Chapter Five Author: Alicia S. Rivers Last Updated: 2024-09-21 04:17:39

“I lived another life, and I died.” I stumbled over my words and felt my father freeze. A quick look to Ronnie had him locking the door and waving his hands. I felt the air still, but I was focused on my father’s eyes. “This morning, I woke up six years in the past after living until I was twenty-four and growing my own pup, only to have my mate rip him from my body.”

My father’s and Ronnie’s snarls shook the walls, but I raised my hands. “He betrays me for my stepsister, who convinced him that I cheated and the pup wasn’t his. So, he killed us both using silver scalpels, killing any love I had for him at the same time.” I looked up at my father, and the tears rolled down my face.

“Pup.” His voice was choked up, but I raised my hand.

“I don’t want him to be my mate, Daddy. I know I won’t survive it. I need to change it—everything—and it starts with hiding my scent. I told Mom what I needed, and she called you. How are you going to help me?” I was starting to panic. “I don’t want to die. I don’t want my pup ripped from my stomach only for him to smell himself on him. I don’t want to create life just to have it ripped from me, Daddy. I can’t.” My soul was ripping, and even though I want revenge, this was the first time I was able to truly grieve the loss of my pup.

“Sugar.” Ronnie’s voice was barely a whisper, and then I felt my father lose control.

“Who?” His voice was pure darkness from the depths of hell. His fist slammed into the desk, creaking the thick wood, and I looked up to find my father’s wolf looking back at me. “Who hurt you, my pup? Who killed my grandpup?” Loki’s voice was deeper than I had ever heard, and his eyes promised retribution.

“Brandon, the Alpha’s son.” I whispered the final piece, and everything seemed to click. The air rushed back in, and my father’s wolf shifted into his black form. I screamed, and Ronnie dove in front of the door.

Loki snarled, but Ronnie held firm. “You can’t go kill him for something that hasn’t come to pass yet, Loki. You know how this works. You have been through it yourself.” But Loki just snarled.

“Daddy, please,” I begged. I knew if he got out, Brandon and Shannon were dead, and the council would be on his doorstep. Loki whirled on me and softened at the devastation he saw on my face. He padded over and licked the tears from my face before going back behind the desk and shifting again.

“I’m sorry, Amy; I lost myself for a moment.” He opened a door and slipped into some shorts. He wiped at his face before he sat back down. “I guess it’s our turn to come clean.”

“Daddy?” I sniffled and looked up at him.

“I’m not just a wolf, although, as you can see, Loki is very much a part of me.” His laughter was weak, but I just smiled. “My mother was a shaman of our people, a witch, and my father had to have her, even if it was just for a night. And I was born.”

“A witch?” I dropped my hands, and he gave a small, sad smile.

“Yeah. You would have loved her, but witches don’t live like us. They have the lifespan of a human, a flash in the pan. She was gone long before I met your mother.” He shook his head. “One of her powers was exactly what you explained: a second chance. The Moon Goddess passed us down with the same powers. I had mine when I was your age as well.”

I jolted back as he nodded. “What?”

“I never cheated on your mother.” His words were soft. “I Alpha-commanded a wolf to pretend I did when she came to me and told me she was with pup. You see, in my first life, I stayed with her, and we had three wonderful pups. But one night, my enemies attacked, and the four of you were all murdered.” His swallow was thick.

“Daddy.”

“I couldn’t lose you—not all of my pups—so when I woke up four years in the past, I acted. You were just a babe. I never got your brothers or sister, which broke me for a time, but I had you.” He swallowed back his tears as I reached his side. “I told your mother I betrayed her.”

“She said she felt it.”

He nodded slowly. “When a wolf betrays their marked mate, the mate feels the worst pain imaginable.”

“Yes, he does.” Ronnie growled out, and I darted my eyes back to his face, and I realized something.

“Mom and Morgan.”

“It doesn’t happen often enough to make a big deal out of it,” my dad growled out.

“But it happens enough that you feel the pain,” Ronnie growled out.

“Mom doesn’t know.” I wrapped my arms around my father. “She never would if she knew.”

“I know, princess, but you can’t tell her. I’m sure I passed the fate, since I made it past my death…but now, now it would break her to find out the truth.” My dad squeezed me.

“So, she felt you take another female?” I hugged him back, but he shook his head.

“I used my power to fake the pain. She was crying inside our room, and I was in the next room, breaking my own heart.”

“Daddy?”

“It was losing her and you, or losing everything. And I knew I would still get to see my little girl.” My dad pulled back. “But anyway, I didn’t tell you so you would feel bad for me, but to know that you have power too—power to hide your scent, at the very least. But I will teach you how to wield it this summer.”

“Thank you, Dad.”

“Don’t thank me yet. This summer will probably be the worst you have ever had, but it will save you in the long run.”

“Once everything is done, I need you to promise me something, Daddy.”

“What is it, pumpkin?” My dad always called me new nicknames when he was worried.

“After I have done what I need to do, we are going to tell Mom the truth.”

“Baby, we can’t.”

“She is stronger than you think. And she never moved on. She only got with Morgan because she thought I needed a male’s protection in the new pack, and she didn’t like the attention she was getting from the Alpha.”

My dad growled and hit his desk again, and then nodded. “Fine. We will tell her.”

“Thank you, Daddy.” I kissed his cheek.

“Now go get settled. We will start tomorrow morning, but I know a certain someone who is pounding down the pack house doors to try to see you.”

I smiled and shook my head. Cass was my best friend and soul sister. “Cass?”

“Has been champing at the bit as soon as she heard you were coming, so go see her.”

“I love you two.”

“And we love you, sugar.” Ronnie kissed my head. “I’d kill your Alpha mate if I could.”