Quinn
I was the first to get over my shock and I turned to dad, my eyes wide with fear. “You fainted, dad?”
He nodded. I swallowed, hoping it wasn’t what I was thinking. No, it didn’t have to be. It was too soon. It shouldn’t be happening. Not yet. He was too young for that (I knew he was old but I didn’t care). It was still too early for that. I didn’t want that yet and from the look in my eyes, I knew he had guessed where my thoughts were heading.
I glanced at Jack and John but they were already looking at me, their eyes filled with worry. They must have known what I was thinking as they were thinking the same thing too.
Dad sighed, his eyes pooling with moisture as he glanced at us. I hoped that he wasn’t about to confirm to us what we already suspected.
He turned to Vanessa. “Babe, can you get me some Almond tea? I suddenly crave it. I would love you to make it.”
She nodded. “It’s too late to call for the kitchen staff to make the tea when I was the one who sent them in to have an early night’s rest. I would bring the tea to you soon. You don’t have to worry.”
“Thank you, my love. You can take your time. You don’t have to rush yourself.”
She grinned. “What else am I supposed to do when my man wants something?”
She jumped to her feet immediately as if she had been waiting to make herself useful all along and I felt pity for her. Mia was about to talk and I quickly shook her her, warning her to stay quiet.
She stayed quiet but had a pout on her lips as she watched her mother.
Vanessa looked at dad, her innocence as she looked at him, breaking my heart. “I will be right back, sweetheart. Call me if you need me. I will be in the kitchen.” She turned to her daughter. “Come over if he needs anything else before I’m done making the tea.”
“Yes, mum.” Mia replied, her voice sad as she looked at her mum’s innocent face but she didn’t catch on to the sadness in her daughter’s voice. She was too worried about her husband’s health to notice anything else.
I didn’t blame her. There was no way she wouldn’t be worried when a man she had known for months never fell sick or complained of something as little as a headache suddenly fainted. I wondered though where he had fainted. She would have been embarrassed and freaked out if he had lost consciousness in public.
We all watched in silence as Vanessa walked out of the room. Mia turned to us, her eyes narrowed with anger immediately she was out.
“What was that?” She hissed. “You know that there is no Almond tea in this house.”
“Then she would have to go out to the mart to get some.” Jack explained.
“Don’t patronize me. It’s late to send her out.”
“Why are you acting like an overprotective mother hen?” I scoffed at her. “We came in minutes ago too. She will be safe.”
I knew she was overprotective of her mother but I guessed I had forgotten all about it as I was surprised by her outburst.
“Don’t you see what just happened here? Dad wants to tell us why he fainted and it has to do with him being a werewolf. He couldn’t have told us while she was here when she didn’t know anything about it. That was his way of making her excuse us so we could have the privacy to talk without sounding rude.”
Mia sighed. “I guess. I guess we have to tell her soon of this secret as I don’t feel comfortable with her walking out this late at night.”
I nodded. “We will.” I was glad that he had been able to pacify her. I was worried about dad and wasn’t really ready to deal with Mia’s tantrum.
“What happened, dad?” I asked him eventually.
“I fainted when I was out with Vanessa.”
I winced and briefly closed my eyes. It shouldn’t have been when they were out. Asides Vanessa being freaked out, dad’s pride must have suffered a hit as well. There were a lot that could have gone wrong but I was glad that they were back home safely. No wonder they had cut back their vacation and were home early. No wonder he had told us that we had to be home soon. A lot was about to happen and we needed to be on our territory to be able to survive it.
“How do you feel now?” John asked.
“I feel better now that I’m home.” He replied.
I nodded. Just what I thought. There was no way he wouldn’t feel better once he was on our soil.
“What happened out there?” Mia asked. “Why did you faint? Was the sun too much for you?”
Dad glanced at her and chuckled. “Sun? I’m not a vampire, daughter. I guess you have gotten too used to the vampires.”
John chuckled. “You can’t blame her, dad. Her new best friend is a vampire.”
Mia snorted as she looked at us. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Don’t mind them.” Dad smiled at her.
“I don’t. You are not feeling fine.” She smirked. “Well, I guess you are if you can still tease me about not being a vampire.”
“Are you offended, daughter?”
“No, I’m not.” She sighed. “I just want to know why you are sick.”
“I’m not sick; I fainted. There is a difference to a werewolf. We don’t get sick.”
“Why did you faint?”
“Why did I faint?” Dad looked at me, directing the question to me instead of replying her.
I sighed and then looked at Mia. He could have just answered her but he wanted me to tell her the next thing as well. That was his way of preparing me and everyone that was involved.
I swallowed and looked at Mia. “What happened to dad was a phase in the life of an alpha in the silver moon pack. It has happened to all the previous werewolves and dad isn’t an exception. It means that dad’s wolf had gotten old and it’s time to choose a new alpha to lead the pack.”
“You?” She asked.
I smiled softly. “Might not be me. The battle has just began.”