Ditched Cheating Alpha, I Led My Daughter to Life's Peak novel Chapter 320

"The homo sapien luna showing up in my territory..." A shirtless man appears at the door before any of us make it there. He scratches the back of his head, shaggy hair brushing this way and that. The sunlight breaking through the trees highlights the black tattoos winding up his side like ivy. "To what do I owe the... pleasure?"

Michael moves closer to me. Onai moves to my other side.

Suzie mutters, "I already told you that she was coming, Rey."

"I know, I know..." His orange eyes don't stay on me. They crawl over Michael. They land on Shen. They bounce between Krys and Bri. "You just didn't say she was bringing so many..." He pauses, running his tongue over his canines in thought. His eyes land on Onai. "It stinks is what I'm trying to say."

"Invest in some deodorant, then," Suzie says. "You're smelling yourself."

I'd high-five her in a different situation. As for now, I just glare at her step-father with the rest of the group.

He chuckles. "That mouth of yours. Just like your father's."

Suzie clenches her fists.

"How is he-"

"Cut the small talk." She whips her hair over her shoulder. "Can you do it or not?"

"I don't know," he says.

I furrow my brow. "What?"

Rey walks away with no explanation. He heads towards the back of his house, striding through the underbrush and overgrown plant life.

"Tell me we're not following him?" Shen whispers.

Ethel looks from her to me. Everyone does.

I don't know what to say. "Uh... Do you guys want to take a vote?"

Onai sighs, forcefully. "Let's just get this over with." He trudges after Rey. I hesitantly follow him. Michael follows me. Ethel and Shen follow him. Then Bri and Krys guard the back.

When we resurface, there's a sitting area in the "backyard." The table's large enough to fit us all, and there are more than enough chairs. The only thing is, they're overgrown. Vines latch on to the surface of the table, weaving around the seats. Rey falls back into one, stretching his back out.

I don't sit down. Nobody else does either. It's not because of the vines.

Our reluctance doesn't seem to bother Rey. He uses another chair to prop his feet up. "Well." He looks at me. "Let me see the foreigner."

I cock my head back. Michael scoffs. Suzie pinches the bridge of her nose. "Here we go."

"What?" Rey continues to stretch. "Isn't that the problem? That she doesn't belong here?"

"Maybe you should say it differently?" Ethel asks, but it doesn't sound like he's asking.

The older man smirks, resting his unmarked arm on the vine covered table. His fingers tap against the surface rhythmically, methodically. Instead of addressing anything Michael just said, he offhandedly comments, "Fei. Hm, that's an interesting name." He looks at the little girl. "I think it means winged. Flit. Swift." He chuckles. "Fitting for someone trying to get away from where they originated." He stops tapping his fingers. His eyes shift back to my brother. "Michael. Hebrew origin. Biblical."

"Why don't you just get back to the point-" I start.

Rey talks over me. "An angelic, holy leader." He chuckles again, looking between Michael and Onai. "Ironic."

That's the last straw. First Onai. Then Shen and Fei. Now Michael? "We're leaving."

"We are?" Suzie asks.

Krys smiles. "Finally?"

"No, we're not," Onai says.

Krys' face falls, along with Ethel's.

Onai continues. "We didn't deal with all of this to leave empty-handed."

For once, Shen agrees with him.

Unfortunately, I don't. "We're not getting answers either way," I say. "We're just wasting time." And subjecting ourselves to emotional torture.