Free Absolution by Jambrea Jo Jones

just…my parents.”
    “Ahh, it’s sinking in that they were murdered.” Ev hugged her. “It’s okay, you know. You’re allowed to be angry and upset.”
    “I can’t.” Kitty turned in his arms and pressed her face to his chest.
    “Kitty—”
    “Later,” she murmured against him before looking up. “We have to fix this first. Then…then I can grieve. But now, let’s eat.” Kitty gave Ev a weak smile.
    Ev kissed the top of her head and released her. “Okay, I’ll check the fridge.”
    He released her and she watched him walk away. Every part of the situation was homey. Kitty had never thought of herself as domesticated, but it was—nice. Better than nice, it was actually kind of wonderful.
    It made her remember her parents with happier thoughts. Her mom and dad had always had a great relationship, which was why it had been so hard to believe her mom could kill her dad. Kurt had taken that away from her, but she wasn’t going to be a victim. Once shifters came out they could find a good punishment for her uncle.
    Ev held up the eggs and cheese and wiggled them before coming back to the counter. This she could get used to, making breakfast for the two of them. The girls wouldn’t be around for much longer, not if they were going to go to college, and if she had anything to say about it, they would. It was nice to know she wouldn’t be alone.

Chapter Nine
     
     
     
    Everett whistled on the way to the pack house. The sun was shining and all was right with his world. Breakfast had started off rocky, but after the food was done they’d talked about anything and everything—the kind of stuff that might have been learnt through dating. That was one of the great things about mates, usually they were very compatible. It might not be instant love, but that would come. He could see himself easily falling for Kitty. He had a mate and he was going to move in with her.
    He opened the back door and ran into Peter. Literally. His cousin looked upset.
    “Hey. What’s up?”
    “Don’s here.” Peter hugged himself, rubbing his arms as if he was cold.
    “Where’s Grey?”
    “He went into town with Joy and Valerie. They made Ive tag along and Grey wanted to spend a bit of time with his sister.”
    “So—why is Don here?” Everett looked around like he expected Don to jump out at him.
    “Stop doing that!”
    “What?”
    “You’re freaking me out looking all around. He isn’t on the first floor, at least he wasn’t. He’s staying in one of the guest rooms. He’s the new alpha.”
    “Your dad?” Everett frowned.
    “Forced to step down by Don. I guess things got worse. Mom was in the hospital for a while and Don woke up from whatever spell Dad had him under and realised things were wrong. I think, but I don’t trust him. God, Ev, he—the things he did to look good to Dad—how do I forget that?”
    “You don’t.” Ev pulled Peter to him, it was a bit awkward because Peter was a bit of a giant and Ev barely reached his neck, but that didn’t stop him from comforting one of the most important people in his life.
    “I need to get out of here.”
    “Go for a run and if you want, you can stop by Kitty’s place. I’m moving my stuff over in a bit.”
    Everett hoped the run would distract Peter and give him time to find out what in the hell was going on. Last time they’d seen Don he’d been nothing but a shadow following his dad around and doing whatever he said. Poor Peter had taken the brunt of that when he’d come out. That wasn’t how family was supposed to be. Thank God Peter had found him. It hurt Everett to think of the things his cousin had to endure.
    “That’s a good idea. Yeah, I’ll go see your mate.”
    “Great. I’ll see you over there.” Everett gave Peter one last squeeze before moving around him and into the house.
    He would find Don. This had better not be some trick. If those assholes thought they could hurt my family, they are sadly mistaken . A coughing sound made him