Chapter 59

                                    

                                          
The song above is "Thrive" by Switchfoot. The words and melancholy tune suit this chapter perfectly!
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3209 words
                          
"Dad?"
                          
"My baby girl. I'm so sorry. For everything. I tried to find a way back to you.."
                          
I pull away from where my face is held close against his shoulder, and look him in the eyes.
                          
This wolf, who is my father, is looking at me tenderly, tears in the eyes that I have dreamt about a thousand times since I last saw them. So warm and brown, swirling with honey and delight, mirth and amusement, comfort and love. Not all those emotions are in them now, and I can well imagine why.
                          
"But I watched you die," I begin shaking my head, refusing to believe it's really him. "The rogues tore you apart." I pull back further, trying to stay standing on my feet which is a struggle due to my wrists still being bound and my legs weak with fatigue. 
                          
"Cyril, get those cuffs off her!" he growls at the demon at my back, and I flinch when cold fingers pry the elizenthium bonds loose. I rub my wrists, pushing feeling back into them, and am shocked when warm hands encase them in his own.
                          
My father then speaks in a broken voice. Rich and deep, like I knew so well, but cracked like a hundred years of grief have etched it with hopelessness. "I know that's what it seemed like, darling, on that horrible day Alpha Chesca's pack was attacked. I fought with everything in me to protect you and your mother, my sweet Aliyah..." He pauses and takes a shuddery breath before continuing, "But the rogues stunned me. They came without warning and before I could get myself together, they had bound me and were wrestling me away."
                          
"But you were dead!" I wail, tears filling my eyes once more and beginning to stream down my face. With the appearance of my father, I am being forced to relive my most terrible nightmare. The day my world shattered around me. The day I saw my parents ripped to shreds by disgusting rogues, their bodies littered amongst others who'd died protecting our pack from invasion by the cruel Alpha of the neighbouring pack. I can still remember the tangy metallic scent of their blood and the glassy surfaces of their lifeless eyes. The silence of their unmoving chests as I clung to them for comfort, before realising I would never again feel their warmth and love.
                          
My dad shakes his head sadly. "I almost wish I had died. The rogues injured me severely, and it took months for my wounds to heal. They held me captive, only allowing me to heal so I could do their bidding. I've had to work with them for years, but I was always trying to find a way back to you. I'm so sorry—" he reaches for me again, but I pull back.
                          
"No! You can't be alive. It's not real. My father would never give up and be captured. He'd never work for rogues..." I trail off, my sobs overtaking my words. 
                          
"Darling, I'm so sorry," he pulls me close against his chest again, but I fight him, beating him with my tiny fists upon his firm chest. He doesn't stop me, just holds me tight until I've depleted my store of anger and sorrow at the injustice of our situation. For years, we have been kept apart. For years, I have grieved everything I've lost. For years, he's been trying to come back to me.
                          
Now he has, and I give up fighting this impossible reality. I sag into his arms and let him stroke my hair and whisper soothing words against my ear. His masculine and rugged scent envelopes me and seems to reconnect all the severed bonds between us. I snuggle into the warmth of my father—my father!—and for a moment everything is right in the world. I am okay. I am not in pain, I am not lost, I am not deserted and rejected. I am a daughter in her father's arms and nothing is going to take him away from me again.
                          
"Now, listen to me carefully, Ari," he takes my shoulders and speaks seriously, and I feel the familiar feeling of dread seep back into my heart. "Tonight is very important. You need to come with us, but promise to do as I say. Can you do that for me, baby girl?"