Tides Of Fate

Chapter Twenty

“You are young you should be dating someone your own age.”

“I like older men, way more mature.”

“Merilee, he’s older than me. That crosses the line of acceptable boyfriends.” He retorted impatiently.

“When I change, age won’t be a factor we’re all considering. Besides I have no interest in anyone else, I love Ash and that’s how it’s going to stay.” I hung up the phone when I got closer to the car. He was leaning against it, his hands buried deep in his pockets.

“You never know. Someone better might be around the corner. Ash was the better of Steve. There are prospects of someone topping Ash.” He looked at me with a glint of hope in his eyes. He must be referring to Josh.

“No one can top a werewolf. Next to a vampire, he is every girls dream come true.” I dug my hands in my pockets imitating his posture.

“What is it with girls and dangerous men?” he asked with humor.

“It’s a rush better than drugs, Dad.” I looked down at my shoes, debating whether or not I should open the topic I had been avoiding for months. I wanted my dad to like my boyfriend. And patience and constrained public displays of affection wasn’t making him warm up to Ash, instead it made everything worse when he saw the longing we had for each other. 

“Dad, why do you hate Ash so much?” I looked up at him under my eyelashes.

“I don’t hate him.” His voice was leveled and emotionless.

“Of course not, the constant innuendos and blunt comments on my finding another boyfriend say so much about how you are his number one fan. Not forgetting the deadly glares you give him when we are together.”

“I don’t give him deadly glares.” His voice was sharp.

“You forget I feel what you feel, and I hear your thoughts. Ash laughs it off, he says it’s you taking your fatherly duties seriously.” I looked directly at him and smiled. His lips pulled up in a quick smile before straightening out again.

“A dad’s got to do what a dad’s got to do.”

“A dad is also supposed to let his daughter be happy. I can’t be fully happy when the two most important men in my life don’t get along. Why is that dad?”

“You know it was his fault your mother, sister and brother are dead!” His tone was so harsh it stung. I felt defensive, like he had attacked me and not Ash.

“He came looking for us didn’t he? He hunted Baku down hoping he’d kill him before he got to us. He saved my life and yours too!” I returned his harsh tone.

“I feed off animals like a wild predator, I can’t work and I can’t see my friends. This is not a life I wanted; I lost my wife and children! Now that you are involved with him, Baku will use you to hurt him, and Sabrina is already lusting for your blood. I have no intention of losing the only child I have left.”

I already knew all that and I wasn’t going to live in constant fear over it. I trusted Ash and I knew he wouldn’t let anything harm me. Like he said I’d leave all our enemies to him. I needed to get my father off Ash’s back. He was stressed and had enough to worry about, my father needed to get off that train.

“He also lost his family. He blames himself every day for not being able to protect both his and our family. You riding him every day about it will not bring Mom, Alice, or Jayson back.” I choked over their names. I hadn’t said them out loud since I found out how they died.

 Every time I thought about them, that gruesome night always played in my mind. I saw a dark shadow creep over my dad’s face. It still hurt for him as it did for me. I knew he felt guilty for not being able to protect his family. He could have done little against a pack of wolves.

But there was also something haunting him I recognized it, it haunted me until the day I found Ash and him. It still haunted Ash. The guilt of being alive when everyone else you loved was dead. But all this needed to stop, we have to move on and be happy with the new family we had made for ourselves—my sisters, Billy, Joe, Ash, my dad, and me. Our new family could never take the place of the ones we all lost but it would fill the space in our hearts left by them.

“I haven’t spent time with Ash in the longest time because he’s hunting Baku and Sabrina down, and when he’s home his mind is somewhere else. I miss him, all this because he is protecting the one child you have left. Please, Dad, just try to get along with him and if you can’t, lay off him until he finally closes the chapter on Baku.”

“Fine, I’ll try.” He pulled me to him and hugged me. “By the way, Ash doesn’t laugh because he says I’m being over protective, he is gloating because I can’t do a darn thing about it.” His voice was light and warm.

I laughed remembering how adamant Ash was about not letting my dad separate us from each other. “He’s as stubborn as I am.”

“No one’s as stubborn as you are. He gloats because if it came down to a fight for you, he would win without making an effort.”

I remembered what Ash had told me, he was stronger than all of them. “Unlike what you think, Ash has the utmost respect for you, he wouldn’t pick a fight with you. And he also knows I’ll deal with him if he dared to.”

Dad laughed hard and loud. “You are as tiny as a pixy, what could you possibly do to him?”

“The power of love, Dad, it trumps physical strength.”

“I know that all too well, your mother used to do that to me.” His voice caressed the word mother gently and lovingly. “How about I take you girls out for lunch?” He stood up straight and let go of me.

I felt bad that he had lost the love of his life. It had been a little over thirteen years and he still mourned for her. He was never going to move on and find love again. It was decided. When Ash went off to his many bounty-hunting trips, those days were going to be father-daughter days.

“Sure, I’ll just call Maria.” I flipped Ann’s phone open and dialed Maria’s number. She picked up after the second ring. “Are you busy? Dad wants to take us out to lunch.”

“Sure. I’ll just get Ann, we’ll be at the car in five.”

My dad drove Ann’s car with her. He wanted to take it on a joy run and Ann wasn’t willing to leave her new baby alone with him. Maria and I were in my dad’s Range behind them. I let her drive because I didn’t have my license on me. On the way to the restaurant, I told Maria about my morning. We joked and laughed about Jane’s comments, but George disturbed Maria.

“Someone should tell him about Steve that will stop his creepy advances.”

“He is so sure of himself it’s scary. He’s had a lot of close calls with Ash, but he still keeps at it.”

“I don’t think you should tell Ash about him, he’ll yank you out of school.”

“He’ll find out, better from me than someone else. I’ll tell him and just be stubborn about it.”

“You two have gotten serious over a short amount of time. Are you sure you’re ready for all of it?”

“Everything is so wonderful because I love Ash and he loves me. What I’m not ready for is the change that is going on inside me. It scares me. If I had a choice, I’d remain human and normal, but I don’t.” This was the first time I was admitting this out loud.

 I didn’t hate the fact I would be like Ash, that I loved, what I hated was all the dangers and the constant fear that came with it. Fear of hurting my sisters, fear of losing someone I love. The constant danger we were in because of Baku and Sabrina. Legends and myths had become reality, threatening every semblance of normality for me especially after all I had been through. Life was never going to be easy on me.

“Don’t worry, Lee, things will work out.”

“I hope so.” I cringed as a familiar pain ripped through me. I panicked knowing exactly what was coming next. “Maria, please pull over.” I unbuckled my seat belt and reclined my seat. This time I would unwillingly be ready for it.

“What’s wrong, Lee?” Maria sounded scared.

“The pain is about to hit.” Fear coated my voice heavily. I pressed my lips together and put my hand over my belly. I didn’t have to wait long before a stronger pain ripped through me. I cringed backwards pressing my feet against the dashboard. Ann was right the pain was going to be worse.

Maria pulled over to the side of the road and spoke frantically on the phone. I could tell she was talking to Ann. Before I could hear a word of the conversation, longer heavier pains ripped from all sides of my belly. There was no holding back the scream that rushed out of my throat. I turned to my side and grabbed at the door, trying to get some air into my lungs.

The door flung open, my dad pulled me out from the front and put me in the back. I heaved, grateful that this time the pains were a few seconds apart giving me time to breath.

“We need to take her to the hospital!” Ann was beside herself.

“You know we can’t do that!” Dad shouted back.

“So help me, I will shoot you if need be!”

“Ann, she’s bleeding!” Maria reached out to take my hand but my dad stopped her.

“She’ll break your fingers if the pain hits her while she’s holding them. Look at the door.”

As if on cue, several pains ripped through me from all directions each one stronger than the other. I curled up and unwound hitting the doors several times with my hands and feet, screaming as the pain tore through me.

Maria moved to the passenger’s side, and Ann got into the driver’s side and banged the door shut. “You can follow us if you wish, but I’m taking her to the hospital.”

I felt the car surge forward. Ann was driving fast. I stayed still breathing deeply for the few seconds I had before the pain. I wanted to pass out sooner than I did the last time but it wasn’t happening. This bout of pain was longer torturing me more than I was willing to handle.

Another pain hit me, far worse than the several others before but this time it paralyzed me sending shock waves throughout my whole body. I couldn’t move or scream but I felt the deep shredding inside me. After what seemed like a century, darkness engulfed me. I was relieved that I wouldn’t feel anything once I sank into the darkness. I welcomed it with open arms.