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I growled, “I asked you a fucking question. Why’d you stay?”
“Sina can face that man alone. Like you said, he’s only human.”
“You might’ve been able to bullshit everyone else, but I see right through you. Why?”
He grimaced and stirred the potion in a big glass bowl. “To heal you.”
“You could’ve healed me later.”
“Not in front of my daughter,” he said, clenching his jaw and averting his gaze. “She’ll never forgive me for what I’m about to do. I’ve only just met her. I wouldn’t have been able to see the hurt in her eyes.”
I swallowed and clenched my fist as hard as I possibly could, which was just fucking pathetic. What the hell did this fucker mean that his daughter would never forgive him for what he was about to do to me? What was he planning?
“The fuck does that mean?” I growled, canines lengthening.
While I expected him to show me just as much aggression—because whatever it was didn’t seem too good for me—he stood at my side, calmly stirring the glass pot with his lips pursed.
“It’s the only way,” he muttered, more to himself than to me. “I have to do it.”
“Do what?” I growled, heart pounding.
Again, this fucker ignored me and grabbed a ladle. After filling it with the potion, he brought it to my lips. “You must drink it. Sina deserves this more than she deserves me. I haven’t been in her life.”
He pressed the ladle to my lips, but I used all the strength I could muster and knocked it away with my chin. It splattered all over me and soaked my T-shirt.
I growled, “Don’t feed me that shit until you tell me what it’s for. Why?”
Sina’s father stared at me for a few long moments before setting the ladle inside the bowl and sitting on the side of the bed. “Because in order to fully heal your wounds and mold you into the man you once were, I have to trade my life for yours.”
My lips parted in disbelief. “You’re … you’re fucking lying. You can’t do that.”
“Despite the popular belief that Paragons live forever, we don’t. I’ve been alive for nearly three hundred years. I’ve witnessed women give birth and the final breaths of my most beloved. I’ve felt the pains of battle and of love. I’ve lived my life the best I could, but my only regret is that I don’t have more time with her.”
“I can’t believe I’m fucking saying this,” I said between gritted teeth, but Sina meant more to me than anyone ever before. If I had to stay like this for a couple more weeks or a couple more years, then I … would do it for Sina. “But wait until she’s home. Spend more time with her. She’s never had much of a parental figure in her life.”
“You misunderstand me,” he said. “There is no waiting. I don’t have long left, only mere days, if I’m to be honest. Since they bound me to the ice, I’ve witnessed my power diminish. I have counted the days until my death. If your warriors had waited another week to find me, my power would’ve given out, and I would’ve frozen to death.”
“You should’ve told her,” I growled, rage rushing through me. “When Sina comes home and finds out that you died, she’s going to be devastated. She would’ve understood if you had mentioned something.”
He stared down at the bed between us and shook his head. “She has too much heartbreak inside her. She would’ve been distracted the entire time that she was fighting in the war. And she wouldn’t have had a shot at winning with something like that on her mind.”
“Still,” I said through gritted teeth, “she should know.”
As much as I wanted to live, as much as I wanted to be the same alpha that I had been, this felt so wrong. How could I take the little power that he had left in his body and face Sina afterward?
“It doesn’t matter. I have made my decision.”
“What do you expect me to tell Sina when she comes home?” I asked.
“Tell her the truth—that I love her and did this for her.”
I pressed my lips together and glared at this man who had deceived all of us. This wasn’t fucking right. This was one of the worst fucking things that could’ve happened. We’d found her father. He refused to fight. Now, he’d take his life to give me strength.
Sina’s father stood and grabbed the ladle once more, filling it with the potion.
“Tell me …” I started, staring at the spoon as he brought it to my lips. “What will happen?”
“For me, healing you will mean that I will pass on to the next life. But for you, you’ll inherit the powers of the Paragons, and while you won’t be one yourself, you’ll be able to reproduce as if you were one. The Paragon bloodline will continue because of you.” He paused, then brought the ladle to my lips. “Now, drink.”
