CHAPTER TWO - THE REVELATION

MONA'S POV

“Why are you looking for her?” I asked the man, suspiciously, wiping my tears and standing to my feet.

“I am sorry but do you know who she is?” the driver asked me with a confused look on his face.

“Yes she does,” another male voice answered before I could speak.

Who was that and how did he know that?

Who were these people?

As these questions raced through my mind, the car door opened and a man stepped out, dressed in a black suit.

“Hello Mona,” he greeted me and I froze in shock.

“Who are you and how do you know who I am?” I asked him. The man in front of me looked much older, he seemed to be in his early fifties, with specks of gray hair on his head

His face cracked into a friendly smile, “didn’t your mother ever tell you about me?”

My mother knew this man? I wondered, looking at his car. From his suit and car, I could tell that he was rich.

How in the hell did my mother know this rich man and leave us to suffer like this?

“I am your father, Mona,” he said, softly and my eyes widened in shock.

“What are you even saying right now?” I asked him, slowly backing away as he tried to touch me.

“I don’t have a father,” I said to him, feeling really annoyed.

Why was the universe playing these kind of fucked up games with me right now? I wondered as tears started to fill my eyes.

Could I catch a break right now?  I still hadn’t figured out where I was going to sleep tonight and this clearly crazy man was here playing games with me.

“I know you don’t believe me but I can prove it to you Mona,” he said, stepping closer to me.

I sighed and watched as he reached into his pocket and brought out a picture then handed it over to me.

I collected the picture ignoring his expectant eyes and what I saw next shocked me. It was a picture of my mother when she was younger standing next to a much younger version of this man, he was holding a baby and they were smiling at the camera.

“The baby in that picture is you,” he said, pointing at me in the picture. “If you still believe me, I know you have a red birthmark on your thigh.”

He was right, and there was no way he could have known that about me unless—

Suddenly my legs felt weak, this was too much for me to process.

“You are my father?” I asked again, even the word father sounded weird in my mouth.

“Yes,” he said, his green eyes on mine as he touched my shoulder.

“How can I have a father?” I said, pushing his hand off me as tears fell down my face.

“How can you just show up here after everything thinking you can just claim you are my father and everything will be fixed. Why haven’t you shown up in my life before? Why are you coming now that mom has died?” I asked him, feeling rage bubbling in my chest.

“Because your mother asked me to stay away!!!” he yelled back at me, his green eyes blazing like he was angry.

“I came back here as soon as I heard that she had passed,” he said to me, his tone softer.

“How did you know she died?” I asked him, still suspicious.

“Because I have been watching over you all your life Mona,” he said like it was something to be proud of.

If he had been watching me, it meant that he saw when I dropped out of high school because of fees, when I had to work two jobs to support the house after mom got sick.

He saw how much I suffered and he did nothing, until now.

“So why are you here?” I asked him.

“To take you back with me, I know I haven’t been a good father but I promise that I will spend the rest of my days making it up to you,” he said softly and for the first time in a long time, I felt something blossom in my heart— hope.

“Come home with me Mona,”  he said, his hand falling to my wrist.

“I… I can’t do that, you can’t just show up here and expect me to follow you to wherever,” I said, pushing his hand away.

“You are right,” he agreed, sounding defeated. Just then, the gate opened and the hefty men from earlier flung my clothes out of the house.

“Please help me beg Mr Carter!!!” I shouted after them, but they slammed the gate in my face.

Embarrassed, I turned towards the older man again.

“As far as I can see, you have nowhere to go,” he said, like it was a fact. “I won’t force you to make any decision you don’t want to make, but at least allow me to find somewhere for you to pass the night.”

I stayed silent, biting my bottom lip.

He was right, I wasn’t exactly in the position to be making decisions right now.

Solemnly, I picked up my mother’s ashes and inched towards the car. As if on cue, the driver opened the car door for me to go in.

I spent the night in a hotel room, ordering room service, eating and crying. My life felt some big plot twist. I wished my mother were here to at least tell me what to do, or that I even had someone to talk to.

Even though I still had a lot of questions about this strange man, I was grateful that I had a place to sleep and to clear my head at least. Days passed, and he kept calling everyday to find out how I was doing, he never asked if I had made up my mind. I still did not know if I could trust him and even though he was giving me time to think about it, I knew I had to make up my mind quickly. I woke up one morning with my decision made, I knew I could not continue living my life in this cycle.

The morning’s chilly air whizzed past my face where I sat the backseat with this supposed father of mine, gazing out the window, mind flicking every now and then to whether mum’s ash had somehow toppled over in the boot, while thinking about what life has in store for me on this other side that’s meant to be my ‘new home.’

Yes, I agreed eventually to go with him.

I tried not to resent the clean cut older man beside me. He had let my mother die, I thought to myself.

He didn’t even ask about my mother once, just what kind of man was my father?

And had I made the worst mistake of my life by following him to wherever he was going?

The drive lasted for what felt like hours and I stayed silent throughout.

“Where exactly are we going?” I asked him.

“We are going back to where you were born,” he said vaguely and then turned away from me.

Oddly enough, I felt at ease with him. So I stayed silent observing my surroundings. We seemed to have entered a town of some sort, as we drove past, I saw the people stop whatever they were doing and stare at our car as we drove past them.

That was weird.

Finally we reached a gated compound and the car drove and parked beside a fountain.

I had to come down to make sure my eyes were deceiving me, there was a fucking fountain in front of this magnificent house. The fountain wasn’t even the best part of the place I was standing in. The magnificent house was actually a mansion. I kept pinching myself in shock, I could not believe my eyes. There were small trees and flowers around the building, even the pavement I was standing on was tiled. The mansion was painted white with black roofs overheating the building.

“Goddamn!” I said under my breath.

“Goddamn is right Mona,” he replied with a smirk. “I think I should introduce myself properly to you, I am not just your father, I am the leader of a werewolf pack. Alpha Caspien.”

I nearly dropped the ashes I was holding in my hand as I dropped my mouth open in awe.

He was a werewolf?

What in the hell was that supposed to mean?

Today just kept getting weirder and weirder.

I was led inside the house and taken to a room that was double the size of the apartment I had  moved out of. A maid helped me collect the ashes and set them down on a desk by the corner of the room.

“There are some clothes in your size arranged in the wardrobe and if they are not to your liking, we can get better options,” she said as I walked around the cream and gold colored room. My new king sized bed was laid and the sheets felt so soft that I was sure that if I laid on this bed, I would just sink in.

“The Alpha has instructed that you wash up and get some rest, he said that he will answer all your questions in the evening,” she said to me.

“Okay then,” I nodded at her politely and then she left.

I took the most luxurious shower of my life and changed into the softest nightgown ever and quickly fell asleep.

I woke up to a loud knock on my door.

“Who is there?” I called out and the maid from earlier walked in. she flicked up the room light suddenly, making me groan and cover myself with the sheets.

“I am sorry to disturb you, but it is dinner time and the Alpha will meet with you now,” she said.

I found it weird that she kept calling my father an Alpha, like what the hell did that even mean?

Was it connected to the wolf thing from earlier?

“A dinner dress has been selected for you,” she said, handing me a shopping bag, containing a silk black dress and matching black heels.

Did I have to dress fancy to even eat in this house?

Knowing that I had questions to be answered, I washed my face and dressed up then came down the long flight of stairs, holding on to the railing as I struggled to walk in the heels.

As I arrived at the dinner table, I saw my father dressed in a crisp black suit and a matching bow tie and to my surprise, he was not alone.

Seated beside him were three other men, two of them looked to be around his age both dressed in suits and the last guy was not what I was expecting.

He seemed like he was around my age, but he looked like a model, with his high cheekbones and full lips. He had long platinum blonde hair that looked unreal but somehow I could tell that it was his natural hair color and intense grey eyes that had not even blinked since they met my face.

“Um… what is going on?” I asked my father.

“First of all, let me introduce you to the pack chiefs, on my right is Beta Isa, he is my second in command in the pack” he said referring to the serious faced man with short grey hair who gave me a brisk smile, “and on my left is Gamma Ethan, my third in command.”

“The young man next to Gamma Ethan is his son, Luka,” my father said and Luka gave me a friendly smile, revealing his perfect white teeth, just when I thought he could not get any perfect.

“I…I am sorry, but I thought that this was supposed to be a conversation between us?” I said, taking my seat at the end of the table, seating directly in front of him.

“I figured it was best that you learn about your heritage in front of all the important leaders in this pack,” my father said, gazing seriously at me.

“Okay then? What is my heritage that you keep talking about?’ I asked him.

“Your mother was born in this pack and she was mated to me,” he started. “Due to the fact that she lacked any powers, the people of the pack never accepted her as their Luna, who is their female leader. After she gave birth to you, she realized that you were the same as her, powerless and so she ran away from the pack. I searched everywhere for you and after I found her, she told me that you were not my child,” he said and I sighed deeply, feeling uncomfortable hearing this kind of news in front of random people I had just met.

“And because of that, I stayed away from you, she made me believe that I had no right to claim you, but I kept watching over you because deep down I knew you were my child,” he said and I could not believe my ears, that did not sound like my mother at all. My mother was the most caring person before she fell sick.

“Before she died, she told me the truth and that was when I came to claim you,” he said and I stayed silent, processing everything.

“I brought you to this pack for you to take your place as the next leader of this pack and for you to choose a mate,” he said, with a serious look.

“A mate? What is that?” I asked.

“Someone who you are pledged to share the rest of your life with,” Beta Isa responded.

That sounds dramatic

“I am dying Mona,” my father said suddenly, “and to carry on the legacy of our pack, I have prepared two eligible mates for you to choose from.”