Mae POV
My father fiddles with a few things on the dresser. There is something that he wants to tell me, and he is stalling. He always acted this way when I was little, and there was a hard conversation to have. The first time I can remember him doing it was when I was nine, and I caught him and my stepmother, Susan, having sex.
The moment felt oddly similar to what is happening right now. I am sitting on the bed with my legs tucked under me. Only this time, I am not filled with questions about sex and how babies are made. No, today, my questions are different.
"How long have you been a hunter?" I ask him.
Dad begins to choke on nothing and starts coughing loudly. He covers his mouth with his fist and clears the phlegm from his throat. "Jumping right in, aren't you?"
"Oh," I cock my head to the side. "How would you like me to start?"
"Well," Dad replies. "It has been a while since we have seen each other…"
"You have got to be fucking kidding me," I laugh. "You want to catch up?"
"Watch your tone, young lady," Dad huffs. "I am still your father."
His tone is harsh, and I feel like a child that has been scolded. I spread my hands over the blanket covering me and swallow all the nasty words that I want to say.
"That's better," Dad replies. He sits down on the edge of the bed, and I inch away from him. "Don't be angry, Kiddo. I only want what is best for you."
I raise my eyes and glare in his direction. He clicks his tongue on the roof of his mouth while he waits for me to reply, but I have nothing to say to him.
"So," Dad continues. "How is the job at the hospital?"
"I don't work at the hospital anymore," I respond coldly.
Dad sucks in a sharp breath. "I hope you didn't leave on bad terms. I would hate for you to have thrown everything you worked for away."
"I am not throwing anything away," I groan.
"Good," my father replies. "When all of this is over, you can go back to the hospital and move back into your old apartment."
I stare at my father in disbelief. He has obviously lost his mind. "That's not the life I want for myself," I tell him. "I want to be with Kieran."
Dad grunts loudly as he gets back to his feet. He runs his fingers through his graying hair and opens the top drawer to his dresser. He pulls out a large wooden box and sits it down on the bed. Curious about what is in it, I lean closer to look.
There is a combination lock on the front. I try to watch as he enters the code, but he turns the box away from me so I cannot see. He opens the lid, and I peer over the top. When I see what is inside, I scramble off the bed and back myself against the corner.
Dad pulls a large syringe out of the box and a vial of solution. He gently rolls the vial in his hands, mixing the green liquid slowly. My eyes widen as he fills the syringe. He taps it with his finger, displacing any bubbles, and then squirts a tiny bit of the liquid out of the needle.
"I was really hoping this conversation was going to go differently," Dad sighs.
"What conversation?" I snap. "We literally haven't talked about anything!"
Dad approaches me with the syringe in his hands. "Give me your arm."
I tuck my arms behind my back, and bile rises in my throat. "Daddy," I croak. "Can we talk about this like adults, please?"
My plea seems to get through to him. He takes a step back from me but doesn't drop the syringe. I can't take my eyes off it. The green liquid swirls like magic. It is obviously some sort of poison meant to harm werewolves.
"What is that?" I finally ask.
Dad holds up the vial that is tucked in his pocket. "It is what is going to save your life."
"That didn't answer my question," I remind him. "What is that?"
"It is something the lab has been working on," Dad tells me.
"Lab?" I whisper.
"I think you know the doctors that created it," Dad chuckles.
I swallow hard. "Doctor Franklin and Doctor Bolder."
"You have always been a smart girl," Dad laughs.
"I don't understand. They had the chance to let Kieran die, and they didn't." I wonder aloud.
"They needed his blood," Dad smiles. "To create this."
"I still don't understand," I admit. "Why keep him alive?"
"He isn't the target," he tells me.
"Raven," I whisper.
"If we take out the Luna Queen, we take out the werewolf world," Dad smiles. "That is why we have to save you first."
"You can't end a whole species of people," I gasp. "You are talking about genocide."
"Look past the mate bond," my dad begs me. "Can't you see them for the monsters that they are?"
"Why do you hate them so much?" I scream in his direction. "What did they ever do to you?"
"Narah," Dad whispers painfully. "She tricked me."
"How?" I groan, not believing a word he says.
"She didn't tell me what she was until after you were born," Dad tells me, but he won't meet my gaze. I don't believe him.
"You are lying," I challenge him. "You had to have known what she was. You would have felt the tingles of the bond. Tell me the truth."
Dad looks wounded. He didn't expect me to be able to see through him so easily. "I have been a hunter since I was a teenager. Your grandpa was a hunter, too. When I met your mother, I knew exactly what she was. It was my job to kill her. But when I saw her icy blue eyes, I couldn't do it. I couldn't pull the trigger."
Dad sits down on the bed and hides his head in his hands. He looks up at me, and I can see the sadness in his eyes.
"I had a gun pointed at her head, but she was not afraid of me. She told me that she had been waiting a lifetime to find me. I dropped the gun right then and took her into my arms. I ran away with her that night. She promised me that we could be happy.
"She started losing her mind shortly after you were born. She began ranting about the chosen one and how you would bring a war between the worlds. I knew I had to get you away from her.
"I went back to the hunters guild, and they took me back with open arms. I watched you carefully as you grew. I didn't want you to become a monster like your mother. When you never shifted, I assumed your werewolf gene had gone dormant. But then you found your mate, and I knew what your mother had predicted was coming to pass. I knew I had to save you."
I try to process everything my father is telling me. I squeeze my eyes closed tightly. If my mother said I would bring a war between the worlds it must be true. I can't let that happen.
'Please don't do this,' Celeste begs in my mind.
Slowly, I open my eyes and look at my father. I hold my arm out in front of me. "Just get it over with," I whimper.