Throughout the Legacy Series, we hear bits and pieces about Caden’s father and their large pack out in California. Below is a brief look at one of the last conversations Caden had with his father. And also a little hint about his relationship with Xany…

Ps – A fan asked me if I answer my own email, post on my own Facebook, and write this blog. Um… Yep. Yes I do. I also answer all of my fan mail by hand. I got a cramp from all the letters I wrote last night! (I’m kidding… really.) But yep, it’s really me, Max, writing this. Unless otherwise indicated (like the previous story!).

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by Max

“This is not how you govern a pack, Dad,” Caden’s voice echoed through his father’s living room. The fire in the stone hearth pressed an eerie glow outward onto the bear-skin rug.

“You’re telling me how to run a pack? My son who so readily denies his birthrite and plans to wander off on his own.” Pat jabbed his index finger into Caden’s torso.

“Yeah, I am. Breeders should be fostered, protected, given choices,” Caden raised his voice an octave though remained unmoving against his father’s gesture. “And don’t give me that ‘for the greater good’ crap. You sound like a villain from a comic book.”

“You’re my son, it’s your duty to seek rule of this pack. What have I spent the past three decades doing? Building up our numbers, our strength, our alliances and for what? For my son to turn his back on it?” Spittle burst from the lips of Caden’s father every time he said the word ‘son.’

“You might’ve done all those things, Dad, but the three-hundred and fifty people under your command are unhappy and hurting. And that’s what you don’t take ownership of.” Caden turned his back on his father, the ultimate display of dismissal.

“You’re my son!” Pat’s voice tangled with a growl that rattled the pristine windowed walls overlooking the vineyard. “You will do as I say!”

“You have another son! And if you haven’t forgotten, Dad, I’m done rising to your temper, and bowing to your commands. So is Mal. So is everyone. It’ll be your fault when someone else moves up and takes over. Even Mom disagrees with your handling of things. She won’t say it though because she’s afraid of pushing you further.” Save for raising his voice, Caden’s demeanor remained stoic and unwavering. His father paced with shoulders curled under the unfurled rage that threatened release.

“Nicodemus doesn’t carry the same dominance as you, Caden. You know he can’t handle the other dominants the way you can.” Pat calmed slightly, his posture relaxing after Caden mentioned his wife.

“Nick can handle more than you give him credit for. You lost me the day you forced that wolf to sleep with a woman just because you said so. That’s verging on rape, Dad– no, that is rape. Of a different kind. So what if he chose a man for his mate?” Caden moved away from the fireplace as something pulled at the center of his chest. Something hurt, ached. He glanced to his father to see if he shared the reaction. Caden watched as his father sat at the head of the kitchen table, his rightful place. Pat seemed unfazed.

The ache in Caden’s chest continued to burn, exploding into a dire warning. His father didn’t respond and Caden knew that there was only one bond his father couldn’t feel: the preliminary mate bond.

Without another word, Caden bolted from the house, running at full speed back to the bachelor house he shared with Mal on the far corner of his father’s property. He ran through the vineyard, ignoring the spindled vines that scratched at his skin. Caden found the front door unlocked and nearly slid into the mirror at the end of the hall.

He threw open the door to Mal’s room only to be met with the frightening image of Mal’s bare ass. Mal thrust heatedly on top of a woman who clearly seemed to be enjoying herself just as much as him.

“Something’s wrong,” Caden announced, unmoved by the image in front of him. “Xany’s in trouble.”

“She’s always in trouble.” Mal grunted and slowed his thrusting to a distracted grinding.

“Big trouble, the kind I can feel. Sorry, Rebecca,” Caden mumbled the last part.

“What now?” Mal growled but the woman seemed responsive enough for the both of them.

“S’okay, you better go, Mal,” panted Rebecca.

Mal continued to grumble as Caden stepped out of the room to allow them to finish. He paced the hallway focusing in on the urgent demand of the preliminary bond that Xany didn’t know he held.

“Where is she?” Caden asked Mal as soon as he exited the room, now partially clad in jeans.

“Last place I knew was Kentucky,” answered Mal, his expression still rather sour.

“Where? Describe something, hurry. Don’t you feel it?” Caden wanted nothing more than to shake some sense into his friend.

“I was feeling Rebecca a minute ago until you interrupted.” Mal rolled his shoulders. “Yeah. I feel something. It’s what I usually feel since she’s always in trouble.”

“Focus,” demanded Caden. “Forget it. We’re going there blind. Hold on.” Caden grabbed Mal by the shoulder and with a side-step toward the bedroom door, they disappeared.

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