Siren -Editing-

Chapter ten

"Beautiful," Father studied his work, every healed scar on my body. Every upgrade that he had put in, focusing on how my eyes were healing, and scowling at my throat. "Once you're complete, you will be irresistible. You will be perfect."

"Irresistible?"

He nodded, taking his time examining my throat. "Irresistible, like a mate to anyone you meet. If only your throat would finally heal." He poked and prodded the thin skin and applied some cool gel.

"I thought I didn't get a mate anymore, that was the exchange."

"You don't, but no one else will know the difference."

He made me follow his finger with my eyes to make sure they were working properly, and sighed to himself.

"Those will have to be redone, Darling, lie back for me."

________________

I wanted to throw up every time I heard that sorry excuse for a person make a sound, every word he spoke got under my skin, every laugh rang through my head, pounding on the sides of my skull.

I had no shame in admitting he still got to me years later. I just hated it.

The meal went on too long, the laughing, the congratulations, the questions. I tried to distract myself with Blake's family at first, but Father's voice kept breaking through my already fragile resolve. I did my best not to let his piercing presence show its effect on my face, but I shivered every time I felt his gaze on the scars I let show. The scars that he bore into my skin.

"Lillian, Darling," His sickly sweet voice called to me, interrupting my focus on the Alpha's words as he spoke to his family about an outing they had last year. I took a deep breath to control my face and turned back to face him. "It's been so long since I saw all three of you in the same room together, and you, my dear child, are treating us like the plague. Why?" He flashed an unnaturally white smile, easily seeming like the doting father he had never been.

"Three? There are only two of us," I copied his easy demeanor, laying the innocence on as thick as I knew how. One look at Jes was all I needed to know how she was handling the whole situation; she was nearly in tears and shaking like a wet chihuahua. "Did you make up another daughter?"

A series of amused laughs echoed around our immediate neighbors as he took a moment to respond. "No, my dear, I did not. Daniel, your brother, is also here."

Anger welled within me, even though I already suspected who he was to me, the betrayal still stabbed me in the back like a knife pulled from a volcano. It wasn't information he wanted me to know; it wasn't information I was going to pull from him. I was going to let it stay unspoken, the bond we shared through what our father did to us was thicker than the blood still flowing in our veins that we may share. It was not his place to tell anyone anything.

Instead of screaming, or tearing him apart, or showing him the monster he had created me to be, I waved at Daniel like it was the first time we met, "I didn't know I had a brother, I'm Lily." The red in Daniel's eyes faded slightly as he cracked a smile and waved back.

"Don't be silly, Lillian," Father slid poison into his words, "You two were so close growing up."

Uneasy looks passed between the others in his party. I wasn't lining up with the story he had spun of me, and the cracks were starting to show. I threw him the most confused look I could muster; it helped that I wasn't entirely acting this time, "I don't think I have ever seen that man before, in my life. Father, are you OK?"

He took a long sip from his cup before nodding, "Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?"

"Father, your eyes are red." I slowly pointed to one of my eyes, brushing my fingertips on my cheekbone, then moved it to the other side as I kept my gaze locked on his. Adrenaline was the only thing keeping me locked in the fight no one around seemed to be aware of. My fear rooted my rear in my chair, but I kept myself sitting straight as though nothing was wrong.

His eyes grew darker, until others agreed with me, sounding as concerned as I tried to project. He excused himself to the restroom, glaring at me before he finally left me in peace.

A small battle was won, but the war still raged on.

***

Music bled through the pack house walls as I stood outside for much-needed fresh air. The wind blew my loose hairs around wildly, reminding me that I didn't know how to braid well. With a gentle chill in an early autumn evening, I found the time to appreciate being wrapped up in a breeze before I was interrupted.

"You know, I don't think I could have done what you did." Daniel leaned against the railing near me. "Pushing back against him like that, I would've fought him if I tried."

An exhausted laugh escaped me, "I almost did, I'm not even sure how I managed to stay calm."

He nodded and hung his head, as though he were just as exhausted as I was. We stood like that in silence, staying close to each other and sharing the experience we had the misfortune of having without saying a word for minutes.

"I'm sorry he...brought that up."

"I'm sure you both knew that before he said anything," He sighed.

"Still, it should've been your choice."

"That's not how Dad works, Lily, you know that." Another silence fell for a moment before he spoke again. "You were a baby when I left for here, just barely walking around on your own. Jes was old enough to remember some, maybe just enough to know I existed, but I'd be shocked if it was more than that. I thought what he was doing was normal, that we'd all go through it at some point, but when he didn't start on Jes when she got to how old I had been when he started..."

"Cracks," I nodded. I understood what he meant, why skip over one child if you want perfection?

He nodded, "seeing her now, I get it. She looks just like Mom did before she passed. It must've been too hard on him to do anything to her. Still hurts though, still makes me wonder what's so wrong with us that she didn't need his perfection like we did."

"Did you see his eyes?" He looked at me, "I think he's doing it to himself now, too."

"You weren't just messing with him? His eyes were actually red?"

I nodded. "And healed,"

He gathered what I said for a moment. "Maybe he is just insane. Why else would he do it to himself, too?"

"To level the playing field? If he thinks we're all powerful, perfect wolves...why wouldn't he want to compete with us?"

A consensus was formed between us as we discussed the possibilities: Our Father is both insane and paranoid of what his creations were doing outside of his careful watch.

~

Edited