Althena

34. I Have No Father

Training in the morning is learning how to jump into the water safely from different distances. It's fun. I wish I could do more, but everyone else keeps taking turns. Chris takes turns too. He's having as much fun as I am.

Mike calls and I tell him about the training. Then I tell him about the last few. We get along like we used to. He doesn't say anything about when I had dinner with Jax.

After training, Chris and I get cleaned up and go back to the park to watch the warriors.

Prina keeps flying stuff out of the garden at the beta.

He finally has enough when she hits him with an onion. "OUT. GO ON."

"YOU CAN'T..."

"GO."

He chases her off.

Then we watch a helicopter land.

"Did you call for a helicopter?"

"No."

"Wasn't me."

A man gets out and talks to the beta and Monte.

Monte rubs his face and points at us.

"I think we're in trouble."

I put my sunglasses on. "Yea, that's not a happy face. What did we do?"

"Don't know."

We go over to him and Monte hands me a paper. "You're being summoned to a royal meeting with the king and queen."

Chris takes it. "Well, that's not so bad. They probably want... Actually, I can't think of anything."

I shake my head. "I only met the queen once. Nothing happened."

Monte guides us to the helicopter. "This is probably Jax's fault. You're under the protection of Gold Moon. You have their mark. He isn't happy you're on the edge of our city."

"Mmmm. I get it." Chris nods. "He thinks he's protecting you by telling the king you're here."

Monte nods. "He can't get her out so he's having the king do it for him."

"Asshole. This place is nice. Swimming was fun." Chris climbs into the helicopter.

I climb in behind him and off we go.

We get flown to a high rise building. Then escorted into the elevator. We can't sneak off at all. The guards come with us. We go up. Over 90 floors. It's a long ride. Then we get out into an entry hall with a receptionist's desk. "One moment please. I'll let them know you're here."

I rub my face. "I'm annoyed already."

"Yea. This is taking forever. We could have landed on the damn roof."

"Right this way."

We follow a lady to a throne room of sorts. Kind of. 3 thrones sit on the side. A big table of food is in the middle.

"Help yourself. They'll be right in."

"Don't mind if I do. They have stuffed mushrooms, Chris."

"We'll get the French place later. Don't keep us here by eating."

We turn and watch a man come in. He sits on one of the thrones. He stares at his phone. We go back to the food.

The queen comes in and smiles. "Bring the mushrooms with you, child."

I grab the whole dish and me and Chris stand in front of the thrones. Then another man comes in. I can tell he's the king. He sits on his throne and puts his head down. He looks like he's crying.

"Are you deporting me too? I would like to go back to Crystal Falls anyway. Don't be upset."

"No."

"Is he a prince?" Chris points at the other guy.

The queen nods. "Yes."

"Another prince?" He gives me a dirty look. "We just got rid of the last one."

The king yells, "WHAT?"

"Oh, this is bad." Chris is staring at them.

I shrug my shoulders and eat a mushroom.

Chris is staring with his mouth open.

"What?" I look at them and nearly fall over. The king and prince have bright blue eyes.

Nobody speaks or moves for a few minutes.

The queen smiles. "Remove your sunglasses, sweetie."

"Why?" My eyes keep going back and forth between them. This is some mean joke.

"You know why."

I choke out. "I need you to say it."

"The king is your father."

Chris rubs his face.

I take a deep breath and throw the mushrooms at the table. "I HAVE NO FATHER." I go for the door.

"I didn't know about you." The king is on his knees with tears on his face. "I had no idea."

I throw my sunglasses at him. Every word I say explodes with rage and I stare into his eyes. "Allow me to introduce myself. Althena May-Eve Sage. I'm a mutt. An orphan. My father killed my mother because we didn't have anything to offer him. He is a monster. SEND ME HOME." The food table slams against the wall.

The queen jumps up. "Please listen."

"It doesn't matter." I stare at my father with disgust. "I have nothing to offer you. I'll be leaving before you kill me too."

"I didn't know."

"I HAVE NO FATHER."

The queen falls into her throne. My father falls back against his.

Chris has his hands up. "Maybe we could..."

"HE KILLED MY MOTHER."

"Yes, but your aura is killing us all. Simmer down." He rubs his eyes. "We weren't expecting this. We need a minute."

"Of course." The queen helps the king up.

Chris rubs my back. "Don't look at them. Look at the door and breathe."

"He killed her."

"I know."

"We weren't enough. I'm not enough. I don't want this. I don't have a father."

"Ok. Get in the elevator." I take off walking like it was a command.

"We're going to need more time. I do have a favor to ask though."

I slide down the wall in the elevator and land on my ass. I put my head in my arms. This isn't right.

Next thing I know, Chris pulls me off the ground, and we get out of the elevator. We're on the ground floor. He guides me out the door, and we go to Safiri. He pushes me into the makeup chair. "We need a lot of things. Bill the king."

I don't know how long I sit there. They fix me and put me in a dress with some heels. Then we get back in the helicopter.

Granny, Phina, the alpha, beta, delta and Monte are standing there when it lands.

Chris pulls me out. I stare at them.

"How bad was it?" Granny smiles.

"It was." Chris takes off running.

"Sweetie? Are you ok?"

Then I explode. "YOU KNEW."

Granny nods. "Yes. We knew who you were. I knew him long ago. I still try to kill him every time I see him."

Prina smiles. "We missed the asshole last night. It won't happen again."

"YOU ALL KNEW."

"No." The alpha shakes his head. "Monte and beta knew nothing. We filled them in after you were summoned."

"I..." I throw my shoes at the helicopter. "LEAVE ALREADY."

"Let's get some coffee." A door appears next to Phina, and they drag me into the coffee shop. "WE NEED SPIRIT AND SPICE QUICK."

"Forget the coffee, just give me the spirit." Granny goes behind the counter.

Jax walks in. "Did you think about what I said?"

Monte shakes his head. "Not a good time."

"Well."

I throw back a shot and throw the glass at him. "THIS IS YOUR FAULT."

"WHAT DID I DO?"

The alpha shakes his head. "Not a damn thing."

Granny waves her hand at him. "Remain calm."

Phina pours me another shot. "We're just having a nice drink."

I shoot it and throw the glass at the alpha. "YOU KNEW."

"I did. I didn't know if your grandma ever wanted to tell you. It wasn't my place."

I turn to Granny and feel my rage flowing again.

Monte grabs my shoulders. "Phina, door."

We're back in the park.

Chris comes running over and throws s**t at the helicopter. "We're going somewhere else now. I got our clothes."

"Where?"

"Doesn't matter." He starts pulling me.

"She can stay with me. I was trying to get her there. She'll be safer."

"Shut up and get in the helicopter."

"I'll follow and talk to you."

"Tomorrow, Monte. She's in shock. This is going to take a minute."

"Fine."

I can't do anything but stare out the window for the whole ride. Nobody talks. Then we get out. Chris walks me into a room. "This one is yours. I'm right next door."

I fall face first onto the bed. That asshole killed my mother. He hurt her. He hurt us both. I hate him. He is not my father. I don't have a father.

"Here's Mike." Chris lays the phone on my head.

"Mike."

"I heard, babygirl. You're still you. I love you so much. I know this was shocking."

"He killed her."

"I know."

I don't say anything else. I listen to him breathe. That calms me down. Almost like he's here.

"Mike, we're going to have dinner now. I'm going to try to get her to eat. We'll call you back later."

"I love you, babygirl. You go eat."

"I love you too."

Chris pulls me to the dining room and puts my ass on a seat. I stare at the food. They seem to talk pleasantly with each other. I don't hear one word of it. Then I'm back in bed.