Chapter Thirty-Six – The love of a father

Ariel sat on the forest ground, unable to move. Her eyes were fixed on the arrow in the tree, it had stopped vibrating a long time ago. They had vanished into thin air. One second there, the next gone. Ariel had been so close, so close to taking out the Alpha that had lived right under their nose for so many years. How could that be?

And why did Talia bring up Noah? How was he at any fault in this? Her rage had subsided, leaving her feeling mostly empty. Empty and lost. And alone. She was alone in this madness of her own head, where conflicting thoughts were fighting one another.

Her brother was a good person, a good man. He wouldn’t go and offer up someone’s life to a beast on a whim. He had to have had a good reason. Or Talia was lying. Using her words to hurt her when she couldn’t use anything else. That was a possibility, the more likely one. But deep within her something protested.

There was only one thing she could do – she had to speak to Noah.

She’d left her phone back at the apartment, not wanting anything to tip of her location or distract her from her mission. She was supposed to observe. Oh how royally she had fucked that up. She had attacked another person, unprovoked and without reason. She had broken the moral code, and the law. Just because she’d been unable to contain her emotions.

“I’ve messed up” Ariel muttered to herself as she found the strength to stand up again. She couldn’t sit there all night and mope; it wouldn’t get any better with that. Someone would probably come looking for her as well, depending on how much the mutt of a wolf told the others. Depending on how many others there were.

It dawned upon her just how little she knew, and just how much she had managed to fuck up. She was supposed to get intel, find out how many they were, if they were a threat. And she had just up and decided, with no knowledge beside what she’d seen happen in front of her, that he was a threat. To her. To Talia. And he hadn’t even tried to stop her.

Ariel felt sick. Now that the rage and blind hatred she had felt had subsides she could see more clearly. Think more clearly. And it helped that the alcohol was out of the system.

Doubling over she emptied all of her stomach content on the ground. There wasn’t much, but it made her feel a little better. The nausea faded. And her head pounded.

Once again, she forced herself to stand, using the bow as support as she went to retrieve the arrow. It was lodged pretty far into the trunk, making it difficult to get out. She pulled once, twice. On the third the tree released the arrow, making her stumble back a few steps before regaining balance.

She was a mess. A hot mess. And she wanted nothing more than the ground to swallow her whole so she didn’t have to face the repercussions of her recklessness. She was an adult, and she had acted like an outraged teenager. The one person who would understand was her father, and that thought scared her.

She’d thought he was right. She’d seen this act of love and just decided that his father was right. They were monsters, underserving of anything good in the world. They just took and took and took from the humans, selfish beings who didn’t care for anyone else but themselves.

Adam had taken Talia from her family. From her friends. That was the narrative she had decided on, because that was the only thing that made sense. The thought made her angry again. Angry at herself. Angry at Adam. Angry at Talia. Angry at her father. The anger consumed her, filled her with such hatred.

“Raaaagh!” Ariel cried out into the air, once again scaring the peaceful creatures on a flight. She kept screaming until her throat was sore and voice hoarse. She fell to the ground again, hot tears streaming down her face while she wept in silence.

That’s when he found her. His warm embrace captured her, bringing her to a sob. They hadn’t spoken for days, but he was there. He was there when she needed him the most.

“Dad” Ariel cried into his shoulder, feeling like a lost child who needed their parent to make everything better.

“I’m here” Her father soothed. His voice warm and comforting, his arms strong and safe as he lifted her up into his arms.

“Dad – I did something bad” Ariel continued to sob.

“What did you do little child of mine?” Her father asked.

And she told him everything. Everything from the meeting to Anthony, to the talk with Kieran, to the encounter in the woods. She told him about what she had seen, what she had done and what Talia had told her about Noah.

Everything just came flooding out like the gates to secrecy had been opened. She couldn’t keep it to herself any longer. And who else could she trust but her own family? Her father was many things, controlling and overprotective amongst them, but he was also her loving, devoted father who would do anything in his power to keep his family safe from harm’s way.

“Oh little one, you didn’t do anything bad” Her father said once Ariel had fallen silent. He’d carried her out of the forest and to his waiting car. “You did the right thing my child. The only bad thing that was done today was done by the people who hindered you from doing your duty” He continued as he helped Ariel get into the car.

Her head fell against the car seat as her father secured her. It helped. Hearing that. It helped her feel better. Feel lighter.

“But I broke the code” Ariel mumbled sleepily. The turmoil of emotions that had raged inside of her had worn her out.

“No child – you didn’t break the code. You knew he was a potential threat, and you handled it before he became an actual threat” Her father hunched down to her level, his thumb stroking away some of the tearstains on her cheek. His eyes were warm and loving, like a father’s eyes when looking at his most treasured possession.

“I don’t think they will look at it like that” Ariel muttered, placing a hand on her fathers.

“Don’t worry about them. You did the right thing, if they can’t see that, they are in the wrong” Her father smiled softly before getting up and closing the door on her side. Those words filled her with warmth, it felt like everything was going to be okay.

He climbed into his side of the car and slammed the door shut, his hands gripping tightly around the steering wheel. Ariel had fallen into a slumber, his precious child worn out and exhausted because she had done the right thing.

Henry had never liked the fact that mayor Anthony used his little girl as a weapon. But he was also proud. Proud of the woman she had become, of the skills she had acquired, of how she without fear took on the mighty monsters that had tormented the town once and was bound to do it again.

They had been allowed to live in town, unharmed and out of sight, living right under the nose of everyone in town. No one knew truly what kind of monsters these creatures were, most of the people who had lost someone to them either lived in denial or had moved away.

‘It was just a wolf – not some supernatural creature’ One person said.

‘One bad doesn’t make them all bad’ Another said.

‘We took care of the problem – let it go’ Said a third.

Henry Noye had heard it time and time again. How he should let it go. It wasn’t their fault his wife had died. It was an accident. Nothing to do with any creature of any kind. But Hnery knew better. He saw things the others were to blind to see.

But not anymore. It had to stop – and he would be the one to make sure it happened. Wolves weren’t welcome in his town. Neither was any other creature that might live in the dark.

His grip loosened on the wheel as he put the car in motion. Because of his daughter he now knew things no one else did. Because of her he knew where to find the head, and how to make him pay.

But he couldn’t act now. No, he needed a plan. And he couldn’t do it alone. It was time to call in reinforcements, and he knew exactly who to call.