The Scales of Justice

Chapter 15

"That was the last visit we had with our father before he was killed," Justice said softly from behind her, and she jumped. Her hand dropped as she turned to face him. 

"You all looked so happy, at least mostly," she said, remembering the haunted look in the eldest's eyes. 

He gave a small laugh, bitterness twisting the sound. "Yeah, we do, don't we. That's from fifty-one years ago. We had no reason not to be happy.  Our mother was gone; she'd been killed in an accident, caught in the crossfire between a mob and an upset Draconis who thought he ought to be in charge. Father had caught the Draconis responsible for starting the whole mess that killed my mother, and he was in confinement. We still had each other. I was with whom I thought was the great love of my life, and everything was good."

"I know she hurt you; but that can't be what killed the light in your smile."

"You'd be wrong. She's the reason that Retribution and I have such trust issues; that's the catalyst to why he sees the worst in everyone; why I never tried to let anyone get close to me since." Justice took a deep breath. "I told you she turned on me, betrayed me; made me the other man without even the knowledge of the truth; but I didn't give you the entire story."

Callen met his eyes, heart aching at the depth of pain she saw reflected in them. "You don't have to tell me; especially when it still hurts so much."

He shook his head. "No, I don't, but I want you, need you to know so you can understand." He took a deep breath before continuing. "I told you that she was just using me; but the reason  why is why we are the way we are now, what caused the psychological damage. Shenendoah was only with me to get to my father." He watched Callen's eyes grow wide. "It's not like what you may be thinking. I'd rather it had been. We didn't have computers then, not like we do now,  and records weren't as accessible. This is important to remember.

"I mentioned that she had already been mated as the reason she was constantly rejecting a mate bond with me; but it turned out that her mate was the very Draconis my father had apprehended; the one imprisioned for causing the death of my mother. None of us were aware of that detail, not at that time. It had not been made official knowledge, or if it had, it was not in the files available to the local enforcers at the time. Whatever the reason, I had let a vengeful snake into my home."

"I can't imagine that you would have been with her had you known."

"Of course not. Not only because of who her mate was; but because she had one at all. I was looking to make my own family. I can't do that with someone who isn't interested in one. At any rate, my father was an enforcer as well, but there weren't set territories at that time like there are now, so he was a roaming enforcer. Similar to the bounty hunters or texas marshalls back during the frontier days, his visits were sporadic. Retribution and I didn't live together back then. In fact, we were several hours away from each other, so Father would take turns staying with one or the other of us during visits."

Justice took another deep breath, closing his eyes for a minute before speaking again. "The last time he came to visit me. I had gone off to work that morning, no different than any other day and any other visit he had come on. Until I got home. I walked into utter chaos and confusion. My  home had been destroyed in a horrible scuffle of some sort. Investigating a bit more, I discovered my father had been murdered." He heard Callen inhale sharply. "Her real mate had been released from his imprisonment several weeks prior, and they wanted revenge."

"Sweet Io," she whispered, horror filling her expression as the understanding finally dawned. "What happened?"

"I walked in to find them still carving him up; playing with him. Father was gone by then, but they kept at it, just biding their time with what they considered fun while they waited."