Chapter Thirty-Five
My father was here, alive…
Bound in the body of an English bulldog, and they’d all known.
The realization tasted bittersweet on my tongue, stirring up feelings of betrayal and gratitude in equal measure.
Emotion choked me. My eyes stung, and I felt tears sliding down my cheeks before I could stop them. I wiped at them impatiently, refusing to let sorrow overshadow the small flicker of hope inside me. Is there a way to reverse it? The question hovered on my tongue, but fear of the answer kept me from speaking it. I roped my arms around Frank while he snuffled into my chest. The tears wouldn’t stop as my mind raced to all the moments my dad missed by being trapped in this body, being in Stonewick. I lived an entire life thinking my dad was gone, but he was here, and I couldn’t let go. His body shuddered, and I realized he was crying in a way that only a bulldog could.
This was my dad.
A shifter.
How had I not known?
The winks? The loyalty? The companionship?
I sniffed back tears, letting go of Frank—the father I never realized I had right beside me—and pushed myself up from the floor.
My arms still shook with the aftershock of that revelation.
For a moment, I considered lying back down, curling around him, burying myself in his fur just to pretend we were in a simpler moment.
But instead, I stood.
“I deserved to know sooner,” I said finally, forcing my voice not to waver.
I glanced around at the circle of faces—Nova, Ember, Twobble, Stella, and Keegan.
Each wore different expressions of guilt, compassion, or determination.
Stella shook her head, crossing her arms with a firmness that caught me off guard. She usually sided with me in everything—ever since we met, she’d been that unwavering champion of my decisions, no matter how questionable. So seeing her stern face now made my heart squeeze.
“This is one time I actually agree with Keegan and Nova,” Stella said. The weight of her words settled in the air, silencing me before I could protest. “This knowledge… it shouldn’t have come any sooner than it did. And frankly, Maeve—” She paused, pressing her lips together for a moment. “I still worry it’s too early.”
A frustrated laugh bubbled out of me, ragged at the edges.
“Too early?” I echoed, glancing at Frank— my dad —who sat quietly beside me. His big, brown eyes tracked me with a gentle concern that nearly broke me all over again.
Stella nodded, her expression softening by degrees.
“Yes, too early. I don’t want what you’ve learned about him to color what’s ahead of you or what you’ve already experienced. You’ve come so far in such a short time.” Her gaze flicked to Keegan, then to Nova. “We needed you to gain the knowledge on your terms. We need to look objectively at issues without biasing our situation's realities. This should have been on your terms, but…”
“On my terms?” I repeated, a hint of anger creeping into my voice despite my best efforts to hold it at bay.
“Would you have believed me if I told you before you saw my shifting? Before you understood with your own eyes, what power can transform us into?
Nova came forward, touching Stella’s arm in unspoken solidarity.
“Exactly,” Nova said, her voice quiet. “It’s not that we wanted to keep secrets to hurt you. We wanted you to trust your understanding of events, not accept them because we said so.”
My shoulders slumped.
They were right in a twisted, frustrating sense. I still felt the sting of betrayal and the frustration that I could have been building new memories with my father all this time.
I turned to Frank, who looked at me with those sorrowful eyes. A wave of affection crashed through me. Heartbreak mingled with longing for my father’s entire existence being bound to a dog’s body. He let out a faint snort, wagging his stubby tail as though to say, I’m still here .
“Can you all at least tell me how it happened?” I asked, voice softer now. “Was it… was it the curse that froze him like this?”
Keegan exhaled.
He’d been standing near the table, his arms folded protectively across his chest, but at my question, he stepped forward.
“I’ll tell you what I know,” he said at last, “though I don’t have every detail.”
I nodded, my heart thudding like a drumbeat in my chest.
Stella moved to Keegan’s side, fearing he’d need support to get through this explanation. Nova and Ember hovered behind them, while Twobble, in an oddly earnest gesture, took up a spot near me and Frank.
“Your father doesn’t share my… condition. The shifting I do—every decade—” he said, hesitating as though the words still carried shame for him, “that’s something unique to a certain line of our clan. He was different, from another lineage. He doesn’t suffer that cycle. Instead, he was… frozen in this form because he happened to be in his animal form.”
“He always shifted into an English bulldog?”
“Yes, and Gideon felt it would be appropriate to keep him as such. I honestly think he waited until the moment your father had shifted to place the curse.” Keegan shook his head. “Gideon thought your father would live a lifetime of shame with it.”
The word felt ugly on my tongue, and I saw Frank’s ears twitch at the sound of it. Shame was the last thing I associated with him. “But there’s nothing shameful about—”
“—an English bulldog,” Keegan finished, a faint, wry smile tugging at his lips. “I know. None of us believe that, least of all me. Frank—” he paused, correcting himself—“ your father —was, in fact, the most loyal, alpha-minded shifter I ever encountered. Just reserved. Quiet. But his pack punished him and abandoned him for not carrying the more typical traits of their lineage.”
“My grandfather…” my voice trailed off.
“His clan thought it was humiliating. Stripping him of the title he was born into and seeing him as something lesser. So, Gideon felt it fitting to keep him frozen as a reminder.”
My breath caught, tears prickling behind my eyes. I reached a shaky hand to rest on Frank’s head, feeling the warmth of his thick fur.
“But that’s so cruel,” I whispered, anger surging at the idea of anyone mocking him for his current form. “Why would they do that?”
But I had the answers…I’d read the books the sprites were so determined to share with me.
Keegan and Nova exchanged glances.
Nova’s lips parted first as if to speak, but she hesitated, letting Keegan continue.
“It’s part of the old punishments,” Keegan explained. “From back before Stonewick fell. The clans had their ways—some more archaic than others. Betraying certain alpha-line traditions, questioning the pack’s direction… or stepping outside their drawn lines could lead to being cast out.”
My fingers trembled against my dad’s fur. I struggled to reconcile the loveable, droopy-faced dog with the man who’d been my father, who’d once walked on two legs, had a voice, had a life.
“So, you’re saying he was frozen this way… as a…?”
“Warning,” Stella added softly, a pained expression flickering across her features. “A warning to others that they might share his fate if they didn’t follow certain rules.”
“And it seemed to work,” Nova said softly.
I swallowed hard, glancing at Frank, who offered a quiet huff. The thought of him being used as an example of a threat made my chest feel tight. My father was never supposed to be a cautionary tale. He was just… Dad.
My mind caught on a detail. “You said… You said he doesn’t have the same issue you have every ten years. Does that mean he never reverts to his human form at all?”
Keegan shook his head slowly. “Correct.”
Frank let out a soft whine, then nudged my hand. I glanced down to see him gazing at me with that gentle acceptance he’d always shown as if to say he was okay, that I shouldn’t worry so much about him. But how could I not?
“Then… how long has he been like this?” I whispered.
Stella exchanged a pained look with Nova, who looked away, her knuckles whitening around the back of a chair.
Keegan cleared his throat. “The length of the curse. Forty years.”
My heart squeezed.
I’d been living side by side with him for months, never questioning how he always seemed to know my moods, never failing to be there when I needed comfort. How many times had I cried into Frank’s fur, wishing Dad was there to talk to, not realizing Dad was there in the only way he could be?
The memory of all those nights, the heartbreak, the confusion over losing my father so young—and all the while, he was right there as a steadfast bulldog. The wave of regrets and what-ifs threatened to overtake me, but I steadied myself. He’s here now , I reminded myself. He’s here, and you still have time.
Did my mom know?
Nova cleared her throat, inching forward. “It’s part of what led to the chaos in Stonewick. Many shifters fled; they left behind those who wouldn’t bend. Your father—” She hesitated, carefully selecting her words. “He stayed. He refused to abandon Stonewick and those he cared about. He was… singled out for that. Besides, his pack abandoned him. Why would he follow?”
A cold, slicing anger filled me.
Gideon again. The man’s name had become a catchall for everything twisted in Stonewick’s history.
My fists clenched at my sides, nails pressing into my palms.
The heaviness of it pressed against my chest. The idea that my father was a casualty of Gideon’s orchestrations fanned the flames of my growing hatred for the man.
He had to pay for this. The thought was dark and primal, and it startled me. I didn’t typically indulge in vengeance fantasies, but imagining Gideon’s smirk made me want to slam a door in his face—at the very least.
Frank’s wrinkled jowls wobbled in that bulldog way, and he let out a short huff.
Keegan nodded, softening a fraction. “He was the only father figure I ever trusted. And for a time, he watched over me, too. We share the same burden—living in Stonewick after nearly everyone else left. Neither of us aligned with Gideon, and I guess we found a bond. He was loyal to you first, though. I watched the strength with which your father carried himself.”
Ember moved closer, resting a hand on my shoulder in a gesture that might have meant comfort if I wasn’t still so rattled.
“Your father never gave up on you, Maeve. Not once. Even when you were miles away, living your own life, he believed he’d find a way to come back into your life and that you would find a way back here…to your home. We all did.”
Tears formed again, and I hated how quickly my emotions were swinging from anger to sorrow to an impossible gratitude. I gently reached down, fingers threading through the loose skin at Frank’s neck. He pressed his warm body against my leg, whimpering softly, and I felt that same old sense of home. I was torn between wanting to hold onto him forever and wanting to bolt outside to scream at the sky in rage.
Keegan watched me, his posture still tense, but his eyes held compassion.
“I know it’s a lot to take in. But at least now you understand the reason behind his form. It wasn’t a random accident or some tragic twist of fate. It was a consequence—unfair and cruel, yes, but deliberate.”
He’d always comforted me since my return to Stonewick with his unconditional love.
I locked eyes with my dad. He rested his chin on my knee, exhaling one of those bulldog sighs that spoke volumes. A small bubble of warmth blossomed in my chest.
Dad was here. Alive. Trying to love me the only way he could.
Keegan’s voice broke into my swirling thoughts. “It sounds strange, but your father is still your father, even like this. His soul didn’t change—only his body. He’s… you know, he never forgot who he was. He can understand you perfectly.”
I closed my eyes, letting that statement sink in.
“I know,” I whispered.
Deep down, maybe some part of me had always felt that presence, that security. I just never would have guessed the truth behind it.
Stella cleared her throat, drawing all eyes to her. “We wanted you to have this knowledge, but not until you were strong enough—magically and emotionally—to handle it. We also didn’t want it to sway your decisions.”
Keegan and Nova exchanged a glance again, that silent communication that made my stomach twist with apprehension.
Twobble fidgeted beside me, his arms folded, eyes flicking from one face to another as though waiting for someone to voice the next step. But no one did.
I rubbed my temples, exhaustion settling in. The emotional rollercoaster of the last hour—days, months, however long I’d been in Stonewick—was taking its toll. But at least I had answers, right? At least I knew my father hadn’t abandoned me or died in some tragic accident without reason.
He was here, under my roof, in my life every day.
And I was grateful.
Twobble realized how late the hour must be. The shadows on the walls looked deeper, the hush of the winter night pressing in from outside.
“Well, uhh… Merry Christmas,” Twobble said sarcastically.
Finally, the icebreaker we needed and it made me love Twobble even more.
“Merry Christmas, indeed,” Nova said with a rare smile.
The words resonated, a reminder that for all the heartbreak, I wasn’t alone. This odd little family and I were in this together, whether we liked it or not.
I breathed in, feeling the hot sting of tears behind my eyes but refusing to let them spill. My voice came out softer than I intended, but firm.
“Merry Christmas,” I said.
I looked around at each of them, letting the moment imprint on my memory. Because something told me this was the calm before the storm. Something bigger than me or any of us was looming, and the next steps would define our fates.
Frank pressed his head into my leg, and I let my fingers trail over his wrinkled brow. A surge of warmth flared through my chest—love, relief, and an undercurrent of fierce determination. I might not have all the answers, but I knew I would fight for him. For this town. For the family we’d made here, however strange and mismatched it was.
For now, I would hold on to what I had: the truth, painful as it was, and the unwavering loyalty of those around me. Tomorrow, we’d face the next battle. And maybe the day after that, we’d find a way to bring my father back from the shape he’d been cursed to inhabit.
But at this moment—at the cusp of new challenges, with no guarantee of how we’d prevail—I focused on the bulldog by my side, the father who refused to leave me, even when it meant living as an animal in my shadow. Looking at Keegan’s tense stance, Stella’s worried gaze, and Nova’s guarded resolve, I realized we were all still standing on the precipice of secrets far deeper than I could imagine.
I opened my mouth to ask one last question, something about reversing the curse or confronting Gideon directly, but the words died on my lips. I sensed that answer wouldn’t come easily, wouldn’t come tonight, or maybe not even tomorrow.
Instead, I drew Frank closer, inhaled, and let the weight of the evening settle. Outside, the wind howled, reminding me that winter was still pressing in, that cold nights and bitter truths were not finished with Stonewick or me.
And in the flickering glow of the firelight, amidst the hush of held breath and quiet resolve, I realized our story was far from over.