I tell him about how Shane and Enya are dealing with their grief, what I walked in on when I got here. I tell him about what I think is going on, the possible murder of Alpha Colin and inadvertently his mate.
“How is your relationship with Alpha Shane?” he asks me.
“Good. It’s really good. That has been easy. Shane has taken to me like I’m his older brother. He’s a sponge who wants to learn. Based on what I’ve gotten from him and from Enya, I don’t think their parents put the same level of importance on the Academy that you and mom did with me and Sebastiana.”
“Well, we were instructors for years. We understand the value of the Academy better than most.”
“True,” I say, scrubbing my hand down my face.
“What’s really going on, son,” my father asks astutely. It’s why I needed to talk to him. I knew he’d help me get to the root of the problem.
“Enya,” I say, thinking of her big green eyes looking up at me when I almost kissed her earlier today.
“She doesn’t trust you?” he asks.
“That’s an understatement, but it’s more than that, Dad. We’re really close in age. I feel drawn to her like I’ve never felt drawn to any other
I’m/meant
woman in my life. I’m meant to be her guardian. She’s my ward.. shouldn’t be having the feelings for her that I am, especially not so soon after meeting her. But I do, and I don’t know what to do about it. I can’t leave Shane here alone. I wouldn’t do that to him. And things
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here aren’t stable. After he was nearly attacked today, I wouldn’t trust his safety to anyone else, except possibly someone in our family. But I ve accepted responsibility for his welfare and his future, and I can’t pass that to someone else now, even if I am having the most intense feelings I’ve ever had for his underage sister.”
“Tell me about the feelings,” he says. As always, my father never makes me feel stupid for what I say. He acknowledges, accepts, and moves on from there. I love that about him.
“I almost kissed her today. I could tell that she had a problem with me earlier, so after dinner, I called her into the office to talk about it,” I say, huffing out a laugh as I remember her anger about me being ‘perfect‘. I’m SO far from perfect, especially with her.
“So, it was just the one time?” he asks,
“No. Well, yes. But last night I found her in her room crying. I scooped her into my arms and held her until she fell asleep. Then I continued to hold her. She felt so right in my arms, Dad, like no one else in the world will ever feel as right in my arms.
”
“What else?” he asks. I can hear a change in his tone, the intensity, but since he hasn’t said more, I’m not sure what it means yet.
“I went to her room earlier. I had been sparring with Shane and on the way back I saw her in her window. I wanted to talk to her, but I was worried that she was once again crying alone. You know how I am with women who cry,” I say.
He chuckles. “You’re just like me.”
