The Lycan King novel Chapter 86

Avalyn

My eyes lost sight of Papa and Nik. Why did he run away? Did he not like me? Did he think of me as a bad person? It doesn't make sense. It hurt. Seeing him run away from me hurt. Why did he do it? I can't think of a single reason why he would be upset with me.

Maybe that day...when we were attacked...if I hadn't been there, and he didn't have to defend himself?and?me, he wouldn't have been kept as a captive in the dungeon. He could have been living as an Alpha with Mama. And then it clicked, he resents me because I killed Mama. My heart dropped. Yes, that was it.

And then my vision was obstructed by a chest. I looked up and saw Dimitri.

"Avalyn, your nose is bleeding." Deep concern is etched on his face.

My hand immediately came up to touch my nostril and surely, it was bloody. I wiped it all away. "It's probably nothing." I muttered. The last thing on my mind was me. I didn't care about me. I wanted to talk to Papa and beg for his forgiveness.

"Or maybe it is something. Let's show it to the pack doctor." He took out a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to me. Why is he being so insistent? Doesn't he see I'm a horrible person? So much so that the one person who is wired to love me from birth is disgusted by me? If Papa doesn't care about me, how is it possible for someone who isn't even related to me to care about me?

Grabbing it, I wiped my finger on it before I dabbed it above my lip again. "I'm fine."

"I don't thin??"

"I said I'm fine." I said harshly. "I'm sorry." I caught his arm once I realised I was rude to him when he was only looking out for me. We might not he related by blood but we were family by choice. Dimitri was like a little brother. And after looking at his worried face, not even my self-depreciating thoughts could convince me that he didn't care about me.

"It's okay." His smile was crooked.

I'm being a bitch to everybody. And maybe Papa knows it. And that's why he doesn't want to be near me. That's why he couldn't bare to look at me and he ran away.

"Let's go back to the cottage, yeah? We have been outside all night and I heard Mary is making breakfast," Dimitri suggested. I nodded and we both made our way to the cottage. I just couldn't get Papa out of my head.

Will he ever like me? Will we go back to the way we were? And more importantly, how was he alive and why did anybody not know about this?

Dimitri opened the door for me when we reached the cottage we were all staying at temporarily.

"Good morning!" Everyone greeted, trying to be cheerful.

But I just wasn't having it. I walked to the table and took a seat besides Nat.

"You okay?" She whispered, putting arm around me.

"I will know in some time," I rested my head on her shoulder. She didn't even know what had happened with Papa. Heck, no one even knew that he was alive! She just knew what happened with Nikolai. She was the one who stayed with me when I came back when Nik told me he wanted to be alone.

I was still upset about it but right now, Papa consumed my thoughts.

"Don't worry child, here, have some tea." Mary came in and placed a tray full of tea cups on the table.

'Where are you?' Nik asked me.

'In the huge cottage by the the training field, the one to the west of where the pack house used to be.'?I told him. 'Mary has made breakfast for all, I'll save you a cup of tea.'?And one for Papa just in case he is with you. But I didn't say that, I didn't want to be disappointed if he didn't come back.

'Avalyn.' Nikolai said in a tight voice. 'Do not trust Mary. Don't eat anything she gives you. And especially, do?not?drink the tea.'?Alarms started ringing in my mind upon hearing his words and his tone. And then my mind started running through the the worst of the scenarios.

I looked around me, every one started getting up to get their tea cups from the table. Shit.

I instantly stood up and the chair jerked, falling over because of my sudden move. "Sorry," I uprighted it. "I'll serve the tea to everyone." I said and picked up the tray and moved around the table and then I dropped the entire tray om the wooden floor and simultaneously fell down on my hands and knees. I saw that all the cups were successfully shattered and the tea was spilled.

"Goddess!" Nat stood up immediately and helped me up.

"Sorry, I tripped." I looked at Mary and gave her a guilty smile.

She was looking at me with concern but I caught her eyes flash with irritation before she masked it with worry. "Are you okay, dearie?"?Something is definitely wrong with her.

"Yes. I'm sorry I spilled all the tea." I looked down at the mess and swiped my hand over it, the tea disappeared and the cups and saucers were mended and they sat on the tray like they did before. I picked up the tray again and placed it over the table. "Please sit, I'll make the tea again." I grabbed her and settled her in my seat.

"No it's fine, I love cooking, I don't mind making the tea again. I heard you were out all night putting out a fire?" She got up.

"Yes, didn't you know? The fire broke out in the dungeon and the in the entire pack house." I looked at her quizzically. It was surprising because the entire dungeon was made out of stone. How did the fire even start in there? And even if it did, how did it spread up to the pack house too?

"I heard." She nodded. "But I was tired from the travelling so I took my sleeping pills early and slept throughout the night. It's a shame that the entire pack pack house burned down, I had such nice memories with Jerome in it." A tear flickered in her eye. "I'm just happy that no one got hurt. Well except the people who were trapped in the dungeon."

"No grandma th??" Max started but I raised my hand, shutting him up.

"How did you know that there were people in the dungeon? Or that there was fire inside the dungeon too?" I narrowed my eyes.

She looked around helplessly before focusing on me again. "Well the entire house burned down. It-It only makes sense the dungeon burned down too."

"It?doesn't?make sense actually." I took a step towards her and she took a step back. "The dungeon was made of stone. The?entire?dungeon. If the house would have caught on fire, the dungeon shouldn't have burned down, and if the dungeon had somehow caught fire, the pack house wouldn't have burned down. But funnily,?both?burned down." I took another step and she took another step back.

"Why are you telling me all of this?" She then narrowed my eyes. "Are you accusing me of something, young lady? I have lived in that house for more years than you have walked on this earth."

"Grandma has nothing to do with, Avalyn." Max protested. "Back off."

"Do you know that no one died, Mary?" I kept my gaze on Mary. "Nik was in that dungeon when it caught fire." Her eyes widened. "I saved him along with everyone that was trapped in there."

A gasp left her mouth before she covered her mouth with her hand. It confirmed my theory. I knew she hated Papa but I did not know the extent of it. She had downplayed the entire thing when Nik and I had gone to visit her at her house that day.

"And you know who I also found in there?" I felt energy charge inside me and I knew my hair had turned silver and my eyes blue.

"Me." The door slammed open and Papa walked in.

Mary stared at him in horror. Immediately her hands came up and she opened her mouth, most probably to utter a spell.

"Don't you dare." I hissed before I froze her tongue and hands.

"You were the one who planned the attack, weren't you?" The tears flowing down her cheeks confirmed it. "You were the one who put Papa in the dungeon."

The entire room was stunned into silence before they turned to look at the vampire who had entered with Nik. A look of realisation crossed across their faces.?Yes, he is my father.

My eyes teared again as I looked at him but I made no move to go near him. He looked exactly like he did when I was little girl. He extended his arms towards me and a sob rose up my throat before I ran towards him and jumped, throwing my arms around his neck. I cried in his neck and smelled his familiar water-y scent.

"My little firefly." The nickname made me cry harder. He caressed my hair like he always did.

After I released him, I turned to glare at Mary. She is the reason Papa suffered so much,?both?of us suffered so much. I should have known. Emmanuel and Emilio were too dumb to plan something elaborate like this. Mary was the mastermind. And she will pay for it. "What do you want me to do to her?"

"Nothing. Not yet. First I need answers." Papa replied.

Nik came to stand on my other side and put his arm around my waist and kissed the side of my head. I mouthed him a 'thank you' for bringing Papa back and he only smiled at me.

"Why did you hate me? So much so that you had your own pack attacked?" Papa asked and I unfroze her tongue.

"You bloodsucker killed Val??"

"Don't you fucking say her name." Papa hissed with venom. "Keeping Avalyn was both our decision and we did not regret it one bit."

"Then you being a bloodsucker is enough." She spat. "You are an abomination of nature. No one should walk on earth after they are dead."

"What about me?" Max looked in pain.

Mary let out a harsh laugh. "You were an innocent kid when you came to me, yes. But then?he?turned you into the monster you are today." She glared at Nik. "I taught you to only drink the blood of animals. He taught you to kill humans."

Max shook his head, like he couldn't comprehend what his grandma was saying.

"What did Ava do to you, huh?" Papa hissed. "How could you do this to your own granddaughter? She isn't even a vampire!"

Her eyes teared up when her eyes fell on me. "That's where I failed. I never meant for this happened. Believe me." She cried. "Emmanuel told me that Avalyn died. It was a mistake made by the wolves he hired. One that wasn't supposed to happen. It was all a part of?his?plan,?not?mine. Just like keeping you alive was. I only wanted you dead. Along with all the vampires you had given a place in my pack."?

"And when you found out that he was alive and in the dungeon, you decided to set it on fire before I find out." Nik looked at her. "You knew a trial was going to happen of all the people in the cell. And you feared that your secret will be revealed if Javier comes out. And that's why you shut Emmanuel's mouth yesterday, so he wouldn't snitch on you."

She nodded shamefully.