Chapter 51:
What could the Alpha King have asked that put my father in such a state? My father could withstand tough situations without blinking. The wound on his chest was evidence of that… but this strange message triggered his fear, resurfacing it and getting the best of him.
What does the King want?
Despite racking my brain to think of extreme conditions he might demand, I couldn’t come up with anything that would trigger such fear. Maybe he wanted my father’s pack. It was no secret that my father would lay down his life for his pack, but that alone didn’t seem enough to make him tremble like this.
Whatever the message was, I knew it couldn’t be good. His eyes shut in pain as he swallowed the bile rising in his throat when the third message popped up.
My dad’s notification sound was usually his favorite tune, but now I watched as it rapidly became his nightmare. Despite knowing he would love to ignore the message, he wouldn’t dare—not if he didn’t want to be on the Alpha King’s bad side.
His phone beeped again without him replying, and that meant trouble. Resigning to fate, his shaky hands brought the phone to his face, but no matter how much he tried, his expression wouldn’t unlock it.
One reason I hated phones with facial recognition.
It was almost funny how his mood ruined his expression to the point where his phone wouldn’t recognize him.
He typed in the pin, reading the message with tears glistening in his eyes. One wrong move, and they would spill over.
“Dad, is everything okay?” I asked, immediately mentally scolding myself. It was foolish to ask him that after seeing his reaction.
He clenched his jaw, blinking several times. “Everything is not okay.”
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Fear gripped my heart at his confession. At that moment, I knew the message was unimaginably cruel and extreme. If it was my father’s pack the Alpha King wanted, he could have it. My father was a hardworking man, and building another pack wouldn’t be impossible for him, even if it took years.
“What—”
The rest of my words were cut off when the door opened, revealing my mother.
“Darling, are you feeling pain anywhere?” she asked, rushing to sit on the edge of the bed where he lay. Confusion washed over her face as she locked her gaze on me.
“What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be in your room having fun?” She tried to force a smile onto her worried face.
“She already knows,” my father’s weak voice interrupted her. “Save the pretense.”
“And now it’s gotten worse!” he lamented, heaving a deep sigh.
My mother’s face creased with worry as her hand met his firm jaw, stroking it tenderly.
“What happened?” she asked before turning to me. “Your father and I need to have a private discussion. Please, go to your room.”
What? No!
“Let her stay. This concerns her,” he said, stopping me from standing. He gave me a pitying look.
“Dad, are you okay?” I found myself asking again, my curiosity eating away at me. I couldn’t wait to know the reason for his reaction.
