CHAPTER FIVE

She slowly raised her head, and the pain in her eyes nearly broke me. "Everyone was talking about their dad today. They always talk about it but... today just seemed a little bit too much." Her voice was barely above a whisper now.

"What happened today, sweetie?" I pressed gently, stroking her cheek.

"We had to draw our families for art class," she said, her bottom lip quivering. "Everyone drew their mommies and daddies. Cara kept asking why I was only drawing one person. She... she said maybe my daddy didn't want me."

My heart shattered into a million pieces. "Oh, Hailey..." I pulled her into a tight hug, my hand cradling her head as tears streamed down my face. The truth was really hard for me to say.

What am I going to tell her? That her father was the kind of man who would choose power over us? That her father is happily married with his real family and doesn't even care about the likes of us? Or what her father's mother and wife did to me?

That would hurt too much and break her heart. She is still young and too innocent to carry this pain. She doesn't deserve any of this.

"Your father..." I began, my voice catching. I took a deep breath and tried again. "Your father was a good man, and I am sure he loved you very much, but... something happened that made it impossible for him to be with us."

"What happened to him?" she asked, slowly pulling her head away from my chest, her teary eyes looking directly into mine. "Did he not like me?”

"No, baby, no," I said firmly, wiping her tears with my thumb. "He never even got the chance to see how amazing you are. He..." I hesitated, the lie burning my throat even as I knew it was kinder than the truth. "He got into a car accident before you were born, and he didn't make it, sweetheart. He didn't survive."

Hailey's face crumpled. "So he's... dead?" The word came out broken.

"Yes, baby. He's gone."

Tears streamed down her face, and it hurt me so much to see her like this, but this is for the best. It would hurt her even more to keep seeing the news of her father in magazines and everywhere, living happily with his wife and kid.

“I’m so sorry.”

"Was he nice?” she asked.

I smiled through my tears and nodded my head. "Yes, he is. He was very nice.”

"I wish I could have met him," she finally said, her voice small.

I pulled her closer again, holding her tight. "I also wish. But I promise you, I will always be here for you. You are the most special gift God ever created, and I promise I will be both your mother and father. We're a team, remember? You and me."

She leaned her head against my chest, listening to my heartbeat. "Promise you won't leave me too?" Her voice was so small it nearly broke me.

"I promise with all my heart," I said fiercely. "Nothing in this world could ever take me away from you.”

I kissed the middle of her head.

“But Mama, are you okay now? Carmen said losing one mate is very painful,” she asked.

“Yes, it was…” especially the rejection. That part hurt more. “But now I’m alright because I have you.”

As we drove away, I caught her looking up at the sky through the window, her small hand pressed against the glass. And I knew that someday, I would have to tell her the truth. But just not today. Today, I let her believe in a father who would have loved her, who would have stayed if he could.

Sometimes, a beautiful lie is easier to bear than an ugly truth.

Especially when you're five years old and just want to know that you were loved.

*********

( LATER IN THE EVENING)

I was just taking a turn to the left when I noticed from my fuel gauge that my fuel tank was almost empty. A sigh left my lips as I took a small detour towards a fuel station to fill my tank.

I hoped Alex wouldn’t be too angry I’d kept him waiting. My phone rang just then. Expecting it to be Alex, I picked up without taking a look at the caller ID.

“Hi, Alex. I’m so sorry, I…”

“Hey girl, it's me. Keep that tone until you get there.” Carmen’s voice sounded on the other side of the line.

I let out a sigh of relief as I removed the phone from my ear long enough to confirm the caller ID before putting it back to my ear.

“Carmen. Sorry, I didn’t know it was you. I thought it was Alex.”

“Yeah I know. Where are you now? Can you talk?” she inquired.

“Not really. My fuel tank is low now, and I'm driving into the gas station. Let me call you back.”

I ended the call to fill my tank, and within minutes, I was done and had paid.

With a full tank, I continued my journey to my meeting with Alex, dialing Carmen’s number.

“Done filling your tank?” she asked as soon as she picked up.

I nodded, then remembered she couldn’t see me. “Yes. I’m sorry I had to end the call abruptly. I was already at the station, and you know it’s not safe…”

“…to be on a call while in the gas station. Yeah, yeah, I know the rules and I understand.”

I chuckled. “So, what's up? Thought you said you were not going to disturb me? Is Hailey still up?” I asked as the two of them are at pack’s house. Carmen's younger sister is having her first shift tonight.

I wished I could be there also but my job…I need to do it.

“No, she’s fast asleep. And yes, I did say I wouldn't disturb your date…”

Gosh! I told her several times that it’s not a date.

“But it's just that my brother just found out something, and I think it kind of affects you.”

Her tone was serious, and it made my nerves go on edge.

“ Me? Did he tell you what he found?”

“No, he didn’t. But I overheard his discussion with Jeremy.”

Jeremy? Oh, his beta.

I turned onto a quiet, lonely path. It was a shortcut, as I was already running late for this business meeting. “So w-what did they say, babe? Can you just spill it already? You’re getting me scared.”

“I think it's about Mr. Hermilton, and I don't think he is the kind of person we thought he is.”

“Don’t really get you. He’s not who we thought he is, as how?”

“I mean… I think he's like us, Emma… he’s also a werewolf. One of the Supreme Alphas, to be precise.”

“Wait, you’ve got to be kidding, right?”

“Trust me, I wish I am. And I hear he's one crazy one and was supposed to be in exile, but no one knows how he escaped and took on the identity he’s using. That’s not even his real face. The motherfucker got surgery.”

Okay, that doesn't sound quite good.

“ And currently, six out of the people sent out to track him are down.”

“ You mean dead?”

“Not sure about that part but I don't think they are.”

I let out a sigh of relief as if I was the one that had just escaped death.

“So I just had to warn you as I know your own case is definitely gonna be different from those six. Be grateful not to come back home in pieces. Please be careful, bestie. Watch your back and be mindful of your environment. Stay close to where humans are as I know he won't want to harm you in public.”

The way the warnings rolled off her caused my nerves to twist in the pit of my stomach. I was apprehensive and a bit scared as I imagine how dangerous he could be.

I look around the place I am passing through and realized that I am at one place where I could be killed without anyone even noticing.

Fuck!

Then I heard her brother’s voice in the background, calling her. “I’ve got to go, Emma, my brother needs me.”

My forehead creased in both curiosity and slight fear when I spotted a dark figure emerge from behind an abandoned building, dashing towards my car, and as the figure drew closer, his face became clearer.

My heart began to pound heavily in my chest, and Carmen’s warning kept replaying in my head.

“Ca-Carmen?”

“Hey, you okay? Your voice is shaky—you sound terrified. What’s wrong?”

“He’s here already.”

“What?”

Before I could reply, he was near, and my car door was torn apart in seconds.

“You bitch.”

“Ahhh!” I screamed.

“Are you okay, Emma? Is something wrong?”

But instead of replying, my trembling finger ended the call to focus on the simmering figure.

“M-Mr. Hermilton?”

“You ruined my life!” I thought I heard him growl, but it must be my imagination.

More screams erupted when I saw his fangs make a vicious appearance. Then he grew claws and used them to drag at my skin, earning a tortured moan from me.

I must escape. He was a madman… a madman-wolf, I corrected, using my wolf strength to break through the driver’s side, planning to flee the other way.

I was almost succeeding until he pulled at my dress. The rip sounds it made didn’t terrify me as much as his angry growls did. “Everything I worked for, you ruined it! You couldn’t do your fucking job as my lawyer without poke-nosing into my business.”

He dragged me out of the car and threw me against it.

I hit the bumper before falling to the floor in extreme pain. The guy was unbelievably strong. Of course, he is. He’s a freaking ex-Supreme Alpha, and if I'm not careful, I’d be dead meat. I couldn’t die. My daughter needed me. She needed me to be alive to take care of her.

I grew claws and waited for him to get closer. Once he did, he picked me up again and tried to hit me. When I scratched his face viciously, he howled in pain and momentarily let me go.

Taking advantage of this little chance, I kicked off my shoes and ran.

Propelling my legs to go faster than they already were, I sprinted but a brief look over my shoulder showed I either wasn’t running enough or he was too fast for me.

Nonetheless, I gave it my best, this motherfucker wouldn’t have my life easily and I prayed to the Moon Goddess for a way out of this trouble.

Tears blurred my vision, my sides hurt like hell and my legs were growing weak. Still I picked up my pace as he chased after me like a madman. I could see him already shifting into his wolf form.

This definitely didny look good.

Blindly, I ventured onto a new path and hit a strong wall…wait, it was a moving wall and it just growled.

Risking a halt, I raised my head to see… Darrell?