Chapter 11, "Ever", aka, "Almost a Darth Vadar Moment".

Again, we have a necessary time skip, of half a year this time. Let the Malcolm Effect begin…

"Ari!"

"Treckle!"

Treckle, having run up to Ari, wrinkled her nose in annoyance and slapped him. "Stop being obnoxious," she growled.

"I learned from the best," he replied cheekily.

This earned him another smack, one that would leave a purple, hand-shaped bruise on his face.

"This is no time for jokes," she snapped. Ari looked at her closely. Her hair was a bit tousled, like she had just run as fast as she could from inside the School…

He asked worriedly, "What's wrong?"

Treckle bit her lip. "I… think you should see this for yourself…"

If Treckle could barely handle this… Ari didn't let himself finish that thought, instead following Treckle inside.

Treckle was silent as she led Ari through the hallways.

Ari pondered what was the matter.

Nothing came from Treckle.

As the pair approached a single room with the light on, the Alpha suddenly spun around to face Ari. "Ari," she said seriously, "Whatever happens, do not attack. Do not panic. Do not overreact."

Confused, Ari turned to go in the room. "Treckle, what are you talking abou-"

He froze.

No…

It couldn't be…

But…

"Jeb."

Ari's voice was soft, and almost emotionless if it wasn't for the hint of the snarl in it.

His… father was standing across the room, next to Dr. Harrison. His blue eyes flashed up at Ari's voice. His face turned up slightly as he smiled at his son.

Ari growled, a low tone deep within his chest.

He tensed to leap.

A heavy weight suddenly threw him to the ground. A quick pair of hands flipped him over until he was facing the ceiling.

Treckle almost delicately placed her foot on his chest. A warning. She leaned over Ari and said gently, dangerously, "And what did I say, Ari?"

Not responding, Ari looked away. Treckle asked, "So, Ari, are you ready to get up and not be hostile?"

Slowly nodding, Ari stood up as Treckle took her foot off him. He faced Jeb carefully, looking at how he'd changed since Ari had last seen him two years ago.

Jeb looked almost the same, except for the fact that his hair seemed a little grayer than last time. He kept in it a different style, too, slightly shorter and brushed back in a different way.

Other than that, he was the same. The same aging, intelligent man that had once been his father.

Jeb's gaze was critical as he looked at Ari. Whatever surprise he had had at Ari's Eraserfying had passed, and only the scientific, observational look remained in his eyes.

The doctor took a step forward, smiling slightly. "Ari," he said softly, "How much you've changed."

Ari gave his father a glacial stare. "Obviously. I'm going to be different." He tossed his head, giving his dad a sideways glare.

Nodding, Jeb said sadly, "Yes. I would've expected this. I should've. You shouldn't have been an Eraser. This type of bad life is not for you, Ari. You should've grown up to become an amazing speaker, or scientist, or-"

"Stop." Ari uttered that one word with the command of an Alpha. He may not have been ready for the position before, but now… he was showing the power that he would have eventually.

Jeb stopped suddenly, surprised at the change in his son's tone. "Ari…"

"If I could go back, I wouldn't change a thing. You, betraying me, breaking promises… why would I change when I know who you really are?" Turning his head to face his dad directly, Ari's eyes glinted. They illuminated his now silvery eyes, the ones of a wolf with bits of gold.

No longer his mother's eyes.

No longer his father's eyes.

"Now, I have the pack," Ari continued softly, "I have Treckle. I have the other Erasers, Pyro, Finn, Hawklet... and all the others. I have power. I have walks in the forest and training and more of a purpose that you'd ever given me."

Ari bared his teeth slightly, letting his anger at all the pain he went through show. "You have no right to call yourself my father."

The man shook his head. "Of course I do, Ari. You have my genes. You have your mother's. I'm the one who brought you here in the first place."

Glancing at the ground, Ari responded with, "But that doesn't make you my father. I trusted you, asked you to keep a promise."

Jeb didn't say anything.

"You broke it. Treckle served as almost a parent and a friend. An Alpha. You, my father, really should've been my Alpha." Ari's eyes were like chips of ice at this point. "But you failed. You weren't. Kiru was more of a dad than you. He at least cared for me and taught me how to live. He even passed on the Beta power to me."

Treckle, who had been standing in the background, murmured, "And I'm the one who helped pass it on." She fixed Jeb with a piercing, greenish-gold stare. "You, you should be ashamed of yourself! You leave Ari with a broken promise, and you expect him to welcome you back with open arms after all this time?" She raised her upper lip in a half-snarl. "You're even worse of a dad than I originally thought."

Ari continued to glare at his dad with cold contempt. He started to turn to leave. "So, why did you come back? Did your precious flying freaks die on you?"

Shaking his head, Jeb started to reply when he was cut off by Treckle. "Come on, Ari. He obviously shouldn't be here. I don't even know why I brought you to him."

He and the Alpha turned to leave. But as Ari started to walk out the door, Jeb called out, "Ari! I'm sorry!"

His son paused, not even turning to look at him. "Don't say you're sorry when you're not." Without another word, he walked out, leaving his father in his wake.