Chapter 50: Familial Threat

As Always Happy Reading

POV: Beck

I tossed my hair up in a familiar messy bun before getting out of the car - a nervous habit I picked up from when I was trying to juggle all my responsibilities. It was vastly easier to cook dinner, help with homework, and research niche things for the council without hair in my face.

Truthfully I hadn't felt overwhelmed in a while. Sure, when I returned to pack lands I always had a slight feeling of doom. Almost as if I would never be able to feel happiness to the fullest ever again.

Though, that could be the separation from Edward. Vampire or not, I swear I imprinted on him all those years ago, when he was putting up a facade as a normal teenage boy, and I was resenting Charlie for forcing me to participate in regular teenage girl activities, such as attending school, having friends, and leaving the house.

The need to call him almost had me pulling out my phone, though I needed to keep my head right now. Hearing his voice would be a huge distraction. Distractions create liabilities, and I would not be losing a family member if I had even a sliver of say in it.

The driveway was still unkept, leaving slightly overgrown patches of grass popping through the asphalt. It had always felt like the natural world was mixing with the human's realm.

More so after I learned of the wolves.

Now, however, I felt represented in the tufts of grass, as they grew despite the atmosphere in which they were planted. Sure, they could have bowed down to the asphalt. Instead, they broke through and found the light.

Shaking my head, I tried to refocus on the problem at hand. Walking towards the house that was once my prison I reminded myself that no matter what happened, this would not be a forever situation.

"Rebecca!" Mom cheered as I waked into the kitchen.

The small space was a mess. Dirty bowls littered every surface, some appearing to have been used to mix pancakes. Others had messes caked onto them that I refused to begin to identify.

Cabinets needed a wash, and the sink looked to be stained from years without a cleaning.

In this room, my absence had not gone without notice. Maybe I did have more of an impact here then my father allowed me to see.

"Hi" I gave my family a small forced smile before sitting down in the open chair closest to the door.

It wasn't that I was going to bolt, I just wanted the option.

"You are late" Dad chastised.

"I didn't realize breakfast had a set time" my voice held a tinge of boredom to it.

He had always been this way when teaching me of the tribe. If I got ninety nine percent of the issue, but missed a fine detail, he was always there chastising me.

"There wasn't a set time. I am just glad to see most of my children around the same table again" Mom placed plates brimming with food down in front of each of us.

It was her standard Sunday morning feast she used to make. Pancakes, sausages, and eggs. It smelt of our childhood home.

"Your father and I have been talking" Mom smiled at Dad.

It was, well, weird. Years of deceit had seemed to be resolved after a night. They both looked… That's when it hit me.

This was both my parents after a night of reconnecting.

Maybe we should have scheduled the family gathering for next week, next year, anytime that wasn't right now.

"Are you back together?" Jake asked abruptly. His mouth full of an assortment of food.

"We had never divorced." Mom chastised.

I exchanged looks with my siblings. Clearly, we were all slightly uncomfortable and unsure with what was happening in front of us.

Uncanny Valley did not even begin to explain this twilight zone feeling.

Would this be what our lives would have included if Mom hadn't needed to run?

Family gatherings for a meal once a week. We would joke and enjoy the familiar atmosphere we grew up in.

Yet, now, this was almost anything but familiar. Dad was smiling at Mom, as Mom pilled more food on Rachel's plate. She was being a caring parent. The same one that I had lost all those years ago.

Potentially the same mother that I became a poor proxy of for my siblings.

"Do you know if your little sister is coming this morning?" Mom asked me.

I knew my face must have looked at her like she said something stupid. Which she did. Why would I bring Flic here? So she could break bread with the man who argued to kill her?

"No, I let Flic sleep in this morning. Yesterday was a lot for her" I let the truth of my words have their full impact.

It was not my choice as to wether my parents wanted to know the impact of their actions. They had hurt Flic and myself yesterday, not only by threatening her life, but also by closing the borders and blocking us from our family.

"Flic? Hmm… thats not the name we decided on" Dad leaned back in his chair.

"No, it's not. I wonder where she picked it up?" Mom mused.

"So you knew about her? And you didn't want to tell us?" Rachel's voice was shaky.

"We can explain everything" Mom cooed.

"No, Sarah we can't. It is safer if they don't know" Dad warned.

"The borders are closed, its the safest time to tell them" Mom argued.

They both glared at each other. I watched as a silent battle of wills occurred between the two of them. Neither appeared to be giving up on their stance.

"Can you at least tell us something?" Jake asked.

"I knew about…" Dad's eyebrows scrunched together "Flic, as you call her"

"So, when we buried Mom?" Rachel had tears falling down her cheeks.

I watched as Rachel pushed her plate away. She pulled her knees up to her chest and let the tears fall.

"I knew I had fathered a witch, yes. You need to trust that I put everything in place to save her" Dad's voice cracked "to protect her. All I wanted was for my children to be safe"

"We are safe Dad" Jake leaned forward "Patrols are still running and the exiled pack hasn't started any drama"

"You don't need to worry about the exiled pack. We never stopped being loyal to your father's commands" Mom assured us.

I looked around the table, trying to piece together what in the actual fuck was happening. This is the last thing I expected to walk into. I had been preparing myself for a tense war table. Instead I found the atmosphere of one that radiated love and trust.

"Then why were you exiled?" Jake scratched his forehead.

I could practically see the wheels in his brain turning. I was fairly certain that if his questions were left unanswered, smoke would soon be billowing out of his ears.

"To save your sister" Dad confirmed. His voice was low and strained.

"Why couldn't she have lived here with us?" Rachel questioned, her hands falling to her stomach.

My entire body felt like I was on fire. How had I not put two and two together yet. I needed to support Rachel, she was hearing this story from our parents not as a long lost sibling. Instead, she was listening like a mother who was trying to understand how to keep her unborn child safe.

"She would have been hunted" Mom's voice shook with pain that had left long scars on her soul.

The room grew deadly silent. What would hunt freely in the wolve's territory? Vampires had in the past. Their proximity is necessary for the phasing to begin. It was one of the reasons why when I came home smelling slightly of vampire, I had triggered Jake's first phase.

I wondered if Mom knew I was dating - correction - engaged to a vampire? Now was probably not the best time to bring it up. As I looked around the room, each of my family members had grown tense.

"Then the wolves would have protected her" Jake said as if it was the most obvious thing.

"My generation did not phase" Dad reminded him.

"So the vampires would try to kill her?" Rachel asked.

"How would that work" I shook my head "She lives with vampires. The two people she considered her parents are vampires. If they wanted her dead, then I am assuming she would be dead by now"

Mom and Dad both looked like they had been slapped when I mentioned Flic's vampire parents. I watched them closely, trying to understand who they were so afraid of.

"If it is not vampires, then who?" Jake glared at Dad, trying to will him into giving us the answer.

"They need to know, how will they prepare if they are left in the dark?" Mom pleaded.

Dad's shoulders sagged as he thought over revealing this information to us or not. His eyes locked with mine, almost like he was trying to make a decision and the ball was balanced on me. Depending on how the ball fell, his answer would change.

"Please Dad, don't make us go into this war blind" I begged.

Dad nodded. Taking a long sip of an amber liquid that I hadn't noticed was in front of him. When he cleared his throat, he looked each of us in the eyes.

"Your Grandfather was a strong and powerful chief. His wife needed a potion one day, so she went to the village witch. When the potion did not heal his wife, he was struck with despair. He vowed that no witch will ever live on pack lands." Dad took a shaky breath "When he phased for the last time, years after the hatred for witches had been burned into his soul, he was the worst kind of feral. Striking against families that had been known to carry the witches genes. There is no way he would stop himself from killing his own Granddaughter, so we did what we needed to do."

"Grandpa is alive?" I whispered.

Mom nodded "He knows Flic is here"

"Then we will fight him" Jakes voice shook.

"Not yet, we need to train so we have the upper hand" Dad's voice was tired.

"Its one wolf, we outnumber him tenfold" Jake argued.

I watched as he looked at Dad like he had hurt his feelings. Jake and Sam ran a tight ship when it came to the pack. Their training schedule had always seemed a bit excessive from the outside looking in.

"My father was trained to fight in ways you cubs haven't dreamed of yet." Dad warned.

"Then we need to begin training now. He could be here at any moment" Jake stood.

"He can't get in yet, at least, he shouldn't be able to" Dad's eyes flashed to mine, the sympathy in his shook me to my core "that's why we closed the border"

"Grandpa is coming?" I confirmed.

Dad nodded.

"My fiancé is a vampire, that is currently unaware that he is coming. A wolf who is more feral then you have ever seen since…" I felt the blood run from my face.

"Call him, warn him, if they are willing to leave convince them to do that" Mom's voice was panicked.

"He won't leave." I whispered "Not if I am in danger. Closing the border just left my fiancé to die"