Twisted Fate

Chapter 31

Astrid

After the Lycans left, the nagging uneasiness continued to eat at me by the nature of their visit. I hated watching them poke Rosie and speak to her as if she were some wild animal that needed to be approached with caution. I wanted to speak up, but my lips were sowed shut and my hands tied. The Lycans wouldn't tolerate disrespect, and I was in no position to fight with those dangerous creatures. I had enough problems to face already.

On top of that, they told Arlo it would be necessary to set an appointment for her examination visit next week. It would involve them taking a CT scan and injecting her with a tracker- one that would be inside her neck for the rest of her life. She's an innocent child, for fuck sakes! What was she going to do, stab them to death with her crayons? Or worse, she'd have Mr. snuggles eat them alive.

I sat in Arlo's truck, angrily bouncing my leg and staring off into the distance. The sound of the door slamming startled me, and I recoiled.

"Sorry it took me so long," Arlo said, shifting in the seat, "I wanted to make sure Rosie was okay."

"How is she?" I asked softly.

Arlo sighed, roughly rubbing his crooked jaw, "She's okay, just a little shaken up. I don't know how to tell her that they're going to stick a tracker in her neck on Monday."

I stared at him briefly before slowly turning in my seat. "She's so young. She doesn't deserve to be going through this bullshit," I muttered, focusing on the view ahead. From the corner of my eye, I saw Arlo shrug his shoulders lightly.

"It's the price we have to pay for our parents' reproduction. Every hybrid must face it sometime in their life."

I contemplated asking him about his tracker, but I wasn't sure if he wanted to talk about it. He caught me glancing at his neck, and suddenly he grabbed my hand, pressing firmly on the side of his neck. A rough bump under his warm skin poked my fingertips. I'll admit I kept my fingers there, grazing across his neck to feel the sparks.

"It feels big," I mused, pulling away. "Does it hurt? How long have you had it?"

"The tracker is small, but it was very uncomfortable when they implanted it, which is why I'm worried about Rosie. And I was much older than her. The Lycans didn't find me until I turned eighteen." He told me. Oddly, there was this dark change in his facial expression as he noticed the crinkle in my brows, hinting at my confusion.

"What do you mean they found you?" Silence filled the truck. He blinked rapidly as he looked away from me and stared off in space. A shiver ran down my spine as I watched his face slightly pale, and his breathing became harsh as if he ran for miles.

"The council was aware of my brothers and me, but we stayed in hiding for years. My mother moved into a cabin just outside the borderline of Pennsylvania when she became pregnant with me. The council got involved in our lives after...um... well, after everything that happened. It's a long story." He waved me off, desperate for the change in conversation. Clearly, I hit a nerve that put him on edge. I wondered if he meant after his father killed his mother. It brought me back to the conversation I once had with my mother. Royal. Dark Prince. Next heir. Her words kept flooding back to me. But if his father was so regal and rich, why did he mistreat his mate and children?

The rumors that flooded the city were brutal enough; I could only imagine how sickening it was to be present in that moment. Everyone knew his father tortured his mother for all those years until he murdered her. They say he beat her senseless before burning her body and disappearing from the scene, never to be heard from again. I wanted to ask Arlo more about his father, but the negative change in his demeanor shut that thought out of my head quicker than it came. A dark and twisted past played wildly in his eyes as he gripped the steering wheel and stared at his feet. What really happened between their family, and most importantly, what did that demon do to my mate?