From Rivals to Romance

Angry

I was in the kitchen making a sandwich. I may be putting the jam jar a little too hard on the counter or holding the knife in my hands like I want to murder someone with it rather than cut a sandwich. The anger I was feeling had to go somewhere or it would burst out of me, and I will do something I regret. I took a deep breath to try to control my anger.

Dad entered the house like a teenage girl who had sneaked out of the party and was sneaking back inside at midnight. He was walking with light steps as if I did not know that he was there. Wolves have a stronger sense of smell and hearing than humans. We can also smell others' emotions. He was radiating fear. If he was so afraid, he shouldn't have done what he did.

He must have smelled my anger when he entered the house. That is why he was trying to be sneaky. I had heard him loudly boasting about his daughter before he went inside. Not that he was doing anything else for the last hour. Half the pack was ecstatic and had been howling running through the forest.

I could smell him from a mile away, as he had just finished running in his wolf form and all the sweat made it even easier to smell him. I took a plate and arranged two sandwiches on it and thumped it on the table with more force than necessary, making him jump where he stood with a foot in the air, ready to bolt upstairs with a look of distress on his face.

If he was so afraid of me, then why did he even apply to the arcane arts academy when I told him not to? I slid the plate towards him on the table so that he knew it was for him and went to sit on the couch. I don’t want to talk to him. Even though I know that he did it because it was good for me, I can't let this one slide.

“Are you mad at me?” he asked. He was standing near the dining table. I didn’t reply to him. I can't refuse to go to the academy now as everyone in the whole world knows that an omega's daughter has gotten into the academy, and she will make her father proud. He should have at least told me first, then I would have refused to go and it would have been over before it even began.

But now the whole pack knows and I have a doubt that when they went running, they had boasted to other packs as well. If I refuse to go now, it will only make more people intrigued by me. Why did an omega wolf like me who doesn’t even have a wolf refuse to go to the prestigious arcane arts academy? Dad will become the laughingstock of the whole pack. They might even throw us out of the pack for disgracing the pack like that. I want to divert attention from me and not become the center of attention.

I guess it was good that Eric also got accepted into the arcane arts academy. It took the spotlight away from me.

“I know I did it without asking you first. But I did it because I know how awesome my daughter is. I know you would get into the academy. And see you got in.” he said. He was standing in front of me when I refused to look at him, he knelt in front of me, forcing me to look at him.

“Please forgive your old man,” he said, he was not old. He was only in his forties, with a strong jaw and an easy smile. All the single ladies in the pack love him. When his wife left him for a stronger wolf, he was heartbroken and sad. It was not common for a wolf to leave their mate for a stronger, more powerful one. But the impact the other is left with is really heartbreaking. He was going crazy when she left him until he found me. That is what he says, that I was the one who brought him back when he was on the verge of insanity. After that, he never remarried. He loved me like his own child. He is the best thing that has ever happened to me.

When I still refused to talk. He was making his eyes go big like a little pup. He does it whenever I am angry. It always works. I cannot resist every time he does and surrenders. But not now. This is not just anything. It could put both of us in danger.

The arcane arts academy is everything I want to avoid. The people in it are not whom I want to even go near. If someone finds out about my true identity, they will not only kill me, but they will also annihilate this whole pack for giving me refuge. I can't let the ones I love the face that kind of danger. What will I do if something happens to him?

“Come on ana. Forgive your dad this once.” He doesn’t sound sorry. There was a smile on his face like it was slipping even if he was trying to control it. A sigh escaped me when looking at his face. He looks so proud. I will not fall for it. I will not let it sway my decision.

“Why did you apply for it when I told you I didn’t want to go to the academy?” I said, turning away from him. I can't tell him the reason I am against going to the academy. It is a burden I have to bear. It is better if he doesn’t know anyway. It will be safer for him if he doesn’t know anything.