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“Stay frosty?” I raised an eyebrow, but couldn’t help the amused smirk tugging at the corners of my lips. “Seriously?”
“Hey, it’s good advice.” He defended himself with a laugh.
“Sure, Dean.” Ridge rolled his eyes, but I could tell he was trying to hide a smile. “Just lead the way.” He swept his arm ahead of him, but then he froze. “Who’s there?” he barked out, catching sight of something in the shadows.
“Easy, alpha,” a deep, gravelly voice called back, and a moment later, a middle-aged wolf shifter emerged from the darkness, wearing only a pair of shorts. His body was marred with scars that spoke of brutal battles long past, but his face held an unexpected kindness. There was something about him that seemed strangely familiar.
“Who are you?” Ridge demanded, stepping protectively in front of me as his muscles coiled, ready to fight if it came to that.
The stranger raised his hands in a placating gesture. “I don’t mean to startle you. My name is Jaxon Hyde.”
“Jaxon Hyde?” My blood froze in my veins, and I swore my heart stopped as well. “As in—theJaxon Hyde?”
As in, supposedly my father?
“Uh, I don’t know aboutthe.” He chuckled, a warm smile lighting up his scarred face. “But yeah, that’s me.”
I gaped at the man standing before us, his kind face marred with scars. I couldn’t deny the truth. The resemblance between us was uncanny.
My entire world had shifted on its axis, and I could barely keep up. “He looks exactly like me,” I whispered to Ridge. “It has to be him.”
Jaxon’s eyes widened in surprise. “Wait,” he said softly, his voice cracking with emotion. “You’re Tori? You’re my daughter?”
“Apparently so,” I said bitterly. “Congratulations on not being dead, by the way. That must be nice.” I shook my head.“Look, this is all a lot.” I struggled to find the right words. Jaxon’s expression was one of pure happiness, and I couldn’t help but be taken aback by it. I’d spent so much time believing he was the villain in my story, the one responsible for my mother’s death. And now? I wasn’t sure what to think anymore.
“Of course.” Jaxon nodded solemnly. “I understand. This must be quite a shock for you. If there’s anything I can do to help, please don’t hesitate to ask.”
His sincerity touched something deep inside me, and despite my confusion, I found myself wanting to believe him. Wanting to believe that maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t the monster I’d always thought him to be.
Ridge placed a protective hand on my shoulder. “Let’s stay focused here. Jaxon, if you really are Tori’s father, we need to know why you’ve been hiding all these years.”
Tears glimmered in Jaxon’s eyes as he looked at me, his expression filled with joy and sorrow. “I didn’t know you existed.” His voice was thick with emotion. “If I had known, I would have done everything in my power to be there for you. To protect you.”
“Protect me?” I scoffed. “From what? From the life I’ve lived as a hunted outcast, thanks to my heritage? Or from the people who killed my mother?”
“Listen,” he began, frustration creeping into his tone. “I wasn’t anywhere near Heather when she was killed. I didn’t even know she was dead until Dean told me about you.” I tried to read his expression, searching for any hint of deception. But all I saw in his eyes was pain and sorrow—emotions that mirrored my own. “Believe me when I say that I never wanted any of this for you.”
“Save your apologies,” I spat, my inner wolf snarling at the man who had suddenly appeared in my life, claiming to be my father. “I don’t need them, and I certainly don’t need you.”
“Enough,” Ridge interjected. “Let’s take a step back here and try to figure out what’s going on.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at Jaxon. “Start talking.”
Jaxon wiped away the tears that had begun to fall. “First of all, I want you to know how sorry I am for everything you’ve been through, Tori. It breaks my heart to think that you’ve suffered because of me.”
“First of all,” I echoed, trying to keep my voice steady, “you can start by telling us everything you know about what happened to my mother. The real story, not whatever lies you’ve been feeding everyone else.”
Jaxon’s face fell, and he appeared genuinely hurt by my accusation. “I swear to you, Tori, I never lied about what happened between your mother and me. We loved each other—more than anything. But our worlds were too different, and we knew we could never be together.” He sighed. “After your mother and I were together, we knew our relationship would never be accepted by either of our worlds. We made the difficult decision to part ways. She chose to return to her life as a hunter, and I stayed with my pack.”
“Until they were wiped out,” I said.Let’s see him explain that.“Or so we thought.”
“Most of them were,” Jaxon confirmed, his eyes downcast. “I, along with a few others, managed to escape. We went into hiding, trying to stay one step ahead of those who wanted us dead.”
“Like my mother,” I growled.
“Your mother didn’t hunt us down.” Jaxon’s gaze pleaded with me to believe him. “She never would have done that. I swear it.”
“Then who did?” I demanded, hands balling into fists. “Who killed her, if not you or your pack?”
