Avenging You

Chapter 32

Parker

My world stops as I look at Ashton. He doesn’t come closer; he knows I’m processing and doesn’t want to overwhelm me.

I look around and see where the cameras are out and none are facing him, but they’re facing me. I walk towards him and grab his arm as I bring us to an area with no cameras… which also means it’s out of our territory.

I let go of his arm and look at him. It looks like he just got his hair cut and he recently shaved because he doesn’t even have a 5 o’clock shadow. He smiles at me showing off his dimples and his brown eyes are lit up showing off his happiness. I gulp and cross my arms and say, “Explain. You were dead. I saw you die. I held your body. You were cremated. I-I don’t understand.”

Tears are in my eyes and he sighs, “It’s complicated. Before I go into all of that can I at least hug you?”

He takes a step towards me and I take a step back and shake my head no. I say, “No, Hunter’s a shapeshifter I need to know this is you before I let you get any closer to me.”

His eyes soften and he says, “I have no idea everything you dealt with while I was gone. But I’m sorry you had to go through it without me.”

I stay quiet and wait for him to do as I said and he takes a deep breath, “Hunter showed up and took me captive, Parker. He duplicated himself and shape shifted to pretend to be me. I never died.”

I bite the inside of my cheek as I process his words and he says, “He’s tortured and experimented on me for the past five years the only thing that kept me going was the thought of coming home to you and meeting AJ.”

He remembers the time I went back in time to talk to him. Maybe this really is him.

He sighs, “Are you with Ryan? Am I too late?”

I stay quiet unsure of what to say. I don’t know if I could just leave Ryan, but this is Ashton. He’s my husband and AJ’s father.

He nods and breathes out, “I get it, Parker. It’s been five years. You’ve moved on and that’s…” He rolls his lips into his mouth out of frustration and forces out, “Okay.”

I don’t say anything, and he says, “Really… I just want to meet my son. I know it’s late or early or whatever, but could I come back in a few hours and meet him?”

My eyebrows furrow in concentration and I say, “No.”

He looks shocked that I said no, and I say, “Look, Ashton, I don’t know if I can trust you. AJ is my life, and I am not going to let him meet you until I know without a doubt that this is really you. How did you even get away from Hunter anyway?”

“Well, since you returned, he started to get a bit sloppier and more irrational. Honestly, one day he just left things unlocked and without many guards and I just… I ran.”

I look him up and down and say, “You don’t look like you’ve been like out in the woods since you escaped.”

He smiles, “Remember Bella and Lorelei’s old place? I went there and was able to clean up a little.”

I nod in understanding… the more he talks the more it seems like this really is him, but I’m still hesitant. He says, “Look, I know you’re probably with Ryan. But how about we meet back here tomorrow? We can have a little date and you can ask all the questions you want to figure out if it’s really me.”

I nod, “Yeah, yeah, we can do that.”

He smiles and asks, “Still can’t hug you?”

I shake my head no and cross my arms and he sighs, “It’s great to see you, Parker. You look great.”

I smile softly and mutter, “Thanks.”

With that I turn around and head home making sure to take an odd way just in case someone is following me, and I teleport back into my room whenever I’m sure no one is around and that I’m still far away from the bunker.

Ryan

Parker has been acting really weird today.

She’s been practicing her fighting a lot today, but she refuses to fight against me, and she just seems kind of angry.

I hear footsteps and I look over to see Skye standing beside me and she asks, “Do you know why she’s so pissed?”

I shake my head, “No clue.”

Skye tilts her head as she observes her and says, “Did Hunter get in her head last night? Maybe he said or did something to upset her?”

I sigh, “I’m not aware of him doing anything. I might be wrong. But…” I sigh heavily and shake my head, “I wouldn’t count anything out.”

She’s like a puzzle that I’m trying to get started and I don’t even know what I should do first.

Suddenly Jasper falls in front of us and he grunts, “Damn, she’s pissed today.”

I look over at her and she’s stretching, and Skye tells Jasper, “Take a break. I’ll handle her.”

He nods in agreement and I help him up and he looks at me and says, “You know I would’ve thought she’d be in a good mood today since you guys can now openly be a couple. Do you know what’s up with her?”

I shake my head no, “I wish. I’m going to try to get some information out of her later when we’re alone.”

We hear both Parker and Skye yelling and look over to see them both pushing their boundaries. Skye has electricity circling around Parker, but Parker has made a shield that Skye can’t penetrate. Parker pushes the shield down making the electricity scatter, but before it can hit anyone, she throws up a wall to stop it from hurting anyone. She takes a deep breath and I watch her in awe, and I can hear Skye ask, “How the hell did you do that?”

I chuckle at Skye’s reaction and Jasper and I go back into the bunker. Hopefully Par can get all her anger out in her training today and she can talk about it when we hang out tonight.