Chapter 39

“Spit it out,” I said as I stood up and looked at Victoria, waiting for her to say something. “Can you calm down?” She said, glaring at me with an annoyed look on her face. I looked at her in disbelief. “I can’t calm down, I just told Dan is not okay. We should be out there looking for him instead of staring at each other’s eyes here.” Her presence here is doing nothing but giving me anxiety, and I honestly don’t need that right now.

“I don’t know how to tell you this. I should be telling Dan, but he’s not here.” She said, biting her nails. I raised an eyebrow, my head cocked to one side, feeling irritated with her stating the obvious. “Seriously?” I turned to walk upstairs, feeling defeated in getting her to talk. I won’t stand here and wait for an old woman to change her mind. “Okay, Dan is a half-blood werewolf.” She said, looking at me with a sad look.

“What do you mean? Dan can’t be a werewolf.” I said, looking at her in shock, my mind couldn’t register what she was saying. I’ve never noticed anything weird with Dan, not until recently. “He doesn’t know.” I blinked rapidly and rubbed my temples to make sure I heard her correctly. “You mean to help that Dan is a werewolf, and he doesn’t even know?” I’ve heard myths about werewolves from my dad, but I’ve never seen one. But ever since I found my gift of fire, anything is possible.

“I’m sorry, he knows I’m sorry. I never meant to hide this from him; his father made me leave me behind.” She said, her voice trembling as she clenched her hands together in a stressed motion. I looked at her, a bit freaked out by her look; she looked like she was about to lose it. “I’m not the one you should be apologizing to,” I said, looking at her kneeling, rocking back and forth. I wanted to kneel and embrace her, but my pride wouldn’t allow me. This woman kidnapped me and swore to take out my baby; she deserves this.

Suddenly, the door opened and Dan walked in with red eyes, as if he had been crying or he had been fighting off tears. “What are you saying? Who’s my father?” Victoria broke out in a sob as her son stared at her with a look that made me back up a little. “Your father is a man, Alex Silvermoon from the north, he’s an Alpha for a pack called Moonriver.” A part of me broke at the sight of his mother speaking in between cries. Dan’s knuckles turned white from how tight he clenched his fists. I prayed to God that he would calm down.

I seriously don’t want to find myself between a mother and a son, trying to break off the fight. “An alpha..” I looked at him as he tried to register the information; he probably had never heard that. Growing up in a human world, without your really father and an unknown identity. “How was I conceived?” Dan asked after keeping quiet for a minute, and I cleared my throat, about to ask him to calm down. “Stay out of this!” I stumbled back in shock as he shouted at me, pointing a finger in my direction. I was thrown off by his reaction, quickly got annoyed, but chose to keep quiet.

“I met him while I was going through a rough patch with your father-“

“Don’t…” Dan cut her off before she could finish. By the look of things, her story better add up, or she’s in trouble. “Alex was also going through a rough time being the son of the Alpha, and so many expectations and not being able to pass those expectations, he took some time and came to the human world.” I sighed, feeling like this is way too much information for me in one go. I need time to process this. I started having cramps in my abdomen and decided to go upstairs and just lie on the bed and give them some privacy.

I winced in pain as I felt a sharp pain suddenly attack my abdomen. I leaned against the wall, unable to move. “Hey, what’s wrong? sit down.” Dan quickly held me and motioned for me to sit down. I shook my head, feeling my body go colder by the minute. “I need to go lie down,” I said as I pushed myself to walk the stairs. “What’s wrong?” Victoria asked as she wiped tears from her face. She looked genuinely worried about me. I shook my head, feeling like they have enough problems, they shouldn’t be worrying about me.

I tried to give a brave smile as I tried to move away from Dan’s hold, but I almost fell because I couldn’t stand upright. “I’m fine, stop worrying about me,” I said, laughing awkwardly. They exchanged a look. “You are not okay. We need to go see a doctor.” I shook my head again at Dan’s words, the pain subsiding a bit. “I’m fine, it was just probably because I’ve been standing for too long,” I said as I softly pushed his hands away from my belly and walked upstairs.

They didn’t say anything in return as I walked away, but I could feel their burning stares on my back. The last place I want to be is at the hospital right now. I’ve been there two times, and my experience was not great.

I was lying in bed thinking about Dan being a werewolf, about why it is surfacing now, out of all the times when my phone rang. I picked it up from the dresser, and the caller ID was written “Tyson.” My heart started thumping again in my chest. Why is he calling me? I looked at the phone as it continued to ring, contemplating whether picking it up was worth it.

I was about to breathe out in relief when it stopped ringing, but a few seconds later it rang again. “Answer the phone, Emerald!” I heard Dan’s voice shouting from downstairs, enhanced hearing. He has really changed; all the things I’ve heard stories about are becoming true. I picked it up on the third ring, I placed it on my ear and listened, waiting for him to speak.

“Em,” I sighed, feeling irritated already. I can’t stand the sound of his voice since the last time I saw him. At the hospital, when he convinced me that Dan wants me dead, I could’ve saved myself a lot of time by not running away. “Yes…” I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to hold it together so I don’t lash out at him over the phone.

"I need to see you." He said with a roughness that sounded like he had just woken up from a nap. "No-" I was about to give him a piece of my mind when I felt a sharper pain in my abdomen, sharper than before. I winced and sat up I cried out in pain when these sharp pains started coming in. I sat up in bed, trying to walk to the door. Dan walked in just in time to catch me from falling on the floor. "It hurts." He looked up from me to the bed, and his face displayed features of shock. I turned and looked at the bed. The white bed sheets that I was lying on a few minutes ago were now red with blood, and I couldn't hold the tears that escaped my eyes.