Moonlit Dangers

Chapter Eighteen

      I came to slowly, my mouth tasting like it had been occupied by cottonballs dipped in lemon juice. I sat up groggily, putting a hand to my head and wondering how much I had drank the night before. The sight of metal bars confused me. Just what had I done to be thrown in jail?

        Then the memories of the fight surfaced. I tried to piece together the mental images into a cohesive timeline. We had entered the building...the factory, to find Adam. I remembered we had been searching room by room. The rest came rushing back to me in a quicksilver blur. Robert dying...me being surrounded...the rush of lycans...and then the dart. My breathing rate shot up, and I gasped for air as I panicked. Where was I? How was I not dead?

         I looked at my surroundings, trying to figure it out. My eyes shot to my right as I heard a man's small cough. I stared at him, willing myself to calm down. He was tall, about six foot two if I were guessing correctly, and while he had packed on a few pounds, he didn't have any discernable paunch. He was dressed nicely, in a black suit with a white shirt and red tie, his shoes polished like obsidian. His hair was as thick as it had always been, but was now cropped closely, short on the sides and a little longer on top, and it was just as black as I remembered it from his picture. His deep set blue eyes nearly twinkled, making him look kind; even though I knew he wasn't. High, defined cheekbones, and thin, wide lips made him handsome. This is what my mother must have seen when she first met him. My nose wrinkled of its own accord, and I had to work not to spit at him.

        "Good morning, sleepy head. Or should I say good evening now?" He flashed a disarming smile that was entirely wasted on me. I was silent, refusing to humor him with a response. I didn't know why he hadn't turned me yet, or why he was merely talking to me. Then again, it's not like I had had any previous experience with trying to figure out my father's intentions. "Well? Aren't you going to say something to your dear old dad?" He said happily.

        I scrunched my face up further before standing up and walking to the edge of the cage I was in to further inspect the room. While the structure of the room was somewhat shabby, with rose printed wallpaper that had faded and pink carpeting that was worn and stained, the décor was opulent. There was a twin sized bed pushed up against a wall that had plush pillows inside white, silky pillow cases and what I would bet was a down filled silk duvet with an intricately carved headboard. There were various works of art in gilt frames hung carefully on the walls, a crystal chandelier dangled from the ceiling, a dresser with ivory handles and a large mirror sat by the door, and on the antique looking nightstand there was an overflowing jewelry box.

        “Where am I?” I whispered to myself.

        Adam answered me as though I had been speaking to him. “Your bedroom.” I spun around, looking at him as though he’d grown another head and started juggling fire in his bare hands. “Do you like it?” He continued, unphased by my incredulous look. “When I found out about you, I had a room outfitted just for you. Your friend Lina was most helpful to me in determining what style of décor you preferred. In the armoire over there, there is clothing that I had picked up. I hope it suits you.”

         I scoffed. “Number one: I am not staying here. You are out of your gourd if that’s what you think. Number two: where are my friends? And, most importantly, number three: you are an absolute psychopath. I hope you know that.” After I had spoken I regretted it. It probably wasn’t the smartest move to antagonize him. He was dangerous, he held me hostage, and I didn’t know if anyone knew where I was. Not only that, but he was coo-coo-for-cocoa-puffs. Thinking furiously, I decided that playing on that fact might help me get out of here.

        Hastily backtracking I moved to the side of the cage closest to him, wrapping my fingers around the cold metal bars and looking down. “I’m sorry.” I said softly, trying to sound sincere. “I’m just…tired still.” I looked up at him through my eyelashes to see if he was buying it.

        His face was unreadable, making me think I had screwed myself, but then he smiled again. “Ah, you are a grouchy one when you wake up. I understand. Your mother was the same way. Did you know that she never even told me she was pregnant?” His eyes widened and he tilted his head like a bird.

                 “No…” I said slowly, humoring him.

        “Yes!” He exclaimed. “We were so in love! I remember it like it was yesterday. We would hike in the forest, laughing and holding hands, making love when the mood struck. In fact, that’s where I proposed to her.” He fell silent, trembling and holding his hands together.

        “You proposed?” I said. I hadn’t ever known that.

        “When I told her my true nature. She didn’t believe me at first of course. Thought I was kidding! However, when I shifted, you should have seen the look on her face! Goodness it was hilarious. I remember...she fell trying to back away, and even swung a stick at me when I approached her. I loved how much of a fighter she was, your mother.” He looked up toward the ceiling for a moment before locking eyes on me again. “I shifted back and proposed right there. And she said yes. But then, when I went to her apartment the next day, she wasn’t there. All of her furniture was still there, but her clothes were gone.” He stopped again, lost in the memory.

        “She abandoned you?” I said, hoping to hit the right tone of sympathy. Inside, I was cheering my mom for her courage.

         “Yes! And she didn’t even leave a note! Just left me…”

        I reached through the bars and placed a hand on his arm. “I’m sorry.”

        He patted my hand and sighed. “It’s okay. It’s not your fault. If she had told me she was pregnant, I would have been overjoyed. I still don’t know why she thought I wouldn’t be. I was so happy when I found out about you a few months ago!”

        “A few months ago?” I echoed. How did he know? How could he have known?

         “You see, I came to Thurston on a whim, to visit the den master out here. When I arrived, I was startled by how destitute the pack was. Those poor souls had nothing, not even freedom to hunt. Well, I decided I would change that. I challenged the den master, and had almost finished him when one of those backwoods police officers pulled up. I had to flee, you see. Doesn’t do anyone any good for a human to go around with stories of a werewolf does it?” 

        He chuckled. “But the previous den master, that canny hound, he shifted back. So, when they happened upon him, they assumed it was a dog attack and took him to the hospital. I had to go there to finish him off. Well, afterwards I had shifted back to human and while I was walking down the hall...I heard a few old ladies talking about Mira Jackson and her untimely demise. I was shocked to hear your mother’s name, and of her death, so I stopped and talked to the women. After a few minutes they mentioned you, and how distraught you had been at her funeral. I did the math, and realized that you had to be my daughter."

        He laughed again, the sound making jump. "However, the ladies weren’t able to give a very good description of you, and certainly wouldn’t give a stranger your address. So, I had to wait. I waited until I was den master, and all of the Lycans that had been loyal to him were allegiant to me. When Eric told me about a woman who had heard one of those hideous dog whistles that the Guardians use to sniff us out, and the woman matched your description, I was so excited! I sent out a few of my betas to look for you, and they figured out where you lived. The damn Guardians took you though. I had almost lost hope of seeing you when one of my lessers had told me that you were in the compound.” 

        Without warning, his hand shot through the bars toward my face. I sucked in air with hurricane force, prepared to scream the walls down. I would not die this way!