Chapter 38: Chapter 38

CALLUM “I was beginning to think you were avoiding me,” Troy mutters dryly as he forces his way past me into my apartment.

My muscles lock up as his shoulder knocks into mine. “Yeah, well I knew you wouldn’t stop calling until I picked up,” I grumble.

I glare after my stepfather as he strides right into the living room like he owns the damn place, and all the effort I put into calming myself prior to this interaction is immediately wasted at the sight of him in my space. My jaw ticks in agitation, fingers twitching at my sides. I’m not fond of anybody intruding on my space, Nessa being the only exception.

That’s who I’m really doing this for. My girl is an idealist; she can’t abide not seeing wrongs righted, so if there’s one to uncover here, I’ll try, for her. I finally picked up one of Troy’s calls this morning and told him he could come over for a chat, though I still have doubts about Chase’s plan actually working. It’s clever, but he doesn’t know Troy like I do. It’d take a sledgehammer for this man to crack.

“Your mother’s hurt that you haven’t stopped by since you returned,” Fuckface comments as he sinks down onto my sofa, throwing an arm over the back and settling in.

“I doubt that,” I snort.

He gives me a once-over, the corners of his eyes crinkling with a smile. “You’re right. She hasn’t even asked about you.” 7 He’s clearly wasting no time in trying to get under my skin. He should know by now that I’m not phased by my mother’s indifference, though. I just shrug, striding into the room and taking a seat in the recliner on the opposite side, maintaining a detached, aloof exterior even though I feel bile crawling up my throat.

Realizing his first barb didn’t land, Troy switches tactics. “Pity about that girlfriend of yours,” he murmurs as he picks a piece of lint off the sofa, flicking it away.

My pulse picks up speed. Damnit. “What about her?” I grit out.

That patronizing grin of his that I fucking hate makes a swift appearance, my stepdad delighting in managing to strike a nerve. “Spencer said he’s seen her out with Miles,” he says, attempting to twist the knife. When I don’t immediately react, he presses on. “It must hurt, seeing her move on so quickly.

And with one of your so-called friends, no less.” Troy sucks in a hissed breath through his teeth, feigning a wince of sympathy. “You did the right thing, though, breaking that off. Glad to see you took my advice to heart.”

“We’re back together, actually,” I mutter before I can stop myself. I wasn’t planning on revealing that little tidbit of information to this asshole, but seeing him sitting on my couch looking so smug, it just slips out. This is what he does; burrows himself under my skin until my knee-

jerk reactions overpower rationality.

Troy’s brows shoot up, his impenetrable mask slipping momentarily. Then he fucking chuckles, like my life is all some big joke to him. “Interesting,” he tuts. ” Surprised you’d want her back after another man had her.”

“You wanted Mom.” 13 I see the split-second reaction, the curl of his lip, the flash of anger in his eyes. But just as quickly as it appeared, he smooths it over, schooling his expression. “Well, I certainly hope she isn’t pregnant,” he muses. Pausing, his eyes narrow, that familiar look of hatred swirling behind them as he fixes me with a venomous gaze. “I’d hate for you to have to see what it’s like to live with another man’s mistake.” 7 That one stings, but I don’t let him see it. He’s never tried to hide how he feels about me. When I was a kid, I wanted his love- craved it, even. Now, I don’t want anything from him except for him to leave me the hell alone.

“What do you want from me, Troy?” I sigh, leaning back in the recliner and drumming my fingertips against the armrest. “You want me to apologize for being born?”

“You know what I want,” he snaps, his patience wearing thin. “We discussed it the last time we spoke, though it seems that you’ve failed to follow through.”

At least he’s cutting right to the chase.

“But I didn’t,” I reply smoothly. “I put in a good word for Spence, just like you asked me to. Problem is, the position you were after for him has already been filled.”

Surprise flits across his face again. ” What? By who?”

I can’t suppress the grin that pulls at my lips. “Me.” 1 Try as he might, Troy can’t hide the indignation that permeates his features. His posture stiffens as his eyes narrow in rage, steam practically coming out of his ears. “You can’t be serious,” he sputters.

I just nod, my grin widening. I can’t help it- this guy never allows his feathers to be ruffled. It’s so damn satisfying to see him being the one to squirm for once, knowing that for the first time, I’m the one with the upper hand.

Fuckface shakes his head in disbelief. ” You can’t accept the position, you know that.”

“Why not?” I scoff.

He draws a steady breath, his composure slowly returning. “Because our alpha doesn’t know what you did. I’d hate to be the one to have to tell him…”

“What makes you think I haven’t already?” I interrupt, frustration leeching into my tone.

He doesn’t miss it, nor the tight set of my jaw. Troy relaxes back into the sofa, a slimy smile creasing his lips. “He wouldn’t have asked you to be an enforcer if you had,” he says matter-of- factly. “Friend or not, no alpha would put his pack at risk by granting rank to a loose cannon.”

My fingers flex against the armrests of the recliner as I suppress my instinctual reaction. I won’t let him see that he’s rattled me. Especially not if this plan has any hope of working.

“That’s why he asked me, actually,” I say calmly, just as we rehearsed. “He said the current enforcers have gone soft, he wants someone who isn’t afraid to do what needs to be done. Someone with a killer instinct.”

“Killer instinct?” Troy scoffs. He shakes his head in disbelief, his composed mask slipping again. “You almost pissed yourself that night,” he chuckles. “Cried like a fuckin’ baby…”

“Maybe that’s what I wanted you to see, I reason, forcing a smile. “What I wanted Alpha Vaughn to see.” The lie tastes bitter on my lips, but I press on, sticking to the script. “And it worked, it got me out of being punished. But I knew what I was doing when I lured that woman upstairs. It went exactly as I’d planned.”

Troy throws his head back on a maniacal laugh. “How you’d planned?!” he barks. ” Oh, that’s rich. As if a woman like that would’ve picked up a seventeen-year-old brat willingly.” 1 My heart stutters in my chest, the hairs on the back of my neck prickling. Somehow, I keep it together, though. Somehow, I press on, without missing a beat. “You were there, you saw her,” I say with an arrogant wave of my hand. “She was more than willing.”

“Because she was paid to be,” Troy spits.

Bingo.

My spine goes ramrod straight, realization slamming into me. Nessa was right- it was a setup. Troy was involved all along.

How did I never see that?

All this time, I never thought to examine why Troy was there that night, waiting in the wings. My mind races, and I open my mouth to speak, but no sound comes out.

Before we did this, Chase let me in on something else Rob had mentioned to him; the reason behind Alpha Vaughn’s suspicion of Troy.

Apparently, my stepdad had made more than one play to obtain pack rank for himself in the past and was repeatedly passed over. Vaughn speculated that after Troy’s own failures, he’d likely project that onto his son, and given how close Chase and I were, he probably saw the writing on the wall; that I’d be selected for pack rank over Spencer. And if that were the case, it could’ve been his motivation to push me out of the picture.

Knowing Troy, it makes sense. Too much fucking sense to be a coincidence.

“You think you’re so clever, huh?” Fuckface chuckles dryly, shaking his head.

My gaze snaps back up to his, and for a second, I think he’s caught onto what I’m. trying to do here.

But then he keeps talking.

“You think if you own what happened that night, it somehow makes you special? That you can use it to your advantage?” His eyes narrow menacingly. “You’re not special, Cal. You’re a fucking embarrassment. You’ve always been weak, crying when I sent you to time-out, crying when you thought you’d killed that whore. I paid her extra to play dead, and she thought it was hilarious, a prank between a father and son.”

Wait, what?

“But… she died,” I stammer, trying to conceal the tremble in my hands.

“Because I’m not weak like you,” Troy snaps, a cruel gleam in his eye. “And I don’t like loose ends.” 8 My jaw goes slack. I could wrap my mind around being set up, but this…

“You?” I rasp, no longer even attempting to feign indifference as I struggle to comprehend the weight of the bomb that Troy just dropped.

“Oh, don’t act so surprised,” he mutters with a flippant wave of his hand. “And don’t think this changes anything. It’s my word against yours and I’m a respected member of this pack, while everyone knows you’re nothing but a troublemaking kid.” He pauses for a moment, dropping his voice lower. “And if you don’t want that pretty little girlfriend of yours to meet the same end as that whore from Boulder did, then I’d suggest you turn down the enforcer position.” 5 I shoot to my feet, my hands curling into fists at my sides. “You will not threaten Nessa,” I growl, my vision tinting red and my wolf surging to the surface.

Troy sighs, looking almost bored as he rises from the couch and smooths out the front of his button-

down shirt. “Then you know what to do.”

“Yeah, tell the fucking truth about what happened that night,” I fire back.

Rather than taking my threat to heart, he rolls his eyes like I’m being a petulant child. “As if anyone would believe your word over mine.”

“I would,” Chase calls as he opens the front door of my apartment and strides inside. 11 Troy’s face pales when he sees our alpha, and fuck if it isn’t satisfying to see all of that smug superiority melt away in an instant, replaced by fear. I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen Troy look afraid before, but it’s damn glorious.

I reach into the pocket of my jeans and slide out my phone, holding it out toward Fuckface so he can see the screen, showing that I’ve been connected on a call with Chase this whole time.

“Little trick I picked up from when my girl was kidnapped,” Chase explains, nodding toward the phone.

“I thought we might get lucky with a confession that you set Cal up that night, but this… well, this was beyond even my expectations.”

Troy’s mouth opens and closes as he sputters like a fish out of water, undoubtedly searching for some way to explain himself.

Chase glances my way, giving me a nod. ” Consider this your first official job as an enforcer. Bring him in, and if he resists, feel free to rough him up a little.” The two of us exchange satisfied smirks before he turns on a heel and starts for the door.

“What?!” Troy blurts, finally finding his voice. “You can’t do this, you have no proof!”

Chase whips back around, his eyes shimmering with the gold of his wolf. “I am your Alpha,” he booms, the power behind his voice making me flinch slightly as he advances on Troy. “My word is law in this pack.”

Troy blanches, all the remaining color draining from his face. He cowers at Chase’s advance, his voice meek when he speaks. “Surely we can work something out, Alpha…”

“The punishment should fit the crime,” Chase declares, stopping short and leveling Troy with a glare as he folds his arms across his chest. “What was it that you requested my father do when you brought Cal in that night, again? Exile?” 8 Fuckface’s throat clicks with a hard swallow, his shoulders sagging in defeat. I see it pass over his features- the moment he knows he’s lost.

“Cal,” Chase directs, flicking his head toward Troy. “You know what to do.”

A wicked grin spreads across my face as I stalk toward my stepdad, snatching his arms and pinning them behind his back in one swift motion, before he even has a chance to fully realize what’s happening.

He struggles against me, but it’s futile- I’m not that scared little boy that he locked away in the basement anymore. I’m bigger than him, stronger than him. Smarter than him. 5 Chase leads the way out of my apartment, and Fuckface continues to fight my hold as we follow behind, the triumphant grin never leaving my lips.

“I’m not the one who’s weak, Troy,” I growl as he digs his heels in and continues to try to free his arms. “You are.”