'Love?' Alexa asked. 'What role did my mother play in all of this? Don't tell me you found out she was the spy who stole your manufacturing strategy and gave to the witches and vampires?' Her tone was incredulous.
'Oh no!' her father said very quickly, shaking his head vigorously. 'Your mother was not like that. Your mother was a great woman. I have never met any like her!' he said, a faraway look in his eyes, a tremor in his voice.
Alexa was shocked as she stared dumbfounded. Could it be that her father loved her mother? Then her mother was not just a toy for his pleasure which he tossed aside when he was done with her?
'You sound as though you loved her!' she said gently. Alexa had never been in love but she had read of it and had hoped she would fall in love with the man who reciprocates but so far, fate had been cruel to her.
'Very much!' he said. 'There's no day that passes that I do not think of her. You look like her. Not exactly a splitting image but you are really your mother's daughter, including your gentle and compassionate nature, you inherited them from her!'
'You still love her!' It was not a question but a statement of fact and Alexa got her confirmation from the anguished look on her father's face.
'She was my mate, what do you think?' he asked, with a self depreciating smile.
'If you love her so much, why did you let her leave?' Then she recalled her step mother saying that her mother never wanted her and had abandoned her since she could not get her father permanently to herself. 'Or maybe she didn't want me and so ran off, abandoning me!'
'No, never!' her father said quickly again, taking both her hands in his. 'She never wanted to go, she did it for your sake. Mildred did it to keep you safe!'
'A great job she did of it, then', Alexa stated bitterly, recalling all the years she had to eat the leftovers from her siblings plates except when her father was home. With pain she recalled how she was treated like the help and not a member of the family and she had to run off most times into the forest to get solace for some time before returning back home, wondering why she was being treated differently and believing something must be seriously wrong with her for her own mother to despise her so much no matter what she did or how hard she tried to gain her approval. 'A great job of protecting me by leaving to be raised by her lover's wife who unleashed her frustration and hatred for my mother on me whenever my father was not around!'
'I'm sorry. I never knew', Andrew said, looking down sadly, feeling that he had failed his daughter. He failed to protect her. He had thought that she was being treated well or maybe if he was being sincere, he just didn't want to know so as not to antagonize his wife into letting out the secret of Alexa's birth to the public and endangering her existence.
'I allowed her to leave because I wanted her to be safe and you as well', he continued. 'I could not ask for more when Amelia decided to take Mildred's daughter and raise her as her own'.
'Safe from what exactly?' she asked. 'What did mother do apart from being your mistress to make it pertinent for her to run off like some coward immediately after my birth?'
'You recall the story I just told you', he asked. 'That's the reason'.
Alexa felt dread settling in her. Was her mother a vampire? a witch? she thought in alarm, then it meant that she was not safe as well..
'Spell it out for me!' she whispered.
'Your mother was a witch. As the Beta, I wanted to expose her but I couldn't because I felt irresistibly drawn to her. The mate bond is a very powerful thing I tell you', he said, smiling in retrospection. 'My feelings for her skyrocketed when she saved me. She intercepted a silver blade that would have killed me for sure if it had been thrusted into me by an enemy pack. It ended up in her belly instead and she barely made it out alive. After that, I could not put her life in danger when she saved mine', he said shrugging helplessly. 'Since our feelings was mutual, we started seeing each other secretly. Amelia must have noticed a difference in me for she sent out people to spy on us and that was how she found out about your mother and the fact that she is a witch. By this time, she was almost due to give birth'.
Alexa could just imagine what happened next but she allowed her father to continue his narrative.
'She threatened to expose your mother's identity if I didn't stop seeing her', he continued, his voice sad. 'Short of killing Amelia to keep your mother safe, I agreed. It was the hardest thing I ever did but had people taking care of her. Luckily, a few weeks later, she gave birth to the most beautiful and perfect baby and I knew I had to protect you and her at all cost and what better way but to ask her to leave as far away as possible and made a deal with Amelia to raise you as the daughter she didn't have but I must admit that after Camellia was born, I noticed some subtle changes in her towards you but I never knew it was as bad as you have just revealed! I'm really sorry you had to go through all of that!' he concluded, squeezing her hand.
Alexa felt pity for her father who had been so noble to continue living with his wife though he was in love with another and trying his best to love her for Alexa never saw her father treat her step mother unfairly. He must have done all he could to make it up to her for being unfaithful to her.
'Then it means I am a hybrid!' she stated and her father nodded.
'But you have to keep this information to yourself so that it will not put you in danger. 'I have often wondered if that is the reason you have not got your wolf yet but I am sure you will. Just give it a little more time. You are my daughter afterall!' he advised and Alexa could see the concern in his eyes. 'As for your sister and Amelia, I'll try to keep them in check but it would please me if you could go as far away from here as possible. I'll miss you greatly but your safety is paramount and I don't know for how long I can get them to keep your identity secret'.
Alexa smiled and hugged her father, tears stinging her eyes. How could she remain angry with her father after this?