Secrets and Lies

Chapter 16

I burst through the back door of the house, pushing past people in order to get as far away from the Alpha Paul as possible.

There was no way that he was my father. He had to be mistaken. Maybe he's thinking of a different Claire Williams. Though this was a small town, what were the odds of there being two Claire Williams?

"Mina, hey what's wrong?" I had been so wrapped in my thoughts that I hadn't noticed I was now standing directly in front of Josh.

"Nothing" I lied, not able to meet his eyes. Truth was that everything was wrong.

"No, tell me. I can tell something's wrong," he insisted, his face etched with worry.

"Okay, but not here," I told him. I grabbed his hand and led him toward the shed where I knew no one would bother us. As soon as I closed the door I felt a little better. Without the crowd and the loud music, I could actually hear myself think.

"So what happened?" Josh asked without hesitation, breaking the silence. "You were gone for ten minutes and when you come back you look like you've seen a ghost."

"I ran into Alpha Paul on the way to the bathroom," I explained, but then paused. The rest of the encounter caught in my throat.

"What did he do? Did he scare you or say something mean?"

I shook my head, "No".

"Then, what?" He took a step closer, concerned.

I remained silent, unable to speak the possible truth. If I didn't say it out loud then it wasn't true right?

"Mina, please tell me what's wrong before I go and confront Alpha Paul myself. My instinct to protect you is kicking into overdrive the more I'm left to wonder what he did," his voice was hard like he was having difficulty forming each word.

I remembered the last time I went to the bathroom at one of Josh's house parties. That was when Jordan hit on me. Is that what he was thinking?

I grabbed Josh's hand, mostly to keep him there but also for the courage to say the words aloud. "I think Alpha Paul is my father."

"What?" he practically shouted. Shock and disbelief were now displayed on his face.

At that moment I was thankful for the loud music or someone might have heard him.

"I know, it's crazy right?"

"How did you figure that out?" he asked confused. His face looked like someone who had been given a hard math problem to solve.

"He made the connection between me and my mom and told me they dated in high school. I told him that my mom only dated my dad in high school. Then he started asking questions like who my dad was and when was my birthday."

"Is there any way that he could be?"

"I don't know," I said feeling confused and frustrated. I started pacing around the room hoping it would help me think. "My mom told me next to nothing about my father growing up, no matter how many times I asked. She only really opened up about him recently. She told me that they dated all through high school up until he left for college."

"It sounds to me like the timeline matches," he pointed out.

"I just can't believe this is actually happening. For most of my life, I've wondered about my father. Was he alive? Did he abandon my mom when he found out she was pregnant? Did he even know about me? Do I look like him? Do I get my love of photography from him?" I rambled to him.