand to lean against the bastard’s throat. He kicked and flailed, trying to block Logan’s next punch but he was weak, just as Logan had known he was.
He didn't have the strength to defend himself. Just like all those girls he’d hurt, the girls who hadn’t been able to defend themselves against their Alpha. He was the one person in the pack who should have protected them at all costs. Instead, he had been the nightmare none of them could escape.
Until Wren.
“Oh my God! Logan! Stop!” A feminine voice screamed, and he blinked, surprised by the sound. “You’re going to kill him. Stop.”
His head jerked towards the figure that had come into the room but it wasn’t Wren. Instead he saw his sister rushing towards him. Vivian looked scared but she threw herself at him and tried to pull him backwards, off their father.
Logan’s momentary distraction was enough for his father to get his bearings and he lashed out. A big hand smacked into the side of Logan’s head, knocking him off-kilter. His head slammed into a file cabinet and he winced when he felt the sting of a cut blossom above his eye. Blood dripped into his eyes and he blinked, trying to wipe it away so he could see. He didn’t get the chance because big hands grabbed the back of his shirt and shoved him into the file cabinet again.
“Stop it!” Vivian screamed again.
Logan grunted as the hands that had held him let go and he caught himself awkwardly, twisting his wrist. He winced but scrambled onto his knees, spinning to face his father. He blinked, trying to see past the blood that was already drying over his eyelid.
Vivian had jumped on their father to get him off of Logan. She clung to his back and the old man twisted violently, trying to dislodge her. Logan didn’t have time to do anything but cry out as Vivian lost her grip and the force of their father’s swing sent her flying through the air.
As if in slow motion, Logan watched as his sister fell backwards, her head smacking against the corner of the desk. The sound it made was loud and seemed to reverberate through the room. Vivian collapsed in a heap on the floor and the smell of her blood thickened the air.
“No!” Logan screamed in pain as he crawled across the floor to his sister. “No, Viv. No!”
This couldn’t be happening. It couldn’t. Not Vivian. He’d told her to stay outside but she hadn’t. Of course she hadn’t. She was so damn headstrong. She’d come in to make sure he didn’t kill their father, not because she had some twisted loyalty to the man but because she’d wanted to protect Logan.
Tears blurred his vision as he pulled Vivian into his arms. There was blood everywhere. Too much blood. He held her head in his hands, slick and sticky and looked around wildly, finding their father staring down at them.
“Call an ambulance!” he screamed. “She’s alive. Call an ambulance.”
“I… I…” Byron made a high-pitched noise that Logan didn’t understand and he was about to scream at him again when he saw the old man grab at his chest.
His eyes went wide and then they rolled back. He stumbled and fell on his ass. He didn’t make a sound as he rolled onto his back and Logan watched in shock as he stilled. His chest didn’t move and he didn’t so much as twitch.
His heart, Logan realized as he stared at his father lying on the ground, unbreathing. He’d grabbed at his chest as though he was having a heart attack. Someone had mentioned that his heart was weak due to the illness but Logan had thought that might have been an exaggeration, part of the ploy to get him back here.
The years of illness, the loss of his mate, even the fight with Logan, and his father had survived it all. But the sight of his daughter lying broken and bloody had been the breaking point. Byron’s heart, or whatever black, diseased organ that had kept him on his feet all this time, had seized at the sight of Vivian, hurt by his own hand.
But Logan didn’t have time to even consider going to help his father.