Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Wren
Somehow, we'd all ended up in Kingston's bed once we got home.
It was big enough for all four of us, but with the way Zayn liked to sprawl out, the rest of us were a tangle of limbs on half the bed.
My body draped over Kingston, who lay on his back with Sullivan behind me, his face buried against my hair.
Last night had been a turning point for me. I had been ninety-five percent sure I was going to stay if everything worked out, but now I was at one hundred.
I still had no clue what had gone on with my eyes, which had stopped glowing sometime between leaving the bathroom and putting on my clothes. My dad would know, but I wasn't about to wake him from stasis to ask him.
Then he'd want to know what I was doing when it happened.
I managed to extract myself from the bed without waking the three slumbering wolves and grabbed a pair of Kingston's boxers and a t-shirt from his dresser.
After using the en suite, I shut the bedroom door gently behind me and made my way down the hall, contemplating whether I should call my cousin, Ivy, who I'd barely met. She might know what had happened.
But I came to a dead stop seeing the man sitting on the couch in front of the television. It was quiet, and I couldn't smell him at all. Taking a few more steps, the sounds of the television and my father's scent hit me. He had up a shield that was impenetrable unless he wanted you inside it.
"Dad?" I looked down at myself, making sure I was decent and readjusting the hair tie in my hair.
He didn't speak, instead, chuckling at the cartoon he was watching.
I filled up a glass of water for myself and joined him on the couch, drinking half my water before I glanced over at him. I gasped, not comprehending what I was seeing.
He pressed the mute button on the remote before turning to face me. He looked like he had aged ten years since I'd last seen him. His eyes had wrinkles in the corners and the hair at his temples was starting to gray.
"Dad… what…"
He rolled his eyes. "Well, if I didn't keep getting woken up every five minutes, this wouldn't be happening." He gestured to his face. "Nothing a yearlong snooze won't fix, or if you want to give me a little boost."
My jaw was hanging open, and he reached over and pushed my chin up with a tight smile.
"Arbor Falls took a lot out of me, and then worrying about you…
and last night I was woken up by Trevor, who tells me you were kidnapped, one of your lovers killed two humans, and you defied house arrest orders.
" He shook his head as if he couldn't believe it all. "Is this some repressed teenage angst?"
I snorted and took another sip of water. "I want to have a normal life, and he didn't say we were under house arrest. He said to stay here."
He made a humming noise of disapproval. "Getting yourself kidnapped and shacking up with three wolves that have caused a lot of issues is not a normal life, Wren."
I cringed and looked at the television screen. "It will all be settled soon, and then I'm staying here… with them. All three of them."
"Your pack." He made a strangled noise, and I glanced at him to see him making a gagging gesture with his finger to his mouth. For being as old as dirt, he certainly didn't act it. "Two of which might be going to prison."
Ignoring what he'd said, I cleared my throat. "My eyes were glowing gold for a long time last night when I was with them." My face heated, and I looked down at the water in my cup.
"I figured as much. I can sense your magic now. You made a pack." He patted my knee. "Now you can pull power from them instead of draining yourself."
"A pack? But I'm not a wolf." I put my cup on the coffee table and brought my legs up under me, turning toward him.
"Don't expect to be able to communicate telepathically like wolves do, but a pack is formed when you give an alpha your throat." His eyes moved down to my neck and shoulder, and I put my hand over the invisible marks. Could he see them?
"They aren't all alphas." I frowned, thinking back to the night before when Kingston bossed the other two around so effortlessly.
"To your fox they are." He grabbed my water from me and took a drink, cringing. "Although, I'm sure if you wanted to be the alpha, you could."
I rolled my eyes. "I have no desire to be in a pack. Although, I should since I'm a shifter and all that, but with my upbringing, the desire is gone."
He nodded, a forlorn expression crossing his face. "I tried to get your mother to join a pack when she became pregnant. The coalition is not a place to raise a child." My mouth gaped, and he gave me a small, sad smile. "But it was the only way once she passed."
He turned back to the television, his jaw clenched tight. He rarely brought up my mother, and whenever I did, he got angry. She'd died before I even knew she existed, and while some of the coalition agents told me small pieces about her, she was an off-limits topic of conversation.
"How'd she die?" I asked it as gently as possible and watched as his hand tightened on the cup he was holding. I was surprised it didn't shatter. "I know nothing about my mother."
"She died because of me." His eyes didn't leave the television that was still playing some cartoon with a talking baby and dog.
I didn't speak and waited for him to continue.
"I pissed her off because I needed to deal with godly stuff for a while when she wanted me to stay.
So, she packed you up and took off one night, rolled her car.
She died on impact. You didn't have a scratch on you.
I suspect you healed your injuries since you were covered in blood. "
"Dad." I put my hand on his arm, not sure what else to do. He had never gotten emotional like he was in front of me before. "You can't blame yourself for that."
"I might seem like I have no heart, but it's easier that way. Hurts less when everyone dies around you." He glanced over at me, his frown deep and his eyes glossy. "I'm glad you've found your heart. It suits you."
We fell into a comfortable silence, and he unmuted the television, his face relaxing and his laughter returning with the next joke.
I'd never spent much time with him outside of headquarters, but hanging out with him on the couch, watching cartoons with adult humor, was unexpectedly filling my heart in a way I never expected.
Once he seemed completely at ease again, I cleared my throat, drawing his attention back to me. "Is it possible for me to heal someone with a severed spinal cord?"
His eyebrows lifted nearly to his hairline. "That's oddly specific."
"One of my… boyfriends has a brother that was injured by a dragon."
He seemed shocked by that. "He made it out of that alive?"
I nodded. "So did Sullivan."
"I don't even mess with dragons—not that there's many left. Burnt to a crisp would take centuries to come back from." He frowned. "It would take a lot of power to heal an injury that substantial."
"You have a lot of power." I cringed, knowing he was probably going to say no. "Please?"
He was thinking way too hard about his answer, and I shook my head, standing up. "Forget I asked."
"I'll do it on one condition." Oh, no. If he challenged me to a thumb war or a game of tic-tac-toe to decide something important, I was going to kick his ass. Instead, his condition was even worse. "You invite me to stay for breakfast."
To say I was on edge was an understatement. Not only did Apollo want to stay for breakfast, he also trusted me not to poison his food, so I was staring at the ingredients I'd pulled out of the refrigerator and trying to figure out how to cook bacon.
He'd taken the shield he had up down, and it was only a matter of time before the guys wandered out to see what the hell I was up to.
Looking up information on the internet, I decided to cook the bacon in the oven and turned it on before getting out a cookie sheet. I could follow directions no problem, but as I slid the cookie sheet in the oven and set the timer, I considered waking one of the guys up to help me.
No.
The longer they stayed asleep, the better. My dad was going to skin them alive and make them run for the hills as soon as they met.
Cracking eggs was a little trickier than slapping some bacon on a tray. I watched a few videos and moved by the sink in case things didn't go my way. Scrambled seemed the easiest option.
The first egg was an epic fail, so many small pieces of shell getting into the bowl I had to dump it. But after a few, I got the hang of it, and before I knew it, I was pouring the eggs into a hot pan.
Bacon? Check. Eggs? Check.
The timer on the oven went off and I peeked inside. It looked done, so I grabbed a potholder and took it out, putting it on an empty burner to cool. I stirred the eggs, doing a little happy jig when they didn't stick to the pan.
It had been so long since I'd attempted to cook anything, and finding even a little success made me want to learn. Now that I wasn't going to be staying at headquarters, I'd have to learn anyway.
"Who the fuck are you?" My back stiffened at the sound of Zayn's growly voice.
He was halfway into the open concept kitchen and living room and his eyes were narrowed on my dad, who sat on the couch still watching cartoons.
"Wren, put a muzzle on your little friend. I'm trying to watch this." My dad didn't even spare Zayn a glance.
"Zayn-" Before I could explain it was my dad, Zayn headed straight over the back of the couch with his fist drawn back and claws out.
My dad's laugh sent chills down my spine as Zayn swung but was stopped by my dad grabbing his wrist and twisting it behind his back as he stood.
"Ah! Fuck!" Zayn attempted to free himself but was shoved face-first onto the couch. "You son of a bitch!"
Apollo let him go. "If this is how all of your boyfriends are going to treat me, I'm not staying for breakfast."
"No! Zayn, this is my dad." I rushed to put myself in between them as Zayn got off the couch, rubbing his wrist. "Dad, this is Zayn."
My dad grunted and sat back down on the couch. "Should have known the unhinged one would try to attack me."
Zayn growled, and I shoved him away from the living room and to the island. Dread filled me, already seeing them at each other's throats. This was not how I wanted their meeting to go.
"What's that smell?" Zayn scrunched his nose, forgetting about his hatred toward my father, and looked at the stove.
"Oh, no!" I rushed to my eggs, flipping off the burner as the smell of burned food started to fill the air. They weren't on fire but had been well on their way. "Damn it."
Zayn shouldered me out of the way and stuck the spatula in the eggs. The bottom was completely crusted onto the pan. "Get more eggs out of the fridge."
He pushed the pan to the back burner and got out another. I watched him as he took the eggs from me and began remaking what I had fucked up.
"Is your wrist okay?" I didn't like the awkward silence that had stretched between us.
"A heads up would have been nice," he whispered out of the side of his mouth. "I almost slashed his face. Holy shit, Wrenny C. That's your father... and your father is..."
"Apollo."
I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sound of my dad's voice coming from right behind us. He was leaning against the opposite counter with his arms crossed over his chest, watching us.
Zayn cringed and handed me the spatula before turning with a grin on his face. "Sir. Sorry about that. I was protecting Wrenny, and she didn't tell us you were coming to visit."
They shook hands, and I tried to stay focused on moving the eggs around. My dad let go of his hand and gave him a stern look. "You killed two humans."
Zayn tensed. "I did. They hurt my sister and Wren. I couldn't let them get away with that. What should I have done instead?"
The eggs were scrambled, and I turned off the burner, happy they didn't burn, and that for now, Zayn wasn't getting the shit beaten out of him.
"There are rules for a reason, son." My dad brought his hand to his chin in a considering gesture. "Let's make a deal."
I groaned and went to the refrigerator to get out the pre-cut fruit I'd spotted. "No deals."
"What kind of deal?" Zayn had no clue what he was getting himself into, and I hadn't told him enough about how crazy my father was. He was so old that he found great pleasure in outlandish games.
"You protect my daughter at all costs, even if that cost is your own life, and I'll make sure you don't go to prison." Apollo had his hand back out again, this time glowing faintly.
"Deal." Before I could protest, Zayn shook his hand and gasped as their palms connected.
I nearly dropped the container I was holding. "Zayn... what have you done?" I didn't want him to throw himself into the line of fire for me.
"What any of us would do for you anyway. It's a sweet deal for me." He let my father's hand go and went to one of the cabinets to get plates. "You should go wake up Sully and King. They were practically cuddling when I left them."
"We were not," Kingston grumbled, trudging into the kitchen and stopping short when he saw my father.
"Kingston, this is my dad." I bit my lip as they shook hands. "He's staying for breakfast, if you don't mind."
"I don't." Kingston flicked on his coffee maker and looked over his shoulder, raising a questioning eyebrow at me.
"I'll go wake up Sully." Zayn skipped off down the hall like nothing was different and he hadn't agreed to die for me.
"Yeah, so... um. I made breakfast. Help yourselves." I gestured to the food on the stove and the fruit. "I hope it's good."
"I'm sure it is." Kingston gave me a quick kiss before grabbing a plate, not even fazed that my dad was scrutinizing his every move.
Sullivan and Zayn joined us, and after introductions, we all sat awkwardly around the dining room table, eating in silence. Or at least it felt awkward for me. No one was complaining about my food, which was a small victory, and Apollo hadn't killed any of them... yet.
My dad finished before everyone and put his fork down on his empty plate, wiping his lips with his napkin. "Now, who's the one that faced a dragon and lived to tell the tale?"