Chapter 6 Carys
SIX
CARYS
She’d been loath to leave Monster’s room, but she had a breakfast date with her mother. Carys decided she’d slip the cuff and leave him a note. That should placate him. She had agreed to three hours, and it had been three and a half.
After dressing, she rummaged around for paper. It took every ounce of restraint to simply look for a pen and paper and not snoop.
Not for her father, but for herself. And not to find something negative, but just to know him better. After depositing the note on the bedside table, she was almost out of his door when she pivoted on her heels and went to his closet.
Burying her face in the first hoodie she found hanging, she snatched it off the hanger and pulled it over her head.
She amended the last line of her note and left.
Arriving at the care facility, Carys parked and went inside. Her mother’s bed was raised, and their trays were laid out.
“Hey, Mom. Sorry, I’m a little late. Traffic.” She kissed the woman who looked way too thin and tired than she should have.
“You’re right on time, my dear.”
She had standing breakfast dates with her mom, and she’d be damned if she’d miss them. Not even for good, no, excellent dick.
As frail as her mother looked, she didn’t know how many more breakfasts with her there would be.
The anger that had been simmering with her father rose to a boiling point.
He was stringing her along. She was convinced there wasn’t anything her father could do for her mother as he promised.
Everything inside her told her that. He was just lying and using her.
She was 99.999999 percent sure, but could she take the chance that the . 000001 percent wouldn’t pan out?
He’d bragged about being involved with human and shifter testing within his old pack. Her mother had been vague but told her the pack did stuff like that. Which is why she kept Carys away from them. She’d always said her father was an asshole, but not in charge of shit.
Things obviously changed after she left, because her dad talked like he took over testing shortly after she left.
Plus, it was a fact his wolf was all but gone.
All thanks to the Domino pack’s unethical testing and experimentation.
Her father claimed the pack was no more, but he had all their research.
Including the cure for her mother. The doctors were baffled as to why she couldn’t thrive.
At first they said one thing, then another. As of late, they were saying it was a unique autoimmune situation. Yep, one actually said situation. Not a disorder or disease, but a situation.
Her dad said he knew exactly what was wrong with her and would fix it just as soon as she helped him take Kansas down.
Of course, now it wasn’t just Kansas anymore. He wanted all the Kings brought low. He had become borderline obsessed with them. How he planned to take on an entire club she didn’t know, but after meeting Monster, she knew she couldn’t continue to do his bidding.
“Honey? What’s wrong? You look torn between happiness and tears.”
“It’s nothing, Mother.” Carys got up to open the curtains and let the light into the sterile-feeling room.
“I call bullshit. I know you, and you met someone, but you’re not allowing yourself to feel happiness about it. Why not? Is it because of me?”
“No, it’s not you.”
Her mother pushed the over-bed table with her tray on it away and patted the covers. “Come. Sit.” Carys obeyed.
“Now tell me why the long face. Is he a bad kisser? Oh no, let me guess, halitosis? Weird toes that point in opposite directions? Little—”
“Mother,” Carys scolded. “Nothing like that.”
“Then what?”
“He’s actually kinda perfect for me. And,” she dropped her voice, “he’s a shifter.”
Her mother’s energy level seemed to pick up at that pronouncement.
“What kind?”
“Not sure. He hasn’t told me, but I’m pretty sure he’s a wolf. He has a wolf vibe.”
Her mother took her hand in hers. “Of course he wouldn’t tell you right away. He’s a smart one then. One who understands the consequences. That’s a good thing, sweetheart. So, what’s the problem?”
Carys knew she had a look of guilt on her face. Her mother had told her repeatedly to never contact her father and that if he reached out to run. But shortly after her mother got sick her father found her.
“Well, it’s … complicated, Mom. Let’s just leave it at that. How about we focus on getting you better? They have a new autoimmunity trial we’re going to apply for. You have a great shot at getting in. If that doesn’t pan out, I have something else in the works.”
“Carys, look at me.” Her mother could always read her like an open book. “What do you mean by something else?”
“Mom—” As much as she tried to keep her face from giving anything away, she knew she’d fail.
“Don’t Mom me. Did you …” All she could do was look at her mom with pleading eyes. Silently begging her to understand. “No! Please sweetheart, tell me you didn’t track down that man.”
“Not exactly.”
Her mother crossed her arms and took on a stance she recognized. One that conveyed neither illness nor weakness. “Elaborate.”
“Cliff … he was looking for me and I got a message one day and I went to him, okay? I won’t let you die without trying everything. Momma, he has a cure. His pack made one, and he’s going to give it to me.”
“Is that what his name is now? Cliff? And your sperm donor is just going to hand the so-called cure over to you out of the goodness of his heart, is he?” Her mother’s voice rose.
Carys had the good sense to look ashamed.
Her mother had always referred to her father that way. She said he hadn’t even bothered to be there when Carys was born. That’s why she listed father as unknown and gave Carys her last name. In all the ensuing years, her mother pointed out that he’d never noticed.
“That’s what I thought. What does he want?”
“He wants me to help him take down an enemy, but his so-called enemy is Monster’s club.”
“I assume Monster is the young man you met?”
Carys nodded.
“Oh, my sweet, na?ve little girl.” Her mother cupped her cheek, and Carys was transported back in time.
“Sit back down, Carys. It’s time I told you the truth.”
“What truth?”
“All of it.”
Carys settled back on her mother’s hospital bed as her mom stood and paced.
“There is no cure for what I have. I am going to die. It’s an inevitability. I knew it from the second I felt the snap.”
“But—” Her mother stayed her words with little more than a look. She walked to the door and looked out. Before turning back and lowering her voice.
“Your father severed our bond. That is a death sentence for me. I don’t know how he managed it and lived, but …” she trailed off.
“What do you mean? You left him years ago, but you just got sick.”
“Yes, but we never severed our bond. Then, suddenly one day, I felt it. At first, I thought it was his death I felt when the bond snapped, but then I got sick. Meaning he severed the bond without his death. I don’t know how he did it, but he found a way.”
“His wolf. His pack found a way to do it. He doesn’t even smell like a wolf. He can’t shift or call on him. He bragged about it, but I didn’t know …”
“That rat bastard. He must’ve performed the rejection ritual before, or I’d be free when he or his wolf left him.”
“But surely you can heal and—”
“No, my daughter.” Her mother sat beside her, looking a little worse for wear. “There is no cure.”
Carys was confused. “Why did you let me do all this?” She indicated their surroundings. “The treatments, the trials?”
“For you. You weren’t ready. You needed hope and time to accept it. A way of feeling like you had some control over it. I endured it all for you. But had I known it would put you back on that man’s radar, I would’ve explained it before now.
Carys had disturbing thoughts pelting her from all directions.
“Mom, you don’t think he did it on purpose, do you? Knowing I would seek him out, or at the very least be receptive to him, do you?”
“I’d bet everything I have on it. He did this to me to get to you. He’s using you, Carys. You must get away. If his pack is involved, they’ll have you in an underground lab or bred by some monstrosity they’ve created.”
“His pack was wiped out. He’s all that’s left.”
Her mother let out a deep breath. “Good riddance. But Cliff has always been pack through and through. Even if he’s all that’s left, he is still reaping the benefits of their evil, I’m sure of it.”
Her mother held her hands in hers and brought them to her lips, dropping a kiss on them. “Carys, promise me you’ll get away from him. It’s too late for me, but not for you. Trust me, he doesn’t have a cure, especially without his wolf, but he’s still evil.”
Carys made that promise, but she wouldn’t sacrifice Monster and the Kings. There was only one way for that to happen—her father would have to be dead.
“Good, now tell me about your young man. Is he your mate?”
“Everything inside me says yes, but he doesn’t see me as his.”
They spent the next hour just being as they were before her mother took ill. Talking about anything and everything.
If she wanted to preserve a chance with Monster, it would require extracting herself from her father delicately.
She wondered, not for the first time, why Monster wore that silver. Was that why his wolf didn’t recognize her?
Leaving her mom was always hard, but Carys could tell she was exhausted and needed to rest.
Besides, she had to get to her father’s house. She needed to make some excuse for why she couldn’t get close to anyone in the club. Then she’d ask him to show her the cure. He’d always claimed it was in the safe and he’d give it to her as soon as he got revenge on Kansas.
Of course, he modified their agreement as it suited him. Each time she got close to the goal, he moved the goalposts.