Between Shadow & Ruin (Fangs & Fae Saga Book 2)

fifty-seven.

We all stood up; I crossed my arms, digging my nails into my arm as I heard the doorknob click. Dylan walked through the door with Ella's parents following behind him and Ella very nervously following behind her mom.

"Odie!" Ella said, excitedly. She took a step towards him when her father tried to discreetly block her path. Both of their faces dropped. I looked towards Dylan, trying to see if he'd noticed.

"Victoria. Gerald. Do you two want to sit?" Dylan asked, clearing his throat breaking the silence.

"No," Gerald said. Victoria shook her head. "What are we even doing here, Dylan? With them no less? I told you I didn't want to see them or have my daughter around them."

"I need to speak with all of you, and this is the easiest way."

"I don't care what's convenient for you. I care about the wellbeing of my only child!"

"Do you?" I asked. "Because everything I've heard about you two lately seems to tell me the opposite."

"What would you know about the wellbeing of children? Your 'kids' aren't even actually yours!" Victoria said. I clenched my teeth.

"And yet, I've been helping raise kids since before I was even turned," I said. "I would've happily helped my mother take kids in this situation from parents like you without a second thought. Raising a kid has nothing to do with actually being a part of their DNA, and everything to do with respect, nurture and caring! You don't get to have kids and then treat them like garbage!"

"We don't treat her like garbage!" Gerald said, taking a step towards me. "But we don't appreciate your son molding her into someone she's not! She's an impressionable young girl – "

"That needs to be loved and guided by her parents! Not – ugh!" A low growl escaped my throat.

"Say it..." Gerald said, dangerously close to me.

"Why don't you? Why don't you tell your Alpha just the kind of people you and your wife are? Why don't you tell your Alpha how much you lied to get him on your side?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Stop it!" Ella yelled, pushing her father away from me. "Just stop it!" Her eyes flashed yellow for a second and I heard a low growl come from the back of her throat.

"Ella!" Victoria said. "How dare you put your hands on your father!"

"I don't care!" Ella yelled. She was crying. "It's not like he's had a problem doing it to me..."

"Eleanor!" Gerald said.

"Alright, enough!" Dylan said, slamming his hand on his desk. "I understand there's a certain amount of roughhousing associated with being wolves, but this goes beyond that. Gerald, you cannot put your hands on your daughter like that. An actual fucking dog has more respect for their young than you do."

"So, you're taking the vamp's side? I guess the rumors are true."

"I'm taking the right side. You can't treat your kids that way! And what rumors? I'm a fucking vampire hybrid, but I'm still a wolf and more so I'm. Your. Alpha." It was almost like Dylan stood three feet taller when he said that and he was already nearly six feet tall. I could feel my throat tighten. Dylan walked around his desk to stand in front of Gerald; he and Victoria dropped to one knee. "When you completed the Pack ritual, you relinquished your ties to your old pack, accepted my rules, and swore you would uphold them. What's rule number one?" Gerald and Victoria didn't answer. "Answer me." Gerald's jaw flexed.

"To treat each pack member, regardless of ties, with respect; to accept every member, regardless of ties, with community and kinship," Gerald said through his teeth.