The Pack's Doctor by Cooper

Chapter 172

Quirin

“What do you want to know, Quirin?” Alpha Warren asks me.

“All of it, I guess. You said my father was after Luna Yara?” I ask.

“Not at first,” he says and sighs. “You know, the day I killed him, I told your father that if he had been a different man, he and I could have been friends. Maybe that’s why I’ve tried so hard to have a relationship with you. You’re enough like your father that you and I have a lot in common but you’re different enough that we’ve never been at odds like your father and I were. For all of the money that your father had, and I know it was a lot even back then, he always wanted more. What he had was never enough for him. It was pure greed, nothing more. He didn’t need my lands, but he wanted them. He didn’t need Yara, he had your mother. But he wanted her because he recognized that her strength would make him stronger.”

I nod. “I remember talking to him about that. He said you were getting stronger, that you were threatening our livelihood. But what he really meant was that you might have become stronger than he was, right?”

“I think so. He was in an alliance with two other Alphas and their packs were attacking mine nearly every day. All three of them wanted Yara…”

“All three?” I ask. I had two after Kennedy and that nearly made me feral.

“There was actually a fourth. Simon. He didn’t want her for power. He was just obsessed with her.”

“I would have killed them all,” I growl.

“I did. Your father had the most honorable death of all of them. Simon wasn’t so lucky,” he snarls.

“Why did you give my father an honorable death? If he was after Luna Yara, why did you make his death quick and easy?”

“There were multiple reasons. The biggest was because he traded his life for yours. That was the honorable thing to do. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again now while we’re talking. I think the only person that your father loved in this world, was you. I remember hearing from my Beta that your father offered to trade his life for yours, not your mother’s. Charlie, that was my Beta, is the one who asked about your mother.”

“I remember that too. From my child’s perspective, I wanted to save my father, to do whatever I could to keep him from dying.” I say, remember that awful time in my life.

“You realize now, you could never have saved him and he would never have let you, right?” he asks me.

“Yeah. It didn’t make it any easier back then,” I say and then, I ask the question that has bothered me for years. “Why did you celebrate his death?”

He frowns. “I didn’t. I was devastated. I hated killing your father.”

was there. I snuck out while my mom was sleeping and made my way to your pack. I’d watched as flowers were delivered all day. I watched you bring him outside and kill him while your pack prepared for a party. And then I’d watched while your pack members howled happily at his

have killed him in front of you. No wonder you’ve always hated me,” he

much like what you see in your pack now and how they feel about Kennedy. But the flowers…” he says, obviously trying

decided on our Gamina and we were celebrating having a complete leadership

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Chapter 172

pack being whole again.”

celebrating his death,” I say

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was a good man, a good Alpha. He let greed eat at him and it

to me,” I say to

ask you a

we’re kind of being friends,

he says before becoming serious again. “Why didn’t you know that Kennedy

Kennedy once again because I didn’t hear her when she was

only never been afraid of the darkness inside me, but she’s able to push it away. But her soul is too beautiful, too

closed?” he asks, looking shocked.

that Kennedy deserved a better mate than me, someone like Henry perhaps. But just because she got stuck with me and I wasn’t strong enough to deny the gift that was given

person, Quirin. You carry your darkness like a penance, like a cloak that you wrap yourself in. But you underestimate my daughter’s strength. I’d bet that Kennedy’s brightness, her light, is much stronger than your darkness. Open yourself to her and let yourself be happy. Surrender to her in a way that you would never surrender to another person. Believe me, she will give you more in return than you could ever imagine. And I’d be surprised if her light didn’t encompass you all the time. For me, I don’t know how I’d

reason why you should have to live under that cloud of unhappiness. Open yourself to her. Let her love you the way that I know she wants to. You deserve to enjoy this life, Quirin. Stop punishing yourself. Stop holding yourself responsible for your father’s death. He made his choice. You were a pup. There was nothing you could do to save him and he wouldn’t have wanted you to anyway. You’re going to be a father. Believe me when I tell you it changes you. You will love that pup with everything in you and you will love your mate even more than you do now. I know you don’t think it’s possible, but when you realize that she’s given you the earth, the moon, the stars,

and I struggle to get my emotions in check, but

give you

of anger, hate, guilt, and frustration. I cling to him as my body feels like it’s falling apart, like I’m shattering into pieces and the only thing

he says softly while I sob uncontrollably.

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