The Light in Us

70. Fallon

70

Fallon

Z eke grips my hand in his as I stare at the lawyer. “I thought it was all gone.”

The beta male shakes his head, opening a file in front of him. “As part of his will, your father had ordered that in the event of your parent’s death, the proceeds from his work would be placed into a trust account. The age for access is thirty, so you’re a while off yet. But it’s an extremely healthy account, Fallon. It’s been building for years, and it’s frequently topped up. Your father’s books are still popular.”

He smiles as he slides a note across the desk.

My mind blanks as I stare down at the number of zeroes. “But… I don’t understand. I thought the Smith pack took it all.”

The lawyers’ lips press together. “Terrible business. I’m so sorry. But as this is a trust account, they weren’t able to access it.”

He picks up something else and hands it to me. “The last time they were here, one of them asked me to place this with your family documents, and to give it to you when you came.”

It’s a letter. My heart leaps for a moment, but then I recognise the writing.

I wait until we’re back in the truck to open it. I curl up against Zeke, his arm around my shoulders. He kisses my head. “Take your time.”

Slowly, I slide my finger beneath the flap and pull the handwritten sheet out. A key falls into my hand.

Fallon,

Sometimes we make decisions that we can’t take back.

If you’re reading this, then I hope you got out. Maybe I even helped you.

I hope I did. But I doubt it.

On the day we met, I suggested you were only in college because of your father. I know that’s not true. And I’m sorry, again. I didn’t mean it then, not really. But I do now.

I made a choice that I regret, a choice out of anger, and fear. A choice that I’m stuck with. My story is the same as many others. I won’t bore you with it. An unhappy childhood with not enough to eat and a house that was never warm enough.

I know I’m hard on you, and it’s not right. The groceries are just one example. I need to know that we have enough, that we’re not going to run out of food. It keeps me awake at night. But I doubt I’ve ever explained that to you, and I probably won’t.

I hate this life. I hate that we forced it on you when you didn’t deserve it. I would leave if I could, but I made a decision, and now I have to live with it. And leaving you with Ellis and Rory is not something I’m comfortable with. I’m scared they’ll take things too far.

We’ve already taken things too far. We had a plan to befriend an omega, but it snowballed into something much darker.

This isn’t some sort of redemption letter. I have no good reason or rationale for what we took from you.

But I’m sorry. All the same. And I’ll do what I can to make sure that if you decide to walk out the door, you don’t have any connections to us to drag you down.

And if you ask me for help, I hope that I give it to you.

There is more money, the lawyer said. Ellis drained most of what he could access through your accounts, but he can’t touch that. And I want you to know that I only ever spent money out of what I earned. The grocery money, all of it. I tried to keep it as low as possible because it was your money.

The power of attorney is false. Ellis forged your signature.

As you know, the house was sold. But I had everything in it put into storage. The address is on the back of this letter, with the password for entry, and the key is included.

If you’re reading this, I hope you’re free.

I hope you’re happy.

Shaun

Inhaling, I lift my head and hold out the letter. “You can read it.”

“Asshole,” Zeke snarls as he finishes. “What the hell is this?”

I shrug, still a little stunned. “It doesn’t… it doesn’t change anything, Zeke.”

Maybe he was scared. But he was weak. And fear isn’t an excuse for the fear he caused me .

But I do remember how focused Shaun was on my heat cycle. On making sure I took heat blockers.

Because if I didn’t have a heat, I couldn’t have a bite mark.

And no matter how much Rory suggested otherwise, he always made sure I had them.

No, it doesn’t change anything. Not really. But it gives me a little more understanding into that part of my life than I had before. Into the grocery runs that became a thing I was scared of.

And my family’s things. My photographs. Everything is in storage.

Maybe he was truly sorry. Or maybe this was another form of gaslighting, in case he ever needed to use it.

I’m not going to know. And I need to make my peace with that.

That part of my life is over.

Zeke waits for me to wipe my eyes.

“Let’s go.”