Chapter 151: Rue the Day
Edrick
When I finally came home from the library, I had intended on going straight to work despite how tired I was. I didn’t realize it when I was in that dark basement, but it was well after sunrise by the time I came out, and I knew that Moana would be awake and wondering where I went. I didn’t want to alarm her, so I planned on telling her that I had a work emergency; especially since I would have to cut a lock of her hair later to take to the Mother Witch. Right now, I really didn’t need her getting suspicious and worried.
However, when I walked in the door and saw none other than my father sitting at the dining room table, I knew that my plans would be thrown out the window. My eyes widened as I saw him, and I instantly felt a pit of dread grow in my stomach. He was sipping a cup of tea, and Selina and Moana were nowhere to be found. I instantly became worried.
“Edrick,” he said, standing abruptly from the table without so much as a hello. “Let’s talk in your office.”
“Um… Alright,” I responded. I wanted to ask why he was here, but I knew that he would only get even more surly with me. As I followed him, I caught a glimpse of Moana and Selina in the kitchen, which made me feel more relaxed. But Moana looked like she was crying, and I instantly felt anger bubbling up inside of me as I wondered what my father did to her. He felt the need to make a snide comment about the tea as we walked to my office, but I didn’t care. I only cared if he had hurt Moana.
As soon as I shut the office door behind us, I gritted my teeth. I was about to snarl at him and ask what he did to Moana, but before I could get a word out, he immediately lit into me and began to berate me.
“You had a perfectly good chance to have a public relationship with Kelly,” he growled, pointing his finger at me with his eyebrows knitted together angrily, “but you chose that human instead? And to make matters worse, you create all sorts of bad press, you take off into the countryside, hang up my phone calls, and even use those bloody body guards against me. I had to practically fight my way in here, Edrick!”
I sighed and passed a hand over my face. Part of me wanted to firstly correct my father about Moana’s status before anything else and tell him that she wasn’t even a human, but I decided against it. I knew it should be her choice when or if she told anyone, and besides; if he found out that she was the Golden Wolf, there would be no telling what he would do to her. My father was not one of the people who wanted the Golden Wolf to return. He had always said that he would kill the Golden Wolf himself if it ever existed. That, alone, was enough to add even more pressure to this whole ordeal. What would I do if my father eventually found out that Moana was the Golden Wolf and tried to kill her? Even with her full power, my father still wouldn’t rest until one of them was dead.
Therefore, instead of correcting my father, I decided to keep my mouth shut about the subject and address the other elephant in the room: the issue with Kelly.
“Why would I want to have any sort of relationship, even a fake one, with someone who willingly paid Rogues to attack the mother of my child? Why would I want to be even remotely involved, romantically or not, with a monster who happily put a pregnant woman in the arms of Rogues who wanted to kill her?”
My voice was raising, but I didn’t care. If Moana and the others overheard this, then so be it. I wasn’t on my father’s side anymore, and I didn’t care if the world knew.
My father opened his mouth to say something else, but I kept going and cut him off once more.
“That woman put the health of my baby and the mother of my baby in jeopardy,” I snarled. “I don’t want to hear about her anymore. You’ll just have to get over the fact that I’m never going to marry Kelly, and you need to stop putting such ridiculous ideas into her head because I—”
I suddenly stopped myself. I knew what I was going to say next. I was going to say that I loved Moana. But I couldn’t say that; not just to my father, but not even out loud. It was too soon.
My father smirked. He knew what I was going to say.
“You’ll rue the day that you decided to lower yourself enough to have s*x with a human and put some freak half-breed in her belly,” my father growled.
My eyes widened. Was that a threat? Before I could even say anything, however, my father turned on his heel and stormed out. All I could do was stand in the doorway of my office as I watched him disappear, followed by the sound of the elevator. Then, he was gone.
I was still standing there in shock when Moana and Selina stepped out of the kitchen. Moana’s eyes were red from crying. I wanted to go to her, but at the same time, my father had made me so angry… And now, I couldn’t help but wonder if it was time for me to distance myself from her for her own safety.
…
I stayed in my office for the remainder of the day. Just as I suspected from my first glance at my father sitting at my dining room table, he ruined my day after all. I made sure to tell the security guards not to let anyone in without my prior consent from now on. I couldn’t trust anyone after what my father said… Not even my mother.
That night, I finally emerged from my office long after midnight. My eyelids felt heavy, and I knew I needed to sleep.
But there was something else I needed to do, too: I needed to get a lock of Moana’s hair to bring to the Mother Witch.
As I quietly entered my room to find her asleep and retrieved a pair of scissors from the medicine cabinet, I realized that I didn’t know exactly what I would do if the Mother Witch confirmed that Moana was the Golden Wolf. I could only hope that the Mother Witch could offer some wisdom, or maybe a protection charm to keep Moana safe. I hated to consider it, too, but… I wondered if the Mother Witch would help me get rid of my father. A curse, maybe. Or even poison.
But was I really willing to kill my own father?
I wasn’t sure. All I was sure of, as I stood over Moana’s sleeping body with a small lock of her vibrant red hair in my hand, was that I needed to protect her regardless of whether she was the Golden Wolf or not.
