Chapter 176
HANNAH
"Dad?," I said again only this time the word came out much stronger.
My legs moved. And then they flew over the paved floor. At the last instant, I jumped right into my father's arms. His thin arms went around me at the same time mine went around him.
His long fingernails dug painfully into my ribs as he held me close but I didn't care. All I cared about was the warm weight of him in my arms.
I had missed him so much, never thought to see him again. It felt like my heart was shattering and being glued back together all at the same time. I felt happy tears prick my eyes.
Finally after about a minute I pulled away to say, "Dad, I can't believe it's you."
My favourite smile appeared on his face as he looked me over. "I can't believe it either. At a point I thought I would never see you again. You've grown, changed so much... in a good way. Come here."
He pulled me into another hug. When we broke apart this time and after I had blinked the tears from my eyes, I really noticed the change that had come over him.
He was even thinner than I had imagined earlier. His once fleshy face was worn. The bones were sticking out. His skin was burnt by the sun and he looked to be in an extreme state of malnourishment. It gave me a pang to see him that way.
I stood there, with my mind blank, not knowing what to do. There were a lot of things I wanted to know, questions I was dying to ask but when she shifted his weight from one leg to another and his shoulders underneath the weight of the knapsack seemed to droop a little more, I decided the questions could wait.
He looked curiously at the Wallace's. I hurriedly began the introductions, pointing to each of my mates as I said their names.
"And this is their little sister, Willa," I finished.
Willa smiled brightly at him.
Cade stepped forward to shake my father's hand. Then Chase and Jace did.
"It is a pleasure to finally meet you, sir," he said, bowing slightly.
"The pleasure is all mine," my father said. "I see I have you all to thank for taking care of my little girl."
"Come on, dad," I said. "Let's go inside. You look exhausted."
He gave me a tired smile as I held on to his arm. I held it to support him. He looked like he could drop at any moment.
"Lead the way," he said.
Walking slowly, I led him into the house, my mates and Willa walking behind us. He sank into the sofa with a sigh of relief, closed his eyes for a moment or two.
He sat up slowly and I could see the effort it took him to move even a little bit. He opened his mouth to talk. I stopped him.
"Tell me what you need, dad," I said.
"Yes Mr Baker-" Cade began.
"Elliot," my father interrupted. "Please call me Elliot."
Cade nodded. "Elliot. Please think of this place as your home now. Just tell us whatever it is you want."
My father looked at his grimy clothes ruefully. "I'll be wanting a bath and some food. Can't remember the last time I ate."
I stood quickly. There was a maid standing by the door.
"Quick," I told her. "Get him some food."
She nodded and left at once. Jace volunteered to show him one of the nearby bathrooms. I pulled out my phone and called my mother. She answered on the second ring. For a second or two I was so excited I couldn't speak.
"What is it, Hannah?" she asked, sounding tense. "Did something happen?"
"No. No," I said, hastening to reassure her. "It's dad," I failed this time to stop the tears from falling. "He's back. He's here."
"Elliot is at the pack?" she shouted so loudly I had to hold the phone a little away from my ear.
"Yes," I breathed.
I heard what sounded like a sob from her end. She told me she was on her way. I heard the sound of her running before she ended the call.
My mates were standing, talking together. Jace turned to smile at me.
"Well this is a happy surprise," he said.
"I wonder how he managed to make it here but I'm glad he did," Chase said.
I on the other hand, was over the moon. For so many days and nights I had prayed for him to be safe. And he was. He had returned to us.
Minutes later, my father again walked through the doors looking clean, wearing what had to be one of the triplet's clothes. They were too sizes too big for him. At least they were much better than his dirty travel worn clothes.
I made him sit beside me just as a maid came in with a tray. My father picked up a fork, stared at the tray of food in his lap. He hesitated, probably feeling awkward eating when there were so many eyes on him.
When the aroma of the food wafted up to him, he could control himself no longer. He attacked the meat first, chewing most of it up in two mouthfuls. He ate like a starving man.
"Maybe you should eat more slowly, dad so you don't choke," I said a little anxiously.
"I know but I can't remember when I had something decent to eat."
A strangled sob had us all turning towards the door. My mother stood there. My father's fork dropped from his fingers. His wife launched herself straight into my father's arms. Jace barely removed the tray of food from my father's lap in time.
"Oh I missed you," she cried.
Happy tears pooled in my eyes and I felt like crying again. This was another moment I had dreamt of. The moment where my mother and father got reunited and now it was actually happening.
When my mother pulled back, my father gave a not too subtle glance at the food Jace was carrying.
"I'm sorry. Of course you're starving," my mother said, laughing through her tears. "Go on. Eat."
He didn't need to be told twice. When more than half of the food was gone, he slowed down a little, looked round at us. We were all seating around him, watching him. He scratched the back of his neck.
"I'm sorry," I said, feeling his embarrassment. "We're sorry. We're only acting like this because we've got a whole lot of questions to ask you."
He cleared his throat, drank a glass of water, poured some more and finished that too.
"I know," he said, setting the cup down. "I also have so many things to tell you."
He sat up straighter, his face suddenly grave as he said, "I couldn't return to you and your mother earlier because Dawson wanted to kill me."
"To kill you!" I exclaimed. "Wasn't banishing you enough for him?"
I turned to my mother, surprised that she didn't seem surprised at all by this news. It occurred to me then that she knew some things and hadn't shared them with me. Had probably kept the details from me to protect me.
"Finish your food first, dear," she said to him. "There will be time to explain all this later."
"I will eat but Hannah deserves to know the truth now." He paused. "I was banished from the pack because I knew something I wasn't supposed to know, a secret that would have torn the pack apart."
"What was it?" I asked.
He didn't seem to have heard me.
"After Dawson ordered me banished, his guards led me outside the pack's border and tried to kill me. I barely escaped. I ran into the woods. They came after me. His guards and his spies searched the whole territory for me. I daresay they are still searching even now."
I felt my fists clench at the idea of Dawson's men hunting my father down like he was some sort of animal. "Why?"
"Because I knew what Dawson did to the late Alpha of our pack. You see, Dawson was the Beta. He didn't have any chance of becoming Alpha because the late Alpha had a son. Everyone thinks the Alpha and his family died in a fire. Truth is Dawson killed them all. He arranged to have them burnt alive then made it look like an accident."
I reared back in shock. I couldn't believe it. So Dawson wasn't even supposed to be Alpha?
"It took me many years but I uncovered the truth," my father said. "Like a fool, I told Dawson what I knew, asked him to step down. I thought he would be sorry for what he had done. Well, I thought wrong. He framed me, banished me and then gave the orders for me to be killed."
Cade started to say something. He stopped himself when my mother shook her head. She rubbed my father's arm.
"I'm sure you have a lot to tell them," she said. She looked at our curious faces. "And I'm sure you have a lot of questions to ask him. But look at him. He's been through so much. Let him eat and rest. We can all talk to him later."
My father gave her a grateful look and resumed eating.
"You're right," I said. "We will talk later."
I watched him eat and thought that finally, my family was complete.
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